Ammo Shelves at Academy Overflowing

Shotshells?
My Friend The Pheasant Hunter will be needing some #5. All I have seen is cheap "dove and quail" light load #8.

The Scheels here has ammo just crazy high prices. Only thing the sells fast is 22lr. even at extremely inflated prices.

Good to hear. I've been meaning to go check out my local Academy and Bass Pro since I haven't been to either in months

The BassPro that I was in a few weeks ago was overflowing with ammo. But they didn't have it priced. The reloading equipment isle was well stocked also.

My LGS back to "full up" in most things--barring some oddities. Like having 38super and 357sig, but no 38spl
Good selection of firearms in the cases, too.
I'm counting myself lucky for only having spent $75 . . . []

Now to let them sit full until prices come down.

They are way over priced is the reason they are so full.

My LGS has an extensive amount of ammo. Dunno about price as I’m well stocked

AK Hunter said:

They are way over priced is the reason they are so full.

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I guess things are getting better as a few months back, everyone was whining about no ammo, and now they’re whining about price

There's yer sign!

redneck2 said:

I guess things are getting better as a few months back, everyone was whining about no ammo, and now they’re whining about price

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Last time I went to my Academy was about 2 months ago. Lots of ammo then too. Staples like 12ga, 9mm, and 556 had the most stock. Prices were still too high for what I wanted to spend on them. Sorry, not going to pay 44 cents a round for 115gr FMJ 9mm, for example.

There is a local gun shop here that is never short on ammo in most calibers. Finding the EXACT round by brand, bullet type, weight, etc. is another thing- and the prices are competitive to gun show table dealers, but still high IMO, which is probably the new normal. I look forward to the next time I get a chance to drop by academy in Pensacola (assuming they are also similarly stocked). I would go so far as to say whatever they are charging could be safely assumed to be the "official new normal".

With gas at +/- $4 a gallon, bacon at $9 a pound, etc. I strongly suspect the days of $1.50 for fifty .22’s is long gone

I still have a few boxes of 325 Federal Auto Match .22’s that I bought for about $15. I’m confident that ship has sailed

I was at my local Academy a couple weeks ago. Still only had a few calibers, and wanted $20/box for steel case 9mm.

I’ll keep waiting.

redneck2 said:

With gas at +/- $4 a gallon, bacon at $9 a pound, etc. I strongly suspect the days of $1.50 for fifty .22’s is long gone

I still have a few boxes of 325 Federal Auto Match .22’s that I bought for about $15. I’m confident that ship has sailed

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I agree with you 100% but I think most ammo prices have overshot and can come down some. Steel case 9mm should not stay at $18.99 to $19.99 at Academy. Anything can happen though and another major crisis before the midterms would not surprise me one bit.

I think the 325 rd 22 lr boxes are going to be in the $20-22 price range from here on out. We might see $18.99. I wonder if 500 rd boxes will come back

redneck2 said:

With gas at +/- $4 a gallon, bacon at $9 a pound, etc. I strongly suspect the days of $1.50 for fifty .22’s is long gone

I still have a few boxes of 325 Federal Auto Match .22’s that I bought for about $15. I’m confident that ship has sailed

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Agreed but 200-250% times the cost pre-“pandemic,” not going to happen from my pocketbook.

In the last 5 years (pre-“pandemic”)I’ve bought 9mm ammo for $0.19-0.20 / round and for 5.56/223 for $0.29-0.32 / round all for brass cases new ammo.

I realize we have inflationary pressures but the added cost should be somewhere in the 20-30% range. It’s good that ammo is coming back on the store shelves because there are some that “need” it but I’ll let supply and demand pressure work on that price some more before I spend money on over priced ammo.

9mm ammo for 115gr ball should be around $0.23-0.25 / round and 5.56/223 should be around $0.37-0.40 / round, based on inflation of other cost of goods.

We haven’t seen $1.50/ 50rounds of 22lr for a long time, thinking back that would have to be at least 20-25 years ago for me. I’m in no way saying we will see those types of prices but the prices I’m seeing in store shelves for all ammo is overpriced even in todays inflated market.

Now we could get into a discussion about whether or not inflation is here to stay and expand but that’s for another forum.

At Cabela's in KC, the shelves were full of .223 and a few other calibers. A welcome sign of better supply. However, no 17HMR and none of the .22 I shoot. Also conspicuously absent are primers, powder, and many bullets I want. As many of you have observed, prices were ridiculous.

The one closest to me has been well stocked the last couple times I have been there, even .22lr of several flavors.

The prices are still raised for the suckers (I can buy direct from CCI for less) but they do have stock that’s sitting on the shelves.

LGS had ammo stacked on the floor “sale” stuff.

I bought American Gunner 124gr +p jhp for $16.00 a box.

100 rounds of carry ammo will allow me to shoot a bit more to test it.

One thing to consider is that the millions of new gun owners consider this the "normal" price of ammo.

redneck2 said:

With gas at +/- $4 a gallon, bacon at $9 a pound, etc. I strongly suspect the days of $1.50 for fifty .22’s is long gone

I still have a few boxes of 325 Federal Auto Match .22’s that I bought for about $15. I’m confident that ship has sailed

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Yup, I also think the cheap ammo boat sits now on the bottom of the Black Sea with the Moskva.

It won’t stop me from shooting, though. As long as I am able to, I’ll keep trying.

Stay safe.

Only the ammo makers, distributors, and retailers actually have a clear picture of their own costs. Ammo is a commodity just like groceries. When demand is saturated and the shelves are stocked full to overflowing with a multitude of calibers, then we can expect to see prices coming down a little, along with sales and promotions to try to move more ammo, and finally reloading components will appear in good amounts.

At that point, over the next year, prices will start to fall until the sellers are operating on their customary razor-thin margins. Whether that’s 10% more than 2019 prices? 20% more? Who knows. Much will depend on the cost of components and the cost of labor in the specific places where there are factories.