Chicken or the Egg

That's kind of like asking if you should buy the gasoline first or the car? Not much point in having the gasoline around without the car to put it in. Same with buying a new gun. If this is a new caliber for you what's the point in buying the ammo without having a gun to use it in.

I would check on the availability of the ammo and possibly some spare mags to go with it. If they're good to go then I would say buy the gun and then get the ammo and mags, as soon as possible and as your personal finances permit.

In today's market I would not purchase any firearm unless I was assured of obtaining a decent supply of ammo. So I would buy the gun then the ammo 30 second later.

This quandry is why my next purchase (in the next month or so) will be one of 3 things. A .38/357, .40 S&W or a 12ga.

Well, .38/.357 gives you too kinds of ammo you might eventually find.

When I was in Walmart the other day they had one box of .357, one box of .38 Spl., and several boxes of 12 GA hunting loads.

No .40 to be seen.

But this too shall pass.
Once the ammo hoarders get next months credit card bill and can't pay the rent.

rc

I buy them at the same time.

Since I have to scrimp and save to get a new firearm, I don't spend anything from my gun fund until I've bought the gun itself.

I'm looking to get a new .30-06, which would be a new caliber for me. I see the shelves packed with .30-06, so it's not that I haven't been tempted to buy some. But I'm also looking at a .38 revolver for CC, so I don't want to buy .30-06 and then decide I'd rather have the .38. Gun first, ammo at the same time if I can afford it, otherwise, ammo later.

Gun first.

I never know what I'm walking away with until I'm out the door.

I bought .257 Roberts ammo and even reloading dies and components for a rifle I hadn't even located yet, knowing full well that I would buy "the" rifle when I found it. I also bought .45ACP ammo, components, and dies before the gun arrived, but it was enroute to my FFL.

Normally, the day I buy a gun is the day I buy ammo for it. I always shoot at least a box or so of factory loads before anything else in any new gun I acquire, and I always keep a few factory rounds on hand in every cartridge I shoot.

Gun then ammo.

Then magazines...

I can eat a egg once or keep my chicken and keep enjoying eating eggs. In the case of guns and ammo I suppose the gun comes first as their are valuable collectors guns without ammunition.

It is sad though to see calling folks who are buying ammunition as "hoarders" here on THR. I guess some pards just don't believe gun control is coming to their town.

There is a Japanese dish, the name of which translates to 'Mother and Daughter'. It is a piece of chicken on top of an egg, rice and vegies.

Buy both. Why buy one if you can't buy the other?

Using the car analogy - I look at it like this:

I haven't seriously considered a motor vehicle for decades that I didn't confirm insurance rates first.

With firearms, while I'll purchase the firearm first, (in most cases) when it's a new to me caliber, I confirm cost and availability of ammo, reloading components and reloading equipment first.

I've been unpleasantly surprised before.

I almost did this when shopping for my 1911. Buying ammo first, that is. Then I decided to not get a new caliber and buy a 9mm 1911. It would have sucked to have 500 rounds if stuff that wouldn't fit in the gun!

Same thing with accessories. I almost bought mags and a holster (picked a commander over officers). Sure glad I waited.

Well u can always buy a box of ammo here and there then use it as an excuse for a new gun. Especialy if you were to find a grat deal on a caliber you've been interested in just havn't made the plunge. Grab the deal on ammo then wait for the right gun to come along.

dullone said:

HYPOTHETICAL

Your set on buying a gun that's a new caliber to you. In todays marketplace, which to buy first........ammo or gun?

Click to expand...

Depends on what deals present themselves first...

I bought two cases of 8mm Mauser ammo (mil-surp, bulk, cheap, at a gun show) several months before I found the Yugo Mauser I wanted.

Warning: This will make you an Official Gun Nut(tm). You used to get a T-shirt and a club membership with this....

As long as you know what you're gonna get, get either. I too have purchased ammo, dies and components for guns I haven't or hadn't purchased yet. I've done this for 44-40, 41mag, 45colt. I also keep magazines, ammo, dies and components for calibers I only owned one gun for and have sold or traded.

If I'm in the market for 2 things, the one I'll buy first is whichever I find a decent price on.

I decided in 2011 to buy a Kel-Tec P32, and had my mind made up. I had to order it, as no one around here had it in stock. I bought the ammo the day I ordered it so that, when it arrived, I could pick it up and head straight to the range.

That's the only time I bought ammo in a caliber for which I did not yet own a gun.

No, I'd do my research first, source the gun, then go get ammo for it.

Ammo is no good without a gun unless you plan on using it for barter. Buy the gun you want or need and then get the ammo. Ammo is still available, it just costs more. There are a lot of people out there with incredible stashes of ammo. When the price is right they'll let some of it go. Or, even better, the "craziness" will end and ammo supplies will be sufficient.

Load your own and it is a moot point.

This. Every firearm purchase I have ever made included ammo for the firearm.

I wouldn't buy without buying both. I'd want to make sure there were no problems with the gun, and for that you need ammo.

First; I will not buy a caliber of gun that I cannot walk into a small town sporting goods store and find ammo for.

Second; I won't buy ammo for a gun that's not in my safe.