Ammo shortage easing or not?

TheDaywalkersDad:
"I visited two of the larger gun dealers in my area. This is a brief summary that is no doubt boring and similar to what you're seeing.

First store... lots and lots of M1911's in stock. A decent amount of revolvers in various flavors were present. Not a lot of hi cap pistols were present but there were a few less popular brands in the case. As for ammo, there was plenty of .40cal and just a little .45acp. A few boxes of .380 was present and all of the hunting calibers were stocked except for .308, .223 & 30-06. They even had a little 7.62x39mm. No .22lr was in stock.

The 2nd store had a few M1911's and revolvers. The only hi cap pistols present were Taurus's.
There were a few boxes of handgun ammo. They were all hollowpoints. No target ammo was present. No. 22lr.

So, is the shortage easing?"

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You did not post the actual prices of the ammo that you saw.

I state this for a reason:

Reports of ammo - present - at gun shows and also seen at LGS = 99.9% of the time, revolve around the fact that the pricing is essentially gouged, and thus double the cost, or even more than double pricing - of going rates for the same ammo.

NHCraigT:

A layover hotel in West Little Rock was a 3-min. walk from Bullseye Guns.
They are nice people.

Two weeks ago their price for Russian 7.62x39 was $8 or $9.00 per box, with a max. of three per customer. That had a wide variety of ammo types on the left wall.
They even had about five guns in the AR configuration(s) on the right wall.

7.62x54, I just got 660 rounds of Russian lead core in five round stripper clips for 160 bucks, then another 880 steel core rounds of Russian 1982 production for $157.00 with free shipping.

The 880 rounds were vacuum packed in spam cans (with can opener in the hinged wood crate) and is some of the best looking Russian 7.62x54 ammo I have ever seen to date.

Re: NHCraigT

"First store... lots and lots of M1911's in stock."

Interesting about availability of the 1911 pistols. I just finished watching the "Shooting Gallery" on Outdoors channel. The hour was all about Armscorp in the Philippines, was stated they are the largest manufacturer of 1911 pistols in the world. One that really caught my eye was their Rock Island Armory 1911 A2 22 TCM Armscor 22TCM, 17 round magazine with 40 grain bullet at 2,000 fps out of 4” barrel. They are also coming out with same round in a rifle at 3,000 fps.

Armscor ships the empty brass for their ammunition to Montana where it is loaded.

It seems that at times it looks like the ammo supply is starting to come back, but then it all dries up again. I think that as long as there is serious debate about gun control issues people will keep buying.

In my area is seems rifles are starting to be back on the shelves. I saw multiple ARs are Scheels the other day, glocks and M&Ps were all sold. I think the majority of people that were panic buying guns are done and now buying up ammo.

When people are fighting over who gets the lone 1,000 round box of Federal 223 one can safely say things are not getting better. Whatever ammo shows up is disappearing moments after being put on the shelf and thats with a 1 box limit. At my local Academy the doors open at 0800hrs and by 0805 all ammo that was put put before they opened is gone.

BTW where did all of the 20ga ammo go.

It hasn't eased up yet here but it never got as bad as other places.

This is what I saw yesterday

CCI bricks $28
1000 small pistol primers $48
100/$50 223.

Supplies were kinda low and selling quickly.

7.62x54, I just got 660 rounds of Russian lead core in five round stripper clips for 160 bucks, then another 880 steel core rounds of Russian 1982 production for $157.00 with free shipping.

The 880 rounds were vacuum packed in spam cans (with can opener in the hinged wood crate) and is some of the best looking Russian 7.62x54 ammo I have ever seen to date.

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AIM Surplus? Somebody posted a picture recently showing then fat with new shipments of 7.62x54R. But I can remember when those 880 spam cans were about half that. I got two of them at the time, and have probably shot less than 100 rounds of it through my M44. That's a punishing beast to shoot. Let's see, that was back in 2007, when I paid $79.95 for a nice M44 with a laminated stock. Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end!

baz said:

AIM Surplus? Somebody posted a picture recently showing then fat with new shipments of 7.62x54R. But I can remember when those 880 spam cans were about half that. I got two of them at the time, and have probably shot less than 100 rounds of it through my M44. That's a punishing beast to shoot. Let's see, that was back in 2007, when I paid $79.95 for a nice M44 with a laminated stock. Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end!

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Speak for yourself.

Many of us were not nearly so naive.

NHCraigT said:

You did not post the actual prices of the ammo that you saw.

I state this for a reason:

Reports of ammo - present - at gun shows and also seen at LGS = 99.9% of the time, revolve around the fact that the pricing is essentially gouged, and thus double the cost, or even more than double pricing - of going rates for the same ammo.

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Let's see if I can remember what I saw yesterday.
.40S&W ammo was $22 per box (Winchester)
.45acp was about $25 per box.
.22lr was $10.50 per 50 rnd box (Federal) at a Dick's Sporting Goods last week.
7.62x39mm Tulammo was $11 per box.
Can't remember what the .380 was priced at. There were only a couple of boxes present.

I've run across .40S&W three times over the last two weeks and it's always about $22 per box.

A few of us text each other when we run across ammo. We try to help each other out if possible. A friend of mine is running around on the other side of town, and just told me that one LGS got in some 9mm Blazer for $15 per box (Yay!!!). Of course it's one box per customer (boo!!!).
Another store is holding the line on prices. They got in some Pmags today and they're selling for $16.

I've found plenty of .40 over the last two weeks and a decent amount of .45acp. Naturally I don't have either one since I consolidated calibers after this mess happened in 2008/2009.

baz said:

AIM Surplus? Somebody posted a picture recently showing then fat with new shipments of 7.62x54R. But I can remember when those 880 spam cans were about half that. I got two of them at the time, and have probably shot less than 100 rounds of it through my M44. That's a punishing beast to shoot. Let's see, that was back in 2007, when I paid $79.95 for a nice M44 with a laminated stock. Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end!

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660 rounds from Aim, 880 rounds from Sportsmanguide.

No, for me the good old days were pre 1968. Pristine Brno Persian Mauser, 30 bucks, trapdoors for 20, K98 Mausers 15, milsurp pistols and revolvers for just a few bucks ad nauseam. Ordered from Shotgun News and they were mailed to your door.

I may have to change my mind about when the shortages will end after what I saw this morning. Academy had the largest and biggest selection I've seen since this mess started. Multiple brands in 22lr,9mm,45acp, 223 and in quantity. Lots of ammo remained after the inital rush of some 40 people during the first 30 minutes.

Queen_of_Thunder said:

I may have to change my mind about when the shortages will end after what I saw this morning. Academy had the largest and biggest selection I've seen since this mess started. Multiple brands in 22lr,9mm,45acp, 223 and in quantity. Lots of ammo remained after the inital rush of some 40 people during the first 30 minutes.

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Any limits?

Old prices?

What did it look like a few hours later?

My Academy in Pasadena TX had about 25 boxes each of Monarch & Tula 223 for $5.99, also plenty of 7.62x39 when I made it in around lunch time. No popular handgun ammo and no 22LR, as usual.

They've had 7.62x39 in stock every time I make it over there for $6.49. I pick a box up for a buddy that needs it.

Warp said:

Any limits?

Old prices?

What did it look like a few hours later?

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Prices seem to be no different.
Blazer 9mm....$13
UMC 1,000 count bulk 9mm...$239
Lawman 45acp...$21
AE 45acp.....$25
Independance 45acp...$23.00
Blazer 525 count 22lr...$19.99
Federal 223 1,000 count....$449

After the inital rush of about 40 people there was quite a bite of ammo left to include 22lr and 9mm.

They still have their limit of 1 box each of 3 calibers of 22lr,9mm,40s&w,45apc,7.62x39,308 and 223/556.

The winchester 556 did go up from $8.99 to $11.99.

I was in Academy yesterday and they had a couple boxes of 380. No 22.

I just bought Tula 223 for $5.27 at Walmart in Berea Ky. They had a 3 box limit and sold their last 9 while I was there. They said I just missed the .22. Still .40 to be had.

Wow .22LR, what is that? I saw pictures of it in a magazine so I can remember what it looks like!

I watched someone on Gunbroker pay $17.00 a 50-round box for CCI-Stingers last night,
I paid $4.79 for each of the 20-some boxes sitting in my cabinet,
Im tempted to sell off some , but afraid to see what it would cost to replace it !!

My local WM is getting ammo pretty regular each week. Last week I bought (3) 100 round boxes of WWB 9mm at $24.47 each. A couple days later, I got (2) boxes of 50 round Tulammo 9mm at $10.47 each.

Today they had (10) boxes of WWB .45 auto on the shelf at $20.57 per box of 50. I left with (2) boxes of Remington 9mm hollow point 100 round bulk packs at $30.77 per box.

The counter guy said they even got .223 and .22lr in this morning, but those were the first to sell out.

Not around here it hasn't. At least Wally world is limiting sales to 3 boxes per person per day though.

Cheaper Than Dirt had 1000 round loose 5.56 green tip penetrators going for $999... $999!!! I about crapped my pants. When you can find ammo the prices are sky high. Just a couple months ago I picked up a 750 round case of the same for under $350 delivered. I don't see the situation getting any better for some time to come. That's a shame too, I used to be able to go through a couple hundred rounds a week just to keep proficient and to have fun. I'd always replace a case as I went through it, or pick up an extra if I saw a good deal. Not any more folks. Hopefully the prices will come down eventually.

Could I get some SD HP 45 ammo if I wanted? Yes.

http://www.ammunitiondepot.com/45-ACP-Hollow-Point-Ammo-s/1866.htm

http://www.luckygunner.com/handgun/45-acp-ammo

http://www.bulkammo.com/handgun/bulk-.45-acp-ammo?p=2

230 gr. Ranger T or Federal HST for only ~$40 per 50 round box.

Although Wal-Mart(s) do not sell the above selections, around here they are incessantly barren of handgun ammo, much less having "regular" JHP 45 like "white box" Winchester or the Remington "green box".

Wal-Mart = apparent / obvious shortage.
Online = available, at about +17% over "typical" prices.

Cheaper Than Dirt had 1000 round loose 5.56 green tip penetrators going for $999... $999!!!

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That's enough to make a person stop buying anything from them.