Road trip

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I thought the ammo hoarding pandemic was a countrywide affliction. Are you indicating that there are areas unscathed where the commoners bathe in plentiful ammo?
 
Dont know where you live but i would say enjoy the view. Do some sight seeing. Hopefully gas will stay down a bit (3.59 by me). And dont plan on putting much ammo and stuff in your trunk and you will be fine. If you only intention is to fill your trunk with ammo then save the gas money for the fuel you wont waist and spend 15 or 20 hours straight on the net searching and ordering and in the long run you will have more show up at your door then you will be putting in your trunk.
 
I've done everything but a road trip. Standing outside waiting for stores to open, searching the net day in and day out, checking sites out at 2am, signing up for notification alerts, gun shows and checking the local gun shops. I've picked up some ammo but its not enough to replace 15% of what I normally shoot. Pickins are slim.
 
Put the money you'd spend on gas into a reloading setup. Just a single stage will work. It will be slow for pistol calibers unless you want to get a progressive, but you'll be spending time slowly making ammo instead of worrying about where to find it, looking for it, and driving around.
Primers, brass, projectiles, and powder can still be had, check the reloading section for threads on current in stock items.
If you can, get into casting your own bullets.

Trust me, its much more satisfying to spend the evening rolling your own for the same prices you were 6 months ago, than it is shopping for overpriced ammo that is NOWHERE to be found.

A road trip is money spent with unknown results, I think you'd be much happier if you spent the money getting yourself set up to cast and reload.
 
With gas prices high, and ammo stockpiles nonexistent EVERYWHERE, I don't see what one could accomplish road-tripping to buy ammo. You might be able to get a box or two, but at what cost? At what point is it "worth it" to keep looking for ammo that simply isn't there for the most part? If paying 3.75 a gallon to drive x amount of miles in hopes of another 100 rounds is worth it to you, its not up to me to judge. If I was in such desperate need of ammo personally, I'd be ordering online and waiting for backorders to eventually ship. That seems a heck of a lot more prudent than putting miles and wear and tear on your care....wasting valuable time......probably paying a premium for whatever ammo you DO find, etc. People who are ordering ammo seem to eventually be getting it, so why not get in line instead of looking for something that isn't likely to appear? And while its been said a million times already.....the writing was on the wall. WHY are so many people finding themselves without a reserve of sorts? Wasn't 2008 enough of a warning of what could happen? I was prepared in 08, and managed fine. I was overly prepared for 2102, and am now glad I bought more than I thought I "needed"
 
silicosys4 said:
Put the money you'd spend on gas into a reloading setup.
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Only thing scarcer than ammo right now is reloading components. Even the most popular presses are backordered everywhere. Last frenzy 4-5 years ago, ammo became readily available before reloading components. I see ammo already coming back at many places. While I agree that reloading is cheaper and more satisfying than factory ammo, suggesting that it is the route to go to quickly satisfy a need for ammo needs to be given with a grain of salt. A road trip, depending where you live, may reveal some small Mom and Pop LGS's with a small supply of ammo not yet found by hoarders or a Big Box store in a another town that you hit at the right time. The option to take that chance is up to you. Ammo companies claim to be working overtime and are selling as much if not more to wholesalers as they ever did. They will again eventually catch up with demand.
 
I've picked up some ammo but its not enough to replace 15% of what I normally shoot.
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Why not suspend shooting for a while? In the current situation with ammunition supply, shooting has become a luxury.
 
As long as people are willing to go through this much trouble to buy ammo the prices will never come back down, it's the simple economics of supply and demand. Go concentrate on another hobby for a few months, things will get better soon. I will not pay a significant markup on ammo, I have what was stocked before things got crazy and it's just going to have to get me through.
 
I can and have routinely seen .223 for under $.40 a round, .308 for under $.80, 9mm, 40, and 45 for reasonable prices, it just depends on where you're looking online.

Going on a road trip is going to be fruitless, since you'll be limited to a small supply where you do find ammo... probably cheaper to just work out a volume purchase with some of the scalpers in your town. Maybe fire up armslist and contact a scalper with an offer to buy in bulk within a timeframe (say, 2-4 weeks). While I doubt he'll want to sell his stock right now, if he has the opportunity to buy some extra when he finds it with a known buyer at slightly inflated prices, I fail to see why they wouldn't take it.

Or if you don't want to deal with the devil, contact a young relative and offer a bounty on what you need. Depending on how adept they are, and how motivated they are to help you, it might be another way to keep a set of eyes on the common deal sites.
 
CoRoMo said:
You could always have patience.

Just sayin.
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Surely you are jokeing.


TennJed

What am I basing my predictions on:

1. The only ammo we see is comming straight off the production line.

2. The entire system needsto be restocked right down to the lateset person that has taken up the hobby.

3. This will continue throught at least the 2014 & 2016 elections if we are lucky.
 
I would also suggest stopping by any bullet manufacturers/casters nearby, as it seems fairly common for them to offer reloaded ammunition as well. A couple cases of beer probably wouldn't hurt your case as well to get put a little higher on the list for your volume order. Might not be able to get jacketed rounds depending on what they produce, but slower velocity ammo like lead pistol rounds should be obtainable in volume.
 
Queen_of_Thunder said:
Considering going on a cross state trip to look for ammo and other items not available here. Don't know what else to do as I believe this mess will continue for several years.
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Dunno where ya are but if ya come across a couple or three Mini-30 rebuild kits let me know. ;)

x2 on the reloading setup. Might be tricky & a bit expensive to get into right now but you could get started. Then when prices settle(I don't believe it will be years) you can start building a stockpile. I've been panic buying for the past 4 years.
 
TBH, getting into reloading right now seems like a bad idea. Components are typically HARDER to find than manufactured ammunition. I believe at least one component manufacturer stated that all of their products are going to manufactured rounds first, and once demand is met there, then they will sell the components alone.

That being said, I've been able to get everything I need even during these times, however I lucked into some primers which are nearly impossible to locate nowadays. Just keep in mind, that just because you have notifications setup doesn't mean you'll get notified when product is in stock in a timely fashion. Signed up for notifications on Small Pistol Primers at Midway, luckily saw that they were available and bought 10,000, and they were sold out within 15 minutes or so. Got my notification that they were in stock the next morning, after they were sold out.

Good luck!
 
If you aren't setup for reloading, you arent prepared :)

I AM set up for massive reloading, and I've been doing a lot of dry-firing at people on TV.
Drill at the range use less ammo than blasting at targets, and even then I'm using my target reloads that don't emulate my carry ammo.

Carry ammo stash is in the red D:

I've sold reloaded ammo to trusted friends with the speech about squibs and whatnot.
 
I'm doing a road trip tomorrow, planning on going to Cabelas. I fully intend to find some kind of ammo that I can use. I need another dozen arrows. Not sure if I'll find any that goes bang but I'll take a look since I'll be there anyway.
 
c4v3man said:
I can and have routinely seen .223 for under $.40 a round, .308 for under $.80, 9mm, 40, and 45 for reasonable prices, it just depends on where you're looking online.

Going on a road trip is going to be fruitless, since you'll be limited to a small supply where you do find ammo... probably cheaper to just work out a volume purchase with some of the scalpers in your town. Maybe fire up armslist and contact a scalper with an offer to buy in bulk within a timeframe (say, 2-4 weeks). While I doubt he'll want to sell his stock right now, if he has the opportunity to buy some extra when he finds it with a known buyer at slightly inflated prices, I fail to see why they wouldn't take it.

Or if you don't want to deal with the devil, contact a young relative and offer a bounty on what you need. Depending on how adept they are, and how motivated they are to help you, it might be another way to keep a set of eyes on the common deal sites.
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You wrongly conclude that I have not explored evey option to obtain some ammo. Thing is a road trip is the only thing I haven't tried.
 
Fishslayer said:
Dunno where ya are but if ya come across a couple or three Mini-30 rebuild kits let me know. ;)

x2 on the reloading setup. Might be tricky & a bit expensive to get into right now but you could get started. Then when prices settle(I don't believe it will be years) you can start building a stockpile. I've been panic buying for the past 4 years.
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I don't know what a mini 30 rebuild kit is but I will ask around to see if any are available and let you know.
 
If you're going to take a road trip, the best reason to go is to not have a purpose.

Seriously, suspend the hobby for a bit, pack a backpack and fill the tank and get out of town for a bit. Go some places you've never been, get out and talk to people, smell some air, let go of it all for a bit.

When you get back, you might have a new outlook on shooting, or perhaps a new favorite store or new friend from your adventure.

If that fails, keep up the hunt and something will turn up eventually.

"The true antidote to desire is contentment. If you have a strong sense of contentment, it doesn't matter whether you obtain the object of your desire or not. Either way, you are still content." - Tenzin Gyatso
 
If it is the time to buy something for this hobby, it is probably a much better time simply to buy a gun, even if not one's first/second choice.

Ammoman last night had 880 rds. of Russian 7.62x54R for about $250 shipped. I noticed other available rounds such as 7.5 Swiss, .308 (now sold out), Danish 'NATO' 5.56, 5.45x39, Carcano, Mannlicher 8x56 RS.
Maybe the prices help explain why only one of these varieties sold out since last night.

On a comparative basis this surplus 7.62x54R appears to be a decent deal-for those who clean their guns the same day.

If one qualifies for the CMP, either a Garand or Springfield (or ammo), if within the budget.
These were considered excellent values even Before the Great Panic.

Otherwise roadtrips, if nothing else, can introduce us to the beauty of nature trails in certain state parks we might see only once.
And on a weekday, even better. Fewer traces of the junky, self-centered human race.
 
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