Where is all the ammo?

Where is all the ammo?

On the Walmart truck ...all of 3 boxes of 9mm, a box of .45 acp and 6 boxes of some odd rifle calibers that no one uses...wait in line for two hours until after they finish unloading the truck....

LGS has ammo in all calibers, expensive but available.

I recall during the recent 'wars' the military buying and using huge ammounts of ammo but it seemed like there was still ammo around.

Are we civilians buying more now than the military did during the iraq/afgan wars?

Military ammo is manufactured at Army Ammo Depots like Lake City, not by commercial manufacturers.

Ammo? They don't make that stuff anymore. Best work on becoming an expert crossbow shooter like me

(like me working on it not like me being the expert)

Gary O said:

If you read that article you will see that the manufacturers interviewed state that they have increased their production and are still shipping that extra ammo to all the distribution guys as fast as they can make it. You black helicopter/conspiracy dudes better take a deep breath...(sorry)

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I am not sure I buy that explanation and I am no tinfoil hat guy.

By now, shortages should have subsided because most people do not buy ammo like they would perishable goods such as milk. So it is not like a steady amount is bought weekly by Joe Q.
Yet they claim to have increased production and we still see empty shelves

Sure gun shops and ranges need a regular supply, as does LE and the military. However the limited supplies have increased prices dramatically which has also reduce demand. I know there is no way I'm paying panic prices, so I among many others have reduced our consumption. Regardless, unless much of the ammo is going to TSA, FEMA, DHS, etc., it makes no sense the supply has not improved.

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Are we civilians buying more now than the military did during the iraq/afgan wars?

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There is a massive blind panic still going for both guns and ammo because of the insane fear being pandered by some political groups for their own purposes. Here are the recent lies being peddled:

1) OBAMA is going to repeal the 2A by signing a UN treaty and we will have no guns!

Complete lie, impossible, illegal even to try to do.

2) OBAMA is going to bypass the 2A by issuing an executive order to outlaw guns!

Again, complete lie. Impossible and illegal, never happened.

3) OBAMA is going to reinstate the AWB!

He might like to but he knows that there isn't anywhere near enough votes in congress to do it.

All the hysteria has people hoarding ammo and that leaves none to be purchased by shooters. It will eventually resettle on a new equilibrium, but I can GUARANTEE the prices will never come back down.

By now, shortages should have subsided because most people do not buy ammo like they would perishable goods such as milk. So it is not like a steady amount is bought weekly by Joe Q.
Yet they claim to have increased production and we still see empty shelves

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Buyer's behavior has completely changed. Most people would buy ammo when they wanted to shoot and so consumption pretty much was predictable. Now the panic has the typical "buy as you go" consumer trying to buy many thousands of rounds to build up a stock to "feel secure". This means demand has increased exponentially. Hoarders and gougers have also jumped in to buy ammo and resell it at very high prices. net result, no ammo on shelves.

I read once upon a time that a 'gasoline' shortage can be caused at any time. The average car is supposed to have a little less than half a tank on board. If people get scared and everybody decides to top off right NOW, you get lines and shortages.

At least in that sense, the ammo situation is luckier, since people typically don't have to shoot.

Those who are most convinced that govco will interfere long term in the ammo market should be conserving rather than shooting it.

Alizard said:

There is a massive blind panic still going for both guns and ammo because of the insane fear being pandered by some political groups for their own purposes. Here are the recent lies being peddled:

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I hope you are not implying the NRA, as they have been vindicated since the election on how Obama & Co would be changing their benevolent tune once re-elected.

BTW - A few things on the list are possible, even if not likely. I'd bet dollars to doughnuts to the naysayers who would never have thought all this anti-2A rhetoric by the WH would have spurred so many states to adopt such restrictive and useless laws because of Obama siren's call.

I'd say its supply and demand. Right now, more new shooters are coming on board due to worries of AWB and those that have guns are stocking up on ammo just because. Add both of them together and you get decreased stock.

I'm guessing that after the voting results from Wednesday in the Senate, things should calm down a bit. Lets hope so anyway.

Lennyjoe said:

I'd say its supply and demand. Right now, more new shooters are coming on board due to worries of AWB and those that have guns are stocking up on ammo just because. Add both of them together and you get decreased stock.

I'm guessing that after the voting results from Wednesday in the Senate, things should calm down a bit. Lets hope so anyway.

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I think this is a component that is not entered into the ammo shortage issue very often.

Gun sales have been through the roof since last November and there have been many, many new shooters that have entered the realm. I am training more people now than ever, many who have never touched a gun but are looking to buy one (once they get back on the shelves).

We are having a heck of a time running the monthly CCW class at our local range since nobody has any ammo to qualify. A good percentage of each class are first timers that have just purchased their first gun and want to get a license to carry. It's a tough situation.

I go in for renewal on May 4 and I'll be bringing extra ammo in popular calibers in case there are those that don't have enough (or have none).

Dan

"Where Is All The Ammo?"

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In your neighbor's guest bedroom



Nonetheless... a few months ago you couldn't buy ammo at any price, but now finding ammo isn't the problem, it's finding ammo at a price you are comfortable paying and shooting at the range. Prices will come down as inventory builds and stabilizes.

And don't use Walmart as the bellwether, they continue to price their ammo below the intersection of the supply and demand curves which just feeds the paranoia and supplies the gun-show resellers (e.g. The Vicious Cycle: Gun Show Guy and his family of 14 camps at Walmart and buys all the ammo every time it is restocked, Joe Blow shows up at Walmart during his lunch break and sees that they have no ammo, Joe Blow panics and goes to the gun show and pays stupid money for Gun Show Guy's Walmart ammo... rinse and repeat ad infinium).

H L S has bought it all up!

Let's be honest about it. It is our fault!

Too many yahoo's out there buying up ammunition they don't even have guns for.

And no. It is not all going to gun shows to be resold at a huge profit, or there would be more ammo at the gun shows. Most of it is going into closets and the basement, hording it against some day which will never come.

Look around on the internet, and you will find pictures of closets full of the stuff, and their owners bragging about how much they are hording. I imagine there are quite a few on this forum who have bought up every thing in sight, whether they need it or not.

There is yet another story in the news about the ammo shortage. More specifically the Miami area. Maybe some areas of the country will be more stocked than other areas because of a less demand?

I see reports here on THR that the ammo panic/shortage is starting to ease up, yet we have stories like these below. The owner of the store attributes the recent event in Boston is creating more panic and runs on ammo.


http://miami.cbslocal.com/2013/04/18/gun-stores-seeing-a-run-on-ammunition/


Jeff Dillard who runs National Armory in Pompano says it’s the worst he’s ever seen.“I have never seen ammo so impossible to get,” said Dillard. “Because of the terrorist attacks and the gun control legislation people are getting in more of a panic situation,” Dillard said.

I was at Walmart at 6:00am this morning. They received about 30 boxes of 223, 10 boxes of .40, about 50 boxes of 5.56, 10 boxes of 9mm, 5 boxes of 22LR and a few other less common rounds. There is ammo out there to be had, you just have to be there when they get it in. As has been stated before, be nice to your LGS staff and other ammo outlet workers. If you get on their good side, they'll give you the drop on when the next delivery is on the way. Despite this shortage, I've been able to arm up in everything but 22LR due in large part to my network of relationships with the store owners and staff. Make friends folks!

Vector,

I would disagree about your comment that the shortages should have subsided by now. There may be many other shooters like me that are just waiting for the supply to improve and prices drop enough to start the shortage all over again when we start our buying.

My safe is full otherwise I'd be a buyer when things ease up. Think I'd better order a set of reloading dies for .223 though.

Two of the major ammo retailers locally are our Walmart and Bass Pro. At both locations there are people waiting for the ammo to arrive.

At Bass Pro there is still a line at the door in the mornings. They make a beeline for the ammo dept.

At the Walmart, their truck comes in early in the morning. Again, there are people waiting for the ammo so they can buy their limit and then load it into the same car.

I know of at least one gun store where the employees are buying ammo, then trying to resell it at scalper's prices. It's got a real weird, as in, really weird name.

Our local armslist is also doing a brisk business in ammo.

Or, check out gunbroker. Oodles of ammo, powder, primers, etc, there.

Where's the ammo?

It's capitalism at its finest.

When people stop paying $60 for a pound of Unique gun powder, etc, then the prices will come down and supply will build up.

It'll be like every other economic phenomenon. Think, the housing bubble.

I heard a new one today. There's a limit of how many boxes you can get at one time at my local Gander Mtn. Sales guy says that guys will come in when they open, load up, and then prowl around the store stashing ammo here and there. Then buy their limit. Come back later, ammo is sold out, right? Except they've hidden ammo all over the store. They retrieve their stashed ammo, and get another limit.
Amazing, huh? Gander has to have their sales guys wander the store and return the ammo to it's normal spot when they can find it.

Walmart has all its ammo locked behind a glass display, so ammo stashing isn't possible.

One thing is for sure.
With production ramped up as it supposedly is, if the people ever have to go to war, there must be an unimaginable amount of bullets across the country.