Ammo vendor scare tactics?

Are ammo vendors using scare tactics to sell ammo?

  • Yes, they are selling fear to sell ammo.

    Votes: 27 21.6%
  • No, there is going to be an ammo shortage.

    Votes: 13 10.4%
  • While there is ammo available today, there wont be after the election.

    Votes: 20 16.0%
  • Please stop talking about a possible ammo shortage.

    Votes: 65 52.0%

  • Total voters
    125
  • Poll closed .
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Hi All -

Just an observational opinion.

Has anyone felt lately that ammo vendors are using, what I like to call newsstand media tactics, to sell ammunition lately?

  • I have seen vendors talk about the upcoming election.
  • There are some vendors posting blog entries discussing the number of shipments coming in and out of their facilities.
  • I have seen LGS advertising to stock up for spring before they run out.

It seems that there are more advertisements, blog postings, discussion boards that are talking about stocking up; but these are coming from the vendors and not individuals.

In 2008, I couldn't find a lot of ammo starting in March.

In 2012, it felt like the ammo barely had returned before Newtown, then Newtown happened.


Fast forward to today, new ammunition manufacturing has come online. I am not aware of a government ammo buy, the last time over the span of a few years the government purchases totaled 2,118,002,000 rounds. Obama ran on passing a gun ban, he has been in office for 8 years, some in his own party would not rank and file behind a ban. We all see .22lr has come back in stock, I still buy a box every time I am in walmart.

I also can find reloading components from primers to powders on the shelf again.

Do you think we are headed to an ammo shortage? Or are distributors and vendors looking for a way to offload their goods?
 
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Every election cycle causes this. Even consumers are guilty of this self fulfilling prophecy. The worst byproduct of this are the opportunist hoarders who will be selling .22 for .50 cents a round.
 
If you read any of the polls about people's attitude toward government, you find a serious lack of trust. Given the anti-gun mouth music from Hillary et al, it's not at all surprising that there is an undercurrent of fear in the general gun community. How much is justified? I don't know.
 
Shortage or No Shortage, Banic or No Banic....buy a box of ammo each week whether you need to buy it or not.

Better still, buy two boxes of ammo a week.

Once a month, buy a box of ammo for guns you do not yet own. (Because you might own one someday).
.
 
Is it still considered a shortage when everyone you know has more ammo today then at any point in the past? Even 22LR...
It's possible that the election could cause a run on supplies but unless Democrats pick up the presidency, and House of Representatives the chance of any legislation passing is slim to none.
 
When the opportunist buy & jack up prices , don't buy from them . I would rather shoot something I do have shells for & let them hold them , & get stuck with something they don't use anyway ------em
 
Shortage or No Shortage, Banic or No Banic....buy a box of ammo each week whether you need to buy it or not.

Better still, buy two boxes of ammo a week.

Once a month, buy a box of ammo for guns you do not yet own. (Because you might own one someday).

What Midwest said.

I have been doing this for years, as in just about every time I went to a gun shop or sporting goods store. If they had good prices on ammo (even better when it was on sale), I would pick up a box or two. Have never had to worry about shortages or buying ammo that was way overpriced because that was all that was available.
 
There will be those that quietly buy a little ammo each week and stack it up. There will be those that will buy only what they need when they go shooting and pickup more next time.

When the next panic hits.

There will be those that go shooting and don't worry about it much.
There will be those that moan and wail about the shortages and the gouging going on.

Its up to each of us to decide where we fall in that dictum.

Me? I made my mind up years ago. Off to shop this morning.

WB
 
I'm with Wildbillz. I know how it feels to be uncertain about your inventory levels or not have any of a certain caliber. This was the case in the last presidential election. I no longer have this uncertainty and I will make sure that I will not become one of the whiners that didn't prepare this time.
 
Small as it is, this very thread doesn't help.

It may be a single small grain but it helps to fill the bucket of fears. Add this thread to the "I heard... " or "I read..." scenarios building to the next buying frenzy.

Remember that the greatest factor in recent ammunition or firearms shortages was frenzied buying relative to gossip and NOT a lack of supply in the form of diminished production.

The industry in general was well capable of absorbing the shift in the last decade supporting a ramp-up in military/law enforcement demands. It was the wild eyed buyers flowing through gun shows, big boxes and internet sights that really created the shortage.



Todd.
 
The industry has been running on a razors edge as far as supply goes for years, just a small, sudden spike in demand, will send it crashing down.

I've been steadily stocking up over many small orders, not just one massive one. I'm not going to be holding a paperweight with no ammo come January.
 
This election does matter

If a Democrat is elected, they will put a anti gun Judge on the bench.

It would be very, very possible to see Heller overturned then. If that happens they will then do everything they can to eliminate all guns and ammo.



steve
 
I'm concentrating on reloading supplies, not ammo. I'll have enough on hand to last 2 years, after November. That means enough components to load 5000 rounds of 9mm, 40 S&W and 5.56.
 
It would be very, very possible to see Heller overturned then. If that happens they will then do everything they can to eliminate all guns and ammo.

I just don't see a current SC overturn a previous decision "just because".
How many amendments have been repealed? Why was it repealed? They just don't go around overturning previous decisions because the majority vote has swung. Now, new legislation may not go our way but when they make decisions, they look to past case law and decisions for guidance. I think Heller and McDonald have set precedence for future litigation. The judges are older and a conservative bunch no matter how they lean. They just don't go to work every day looking for a ruling to rehash.
 
I don't buy ammo other than .22LR.
I buy components and when I find components at a price I'm willing to pay I pick them up.
I keep a minimum of 5,000 primers of each type in stock at all times.
I also try to keep enough powder in stock to make 5,000 rounds of each type of ammo I use.
I also keep enough bullets in stock to make 5,000 rounds of each pistol caliber I shoot and 2,000 rounds of each rifle caliber I shoot.
 
I reload AND I buy ammo.

7.62x39. 1000 for $200?

9mm under $10 box, brass. (I have 9mm DIES as well)

22LR, for sure.

Have dies and components for my multiple other ammo types. Really I do need to start casting though.
 
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I just don't see a current SC overturn a previous decision "just because".
I recently heard Alan Gura (I assume you know who he is?) on a podcast (think it was Tom Gresham's Gun Talk.

From Mr. Gura, here's what you can expect if the "bad" side wins and stacks the court against gun owners:
1. You can kiss your 2nd amendment rights goodbye.
2. Sure, they'll still be in the BOR, but there will be so many "reasonable" restrictions placed on you that for all intents and purposes, the 2nd Amendment will be nothing but words on paper.
3. Of all the candidates running for president, he thinks Cruz is the only one that would expend political capital in order to get SCOTUS judges that would protect the 2nd Amendment.

He was not endorsing Ted Cruz (and stated he wouldn't necessarily vote for him) - he was just giving you the legal lay of the land.
 
There will be those that quietly buy a little ammo each week and stack it up.
Sounds like a plan!

I've always done the above, but since I didn't get into 22 until around 3 years ago (with the release of all those nice AR15, ARX160, 1911, etc. 22's), I was completely blindsided by the 22 shortage.

It's taken quite a while and some vigilant shopping to build up a stash of 22 (without getting burned on price).

I've got all the 22 I really need (maybe I could use more of a few flavors), but if prices fall with increasing supply, I'll probably stock up on a little more.
 
There will be those that quietly buy a little ammo each week and stack it up. There will be those that will buy only what they need when they go shooting and pickup more next time.

When the next panic hits.

There will be those that go shooting and don't worry about it much.
There will be those that moan and wail about the shortages and the gouging going on.

Its up to each of us to decide where we fall in that dictum.

Me? I made my mind up years ago. Off to shop this morning.

WB

Very well said

better to have it

& not need it

than need it & not have it

with out ammo all we have are expensive clubs

stock up while you can because one day you will not be able to
 
I admit, I'm stocking up on high grade ammo, especially Hornady TAP. I want to have 2 full Infantry loads. (7 magazines)
 
The way I see it, the most likely scenarios will result in an ammo shortage. If Cruz wins and the Republicans keep the Senate, no problems. If Cruz wins and the Democrats win the Senate, problems ensue. If Trump wins, he probably won't pick another conservative for the Supreme Court, and problems ensue. If Hillary wins, she picks a liberal for the Supreme Court and problems ensue. Bernie is just another flavor of Hillary. I don't see the Republican Senate standing against Presidential picks after the election, except maybe Cruz's.

So I think people are going to see the writing on the wall the closer we get to the election, and there will most likely be a run on guns and ammo at some point. So I have been buying over time since Obama's first Presidential election, and I intend to keep doing so unless Cruz starts passing Trump and then Hillary in a significant way.
 
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