I'm really thankful these days

Wonders what supply would be like if fewer people hoarded...

Guys, this was in good humor. I also have plenty. I just tend to consider stocking up a little differently than other people.

So now being prepared constitutes hoarding? Is that what you are suggesting?

Here we go.

Bush Pilot said:

everyone had at least a five year supply of ammo and components. The moral of the story to some of you is STOCK UP WHEN THIS CURRENT CRISIS LETS UP.

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Key words here are " five year supply ".
Could be a rough road ahead...

Walkalong said:

Stocking up when prices are low and vendors are trying to move product is not hoarding, it's smart money/being prepared. You did not take anything from anyone, inventory is there, just not being sold.

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Totally agree!!!

daniel craig said:

Wonders what supply would be like if fewer people hoarded...

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Probably worse.

The shortage right now isn’t caused by people hoarding. It’s caused by a shift in consumer behaviors that the manufacturers weren’t ready for.

But...they were more ready than they might have been. If, over the past few years, people had only been buying what they used, ammo producers would have been making less ammo and the pipeline wouldn’t have been as well supplied as it was. When the inrush of new customers hit, the hoarders stopped buying (they don’t need more ammo and why pay higher prices?) and the supply that had been going to them was ready to meet new customer demand.

Stock primers & powder. The rest can all be easily sourced. 50# of powder & 10,0000 primers isn't hoarding.

I said this in a previous thread, but I'll say it again here.

Not everyone is in a position to buy large quantities of ammunition. Some folks have to seriously consider whether they can afford a box that weekend to go to the range. I've been poor and I've been comfortable, and god forbid I forget that. It just isn't possible for a lot of people to have years worth of ammunition stored away.

At the same time, don't blame me because I've got a few thousand rounds loaded and components stored away for several thousand more.
Hoarding is a word the unprepared use to describe the prepared.
I sympathize with those who can't afford to stock up, hell I've been there, but lack of preparation on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.

daniel craig said:

Wonders what supply would be like if fewer people hoarded...

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The ONLY people who run around mad because they can't find stuff are either brand new shooter/ gun owners, or they just refuse to learn from the past. The VAST majority of the angry people have seen this before, make the choice to ignore it when ammo and supplies are on sale, then of course blame those who stay prepared. The old ant and grasshopper tale plays out over and over again with the grasshoppers always blaming someone else <shrug>

Arkansas Paul said:

I said this in a previous thread, but I'll say it again here.

Not everyone is in a position to buy large quantities of ammunition. Some folks have to seriously consider whether they can afford a box that weekend to go to the range. I've been poor and I've been comfortable, and god forbid I forget that. It just isn't possible for a lot of people to have years worth of ammunition stored away.

At the same time, don't blame me because I've got a few thousand rounds loaded and components stored away for several thousand more.
Hoarding is a word the unprepared use to describe the prepared.
I sympathize with those who can't afford to stock up, hell I've been there, but lack of preparation on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.

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No one has to stockpile all at one time. If you shoot 1 box of ammo a week, buy two. Soon you can laugh off the next panic.

Op. Smug indeed. Many new firearm owners, and there are more than ever, don't get to be smug.

Alex Clayton said:

No one has to stockpile all at one time. If you shoot 1 box of ammo a week, buy two. Soon you can laugh off the next panic.

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I'm not that short sighted. I don't buy for one week.
I go through maybe a couple of pounds of pistol powder and a couple thousand primers a year. I buy based on my budget at the time and availability, and I buy as much as I can afford. It isn't getting any cheaper and stored properly will last decades.
And I don't want or need anyone's approval.
It has nothing to do with what I have to do.

Mn Fats said:

Op. Smug indeed. Many new firearm owners, and there are more than ever, don't get to be smug.

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Agreed 100%. There is definitely no reason to be smug.
I'm fortunate enough to put away for a rainy day. I don't look down my nose at people who can't.
And I've often shared components or factory ammunition with those who couldn't find any.

That being said, I don't feel for people who can afford to, but choose not to. Priorities. Everyone's are different.
I have a couple of hobbies, and allot my discretionary dollars to what is important to me. There was a time in the not so distant past when I didn't have very many of those, so I enjoy helping new shooters when I can do so.

Arkansas Paul said:

I'm not that short sighted. I don't buy for one week.
I go through maybe a couple of pounds of pistol powder and a couple thousand primers a year. I buy based on my budget at the time and availability, and I buy as much as I can afford. It isn't getting any cheaper and stored properly will last decades.
And I don't want or need anyone's approval.
It has nothing to do with what I have to do.

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That works fine. The only people who get in a "spot" are the ones who go and buy what they need when they need it. Often ignoring the sales when stuff is stacked in the isle and on every weekly sale sheet. Then when a panic hits suddenly want some. Just buy more than you use however you buy. Matters not if it's weekly, monthly, bi monthly. Just don't ignore the stuff when it's on sale and you have none. After you have enough for a year or so you are fine next shortage.

Arkansas Paul said:

That being said, I don't feel for people who can afford to, but choose not to. Priorities. Everyone's are different.

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Agreed, and that describes me fairly well. I didn’t take advantage of the prices over the last last few years. I was busy getting married, having my first child, et cetera. I chose my priorities and stocking back extra ammo wasn’t one of them. Zero regrets.

Ed Ames said:

I chose my priorities and stocking back extra ammo wasn’t one of them. Zero regrets.

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Nor should there be any regrets.
We are also all at different stages in life. I've been married for nearly half of my life and my child just applied to college.
When I started out, having an ammo stockpile wasn't very high on my priority list either. And even if it would have been, I wasn't in a financial position to do anything about it.

You don’t need eleventy billion rounds to protect you and yours.

a stockpile is great to allow you to keep shooting for fun or practice.

Be proficient in your firearms, have a few boxes of ammo in case stuff and supplement with lots of dry fire and handling drills in the lean times.

When the current panic subsides, buy 2 shoot 1. Rinse repeat.

Just my humble low speed, high drag advice.

For the new folks to the fold, welcome. Use YouTube or the like to learn your basic safety/handling skills assuming you can’t get practical training and work on dry fire and handling.

STOCK UP ON WHAT YOU LIKE TO SHOOT OR WILL SCRATCH THE ITCH WHEN YOU CAN. ITS NOT HOARDING ITS PRUDENT.

For me airguns and .22 are my lean times stuff. Cheapish, takes up very little space and is easy to stock up on during the flush time.

take care, shoot safe,
Chris

Arkansas Paul said:

We are also all at different stages in life.

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You are not wrong at all. Sometimes the stages don’t follow a set pattern. Sometimes it seems like we’re at several stages at once.

cslinger said:

For the new folks to the fold, welcome. Use YouTube or the like to learn your basic safety/handling skills assuming you can’t get practical training and work on dry fire and handling.

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And don’t discount training aids such as laser target practice systems and devices like the Mantis X. They aren’t all you need, but they can help you get better, faster, with less ammo used.

I'm pretty poor. I can certainly understand not being able to afford ammo. Ammo is EXPENSIVE, no matter how you slice it. Always has been.

After FOUR YEARS of no .22lr ammo anywhere, at any price, when it finally became available again, I decided it was my turn to start hoarding. I don't have a bazillion rounds of .22 ammo, but I have a whole lot more than I did during those four years... which was almost nothing, and I was afraid to shoot any of it because I didn't think I'd ever be able to replace it! I started buying what ammo I could, when I could.

I decided also to stick with common calibers that were (relatively) cheap and available.... .22lr, of course, .38 Special, .45ACP, and .223. Some of my more esoteric calibers will just have to go hungry. So, I have some ammo stocked up... that doesn't mean I can afford to shoot it! I actually don't shoot a whole lot because it's too expensive anyway, and now, once again, I don't know when or if I'll be able to replace it. It may be needed.

For those who haven't been paying attention and are now suddenly going "hey, how come nobody's got guns or ammo??".. well, I don't know what to tell you.. You're pretty much S.O.L. If there's something you need that happens to be available right now, you durn sure better get it now. The situation isn't going to improve any time soon.... and frankly, this time, I don't think it ever will.

daniel craig said:

Wonders what supply would be like if fewer people hoarded...

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Trunk Monkey said:

One of the things that sticks in my mind even now from the last ammo panic (which wasn't the last ammo panic BTW)was the people on this board that were damning all the hoarders. What I find interesting now is that I see some of the same voices refusing to stock now and still damning all the hoarders.

I've said it before I got caught short last time and I paid for it and I decided then that I am going to do everything in my power to make sure that never happens again.

At my current rate of consumption I would say that I have an estimated between five and seven years supply on hand. We don't have a specific timetable of what we want to buy in a year. We have a designated amount of money that we set aside for ammunition from every paycheck and when we find a good sale we buy as much as we can reasonably afford.

I say this every time this topic comes up but I am absolutely convinced that the last ammo panic wasn't the last ammo panic and when the next one comes I want to be situated for it.

The last ammo panic lasted really for the whole of Obama's 8 year term. Bearing that in mind I don't think having a 10-year supply on hand is ridiculous.

So the next ammo panic when all of you people that like to damn the hoarders are posting in Fred's here about damming the hoarders I'm not going to say I told you so but it will be thinking it

May 27, 2019

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I'm thinking very loud right now.

Growing up poor has its learning advantages. It's called preparedness . Go without food for a few days or eat bread and pickles for a week because that is all you have. It helps put things in proper priority, and also teaches you to prepare for the lean times. It also gives lessons on improvising . As a pre teen I purchased .22 RF cartridges from a local gas station. They sold them by the box (50 cents), or by each cartridge. A couple of cartridges would put a rabbit of a squirrel on the supper menu . A home made trap could also do the same at times. Today I have a 500 round minimum for all center fire guns I own except for shotgun which is 200 rounds. For rimfire it is 1,000. Those are my stopping points for shooting. They are my reserves and if I can't afford more then I stop shooting until I have the funds to buy more. For many years I reloaded, but now live in a efficiency apartment that has little room for anything. So I sold my reloading materials. I seldom get to shoot any more as I am also in a wheel chair with no close ranges to go to. I still have a few bricks of .22 LR I bought on sale for $7.77 for a 500 round brick at Cabela's.

I'm really thankful these days

Bush Pilot said:

We all felt very smug that everyone had at least a five year supply of ammo and components.

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Should have stuck with "thankful".

Shoot ‘em if you got ‘em.

It may rain today fund.
Rainy day fund.
When's this supposed to end? fund.
Monsoon fund.

Big boat full of animals fund.

Main thing to remember is, it always will rain, and always has. Just how much and when is the prophetical we all want to time out...perfectly.

Best to keep an umbrella handy, and maybe some slip on rubbers is my suggestion.

Buying up ammo and components when it's cheap and plentiful isn't hoarding, and actually helpful to those caught short when "stuff" happens and the supplies get stressed. Those of us that stocked up aren't the folks that are trying to build a 5yr stockpile during a shortage. I do feel for those just starting out now, those not trying to stockpile, but just get a few boxes to train with their first firearm. I have plenty of components, plenty of reloads, but at this point I've given away over 500 rounds of factory ammo to family and friends. Not a whole lot of factory 9mm left, and a doubt it will be too long before that's gone. Should be enough to get my sister and brother in law to an acceptable competency level with their new purchase though.