A question of etiquette: "leave some for the next guy"

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DustyGmt

DustyGmt

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I just managed to score 1500rds of CCI @ $7/100 .22lr and 200rds of #8 12ga. I'm not certain what the 12ga ammo cost, but I'm having a lil but of a bittersweet moment here, on the one hand I'm glad I got some ammo, on the other I could have just got alot more.
My wife goes to get aquarium supplies in the nearest town that has a Wal mart. I don't get over that way much but every time I ask her to go in to check for ammo she says it's wiped out, so tonite I ask her to pop in and check. Queue "eyeroll", she agreed but basically she feels it's a waste of time since the shelves are bare every time, so I tell her you never know, you might get lucky and get there as soon as the truck arrives. Well lo and behold she got there as soon as they stocked the shelves with .22lr and 12ga ammo.

She tried to call me to ask what she should get but I was in the shower, anyway she tells me what she got but told me there was alot more. She said she asked if there was a limit and the clerk said "no, but there should be". She called from the parking lot and I was talking to her about whether or not to have her go back in to buy the rest. She tells me she would feel like a jerk and that I should leave some for someone else and I do get why she would feel that way. If I was there right now, pretty much no question I would walk in and buy it all. I would feel a lil awkward about it but I can't really see how letting the next guy come in and do the same thing I want to do helps anybody but that guy. I just haven't warmed up to the idea that I need concern myself with who may come in to buy ammo after me. I spend alot of time searching for ammo, to no avail, I like to shoot, therefore when I finally do find it, should take advantage right?

If I knew that the next guy coming in was just looking for a box or two to shoot with his kids or something I would of course leave it for him/her, but there is no way for me to know that the next guy isn't just going to scalp it, or buy it all in bulk for himself.

I guess all this is to ask, can anybody make a case for why I ought to concern myself with leaving some for the next guy, is there anything wrong with my thinking about this. I am not a selfish person by nature, but I definitely think I'm a selfish ammo buyer in an unprecedented ammo shortage the likes of which we have never seen. I let my wife off the hook by the way, I told her if she feels bad doing it that she didn't have to because I understand the logic of it and why she would feel uncomfortable about it, but when we scour the online shops, hoping to find a bucket o' bullets, or case or whatever, and you finally find it, do you say hmmmm, I bet somebody else is going to want that and pass on picking up ammo after coming up short for months at a time? I would think not and I guess that's just how I look at it.

I'm prepared to take some heat for this, I know alot of people believe that people like me are the reason we are short to begin with. I don't really buy that, I look for months and months with no luck, when I finally find stock I'm happy to buy it, just as I would think anybody else would be. I'm not making a profit, I'm just a shooter and times are tough for shooters right now so I feel pretty content to buy a case when I find it. I'm still gonna be shooting less, alot less if I don't take advantage of opportunities to buy ammo when I find it.
 
I admire folks who think of others, in any situation. If your wife got a reasonable amount and you don't really need it anyway, there was no harm done leaving some for others. You are not in any way responsible for the actions of others who think hogging it all is fine. Keep on being a nice guy.
 
Never needed to buy any ammo during the panic.

Left a few boxes of :) Wheat Chex Cereal for other guys at Kroger on Saturday.

Frankly, nobody expects you to have no access to ammo for guns which regularly get used— especially a new gun, New shooter, or not .
 
You buy that ammo! If you buy it all then you are in a position to help some other poor shooter who wasn’t able to get there in time.

I was in line at an Academy store and over heard some guy and his wife bragging about being on u unemployment still and clearing $3k last week alone by flipping ammo for 3-4x the retail price.

The group I was talking with whilst waiting had a guy that needed 22lr and some dude said “be here next week and I’ll sell you a brick or two for current retail.”

Be that guy.
 
Simple answer.

If you are willing to lower yourself to the hoarders, read no further. A waste for you and for me.

Now, If you're still reading, the easy part. Luck of the schedule not withstanding, when you see something available for you to buy... One reason might be - or in fact IS - that at least one someone before your did NOT engage in hoarding.

I don't believe in cutting yourself necessarily short but, in America, it's usually little other than hoarding that causes hoarding.

One guy buying 1,000 rounds when he doesn't need it can keep 20 guys from buying 50 rounds.

The fact that someone may come up behind you and engage in hoarder-grabbing is NOT an excuse for reprehensible behavior any more than it was when we were children. You don't do a thing you know to be an incorrect act just because "... Billy did!" or even might have.

To paraphrase *The Band*; "... you take what you need and you leave the rest..."

Todd.
 
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As someone whose been on the other side. IE I went to Wal-Mart to see empty shelves except for .22mag that i bought some. I asked about regular .22 and the associate told me some guy came in an hour before after they had stuck it all out and bought it all. $600 worth of .22lr.
 
I guess the question for me comes down to how long will it take to shoot all that? If you will have it all gone in the next year or two then I understand wanting to capitalize on the situation. If you are still sitting on this ammo after the next panic or the panic after then you really need to work on your preparedness and planning. While you aren't required to care about the next guy buying a bunch of stuff just because it is scarce is just poor economic planning. Know anyone still sitting on a decade worth of toilet paper from this past year? I do and they paid a premium for it when they could have just waited to stock up and just buying enough to get by while things are hard to find.

Also this isn't unprecedented. More severe than before but ammo shortages are more predictable than the weather around here.
 
Normally, I get what I want when I want it. I don’t “need” anything so during panics I generally don’t buy, not as much from a me being a great and thoughtful guy but I buy when things are plentiful cheap and preferably on sale. Not when all that’s left are the less than good deals on the last products to sell.

I’ve been around enough cycles of this to know you don’t feel any smarter buying up things when they are at there peak demand that you have to still look at once everything goes back to normal. Only thing worse is to load up thousands of rounds worth of components then find another load you like better...
 
Y’all may think me a heel, but if I found a caliber that I was low in stock on I would buy all I could then pass it along above and beyond my needs to those I know that need it. (Without flipping for profit)

Plus one man’s hoarding is another man’s needs. I have a closet full of food and supplies that will take me a while to use and I still buy them regularly and would continue to do so as much as possible if there where to be a shortage.

If ammo becomes readily available again, great! If not I’m glad I have a stock to use or supply allies.
 
jmorris said:
Normally, I get what I want when I want it. I don’t “need” anything so during panics I generally don’t buy, not as much from a me being a great and thoughtful guy but I buy when things are plentiful cheap and preferably on sale. Not when all that’s left are the less than good deals on the last products to sell.
Click to expand...

Yes. I only buy at retail. Mostly chain stores at the moment. (Never feed the vultures.)

sorry to say I do “need” a bit still. Got caught sleeping on the 9mm
 
If you need it, you need it. It sucks to be in need but there are a lot of folks that are because they are new owners, new to panics or have a renewed interest as the screws tighten.

Good thing for the industry, it had been slowing after Hillary lost.
 
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I’ve bought 9mm and 5.56 in bulk for years because I shot it all the time. Buy 1000 rounds, shoot 700 or 800 and buy another 1000.

However, I’ve slowed my shooting since ammo supplies have gotten dicey and I don’t want to waste my remaining stock. And I hate that because I do like shooting.

With that in mind....if I found a supply of 9mm or 5.56 ammo at normal cost I’d buy as much as my bank account could withstand with absolutely no regard to other shoppers and then I’d shoot a bunch of it. And enjoy it.

Flame away, but that’s the truth.
 
The retailer needs to set a limit. My local supermarkets all set limits on sale items so more people can buy affordable food (food is expensive in Hawaii). Otherwise, it would be almost irresponsible for someone struggling financially to not buy in bulk when advantageous.

So I agree with the OP. And I believe retailers need to care more about their customers. If the demand is high, it will sell out even with limits.
 
In the 22, I’d have bought all they had. I can’t reload 22. The 12 gauge, I’d have bought a case.

Humans, by our very nature, are selfish creatures. That doesn’t mean we can’t do nice things. And it doesn’t mean we aren’t selfless at times. But most everything we do we do for two basic reasons.
1. Others will think good of us.
2. We will think good of ourselves.
It doesn’t make us bad. It feels good to do good. But that in itself is selfish.

For example: My grandfather taught me to always hold the door for at least one person when you walk in somewhere. Didn’t matter who was behind you. So, I do. I’ve held the door for 20 people before. I do it because my grandpa taught me it was the right thing to do. And doing the right thing makes us feel good about ourselves (selfish). And because I always want to make him proud of me even though he’s been dead several years. Also, if others notice and give us accolades, it makes us feel good (selfish).

Likewise, buying all the ammo would have been selfish (because ammo is hard to come by and the next guy might just buy it all to sell online). Just as not buying all the ammo was also selfish (because you feel good about saving some for the next guy). So what you’re really doing is trying to do the right thing and be as least selfish as you can while still getting the benefits.
 
DustyGmt said:
I just managed to score 1500rds of CCI @ $7/100 .22lr and 200rds of #8 12ga. I'm not certain what the 12ga ammo cost, but I'm having a lil but of a bittersweet moment here, on the one hand I'm glad I got some ammo, on the other I could have just got alot more.
My wife goes to get aquarium supplies in the nearest town that has a Wal mart. I don't get over that way much but every time I ask her to go in to check for ammo she says it's wiped out, so tonite I ask her to pop in and check. Queue "eyeroll", she agreed but basically she feels it's a waste of time since the shelves are bare every time, so I tell her you never know, you might get lucky and get there as soon as the truck arrives. Well lo and behold she got there as soon as they stocked the shelves with .22lr and 12ga ammo.

She tried to call me to ask what she should get but I was in the shower, anyway she tells me what she got but told me there was alot more. She said she asked if there was a limit and the clerk said "no, but there should be". She called from the parking lot and I was talking to her about whether or not to have her go back in to buy the rest. She tells me she would feel like a jerk and that I should leave some for someone else and I do get why she would feel that way. If I was there right now, pretty much no question I would walk in and buy it all. I would feel a lil awkward about it but I can't really see how letting the next guy come in and do the same thing I want to do helps anybody but that guy. I just haven't warmed up to the idea that I need concern myself with who may come in to buy ammo after me. I spend alot of time searching for ammo, to no avail, I like to shoot, therefore when I finally do find it, should take advantage right?

If I knew that the next guy coming in was just looking for a box or two to shoot with his kids or something I would of course leave it for him/her, but there is no way for me to know that the next guy isn't just going to scalp it, or buy it all in bulk for himself.

I guess all this is to ask, can anybody make a case for why I ought to concern myself with leaving some for the next guy, is there anything wrong with my thinking about this. I am not a selfish person by nature, but I definitely think I'm a selfish ammo buyer in an unprecedented ammo shortage the likes of which we have never seen. I let my wife off the hook by the way, I told her if she feels bad doing it that she didn't have to because I understand the logic of it and why she would feel uncomfortable about it, but when we scour the online shops, hoping to find a bucket o' bullets, or case or whatever, and you finally find it, do you say hmmmm, I bet somebody else is going to want that and pass on picking up ammo after coming up short for months at a time? I would think not and I guess that's just how I look at it.

I'm prepared to take some heat for this, I know alot of people believe that people like me are the reason we are short to begin with. I don't really buy that, I look for months and months with no luck, when I finally find stock I'm happy to buy it, just as I would think anybody else would be. I'm not making a profit, I'm just a shooter and times are tough for shooters right now so I feel pretty content to buy a case when I find it. I'm still gonna be shooting less, alot less if I don't take advantage of opportunities to buy ammo when I find it.
Click to expand...

Since you've asked for feedback, I'll give some. There is an ammo shortage right now. That implies some people don't have enough. That also suggests that the moral thing to do is to share what you have, or to at least not make the shortage worse. Hoarding makes it worse. Now is not the time to be profligate at the range. It's time to conserve what you have. Not buy up every last box to add to your pile.
 
DustyGmt said:
I just managed to score 1500rds of CCI @ $7/100 .22lr and 200rds of #8 12ga. I'm not certain what the 12ga ammo cost, but I'm having a lil but of a bittersweet moment here, on the one hand I'm glad I got some ammo, on the other I could have just got alot more.
My wife goes to get aquarium supplies in the nearest town that has a Wal mart. I don't get over that way much but every time I ask her to go in to check for ammo she says it's wiped out, so tonite I ask her to pop in and check. Queue "eyeroll", she agreed but basically she feels it's a waste of time since the shelves are bare every time, so I tell her you never know, you might get lucky and get there as soon as the truck arrives. Well lo and behold she got there as soon as they stocked the shelves with .22lr and 12ga ammo.

She tried to call me to ask what she should get but I was in the shower, anyway she tells me what she got but told me there was alot more. She said she asked if there was a limit and the clerk said "no, but there should be". She called from the parking lot and I was talking to her about whether or not to have her go back in to buy the rest. She tells me she would feel like a jerk and that I should leave some for someone else and I do get why she would feel that way. If I was there right now, pretty much no question I would walk in and buy it all. I would feel a lil awkward about it but I can't really see how letting the next guy come in and do the same thing I want to do helps anybody but that guy. I just haven't warmed up to the idea that I need concern myself with who may come in to buy ammo after me. I spend alot of time searching for ammo, to no avail, I like to shoot, therefore when I finally do find it, should take advantage right?

If I knew that the next guy coming in was just looking for a box or two to shoot with his kids or something I would of course leave it for him/her, but there is no way for me to know that the next guy isn't just going to scalp it, or buy it all in bulk for himself.

I guess all this is to ask, can anybody make a case for why I ought to concern myself with leaving some for the next guy, is there anything wrong with my thinking about this. I am not a selfish person by nature, but I definitely think I'm a selfish ammo buyer in an unprecedented ammo shortage the likes of which we have never seen. I let my wife off the hook by the way, I told her if she feels bad doing it that she didn't have to because I understand the logic of it and why she would feel uncomfortable about it, but when we scour the online shops, hoping to find a bucket o' bullets, or case or whatever, and you finally find it, do you say hmmmm, I bet somebody else is going to want that and pass on picking up ammo after coming up short for months at a time? I would think not and I guess that's just how I look at it.

I'm prepared to take some heat for this, I know alot of people believe that people like me are the reason we are short to begin with. I don't really buy that, I look for months and months with no luck, when I finally find stock I'm happy to buy it, just as I would think anybody else would be. I'm not making a profit, I'm just a shooter and times are tough for shooters right now so I feel pretty content to buy a case when I find it. I'm still gonna be shooting less, alot less if I don't take advantage of opportunities to buy ammo when I find it.
Click to expand...

Buy what you need to see you through, then carry on.

Pretty simple.
 
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