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

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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.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."..... What if your wife was SECOND in line and buyer number one just bought it all?

Unless we all get out of this 'buy all I can" mindset the ammo shortage will never end.

Your thoughtfulness is a good thing.
 
Last week I stopped at the local Walmart to check out the ammo. Nothing on the shelf but I asked an employee if there was any in the back room. Just like the previous 3 times I'd asked, he brought out a cart of Ammo. When he opened one large box up, we found several 1000 round boxes of Winchester M22. I was told I could buy two of them, which I jumped on. Cost: a nickel a round. More important, added to what I all ready had on hand, I figured I was good at least through next hunting season, with lots of range time this summer. Damn, that was a good feeling, a huge relief, knowing I no longer needed to search for pre-panic priced ammo. The employee told me I could come back that afternoon and buy 2 more, but I knew I wouldn't be.
 
If you are buying it for your own use and you need it and might share it at your cost with neighbors then get the ammo. If you do not need it and are only buying it because it is there then leave it there for somebody else. Problem with that is the scalpers infest the retail stores, parking lots on their cell phones to the boss scalper and are snapping everything up. If that is happening (professional resellers/scalpers) in your area then get it so they cannot and then share it with your buds.
 
Just like toilet paper, this shortage is manufactured and will end. People will be stuck with all those boxes of ammo and I hope they lose a lot of money. Over the past 10 years I've bought enough ammo that I'm not too concerned about my supply. I have enough to get by if I pace myself.

I refuse to buy at the exploded prices. If more people would not buy you will see the prices come back down to normal.

I was in Walmart not too long ago and they had just received their order. I bought 5 bricks of .22s. They had a completely stocked shelf and cabinet plus the salesperson told me they were stocked up in the back room. I told my friends to get over there but by the afternoon they were completely empty. Someone came in and bought a BIG supply.

I admire the OPs wife for buying what she figured was needed but leaving more for the next guy. If we don't start thinking about the next guy we will be in serious danger soon.
I've, twice in my life at least, watched the lemmings come back to gun shows with wagons/hand-carts of; magazines, ammunition or guns/receivers - trying desperately to get anywhere near what they paid for their stash back when they helped cause whatever was the most recent *buying emergency*.

Can't say it doesn't make me crack up a little.

I see you're in Arizona... We see the EXACT same thing here whenever some twit on TV talks about gasoline pipeline maintenance or repair. Enough idiots freak out to cause a gasoline shortage that was never really destined to exist in the first place given the range and breadth of gasoline supply options in Arizona.

Todd.
 
Last week I stopped at the local Walmart to check out the ammo. Nothing on the shelf but I asked an employee if there was any in the back room. Just like the previous 3 times I'd asked, he brought out a cart of Ammo. When he opened one large box up, we found several 1000 round boxes of Winchester M22. I was told I could buy two of them, which I jumped on. Cost: a nickel a round. More important, added to what I all ready had on hand, I figured I was good at least through next hunting season, with lots of range time this summer. Damn, that was a good feeling, a huge relief, knowing I no longer needed to search for pre-panic priced ammo. The employee told me I could come back that afternoon and buy 2 more, but I knew I wouldn't be.
Nice. I'm glad you got some. It was a huge relief for me as well, I feel alot better about pacing out what I have and being able to shoot on my time off if I can pick up a case or two now and then. Especially when it's not priced out of my range. The last time I found 9mm in stock it was $35 per 50rd. Can't do it.
 
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If you are buying it for your own use and you need it and might share it at your cost with neighbors then get the ammo. If you do not need it and are only buying it because it is there then leave it there for somebody else. Problem with that is the scalpers infest the retail stores, parking lots on their cell phones to the boss scalper and are snapping everything up. If that is happening (professional resellers/scalpers) in your area then get it so they cannot and then share it with your buds.
Yeah I can definitely identify with that logic. I will definitely be sharing it with others at the range. The local pastor in my town just got into shooting and he was kind of bumming about the lack of ammo, we won't be able to shoot his 9mm but he will definitely be welcome to shoot .22lr's with me. Along with anybody else who wants to shoot or needs some.
 
Apparently this question has struck a collective nerve.

It took me many decades to come to the realization that the only person I can control is myself. Usually.

I was at Walmart a few weeks ago, they had many boxes of 333 count Winchester 22LR. I bought 3 boxes, left 10 or more on the shelf.

Make of that what you will.

Each has to live with oneself.
 
I find the posts about saving some for the next guy to be odd. It's a nice thought, but also completely meaningless.

I feel like someone only buying 10 boxes of ammo for $10 instead clearing the shelf because the ammo's hard to find and worth "$30" right now and then patting themselves on the back to be silly. Under normal circumstances the person would have bought 1 or 2 boxes or none at all, so the fact that they bought 10 boxes means the bought they actually bought quite a bit more than what they otherwise would have.

If you shoot regularly and find ammo at a good price buy it. If there's someone physically waiting behind me, I'd leave some for them, but most likely they'll just push you out of the way if they "need" it...
 
I live by my own moral code. I do not change that code very often.

If there's 2 things on the shelf and I only need 1, I get 1. If I need 2, I buy them both. If I need none, I pass. During panic times I do not buy what I do not need. It's that simple.

In the end, you need to live with yourself. I'm ok with being alone in my own head when I got to bed at night.
 
When I spotted ammo yesterday and didn't need it, I texted my girlfriend to let her co-worker know there was some available if he needed it.

She later explained to me that he has a buddy that works at the LGS and finds out about it before it hits the shelves and doesn't tell anyone else. Seemed like a jerk move. You are limited to 2 boxes per household per day. I've been there when ammo is put on the shelf and it lasts about an hour.
 
The gun shops I go to have a 1 per customer rule for the more popular calibers-22LR, e.g., one gun /shop range only sells if you are there for a range session. I have no problem with that.
 
The basically stopped selling handgun and black rifle centric ammo.

They sell shotgun shells, .22’s, and hunting rifle rounds (.243, .270, etc.) from what I see.

My local Walmart also used to sell everything you needed for reloading. Now, it's all gone. I haven't seen ammo other than shotshells there for months and months.

Talked to the sporting goods guy the other day and he indicated that since Walmart decided to get "woke", the ammo and components distributors have either cut ties with WM or put them at a very low priority for stock. Seems there are consequences for trying to deprive Americans of ammo and supplies due to political correctness.
 
can anybody make a case for why I ought to concern myself with leaving some for the next guy

That's easy. Buy what you need based on how often you shoot and how long it takes to replenish what you shoot. Leave the rest for folks like you who want to shoot. Buying more than you'd use is just causing the shortage through hoarding.
 
That's easy. Buy what you need based on how often you shoot and how long it takes to replenish what you shoot. Leave the rest for folks like you who want to shoot. Buying more than you'd use is just causing the shortage through hoarding.
Nope. I'm buying on the dips and when ammo is available and probably paying a premium for it.
 
That's easy. Buy what you need based on how often you shoot and how long it takes to replenish what you shoot. Leave the rest for folks like you who want to shoot. Buying more than you'd use is just causing the shortage through hoarding.
I get that. I honestly don't really concern myself with what and how much somebody buys, when I go to the store for anything I'm basically going in for myself or someone else, I never felt responsible to help the next possible customer. I have always just bought what I needed. "Needed" is a totally subjective thing though.

I'm not trying to play it off like I don't understand the impulse to blame the guy buying a whole whack of ammo, especially if he plans to sell it, which is not what I'm doing. It's not all that hard to imagine why somebody would be resentful and frustrated seeing nothing but bare shelves for many months on end and then direct your ire toward the guy walking out with a few bricks, but I just don't think of it like that, right now it's largely a matter of luck and consistency.

For some reason though, people assume that if the person is buying alot, they are buying more than they need, I have the ammo I believe I "need" on hand and everything else is what I plan to shoot. Any ammo I buy now or have bought within the last year is because it's what I plan to shoot. The ammo is hard to find, but if you are somewhat motivated to get it, eventually you will find it, best of luck to all and no hard feelings is my attitude, not in a sarcastic way either. I know alot of guys on this board are frustrated with the lack of ammo, myself included, I see it daily. It just seems like we have so much contempt and disgust for people who are "hoarding" or whatever but honestly if you're not buying more than you normally would, but are in fact buying way less, is it really hoarding?

My uncle is a lil coarse and when I spoke to him about it he summed it up rather brusk but in spirit I agree, he goes "oh I'll buy all I can shoot and not think twice about it, others can blow their elbows out patting each other on the back".
 
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I buy what I need when I can find it. If there are two boxes, I will take one and leave one for someone else. I am not selfish.
If other people are selfish, it’s not my excuse to act like them and do as they do. I believe in Karma and I love it when Karma catches up to jerks! :evil:

It’s the little things that make me smile. :D
 
I was curious and followed this...
I always pass the former sporting goods aisles when makin' my regular trip to the wallywerld. In the past, I'd buy with whatever cash I had on me. Still do...
It's just not available very often.
I had plenty 9mm when a friend bought a new pistol recently but couldn't find local ammo.
I mentioned this was coming and he should save at least enough to fill all the mags he had for it.
He took it out with his son and they shot it all in an afternoon...
He told me about the beautiful afternoon they spent together burnin' 150 rds of WW 124gr NATO...
...worth more to me than the ammo...
 
Sorry but this country was not founded on etiquette and “saving some for the next guy”.

I see a caliber I need or want, I buy enough to satisfy MY needs/wants.

Certainly not in the America I was raised in. Helping out your neighbor and thinking of others were/are core beliefs in both my small town upbringing and Christian values.
 
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