380acp vs. 38 Spl & 357 availability

IDK the answer - but you're right. I can get all the .380 I want around here, but there is a very limited supply of .38 and NO .357mag. I've gotten some .38 and a couple boxes of .357 online just to keep me happy - but $$$$. .44 Special is unobtainium anywhere from what I've seen...

I haven't looked a lot, but when I have there was zero .38 or .357 on the shelves and some .380. From that, I can speculate nothing at all.

.380 is scarce here.
The last two places I looked were out.
A few boxes of. 357 for $$$

Zendude said:

Is the popularity of 380 that far ahead of 38 now, or are there other factors involved?

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Probably "other factors" like as not.
There was a "shortage" of 380 back in 2018-19, before the plague hit. So, it (probably) got some priority at the manufacturers, only to have the couf hobble that.
The "ammo panic" then emptied all ammo shelves.

It may be regional, but I saw "revolver" ammo back on shelves before other types--which may have just been from the "auto" ammo being snapped up as soon as it was shelved.

Or not.

My experience has only been across a small geographic region.

I don’t know about .38spl but .380 is available locally and online, but that makes sense to me because there’s new .380 pistols available, newest.38spl, LCR ?

I haven’t seen revolver ammo in a long time. .380 is reappearing. I assume it’s because it’s actually rather popular in the CCW demographic, which is one of the biggest firearms markets these days. Gut feeling says it’s probably just behind 9mm and 40 in terms of demand.

Not a lot of new shooters by contrast are buying snubnose revolvers. And many revolver guys reload. So there’s probably not a huge demand for .38 and .357 compared even to 15 years ago.

I can get 380 in brass cases sometimes, or in steel anytime.

I've seen 38 special only once in the past few months.

No 357 at all.

I would say all 3 are hit and miss when it comes to availability.
I have bought all three when I have found them the past few months.
I would like to see more defense loads in the 380, 38, and 357. I'm not buying as much target ammo and practicing with defense ammo but shooting less.

My LGS has been getting some .38spl and .357 and it's back down to $30.99/50 FMJ's or around $30/20 for premium JHP's. I even saw a bunch of 10mm FMJ for $25/50. It's nice to see that it's even available now even if it is sporadic. The .44mag, .454casull and .45LC is about $1/rd or $2/rd for some types.

If your looking for defensive ammunition and you don't reload try Buffalo bore, I've seen them have some occasional inventory....

This is only a guess but based on my reading I've noticed talk about 380 as a popular caliber for newcomers to shooting and for first time older shooters. Easy to conceal handguns, relatively light recoil, possibly less penetration indoors, etc. The ammo makers may figure there is more demand for 380 and other (mostly 9mm) semi-auto ammo.

I also wonder if 38 and 357 shooters, and revolver users in general, are more likely to reload instead of depending strictly on commercial ammo availability. As a revolver fan and someone who reloads all my centerfire ammo, that makes sense.

But, again, it's just a guess.

Jeff

357 magnum is extict now. I have seen 357sig here and there. 380 and 38 special comes in waves... short waves ... ripples.....but it is there. Federal has it sometimes.

Zendude said:

....Is the popularity of 380 that far ahead of 38 now, or are there other factors involved?

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BullRunBear said:

This is only a guess but based on my reading I've noticed talk about 380 as a popular caliber for newcomers to shooting and for first time older shooters. Easy to conceal handguns, relatively light recoil, possibly less penetration indoors, etc. The ammo makers may figure there is more demand for 380 and other (mostly 9mm) semi-auto ammo....

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I concur. There are a number of .380 ACP semi-autos that are marketed as either small and easily concealed or as easy to operate. I think that bumps up demand. And ammo makers are going to respond. .38 Spec and .357 Mag are still hard to find and very expensive when available.

At the local shops, 380, none. 38/357, gouge plus! $60 for 50 357 and they look like reman.

Yep you are correct. The only .38/357 I’ve seen is at my reloading bench.

I'm in the Big Bend area and the first thing to reappear on shelves was .40S&W, followed by 9mm, and a bunch of odd-balls - .25, 32Auto, .22LR but all hi-vel - and some rifle ammo, mostly .223. As I understand it, the distributors are shipping oldest order first, newest last, so if a LGS had a backorder for .380 going back to 2018, that gets filled before last week's backorder for 9mm.

No problem getting .380 ammo here.

Getting .38 Special and .357 Magnum is a bit of a problem.

Gun shops in my area have 38 special & 357, but you can't afford to buy it

357 Rem Mag is becoming a boutique round. It basically goes for what 8mm Rem Mag went for in 2015. I can get American made 10mm for half the price as the low cost American made 357 Mag. Even 38 Special is ridiculous though I just stocked up on a lifetime supply prior to the pandemic. 9mm or 40 S&W is the way to go price wise.

Racinfan83 said:

IDK the answer - but you're right. I can get all the .380 I want around here, but there is a very limited supply of .38 and NO .357mag. I've gotten some .38 and a couple boxes of .357 online just to keep me happy - but $$$$. .44 Special is unobtainium anywhere from what I've seen...

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44 spl. was MIA long before the troubles started. It's pretty much a reloaders cartridge now. Not many mfr's building revolvers for it anymore. S&W, who developed the cartridge doesn't build a revolver for it anymore, at least it isn't in their online catalog.

Starline is shipping 44 Special brass if anyone is interested.

It does make you wonder if this latest panic will forcibly retire many more obscure calibers, possibly including the revolver rounds. I used to shoot more .32acp than anything. I never had much trouble finding it and although it was more expensive than 9mm it was hardly breaking the bank. But at the present time, it’s still more or less unobtainable locally (or obtainable at a price that could have bought me a cheap gun so chambered, not that long ago.) I picked up a Taurus PT99 and have been shooting more 9mm than anything else. Even if it’s more expensive than it really ought to be, it’s available, can be bought online reasonable, and is now about where .32acp was (locally) before the pandemic.

The only .38 and .357 I have seen is premium self defense stuff, which I suppose speaks volumes about where the demand is for loaded ammo.

CoalTrain49 said:

44 spl. was MIA long before the troubles started. It's pretty much a reloaders cartridge now. Not many mfr's building revolvers for it anymore. S&W, who developed the cartridge doesn't build a revolver for it anymore, at least it isn't in their online catalog.

Starline is shipping 44 Special brass if anyone is interested.

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Yeah - I figured. I recently bought a .44 Mag revolver, I have Mag ammo for it but was thinking of getting some .44 Special, and maybe the wife would shoot it. While she's an experienced shooter I highly doubt she would want to shoot it with full bore Mags in it... I have no reloading stuff...

GeoDudeFlorida said:

I'm in the Big Bend area and the first thing to reappear on shelves was .40S&W, followed by 9mm, and a bunch of odd-balls - .25, 32Auto, .22LR but all hi-vel - and some rifle ammo, mostly .223. As I understand it, the distributors are shipping oldest order first, newest last, so if a LGS had a backorder for .380 going back to 2018, that gets filled before last week's backorder for 9mm.

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Big Bend area. Love that part of Texas. Spent many a summer (50's, 60's & 70's) at my relatives place in Valentine. Still try to make it down there once a year. What town do you go to to buy ammo? If I remember right the only place back then my uncle and cousins could buy ammo was at a small grocery/hardware store in Marfa. They carried .22 LR, .38 Special, .45 APC, 30/30, 30.06, assorted shotgun shells and a few firearms in those calibers. They could have had more ammo than that but that's what I remember my Uncle buying. Was a 100 mile round trip. Sometime in the 60's they opened a Gibson's Discount Store in Alpine or Van Horn. Can't remember which as it was an all day excursion to either town to buy groceries. I do remember the Gibson's had cold cold refrigerated air. Miss those days.