Is the ammo supply on the rise

In Missouri I still can't find jack squat. .45ACP is over $20 for target, and over $35 for self defense, if you can find any that is.

Its actually gotten worse over the last 3 weeks in central Ohio,sure it can be found if your willing to pay $40 for a box of FMJ .45
But 9mm is getting as hard to find as .380 is,which is almost nonexistent.And when i do find it i feel lucky its only $20 a box of fmj.
The only thing you can find and find cheaply is .40 which i swore i never care to own one,but lets just say im reconsidering that decision.

Online sales are a joke unless its from Georgia Arms,but last i looked was 8-12 weeks back ordered.Its to the point now ordering and shooting Double Tap ammo is cost effective despite its super premium components.

I am in missouri and walmart has 9mm 3 times out of 4.

In southeastern Ky shelves are still bare at local retailers, however if you keep a sharp eye and know the right place at the right time chances improve greatly. We seem to have a surplus of .40, it has become the only readily available affordable ammo in the last few weeks. Pawnshops and the Flea market are still grossly overpriced on the cheap stuff they have.

I believe ammo is starting to come back.

There was a lot of ammo hoarding as people thought they were going to make a bunch of money selling it later down the road.

AIM Surplus has lots of .223, 7.62x39, some 9mm, and other assorted calibers. Cheaper Than Dirt also has a lot of ammo as well.

You are also seeing a lot of people selling popular calibers on our Trading Post as they see prices are falling.

yeah but not the

surplus I think the days of cheap 308 and 3006 are gone even though every one seems to be after 223 and that is hard to find , looks like the AK round was the way to go for cheap

Jacksonville Florida isn't too bad off and getting better. I can't pinpoint any deliveries as they don't seem to be consistent. Yet when I scour the few Wal marts around my location I can usually find something I don't mind having. It may be 9mm or Federal .30-30 from one store and the other store only seems to have buckshot and cheap bulk packs of shotgun shells. I get what I can, when I can and leave some for others. .22 bulk pack does not exist exist though. A few weeks ago a friend found some 333 packs of Winchester bulk and I bought two because I had forgotten what a brick looked like! And I hate Winchester ammo.

Sure is lots of department stores selling Wolf 7.62x39 and .223 at $10 a box. A-holes. They'll get what's coming to them (like the lack of my money).

Here in San Diego, I've been to a couple of local Wal-Marts - still nothing on the shelves except shotgun shells and some various rifle hunting rounds. No handgun ammo to speak of. I'm not a hoarder (at least by my standards - I keep a baseline stock of 250 rounds of each caliber I own as a general rule) - but I haven't been to the range in, oh, WAY too long because I haven't been able to replace my stock.

We seem to have a surplus of .40

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That is what I have seen at my local Wal-Mart. Nothing else.

While I don't expect prices to go back down to where they once were, I think that saying the shortage will never end to be absurd. It would be the greatest industry in the world to have a product that you can't possibly make fast enough to keep up with demand. I would put every penny I have in ATK stock. If it stayed like this, they could raise the price as high as they wanted to. If they try to inflate it ARTIFICIALLY, it won't last. Someone will make it cheaper and undercut them.

As the war winds down, the fools among us who were caught dry when the crisis started and want to have a cushion now (Like myself) and the ADD of the American consumer kicks back in, the shelves will fill back up. It might cost a buck or two more than it does now.

Remember when it was impossible to find an AR on the shelves? AAahhhh, the good old days.

My local dealer has maybe 150k primers on hand as of yesterday. I bought 3k myself. When I have time, I'll post pix in Reloading. I'm sure there are plenty here that don't believe it.

They've also got a TON of ammo. Lots of .22, 9mm, etc. Cases of .223. They told me they still have 1.5 million primers on back order. That's where they're going.

Thing that gets me is that the Federal SP's were in regular unpadded cardboard boxes.

Steve's Guns in Mobile Alabama had several boxes of 380 when I went in today. He says he keeps at least a few boxes around most of the time. I believe he wanted $26 or so for a box of American Eagle. He had Hydra Shoks but I didn't get the price. I haven't had much trouble with anything else but the Wal-Mart here has a 6 box per customer policy. Not sure if that is local or National. Either way, availability is definitely on the rise down here.

Seems to me that 7.62x39, .308, .223. 9mm luger. .40SW are easy to find now but still haven't seen any brass-cased .45ACP available this year.

There is a really bad ammo crisis in PA, almost all wally worlds as fast as they stock the shelves with 9mm or .45 acp ammo they disappear within hours...

It seems that it's not so much the supply as people are sick of buying it. Prices are higher than ever over here. Only places prices went down is at the range for house ammo (factory). Given all of that is steel case though, and I'm not too keen on the idea of using steel case in my semi-auto. Accelerated wear isn't worth it.

Just read that copper prices are on the rise, unfortunately, this may signal a new round of ammo price gouging.

Price of copper going up isn't an excuse, the ammo prices are inflated well beyond supply costs as is. Anyone that jacks up their prices just to maintain a massive gouge deserves to go out of business at this point.

Just read that copper prices are on the rise, unfortunately, this may signal a new round of ammo price gouging.

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Anyone that jacks up their prices just to maintain a massive gouge deserves to go out of business at this point.

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Good grief.:banghead:

So if the materials used to make ammunition are more expensive, how is it "price gouging" (whatever that means) for ammunition to also go up in price? Should ammo manufacturers keep their prices artificially low and let their profit margin shrink? If you answer yes, then you are essentially wishing for that manufacturer to close its doors. How, pray tell, do you think that would impact ammo supply (and prices)???

This ties in with the other thread on Illinois gun shows and the discussion of pricing there. Let's be clear: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS PRICE GOUGING IN A COMPETETIVE MARKET!!!!

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS PRICE GOUGING IN A COMPETETIVE MARKET!!!!

Is it a competitive market when a person buys out Wally World's stock and re-sells it at a gun show at a 75% markup

No way. Not come back yet, and never will IMO.

No one has taken responsiblity in the industry yet, and don't blame us "hoarders", which is a joke if one box every so often is hoarding.

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One box is not "hoarding" by any means. However, I did see some guy leaving a gun show a while back with a dolly stacked to the top with 7.62x39 cases. Now that is called "hoarding". Yes you can blame the industry, but you can also blame the panic buyers. It takes two to tango.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS PRICE GOUGING IN A COMPETETIVE MARKET!!!!

Is it a competitive market when a person buys out Wally World's stock and re-sells it at a gun show at a 75% markup

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If someone is dumb enough to buy it then whats the problem?

Price of copper going up isn't an excuse, the ammo prices are inflated well beyond supply costs as is.

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Absolutely true. Raw material costs went up much higher in summer of 2008 and the price of ammo was not this bloated. This inflated price is just supply and demand hard at work.

Judging by the amount of .45, 9mm, and 223 brass I've picked up the last couple of weeks, I think it is starting to loosen up around here also.

Is it a competitive market when a person buys out Wally World's stock and re-sells it at a gun show at a 75% markup

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YES!!!

:banghead:

He can't SELL it unless someone BUYS it. If someone BUYS it, then the price was fair and no one was "gouged". If no one buys it, then your mythical Wal-Mart raider is stuck with a bunch of ammo. He can either lower his asking price, use it, or throw it in the lake. He is most likely to lower his price until someone buys it. That is how prices are established. By the way, if he is able to mark up ammo purchased at Wal-Mart and sell it, then Wal-Mart is selling BELOW market value, and they are likely to raise their prices until it is no longer profitable for people to use them as a supplier for their inventory.

Furthermore, you can still buy ammo at Wal-Mart prices on the internet (see Georgia Arms and Cabelas for two examples). The catch? You may have to wait for it. So if you need ammo in your hands NOW, because supply is limited and demand is high, your mythical Wal-Mart raider is charging you a premium for that immediacy. It is called a Liquidity Premiuim and it is a very well studied aspect of financial economics. Depensing on the buyers '(sellers') urgency, the premium extracted can be VERY VERY large.

So if the materials used to make ammunition are more expensive, how is it "price gouging" (whatever that means) for ammunition to also go up in price? Should ammo manufacturers keep their prices artificially low and let their profit margin shrink? If you answer yes, then you are essentially wishing for that manufacturer to close its doors. How, pray tell, do you think that would impact ammo supply (and prices)???

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When there is a markup that's obviously well above and beyond what's needed, one can "eat" the difference. I've worked in manufacturing and this is often done to ensure there is no slowdown in demand. When we went RoHS (reduce/remove a whole slew of substances from our products), it jacked our prices up by about 5%, and we still ate it...and guess what? Our sales went up enough that it still didn't show up as a dip in our bottom line.

When retailers are buying out those that sell well below their prices, it's not as competitive a market as you think it is. They're doing the buy-out since they know if they don't buy it out, the gig is up.

When there is a markup that's obviously well above and beyond what's needed

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I'm sorry, I must have missed it: Who get's to decide "what's needed". "Needed" for what? Is there a limit on how much companies are allowed to make? Is it an absolute dollar amount, a profit ratio or is it relative to what other comapnies are making?

worked in manufacturing and this is often done to ensure there is no slowdown in demand.

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In this case we have established there is no decrease in demand. In fact the demand is higher then it has ever been. Are you suggesting ammo companies keep their prices the same out of benevloance? I would submit that if ammo companies had raised their prices as quickly as demand was going up, there would actually be ammo on the shelves!

When retailers are buying out those that sell well below their prices, it's not as competitive a market as you think it is. They're doing the buy-out since they know if they don't buy it out, the gig is up.

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I'm not really sure what you are gtting at here. There are atleast 100 different places you can buy ammo on the web in addition to Wal-Mart, your local gun shop and big-box sporting goods stores. If you have to have the ammo NOW, you may have to pay a premium for it. If you can wait, you can still get it for a good price.

One final thought. Ammo today is cheaper (in real terms) than 40 years ago. Anecdotally, a box of 9mm FMJ (50 rds) in 1969 was about $5. That is $30 adjusted for inflation. Most target ammo can be had for about half that price today. So for all the bellyaching about prices, your milk has gotten WAY more expensive over the last 4 decades than your ammo has. Ammo prices just increased all in the last 2 years!