380acp shock and awe !

[oldfool]

me not much for the usual tinfoil hat stuff...
and being the silver-haired-old sweetheart gent that I be, I would never, not ever, suppose that somebody in this south georgia county that I love to live in "knows a guy who knows a guy who works at wallyworld"

but I do know half a dozen good local range buddies (plus me) who haven't collectively seen/bought over (10) 50 round boxes of "commonly found" centerfire handgun ammo, (unless they do 40s) at our local wallyworld in 6-9 months, between all of us put together
and I have not "lucked into" even one brick of 22 rimfire there in maybe near a year now, no BS

but TODAY (coming on home after a little old-boy-toy range time), whilst doing my weekly cheap-stuff-run for milady, drifted on by the what's left of wallyworld's gun stuff department, and against my better judgment, looked at the usual pert-near-barren shelves, and saw nothing, as usual

BUT I glanced askew at the undercounter, and saw.. ONE cardboard case
380 acp,WWB, unopened
in big bold letters that even a half blind oldfool can see from 30 yards away, much less 10 feet away

the wallyworld guy came on by (eventually).. you get old enough, you learn there ain't no extra points get given out for being in a hurry, much less rude..
so.. I asked.. "Is that a case of 380 acp, or just an empty box ?".. and he mumbled this or that, and shuffled his feet, and I just stood there, not paying attention (it helps a lot if you look senile, but patient, because it ain't like you got nothing else to do with your day anyway) until he reached on down and pulled on it, and was maybe just too embarrassed to pretend it was "empty".. I dunno

yup, full unopened case, WWB, range fodder FMJ 380 acp
$35 a hundred (which don't make my feeble old windchimes tinkle real loud, but beats the snot out of $30/50 rd box which I will not pay)

so.. I said, I gimme two... and yes, I left the rest for the next guy, whether or not he is or is not the guy or knows the guy

but, peevish old guy that I be, I did ask (politely).. anything in those larger two case/boxes that one was setting on top of that I might be interested in ?

he did not ask what my interests might be, just shuffled and mumbled and said something like "probably not", so I just paid up and walked off with a smile.. did not have the cash to buy no extra nohow, just being old/mean-spirited/peevish-but-polite

but I did make a point of walkin' on back by "just because", after hitting the cheap food section, and the $10/dozen roses for "my girl"

and (who woulda' ever thunk it), you guessed it, the leftovers-of-full-case 380acp was still under-counter, not in the display, and no bold text visible

but color me HAPPY..I get to practice shoot my preferred casual wear 380 for 4 straight range day weeks @ 50 rounds/week and NOT use up my slim "inventory" of S/D 380..
(preferred, but which I will not wear, absent regular practice with)

and mebbe some other old fool can shoot some 380, too


PS
shoot well and be well, but do no one harm unless given no choice

 

[stealth]

After a year or more out, I saw one too! Even not having a .380 I thought "Well an LCP would be nice, better get .380 while you can!" But alas, I too ultimately left the lone WWB 100rnd fmj for the next lucky guys jaw to hit the floor.

Then later..
Again after being out for nearly a years time, There existed three(!) 550 value packs of Federal .22lr, I took one (guysaid, "just one?") and left the other two for other folks.

Good stuff, wish it was all cheaper.

 

[LiveLife]

Good stuff, wish it was all cheaper.

Consider reloading? The reloading cost would be around $6 for 50 rounds.

 

[smokey262]

The Federal 550 value packs might be a tad difficult to start reloading for most guys

I visit my local WM sporting goods area about once a week. This past Saturday for the first time in over a year they had multiple varieties of handgun ammo.

 

[Ben86]

I'm happy to see that retailers are slowly getting more stock. It is also nice to hear people say they are not hoarding. After all that mostly is how this whole shortage happened. Hoarding is a disservice to your fellow man.

 

[Enachos]

Why are ALL walmart gun people ALWAYS so rude? It never fails! Can't stand that!

 

[gregj]

Glad you were able to find some. But that is why I decided to add 380s to my reloading. I got tired of the BS, and my son wanted to shoot the P230. I now have a couple hundred rounds sitting the bucket waiting to be used.

 

[rattletrap1970]

Well, the rudeness could come from many places.
One, that the employees don't get paid a whole lot so there isn't a lot of incentive to be nice.
Could be they are frustrated because they don't know or understand what you are asking for.
Could be that, well, they are working at Walmart. I mean, seriously, something somewhere in their career path had to have gone askew somewhere. Walmart in most cases isn't hiring the cream of the crop and some of these people have no concept of what professionalism is.

 

[OregonJohnny]

.380 is STILL unheard of 'round these parts (Portland Metro Area), at least in the big discount sporting goods stores. I saw a few 50-round boxes of PMC .380 at a specialty gun shop a few months back, and I believe they were charging $24.99. I very reluctantly bought a box.

What the "great ammo crisis of '09" taught me was not to hoard, but to pick up a box or two every now and then, anytime I saw it, even if I wasn't planning on shooting anytime soon. Also, it kicked my rear into learning the craft of reloading.

Now, if I walk by the ammo counter at a local sporting goods store, and see a few boxes of cheap 9mm, or a deal on 00 Buck, I'll buy 1 or 2, just to add to my small stockpile, and still leave some for the next guy or gal.

But that mythical .380 is the only thing still missing from most local shelves.

 

[19-3Ben]

Why are ALL walmart gun people ALWAYS so rude? It never fails! Can't stand that!

The gun guy in my local WallyWorld is never at the counter. I've actually picked up the desk phone and paged someone to the counter twice in the past.
You should see how quickly you get a response when you get on the PA system in a Wal-Mart in suburban Connecticut and say "Would one of the Wal-Mart employees please come help a customer at the gun counter?"

 

[berettaprofessor]

What a coincidence! Yesterday (Sunday), I too, was in Walmart in Kansas where there hasn't been 380 since forever and there were two cases of 100 round 380 Winchester at $35/box....I bought one box since I happened on some American Eagle for$15 for 50 just a couple of weeks ago.

I'd have bought more, but hoping the price goes down down down.

 

[Phydeaux642]

A customer of mine has a friend that is obsessed with buying all of the ammo he can find. He is fairly well-to-do, so, the money is no problem for him. He sends his wife out every day to every store close to him that carries ammo and buys all that they will let him buy. He took a trip to Chicago that was about 600 miles one way and stopped at every Wally World on the way there looking for ammo. This is just one guy, so, multiply that by a few thousand and that's why things are the way they are.

 

[mhuegerich]

Same thing happened to me at a Walmart in St. Louis. Shopping for printer cartriges, I decided to swing by the gun counter, and there on the shelf was a box of 100 Winchester WB 380. I bought it and asked how I was so lucky to get a box. They said they received one case the day before, and place it on the shelf one box at a time.

Funny, just seeing it on the shelf put me in a transe for a few seconds. Like seeing someone you haven't seen for years but you can't remember who they are.

Still no 45 ACP target ammo at this store. But, I've managed to find this at other places.

 

[oldgoat46]

Mothball your 380s get a cz82 and a makarov (9X19 Mak) and repeat after me J&G Sales. Sportsmans guide, J&G Sales. J&G Sales. Sellier & Bellot. More powerful, more accurate, cheaper, more available.

 

[MedWheeler]

Like your writin' style... and I appreciate the l'il 380 as well..

 

[atlanticfire]

Why are ALL walmart gun people ALWAYS so rude? It never fails! Can't stand that!

Funny you should say that.
Tonight while at walmart just looking at the stock in the case a nice young employee asked me if he could help me with anything. I've stocked up pretty well but pointed out to him that the WWB 45 auto 100 packed where in the wrong spot. He actually asked if I wanted for that since I found them that way!! .....uhhhh YEP. 400 rounds of 45 auto for 100 bucks, I’m game!

 

[Deaf Smith]

Just reloaded 100 rounds of .380 95gr FMJ two weeks ago. Cost me $6 a box.

If there is ever a round that just screems 'reload me' it's the .380 now. 95gr FMJ slugs are easy to get at Midsouth, as well as standard small pistol primers, powder like Unique, carbide dies, and a Lee turrent press with powder measure.

If you guys get tired of that $30 per 100, think about reloading.

 

[nwilliams]

I too stumbled upon value packs of .380 at my local Wally World today! They only had two packs so I bought them both, they also had two boxes of .45 JHP and I had to buy those as well

Seeing this ammo on the shelf was like running into an old friend that you haven't seen or heard from in a long time

If you guys get tired of that $30 per 100, think about reloading.

That would be nice if I didn't live in an apartment and actually had space and maybe some more free time. As it is I hardly have enough free time away from work to squeeze in shooting time once a week, so finding time to do reloading would be very difficult. Someday I will start reloading but until then I need to continue buying ammo.

 

[cloudcroft]

oldgoat46,

Makarov is 9x18, not 9x19 (9mm Luger/Parabellum).

That 1mm makes a big difference as they are not interchangeable...and clearly different in power levels as well since 9x19 is a higher pressure cartridge.

-- John D.

 

[LiveLife]

A customer of mine has a friend that is obsessed with buying all of the ammo he can find. He is fairly well-to-do, so, the money is no problem for him. He sends his wife out every day to every store close to him that carries ammo and buys all that they will let him buy. He took a trip to Chicago that was about 600 miles one way and stopped at every Wally World on the way there looking for ammo. This is just one guy, so, multiply that by a few thousand and that's why things are the way they are.

Take this into consideration. Yes, the gun/ammo/primer shortage has made our shooting/reloading life a bit inconvenienced the past years; but due to the demand, many gun/ammo/reloading related manufacturers have been operating on 24/7 or extended hour basis. This translated to many paying jobs for American workers/feeding their families instead of layoffs and unemployment.

We are all paying more for our shooting/reloading hobby now, but I smile at the checkout knowing I may have saved someone's job from vanishing into unemployment.

Just how much did we send to Haiti? We have a lot of people in need in the USA too - and no one is sending us money/aid.

I consider my support for gun/shooting/reloading industry doing my part to rebuild this country and to pull us out of this extended recession.

Buy/shoot all you can afford, I am sure they will make more! - buy USA made if you can.

 

[dogtown tom]

Of the six WalMarts in my town only one is not a "Supercenter", it's a "Neighborhood Market". It is the least likely to have something I need ammowise.

Not today.

This morning I needed a roll of nylon cord and was told to look in Sporting Goods and lo and behold..........FIVE VALUE PACKS OF .380 screamed TAKE ME! TAKE ME NOW!!!!

I did. and I also picked up two boxes of WWB .45 JHP.



.

 

[searcher451]

I scored 6 boxes of American Eagle .380 ACP at a local shop in the central part of the state this past weekend for $13.99 for 50 rounds. It was a heck of shock to see them -- the first time in more than a year that I ran into American Eagle. It's also the best pricce on .380 in more than two years.

 

[Sisco]

Wal Mart here has more empty spaces than merchandise in the ammo case. They don't even have bricks of .22

 

[Ben86]

Why are ALL walmart gun people ALWAYS so rude? It never fails! Can't stand that!

Really? That's quite contrary to my experience. I've always known them to be some of the most interesting and kind old gents I've ever met. Most I've met have the job while they are in "retirement." One told me if I wasn't here I'd just be sitting in a chair somewhere waiting to die. What a character. Now the few young guys they have working every now and then, they usually don't give a damn.