51 Minutes

[gazpacho]

Just to give everyone an idea of the state of the current ammunition famine . . .

At 6:13pm today, I checked my email, and found an "In Stock" notification from MidwayUSA, regarding Armscor 125gr FMJ 357 magnum ammunition. I immediately went to their website, and found that they had already sold out of their stock. There was even a 10 box limit on orders. When I checked the time stamp on the email notice, it said 5:22pm. 51 minutes! I don't know how much they had in, but 51 minutes?

BTW, Midway's price was $18.99/50 rounds, which was their pre-panic price. Kudos to Midway for not jacking up the price.

 

[Davejb]

Are you saying you think 51 minutes is a short time to go out of stock?
Not at all, I've seen stuff go out of stock in 2-3 minutes when using gunbot.

 

[vito]

Twice in recent months I have been in a gun store when ammunition arrived and was sold out before it even reached the shelves. At one store the owner brought out four beat up old M1 rifles, and while putting a price tag on them (about $900 if I recall), all four were grabbed by customers who just happened to be by that counter as the owner was writing up the price tags. And yet I heard on the Michael Medved radio show (and he is very pro-2A) that recent research shows that the percentage of the population owning firearms has actually gone down. Maybe there are less of us as a percentage of the population but we are just buying more and more of the guns and ammo.

 

[baz]

And yet I heard on the Michael Medved radio show (and he is very pro-2A) that recent research shows that the percentage of the population owning firearms has actually gone down. Maybe there are less of us as a percentage of the population but we are just buying more and more of the guns and ammo.

No, I don't think that's it. Data showing that gun ownership as a percentage of population has declined is looking at change over a period of decades (probably 2 or 3, at least, if not more). There are other indications that many of the latest purchasers of firearms (and the ammo to go with them) are first time buyers. So on a shorter time frame, at least since the last election, and possibly back to 2008, there has likely been an increase in the percentage of population owning guns. The thing about time series -- looking at data over a period of time -- is that you can usually show whatever you want just by cherry picking the beginning and ending points for the series. If you torture the data long enough, it will confess, even to crimes it did not commit.

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

Could it be that Mexicans are increasing the population here faster than new gun buyers are increasing?

 

[browningguy]

I went to the local Freedom Munitions yesterday morning when they opened, they had received 30,000 rounds of 9mm, .40, .45, .223 and .308. They opened a little late with about 40 people in line, and limited most stuff to 500 rounds. I heard that by the time people got down there on their lunch break it was all gone.

I was able to get 480 rounds of .308 with the 178 gr. Amax and 500 rounds of .45 at a reasonable price.

 

[denton]

I've seen the numbers that back the claim that gun ownership is declining. I don't believe them.

They are derived from telephone surveys, and one of the questions asked is whether there is a firearm in the home.

What I think is happening is that more people own guns and fewer people will admit to a stranger on the phone that they have them.

At our range, we're getting lots and lots of first time gun owners.

 

[mrvco]

I went to the local Freedom Munitions yesterday morning when they opened, they had received 30,000 rounds of 9mm, .40, .45, .223 and .308. They opened a little late with about 40 people in line, and limited most stuff to 500 rounds. I heard that by the time people got down there on their lunch break it was all gone.

I was able to get 480 rounds of .308 with the 178 gr. Amax and 500 rounds of .45 at a reasonable price.

In normal times, do they keep as much variety in their retail location as they offer on their website?

 

[joeschmoe]

Famine? Spend some time in rural Asia or Africa. Haiti even.

 

[orionengnr]

Well, I see threads every day where people are posting "Primers at XXX!!!" and YYY ammo at ZZZ!!!"

That just throws blood in the water, and "51 minutes" is what you end up with.

 

[Plan2Live]

And you know that at least one or two of those email alerts coming in to people's smart phones have come at some pretty inconvenient times. Bet you won't see that on the side by side bathtub commercial.

 

[Ehtereon11B]

One of my LGS is a little off the beaten path so they started posting what they have on their Facebook page. Private Facebook with everyone being previous customers. The other day they advertised that they had 10/22 and Mossberg 500 back in stock for 279 and 400 respectively and 12 of each. Only took two hours for the store to update that with Sold Out.

 

[tarosean]

Shoot Ive been trying to get a couple pistol mags for one I picked up in trade.
Immediately when I receive my "in stock" email on my phone I go there and they are already sold out. A few seconds IF that.