Ammo Obsession?

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On one hand, prices are coming down and waiting a week or a month to buy could save you some money. Especially if you have enough on hand to be comfortable for the near future.

On the other hand, some psycho could go postal tomorrow and we could be be in the same shape as we were 6 months ago... if not worse.

The ammo market is unpredictable, and spikes in demand and dips in supply are mostly beyond our control. That is why I buy ammo whenever I can reasonably afford to do so, to hedge against a very uncertain future. I tend to prepare for the worst possible scenario, especially when politics interfere with markets.
 
My obsession is reloading, rolling my own. I stockpiled supplies, brass and bullets for years, and just make a LOT more than I shoot. My "problem" is getting to be storing it all. Only ammo I usually buy is .22lr, and I've got 3 .30 cal ammo cans full, so I'm good there. The only ammo I've bought in the last two years was some .32acp, didn't have any to test a couple old pistols I picked up with. I haven't bought ANY ammo since the latest panic, except for some old collectible Nazi stuff that I won't shoot.
 
I'm kind of in the same boat. I do have a ton of reloading gear but right now it's not set up (long story). A few years ago I returned to school and now do ft class and ft work. I still find time to shoot but less time to putz around in the shop reloading. When the panic set in I was set pretty well with .22 ammo and had a few hundred of the other stuff I shoot, but that's about it.

Now the supply is actually pretty good here although prices are still a little high. My stash is pretty good (around 1,100 round for each centerfire I have) and thousands of rounds of .22lr. But I still find myself trolling the isles every time I hit Wally World or Scheel's. Basically I know ammo will never go to waste! I have a range membership and shoot every week.

I'm probably buying partly out of habit but it's nothing for me to burn a couple hundred in an afternoon so as long as the price is decent I'll continue to buy. I don't really "stockpile" per se but I like to buy at least as much as I shoot per session with a little "cushion" if possible.
 
15 years ago when ammo suddenly became cheap and plentiful i started buying it by the crate. by 2006 i had 50K of surp and several thou in sporting ammo that i had picked up at auction cheap. when the price quadrupled i sold off enough to buy the hot new young wife a really nice rack and take a vacation with her to florida. i am down to about 15Ksurp and 5K commercial by now, and haven't bought 45 since it was $75/500, 308 since it was $120/1000, 8X57 since it was $40/1000, 22 since it was $13/500.
 
I have been buying some bullets for reloading---I like to make sure I have a good stock for loading over the winter--being retired it gives me something to do on the cold winter months. You can't play on the PC & watch TV all day
 
I have this thing for 180gr .30 cal SMK's.
I can't pass by a 500 count box without buying it.
I'm calming down and not buying every pound of Varget I run into.
The only thing saving me from becoming a full blown component hoarder is not wanting to over pay.
 
narwhal and others ask "Why buy now?...". "Gunbot.com" listed .223 today at about .40/rd.

With a gun in 5.45x39 (.18), 7.62x39 (.25) or 7.62x54R (.20), your ammo prices-per round-are the same as they were one Year a year ago.

The problem seems to be that most people only want to use .22LR ammo.With the Uncool SKS:cool:, AK-74 or any MN-problem solved.
These have all been around for years.
 
Went to Meijers this morning and they are still out of handgun and rifle ammo (since Dec 2012)....
 
Here is an update:

I have not stopped by an Academy or a Walmart, just to see if they have ammo, in quite some time. When I do stop at a Walmart or Academy, however, I do "look" and see what ammo is on the shelf or behind the corner. Concerning WalMart, it seems my timing is right because I've stopped by minutes after the clerk has put several boxes out on the shelves. Where I thought they were putting ammo out late at night, this was around 2 pm - 6 pm. Pleasant surprise!

Concerning Academy, I went into one store, looking for a particular backpack. I did glance at the customer service counter and it was stock with the usual assortment of ammo. It was not until I went to the Hunting/Fishing department that I saw this large pile of 5.56 just sitting there. I hesitated for a while, until the clerk asked if he could be of assistance. I wanted to ask him what's the story with the ammo just sitting there on the counter, in plain view. Instead, I asked if I could purchase some of the ammo and was there a limit. He said yes and that there was no limit on the 5.56. In fact, he said this as if we'd NEVER been through the scarcity of the past months/year. :what: I said thanks and bought 5 boxes (100 rnds). Went to the range this past weekend and shot a brand new AR15. Had a blast.

Epilogue: I think there was no ammo obsession for me, just a reaction to the events of the past months/years. As ammo becomes more available, I will buy accordingly because for me it is not the obsession with the ammo but the love of shooting as the driving factor. By adding other formats to my collection I can help to insure that that love of shooting is satisfied. For me, shooting is therapeutic, family oriented, and provides a chance to teach/educate others.

MC
 
No, Meat, You Were Obsessed

No getting off the Meatcreeper hook buddy. You WERE obsessed.

You have recovered and are just diligent now, but you had a problem.

I mighta been close but frankly didn't need any ammo, only wanted more or different, and bought quality at sharp prices. I will say that in certain areas when I was away from home back in 2008 and throughout 2009 and early 2010 (the Great Obama Guns & Ammo Run 1) I too went out of my way to ensure we'd go into the Walmarts at least once. And over that time it paid off to cover (plus an additional 35%) an order of ammo that ultimately took 18 months for the seller to fulfill! I was OK with that and could make a profit if I cared to today...

But I was never obsessed like you Meat. Welcome back. Liberating isn't it!?
 
Here is an update:

I have not stopped by an Academy or a Walmart, just to see if they have ammo, in quite some time. When I do stop at a Walmart or Academy, however, I do "look" and see what ammo is on the shelf or behind the corner. Concerning WalMart, it seems my timing is right because I've stopped by minutes after the clerk has put several boxes out on the shelves. Where I thought they were putting ammo out late at night, this was around 2 pm - 6 pm. Pleasant surprise!

Concerning Academy, I went into one store, looking for a particular backpack. I did glance at the customer service counter and it was stock with the usual assortment of ammo. It was not until I went to the Hunting/Fishing department that I saw this large pile of 5.56 just sitting there. I hesitated for a while, until the clerk asked if he could be of assistance. I wanted to ask him what's the story with the ammo just sitting there on the counter, in plain view. Instead, I asked if I could purchase some of the ammo and was there a limit. He said yes and that there was no limit on the 5.56. In fact, he said this as if we'd NEVER been through the scarcity of the past months/year. I said thanks and bought 5 boxes (100 rnds). Went to the range this past weekend and shot a brand new AR15. Had a blast.

Epilogue: I think there was no ammo obsession for me, just a reaction to the events of the past months/years. As ammo becomes more available, I will buy accordingly because for me it is not the obsession with the ammo but the love of shooting as the driving factor. By adding other formats to my collection I can help to insure that that love of shooting is satisfied. For me, shooting is therapeutic, family oriented, and provides a chance to teach/educate others.

MC
Click to expand...

Well I can relate. Its a temporary ammo obssession as I see it.

Before the great "panic" of 2013, I only carried a few boxes each for every caliber I owned, i.e. two boxes of 9mm and a few boxes of 5.56 etc. Because of the panic I bought a few thousand rounds more just to cover my end during the shortage of ammo supply that we are still currently having. That way I was able to continue shooting during the panic, but at a lesser amount of course. 22lr is still non-existent locally and can only be found online, so it was a good move to stock a few bricks of 22 back in January.

I still make the occasional trip to Walmart to check out their ammo, but majority of the time they are bare. Certain calibers do stay longer in stock (low demand calibers like 12 or 20 gauge, 7mm, .243, etc). But I would still get lucky sometimes to find 9mm or 7.62x39 hanging around the shelf long after it is stocked.

Too bad we don't have Academy where I live...
 
Most people i know don't want to reload. We just want to shoot 2,000 rounds per year and not much more. Reloading is for folks that shoot a lot more than that.
 
"15 years ago when ammo suddenly became cheap and plentiful i started buying it by the crate. by 2006 i had 50K of surp and several thou in sporting ammo that i had picked up at auction cheap. when the price quadrupled i sold off enough to buy the hot new young wife a really nice rack and take a vacation with her to florida. i am down to about 15Ksurp and 5K commercial by now, and haven't bought 45 since it was $75/500, 308 since it was $120/1000, 8X57 since it was $40/1000, 22 since it was $13/500."









You probably should have bought twice that amount. I've seen WWB 45acp in the 50-70 cents a round.
 
This has been very interesting, I alway wondered why the Jews marched into the ovens in germany without a fight and was put to death, now I know after seeing how us americans handles our government doing WRONG things, without us putting up a fight. we deserve everything we get.
 
The gub'ment? What they dun here? Was they durectly responsible fo this guns 'n ammo run, Mr. Cooper, secret like!?
 
What level of ammo on hand will make you as comfortable with yourself as you were in July 2012.


Has the current crises impacted the manner in which you purchase,reload,store and use your ammo.
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5000rnds each minimum of 9mm and .45 would carry me though at least 18 months.
 
While I tend to not drop into stores just for ammo (few rare occasions exempted) if I am in WM I will swing by the gun counter. Was in late last night getting some stuff for the wife, waled to gun counter, was shocked to see a big pyramid of AE m855. I had three others with me so I made them each buy 3 boxes. Left the pyramid 300 rounds less.

Funny thing, the gun counter was closed, ammo was not locked up, when we made it to the front the guy asked, "only 3?" It was all I could do to keep from grabbing a cart and shoving the whole stack in.
 
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I think you people that pay high prices for ammo are FOOLS, You ever think about trying something unheard of?? STOP BUYING AMMO STOP THEIR CASH FLOW. Things would change.
 
Supply and What!?

Hey, Mr. Cooper is right -- let's all not buy gasoline on Monday and watch what happens!
:rolleyes:

I love these posts. It's "supply and demand" not "supply and want," "supply and interest," "supply and passing fancy," or "supply and 'whatever'." This is high school economics people truly don't get. No wonder we elect so many lying America haters...
 
Yes, everyone stop buying ammo. Especially new shooters out there that don't have any, You don't need any..... You can always tell whose "cupboard" is full on these threads.
 
No getting off the Meatcreeper hook buddy. You WERE obsessed.

You have recovered and are just diligent now, but you had a problem.
...
But I was never obsessed like you Meat. Welcome back. Liberating isn't it!?
Click to expand...
This is too funny! But...you could be right. :evil:

Let me add something else into this discussion and see where it goes. I was buying anything that I had a firearm for (except .380, I think I have enough of that) and 762x39 to which I don't have a firearm as of yet. That was mostly handgun rounds and some AR rounds. Still not sure what an "acceptible" amount of ammo is... There was a post earlier where Queen_of_Thunder asked what was acceptable. Would love to hear comments on that.

Anyway, recently, I shot an AR that I'd had since when ARs started disappearing last year. A buddy in a department store sold it to me. In fact, as he was letting me look at it, at least 5 others were standing around me, drooling. I knew if I did not get it, then # 2, would buy it. So I bought it. Just shot it for the first time and I love it, so much so that I remarked to someone, I am "handgunned-out" meaning, given the opportunity to go to the range and shoot, I'd rather be shooting that AR then my handguns. I know I still need to practice with my defensive weapons (LCP and XDs) and still plan to, but my mind is on my AR. Seeing that I've never had this happen before, I am depending on you seasoned veterans to tell me what this strangeness is that has come over me.

Thanks,

MC
 
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