Ammo Shortage merged threads, aka UberUltraMasterAmmoThreadOfPower

[UTdave]

So I'm just getting into this, I have my first 9mm handgun. The prices for practice ammo are easy enough to figure out, but I'm getting a little confused about pricing discrepencies with the high end stuff. My first purchase was 20 speer gold dots for $20. Yikes! When I took my CFP class, the instructor mentioned that we could expect to pay about a $1 a round for good defensive ammo, so I was thinking that's just the way it is. Then I do some more shopping around town and start finding other brands that I thought were top shelf, like Federal HST, at $18 for a 50-box. So why is there such a wide price range? Is there really that big of a difference in quality between these brands?

 

[kd7nqb]

Any sort of defensive ammo is going to be much more expensive. Speer gold dots at ~$1 each is about right. I don't know much about HST's so I wont comment on them. Practice ammo for 9mm is much cheaper you can get it for about $9/50rounds. Find the cheapest ammo that your gun will run with reliably and use that for practice (I personally wont run steel case stuff through my guns but thats me). Also accuracy will vary with ammo prices and brands. The best solution is to go to wherever you buy your ammo and buy many different brands and shoot them. This does a few things,

1. Get you range time with your gun
2. Tells you what you like and don't like about each brand of Ammo
3. Lets you see the variety in ammo available.

 

[ROMAK IV]

+1 with the exception being, practice with enough of your defensive ammunition to make sure it feeds reliably, and prints similiar to your practice ammunition.

 

[AK103K]

You can do a lot better than $1 a round, especially if you order off the web. If your buying the 20 round boxes, your paying to much.

Streichers has Federal 9mm +P+ 115-grain JHP (9BPLE) $17/50 round box

Federal Cartridge 9mm +P Tactical HST for $21/50 round box

Ammoman sells 9mm (+P+) 124 GRAIN FEDERAL P9HS3G and 9mm (+P+) 115 GRAIN FEDERAL 9BPLE for $25/box of 50, but you need to buy 5 boxes(mix and match). His price includes shipping.

Ammoman also sells...... 9MM NATO 124 GRAIN - FULL METAL JACKET
WINCHESTER MANUFACTURER
NATO HEADSTAMP AND BOXED MARKED 9MM
NATO HEADSTAMP READS "WCC 06" PART# Q4318
$229/1000(delivered)

This stuff is hotter than most of the other commercial stuff and allows you to practice with ammo thats about the same power lever as your carry ammo. It may be a little harder on the gun if you shoot a lot of it though, but offers more realistic practice.

Double Tap is also a good place for hotter ammo at reasonable prices....

9mm+P 124gr Speer Gold Dot JHP 50rds. $24.95


If your going to oder in bulk, which generally is the cheapest way to go, be sure you understand that a lot of these companies dont give you the shipping prices until the last page at checkout. One of the reasons I like dealing with Ammoman, what you see is what it costs, and he's often still cheaper.

 

[CypherNinja]

There are other factors than quality. Some designs may just be flat out harder to manufacture.

Others may be produced in lower volumes, meaning there's less economy of scale.

Things like the costs of development also get figured in, as well as certain markups based on any names that might be involved.

 

[baz]

Speer Gold Dots get a premium because that's what people will pay for them (and because they are perceived to be worth the difference). When I started reloading, I found that the Gold Dot bullets were not that much more expensive than other bullets. More expensive, yes, but not that much more expensive. As an example, GDHP's run me about $6 per hundred more than Hornady XTP's. That works out to 6 cents more per bullet. The profit margin on factory loaded Speer Gold Dots has got to be a gold mine for Speer, as the price difference is not reflected in the cost of the bullet itself.

I reload gold dots in 9mm for about than $0.23 each, with $0.18 each being the cost of the bullet. Of course for plinking, I shoot a much cheaper bullet. But still, at 23 cents a round, I can practice a bit more with the gold dots than if I were buying commercially loaded ammo.

 

[hotpig]

Most regular defensive ammo is sold in 20 round boxes. Thanks to the internet you can buy LE grade ammo in 50 round boxes for about the same price as the commercial 20 round box.

Before you buy from places like ammoman shop around. Often it is cheaper to pay shipping than it is to buy from him. Some times he has neat stuff that you can not find at other places. Just do not buy guns from him.

 

[Claude Clay]

re-load & a beta crony. reiner jacketed ( coated actually) bullets of the same weight ; match velocities & for about ,15 cents per round in 9mm or 40 or 45 you can practice what you carry as much as you want.

 

[ZeSpectre]

When comparing ammo I always reduce it to price per round to avoid confusion

While I have bought $1.00/round premium ammo before I generally try to find a price point around $0.45/round as a maximum for good brand-name self defense ammo.

 

[Blackbeard]

I currently have Remington 115gr JHP 9mm loaded in my G17 as my self-defense round. Is this an adequate defensive cartridge? What makes the premium cartridges (Cor-Bon, Gold Dot, etc.) better?

 

[357-8-times]

Oops. ignore this post pleaze

 

[WeedWhacker]

Don't buy 20-round boxes of ammo; Speer sells 50-round boxes for about the same price, but you'll have to do some looking.

Georgia Arms uses 124gr Speer bullets over a +P powder charge and sells those for a very reasonable price in bulk.

 

[ilbob]

The profit margin on factory loaded Speer Gold Dots has got to be a gold mine for Speer, as the price difference is not reflected in the cost of the bullet itself.

Not necessarily. Marketing any product can be very expensive, and spreading that cost out over a small amount of product actually sold means a lot of the retail price of the product is actually marketing.

 

[ReelFaith]

Where's the media? NO Ammo instock?

Just Curious? Walmart is the worlds best at inventory control but continues to have low to no handhun and rifle ammo instock. Additionally, Bass Pro and mom & pop dealers have minimal inventory. These retailers can't get ammo! WHY isn't the media interested in this situation? I have not read or heard anything about National the no ammo instock environment. Why Not? Why is the media so quiet? Oh well, Just Curious.

 

[Cannonball888]

They're part of the conspiracy

 

[Hungry Seagull]

It's been going on for months since the Election. First it started with Guns, now the people ahem, learned that these guns need feeding.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

It is evidence however, of the whole tinfoil hat theory that the media is controlled by the gov. I mean, if it were toilet paper, milk, beanie babies or x-boxes flying off the shelf, they'd be covering the HE77 out of it right?

 

[zminer]

It seems like a bit of an exaggeration to say that there is no ammo available anywhere, and that retailers cannot get any. Sure, when there's a buying spree on an item which requires "feeding," there's bound to be an echo of buying of the item which it "eats." So, yes, there will be shortages at first. I've had minor trouble finding particular calibers, but ammo is not gone. It's just taking manufacturers a while to increase their production of an in-demand product. (Side note: I just submitted a question to CCI to see how long it takes for them to produce ammunition - from raw materials to a manufacturer's door. My guess is that they're doing such big runs that it's a matter of months rather than weeks ... but I could be wrong.)

Also, the analogy to toilet paper or milk or other essentials is not quite apt. Ammunition is not something that everyone needs on a daily basis, and it is something which - given the tools and know-how - one can make for oneself. (I guess you could weave your own toilet paper, but it might not be worth the effort.)

 

[ThrottleJockey]

On the contrary, I NEED ammo. I DO NOT need milk or toilet paper, as I A.have both, and B.don't drink milk and leaves/napkins etc wipe my butt just fine. Plus, one could milk a cow much easier than producing the components needed for the manufacture of ammo.

 

[Eagles6]

Wallyworld is not a fair indicator of the situation. They have been getting out of guns for a while. Our local ones sell no firearms save 1 CVA muzzleloader. I doubt if ammo is a priority to them. Ammo is still available, just not the cheap steel cased 7.62 x 39. Everything else is being bought up, sometimes at the wholesale level.

 

[Clint C]

The same amount of ammo is being produced. There are just more people buying guns and ammo. My dealers tell me as soon as they get some in it sells out. My cousin told me his friend went into a shop when they had just gotten in some .45 ammo and bought all of it, and that kid doesn't even have a job. So if people without a job are buying this much ammo just think what the people with a job are able to do.

Just hold on guys it will be back on the shelf. There is no conspiracy going on.

Who here really thinks someone is going to tell the manufactures to slow down on production, and who really thinks those people would listen if it did happen?

There is just a very high demand for everything right now. It well get back to normal, just chill.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

ClintC, perhaps slowing down production is voluntary. It artificially raises prices, and produces the same profit at less expense with less effort. Not saying this is the case, but we are CAPITALISTS concerned with the dividend checks and stock values right? I mean the guy buying the product isn't really the customer, the guy buying the stock is.

 

[scottgun]

I have heard and read quite a few stories recently about the run on guns and ammo.

 

[zminer]

On the contrary, I NEED ammo. I DO NOT need milk or toilet paper, as I A.have both, and B.don't drink milk and leaves/napkins etc wipe my butt just fine. Plus, one could milk a cow much easier than producing the components needed for the manufacture of ammo.

Heh. If you think it's cheaper and easier to get a cow, plus a place to house the cow, plus all the food, effort, and medicine required to keep a cow healthy and producing milk, not to mention finding a way to safely store and use the milk itself ... than it is to buy a Dillon press, some powder, dies, reloading books, and a few thousand primers and brass, I suspect you have another think coming.

Alternately, try telling any female visitors to your house that you don't have any toilet paper and see how far that gets you.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

I'm married, and I drive a truck. Only home an average of one day a month if that. Couldn't care less about butt wipe.