Could walmart (et al) put a stop to this ammo shortage?

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We have all seen them (many of us have been them)...a line of folks queued up at the local walmart (academy, bass pro, cabelas, etc) just waiting for the doors to open or the stocker guy to come to the shelves at 7am with the ammo for the day. It's so predictable- you see the same folks at the same time every single day almost without fail waiting to gobble up any 22 or 9mm that crosses their path. IMO they are not just prolonging the shortage...they are causing it. They are the hoarders or the scummy gun show flippers. They are most certainly not the dad who wants to take his kid out for a day of fun or the new shooter looking to practice.

What if one day walmart decided to wait until 2pm to put the stuff on the shelves? What if instead of stocking the stuff at the same time day after day they threw a wrench in the plans of these folks? If walmart shook things up a bit and made a semi-erratic schedule these folks would, at least in theory, lose interest and move on. More ammo would be available to a variety of different people and there would be more happy customers.

I know the big box stores dont care who buys the stuff as long as it moves, but you would think some GM would want more customers to be served more often (and it isn't like this stuff will sit on the shelves for long).

Do you think this ide a, if widely implemented, would help ease the shortage situation?
 
Take off all the foreign ammo restrictions regarding import(Norinco/communist)?

Are Aguila(Mexico) and Magtech(Brazil) running at full capacity?

There has to be millions of rounds of 9mm in warehouses or bunkers in the middle east, Europe, and Russia.

Just think if China 9mm could be sold in the states. But the ammo makers don't want it cutting into their sales. They are selling all that they make(at their leisure).

Someone could be an overnight billionare. Find a good stash of 9mm and bring over a container ship or two of it over here.

Who holds the keys to the Soviet ammo bunkers? I know they'd be willing to sell. Call Putin!
 
Still no luck at the LWM for .22 shells or 9mm. At one Wal Mart I frequent in IL, 9mm can be found fairly regularly and it is better stocked in general than my LWM (Kansas).
 
I wish they would vary the stocking schedule.

Ours is every Sunday morning at 7:00AM.

And the same people are in line every Sunday morning at 6:00!

rc
 
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Fast Frank said:
I don't know if it would slow down the ammo flippers, but it seems like it would improve the odds of me finding a box of minimags every now and then.
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You can forget about mini mags because non exist. Even the websites selling ammo at extremely high prices don't have any. Its been missing for some time. I seriously doubt you can find a single box for sale between here and where you are at.
 
The so-called hoarders and gougers or

whatever you wish to call them are just following the path of our Capitalistic/Free Market economy (with some modifications in our laws.) You may not like what they are doing but they have a legal right to do what millions of other Americans are doing. Buying something low (they hope) and selling it high (they hope). It is being done with cars, stocks, groceries, tvs, and ammo...among many, many other things. You may not like what they are doing but you cannot stop it and you should not whine. It is the free market in action. Something is worth what someone else will pay for it. About 18 months ago I could buy 100 rds of CCI mini-mags here in Iowa for around $8. At a local gun show in Oct of 2013 I saw a man pay $17 each for 3 100 rd boxes of the same. That is called economics. You do not have to buy the ammo if you do not want to at the high prices. And, it is not up to Wal-Mart to fix or ameliorate the shortage problem.
BTW The two Wal-Marts in my Eastern Iowa City have lots of 9mm constantly for just under $14 a box of 50 plus sales tax of 6%. We are right on I-80 if you are passing through.
 
No, WalMart cannot stop it completely, but our local WM is making an effort. Couple weeks or so ago I was talking to the young fellow working the sporting goods area at the local WM. He confimed that the same guys come in early in the morning and buy all the hard to find ammo. He said WM has started stocking ammo three times a day. I didn't think to ask if the times are random, but it is helping. There were several boxes of handgun ammo on the shelf tonight when I was there. Very Unusual, usually NONE. They've even strarted carrying WWB 38 Super, and had some in stock. I didn't check to see what other handgun calibers were on the shelf, just glad to see that there actually was some for a change...
 
^^^ this. (Post 10)

There is plenty of ammo out there. It just costs more than it used to.

Can Walmart stop the ammo shortage, no. That would be bad business sense.

can the whiners stop the ammo shortage? Yes, stop buying ammo. It's simple supply and demand.

Do I like the fact that I can't buy .22 at Walmart for a cheap price, of course not. No more than i like paying more than $2 for a gallon of gas, but there is nothing i can do about it.

plenty of ammo is available for a price if I see the value. But I don't so started reloading so I can be self sufficient with my ammo needs.

So lets say Walmart did vary their stocking schedule as it has been suggested. That increases their cost. Would you be willing to pay more for that box of ammo, say $6 more?

Remember, it is a constitutional right to bear arms. But "cheap" ammo is not part of the 2a. It's a free market. Embrace it for what it is.
 
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Queen_of_Thunder said:
Somebody get the Kleenex. We have more crying and blaming others for the lack of ammo. Let me be clear. At least in our area its not even making it to the stores. So those waiting can't be blamed for shortages because nothing is arriving at the stores in the first place.
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Not very High Road.....I don't see this one lasting long. Every time this subject comes up we have the same people with the same opinion. Conspiracy, hoarders or flippers.....take your pick. We've discussed this many times, with the same results.
 
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No, Walmart isn't going to make any further effort. They are doing plenty enough, what they can't do is suddenly get 10X the ammo they were before. It's not being ramped up that easily, and what production is out there is going to loyal customers per whatever share or percent of the business they got before.

Walmart wasn't getting pallets of ammo before, just breaking a case and shipping a couple of boxes to fill that niche on the shelf. They are still just getting a couple of boxes. Nothing can change, there isn't more ammo to be had. What there is more of are customers, and it's obvious some put a lot of effort into it, and some don't.

It's a huge indicator in life and politics, when somebody says something isn't fair, what they really mean is that they want to get the electorate to tell the politicians they would like a special law and to make things completely unfair to their advantage.

WE ALREADY HAVE THAT HAPPENING, IT'S CALLED THE AWB IN SOME STATES.

There has to be millions of rounds of 9mm in warehouses or bunkers in the middle east, Europe, and Russia.
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No, not really. First, what there is has a purpose, it's a stockpile for military use. Second, the powers that be certainly aren't going to divert resources into sitting on ammo they know can't be imported. Better to build a vacation resort just for themselves, and spend the rest on booze, women, and bodyguards.

This thread seems to be cataloging a lot of fantasy expectations. It's kinda nice to see there are some who haven't been beat down with the reality of life.

Yet.
 
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It's a huge indicator in life and politics, when somebody says something isn't fair, what they really mean is that they want to get the electorate to tell the politicians they would like a special law and to make things completely unfair to their advantage.
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This.

I completely get that it sucks not being able to find affordable ammo. But guess what? There are other hobbies out there. Lots of them. And they didn't skyrocket in price over one incident. Yeah, I love to shoot, wish I could do more of it. But I also like dirt bikes, RC cars, hot rods, etc.

So my suggestion to those of you who seem most bothered is to simply find another hobby for the time being. I'd rather be out running my 1/8 scale truggies on a beautiful Sunday than scouring the internet and local sporting goods stores for that elusive, overpriced brick of .22.
 
I found some .22 CCI Mini Mags at my Walmart the other night around 9:00 or so. Paid $23 for 300 rounds after tax. They limited it to 3 boxes or else I would have snatched up another 2 or 3. We go through the stuff fast.
 
[/Quote]So my suggestion to those of you who seem most bothered is to simply find another hobby for the time being. I'd rather be out running my 1/8 scale truggies on a beautiful Sunday than scouring the internet and local sporting goods stores for that elusive, overpriced brick of .22.[/QUOTE]

I think there are too many people who have made buying .22 ammo (or complaining about the lack thereof) their new hobby.
 
Get an air rifle.

Or start shooting centerfire. I remember when nobody could find centerfire but 22 was everywhere.
 
You can forget about mini mags because non exist. Even the websites selling ammo at extremely high prices don't have any. Its been missing for some time. I seriously doubt you can find a single box for sale between here and where you are at.
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There were 7 50rd boxes on my local WM shelf before I left on my business trip overseas. (Jan 6th) Guess what? I didnt buy it, and I am only about 800 miles from you.
 
My walmart raised 9mm price to over 20.00 a box of 50 .Now thy often have some in stock.
 
au01st said:
If I could find CCI Mini-Mags for $17/box I'd buy several boxes. Only thing my Sig 1911/22 shoots...
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I found some boxes of CCI Stinger ammo at a local gunshop a couple days ago. I only bought three at 7.50 each...the OP should be pround.
 
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