Emergency ammo supply

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I think it may get worse fast. I have seen what ammo restrictions in some states have done to prices and availability in nearby states. The ammo shelves at some stores are now "stocked" with only a few tattered boxes of shotshells if anything. No slugs or Buck! Not even lowly 30-30. Some local shops are actually selling what little they have by the round with a firearm purchase. Some deals between shop customers are going down when the "got ammo? question is asked. Net ammo sales have skyrocketed despite (or because of ) new tax laws and "in state" restrictions. I suggest a quick check of completed sales on GB and you may be in for a shock. If mail order ammo bans even gets discussed, lead may become the new "unobtanium". Torn between selling off excess and fear of not being able to sell at all in the near future. So much for a nice relaxing retirement.
 
Reloadron said:
That is not quite true. What we see today was what we witnessed following Sandy Hook and Obama's Administration going ballistic. Before that during the mid 90s we watched what the Clinton Administration managed to do with his so called Assault Weapons Ban. What we see today, to quote Yogi Berra is Deja Vue all over again. All of this has happened before including escalating prices and people buying stuff as fast as it hits the store shelves. The shortage in reloading components is also true of past history. Sandy Hook (December 2012) led to about 2 years of what we are seeing today. Today is pretty much the perfect storm. People will continue to worry more because of the political climate but all of it is nothing new.

Ron
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In every event you listed, they were the catalyst for the panic. I was talking about people stocking up when supplies are high and there is no panic. That is the time to "hoard" because it doesn't hurt anyone.
 
daniel craig said:
also think that there comes a point when the more stuff you have the more likely you are to become a target for other people
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I just had this conversation with my boss, as he's been buying 5.56 ammo whenever he's able to find it. He doesn't have a ton, couple thousand rounds at most. But he doesn't shoot. He's not "into guns" really... it's for just in case. In case of what? Societal breakdown, roaming bands of miscreants trying to breach his house. In the event something like that happens, he's really just supplying the miscreants with whatever ammo he has left.

Me, I have probably 10k rounds of loaded ammo and enough components to load 5-6k more in various calibers. But I shoot pretty regularly, because I enjoy it. My goal is to be able to continue to do that.
 
Hartkopf said:
In every event you listed, they were the catalyst for the panic. I was talking about people stocking up when supplies are high and there is no panic. That is the time to "hoard" because it doesn't hurt anyone.
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There were catalyst for what is currently happening. When supplies are abundant I see buying and stocking up as prudent not hoarding. However, what we are seeing today has happened in the past and just as we said in the past it will happen again. That is my point, all of this is nothing new for anyone who has been around for awhile. Was the ant hoarding or simply being wise in preparing for winter? :)

Ron
 
daniel craig said:
I personally never really bought into having a large stash of emergency ammo. I have about 100 rounds four my semi auto rifle, a couple boxes from my hunting rifle and the girlfriends hunting rifle, and the box of SD ammo for my pistol.

I personally don’t buy into the narrative of world ending needing to get into a fire fight and therefore needing a lot of ammo.

When ammo gets scarce I shoot less and work on other hobbies. I’m not so attached to shooting that a low or non-existent supply of ammo motivates me to want to increase my supply when possible. Something about sitting on a bunch of material items that I will never use just rubs me the wrong way.

I find it actually rather humorous how much money people put into buying ammo and how a little money many of them put into emergency water supplies, meds and first aid, rations, electricity generation, skills education etc... all of which will unarguably be more useful to you in an emergency than a ton of ammo.
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It's easier to buy ammo than it is to gain knowledge....
 
kcofohio said:
Not necessarily, if ammo isn't moving off the shelves in a timely manner, stores offer sales and manufacturers offer rebates. Stores don't want goods sitting on shelves long, and manufacturers don't want to idle machinery. So fewer buyers are buying and the supply is still on the shelves.
It's not a consistent market because we are not all consistent shooters.
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It stands to reason however, that when people who have plenty of ammo suddenly see statistics, where millions of people are buying firearms, and then these seasoned shooters flock to stores, buying up everything on the shelves, the price will go up, and there will be a shortage no? I mean, that's precisely what is happening now, isn't it? I think I read somewhere else on these forums, that it isn't really the new shooters buying up stocks of ammo. It's everyone else. Most of the new shooters are buying a box or two, and then not even using them. That's what I seem to remember reading. And that's not me. If I could find some ammo I could afford, I'd be at the range.
 
NuShootr said:
It stands to reason however, that when people who have plenty of ammo suddenly see statistics, where millions of people are buying firearms, and then these seasoned shooters flock to stores, buying up everything on the shelves, the price will go up, and there will be a shortage no? I mean, that's precisely what is happening now, isn't it? I think I read somewhere else on these forums, that it isn't really the new shooters buying up stocks of ammo. It's everyone else. Most of the new shooters are buying a box or two, and then not even using them. That's what I seem to remember reading. And that's not me. If I could find some ammo I could afford, I'd be at the range.
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I can't answer for the rest of the folks, but since the Wuhan flu, all I can remember buying is 1 lb. of Longshot and maybe 1 lb. of 300MP. And a bullet mold. I have pretty much sat it out of going to the LGS.
 
Another factor is "dollar cost averaging" likely employed by many enthusiasts to minimize financial risk.
Sure...some purchases might be made when costs are high and some while costs are low.
Spreading out ammo purchases (especially when plentiful) over time increases likelihood of favorable economics.
 
reloaded_in_pa said:
I've always kept what I called an emergency supply of ammunition for every gun I own (500 rounds per gun). Those rounds never get shot, but I will rotate stock when ammo is cheap. I've been wondering if I should increase that number. How many loads do you keep in reserve per gun ?
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I try to keep 1K, and rotate it for used calibers and 500 is more the bottom, when I'll really start diggin for bulk ammo deals. I haven't added to what I keep during the pandemic, but - I did add a cartridge .223, and between ammo, mags, firearm - yea, I totally paid through the nose for it, but it has been my only pandmic related purchase, and I'd been thinking about it for years.
 
We are in a group-think that will help perpetuate the ammo shortage.

People are trying to buy as much as they can and then limit their shooting for fear of deleting their supply.

To determine an "emergency supply" one has to consider the nature of the emergency. Is it defense against bad actors or survival in a lawless society? Or, are we talking living "off grid" and maintaining a food supply? We then have to decide which gun best fits the bill and act accordingly.

So, just to honor the spirit of the OP I am going to say that 500 rounds sounds like a reassuring number to me. And, I guess, a semi auto rifle or large capacity handgun would best fit the bill.

If the 5.7x28 wasn't so expensive and hard to come buy then the FN Fiveseven with a couple of 30 round mags would be the best choice. But, as it is expensive and the rounds are relatively rare a lightweight AR or AK in .223 would seem the next best choice. I have a friend with a great looking and very practical Kel-Tech 9mm handy carbine but I think the range of that cartridge is too limiting.

 
The questions I always ask people when this subject comes up are:

If the emergency gets really, really, bad and you have to depart on foot (remember gas may be gone), how much of your arsenal and ammo stockpile and everything else can you carry with you??? Answer: NOT THAT MUCH!

Do you really think getting into firefights is the way to go?? Answer: Only if you are crazy. Survivors avoid firefights. You can't carry that much ammo and any injury may likely turn out to be fatal. Being a prior soldier, I know for a fact that ammo goes fast when you are trying to achieve fire superiority.

Do you really think you will be doing that much hunting in a true emergency?? Answer: No, because everybody else will be hunting too and game will be depleted rapidly. You will be wayyyyyy better off if you acquire some botany expertise so you can be a gatherer.

So, in the light of those questions, why are you stockpiling 20,000 rounds of 5.56?
 
NuShootr said:
It stands to reason however, that when people who have plenty of ammo suddenly see statistics, where millions of people are buying firearms, and then these seasoned shooters flock to stores, buying up everything on the shelves, the price will go up, and there will be a shortage no? I mean, that's precisely what is happening now, isn't it? I think I read somewhere else on these forums, that it isn't really the new shooters buying up stocks of ammo. It's everyone else. Most of the new shooters are buying a box or two, and then not even using them. That's what I seem to remember reading. And that's not me. If I could find some ammo I could afford, I'd be at the range.
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Not really, I think we need to look at who is selling the ammunition. Your normal large store retailers like for example Walmart, Cabela's, Bass Pro and similar have not really increased their prices. When it comes in they put it out. Yes, some place limits on it. The screwing here is being done by the same places who gouged it the last time around. We have seen this play out over and over again and it's always the same retailers with the mega price increases. Personally I don't much care because I never buy from them so whatever the market will bear is fine with me. It's always the same sellers who are gouging but they seem to get by with it just fine. If someone wants to pay a buck or more per round of 9mm it's not my concern.

Ron
 
I wish I had more ammo on hand for a few of my favorite handguns right now with the shortage.

In the past I have gotten stuck with ammo for guns I have traded or sold. With taking a hit a few times I normally don't stock as much ammo on hand as I used to.
 
reloaded_in_pa said:
...How many loads do you keep in reserve per gun?
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I don't know and I don't have a target number, but I do have sort of a method that, over time before the pandemic, accumulated extra ammo: when I shot two boxes of any caliber I generally bought three, subject to price and availability. None of that ammo is considered reserved for "emergency" use, it's just there for any necessary use. But it builds over time, which is the desired result. Thus I'm not short of anything right now, but because it's tough to follow that practice nowadays I have reduced my shooting accordingly so I don't get short.
 
The best way to stock up is to buy when no one else wants the caliber you are buying.
I stocked up years ago in 5.45 when everyone was getting away from this caliber. Some places had stockpiles of it just sitting around & dropped the price accordingly. I bought most of it at 9 cents per round, at the time it was cheaper than .22lr.
Does this picture let you know how much per rifle I stock up, I have three rifles that take this round.
View attachment 973289
 
Aside from the fact that many use the label of "hoarder" as a pejorative term to elicit an emotional response, as I recall "hoarding" involves the compulsive accumulation of things that most consider to be useless or worthless.

Just another example of language being dynamic rather than static?

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program ... :)
 
NuShootr said:
Can you explain why? I'm genuinely curious.
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For example, right now there are no primers to be found, so I can't buy new ones, I've seen them for outrageous prices. Can you tell me when primers will become available again? No one can, so I like to be prepared. Right now I'm not buying anything, so the people that really need it have one less person buying ammo or ammo supplies. I keep a six month supply of food and water, I live in hurricane country, so you want to be prepared. I have a generator that runs off of propane and gas, I keep enough supply on hand to run for several weeks. When we have shortages for whatever reason, I'm one less person having to buy when there is a shortage. Look at the stupid toilet paper shortage, we have a six month supply, always have, so it didn't affect us. It's kinda like putting at least six months of cash away, just in case.
 
I ran into a guy at Scheel's a week or two ago who'd just picked up a box of primers. They're available at the right time and in the right place. My local Scheel's policy is to take your name and phone number, then they call you when they get in want you want to see if you still want to buy it for the price they need to charge for it. Scheel's does NOT price-gouge. If you don't want it, they offer it to the next person on the list, or they put it out on the shelf (in which case it disappears pretty fast).
 
gonoles_1980 said:
For example, right now there are no primers to be found, so I can't buy new ones, I've seen them for outrageous prices. Can you tell me when primers will become available again? No one can, so I like to be prepared. Right now I'm not buying anything, so the people that really need it have one less person buying ammo or ammo supplies. I keep a six month supply of food and water, I live in hurricane country, so you want to be prepared. I have a generator that runs off of propane and gas, I keep enough supply on hand to run for several weeks. When we have shortages for whatever reason, I'm one less person having to buy when there is a shortage. Look at the stupid toilet paper shortage, we have a six month supply, always have, so it didn't affect us. It's kinda like putting at least six months of cash away, just in case.
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Food, water, generator, fuel for generator I get 100%. Are you using that primer to do anything?
 
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