Has this Obama/Pelosi ammo market turned you from a shooter to an ammo hoarder?

[Prosser]

Hi

I've been looking at ammo for my guns lately, and the only sane conclusion is I have to get rid of a bunch of stuff and setup a Dillon 550.

Examples:
Weatherby 375 H&H: bought 250 rounds 25 dollars a box, 20 rounds a box.
Cheapest I can find right now is about 45 dollars a box, for cheapest Federal 375.

30-06 is around 20 a box, for 20, shipped and taxed.
.475 and .480 Ammo are up to about 30 a box, used to be 20 for 20 for Hornady factory XTP's.

Seems like EVERYTHING I have stashed has gone up double in price, or way more.

22lr seems like the only thing to shoot anymore...

 

[Rail Driver]

I'm sure someone will pop up and say "Hey, you should reload"... Well, if you're like me and can't afford the initial expense of getting into reloading, along with the learning curve and the time required (I have two small kids, so no time for reloading even if I could afford $400+ worth of equipment to get started and even if I did get the gear to load my own, the kids have me so distracted most of the time that I'd end up blowing my hand off), you might look into scheduling ammo purchases... buy a set amount of a set caliber once a week, and instead of shooting 3 times a week, cut back to once a month. You don't get to shoot as much, but you enjoy the time that much more.

 

[Well Now]

I don't have the room to reload nor store the equipment. I store a good amount of factory ammo so I can shoot as I please and then when done shooting, I order again to replenish what I've used.

 

[buck460XVR]

Has this Obama/Pelosi ammo market turned you from a shooter to an ammo hoarder?

NO..........I have always been an ammo hoarder. Unfortunately, too many folks wearin' the tin foil hats have driven the price of ammo and reloading supplies thru the roof.

 

[Armored farmer]

YES,

Gun buyer, ammo hoarder, lead hoarder, bullet caster, etc.

 

[EVIL]

It has made me into a re-loader. Reloading cuts the cost in half (so, where is was before Obama...) For a while in '09 I was only shooting .22LR - if I didn't reload I would go back to shooting more rimfire. Even that has gone up from $13/500 rds to $20/500 rds locally.

 

[guyfromohio]

I always keep a par level of 3000 rounds. I then shoot down to that level. So, yes... the current admin and their games around ammo-control versus gun-control have driven me to this. And zombies, of course.

 

[The-Reaver]

KbBailey; YES,

Gun buyer, ammo hoarder, lead hoarder, bullet caster, etc.

Exactly. Couldn't have said it better my self.

 

[M2 Carbine]

I've always bought ammo and reloading components in as large amounts as I could afford, when the price was right.
Buy in bulk when the price is low and shoot inexpensively. I'm still shooting $4.00 a box factory center-fire ammo and $2.50 a box reloads.

The year before the election when it looked like people were actually going to vote for obama, a friend and I were at a gun show stocking up, as the prices were starting to climb.
We were looking at the bullets trying to decide if we should buy a lot of bullets or a whole lot of bullets.
My friend said,
"If you don't like the prices now, you are going to really hate the prices next year".
We bought the dealer out.

This is just some of the overflow.







As far as the cost of the reloading equipment? This Lee hand tool costs about $35. About the cost of 5 boxes of Wal Mart WWB 9mm you can get the basic equipment to start loading your own 9mm. In ammo reloading money equals speed. The more you spend on equipment the faster you can load. For example it takes about 30 minutes to load a box of pistol ammo with this Lee hand tool. It takes about 8 minutes to load the same box of ammo on a good progressive press like a Dillon.


Use some of the time you waste watching the liberal news TV talking heads and you can load the ammo you use on the weekend for half the price of factory ammo.

 

[vito]

I won a small hotel-like safe at a business convention prize drawing, so I decided to use it to store my ammo (I used to just stack it on a shelf in my work room). I now find that my comfortable ammo level is whatever it takes to fill this little safe. I almost wish I had won a smaller safe.

 

[Nico Testosteros]

What is the Obama/Pelosi ammo market?

 

[mrmeangenes]

But---but---Vito : suppose the Zombies decide to attack - backed up by US troops in blue helmets ? What will you do when the (Shudder !) black helicopters show up ??

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

Perceived governmental scare, paranoia, or stark reality, it really doesn't matter. Any avid shooter, fan of the second aomendment, or owner of any firearm ought to have access to, or their own supply of whatever ammo they think they might need in the event of even hard economic times. Think of it as just a goal to be constantly acted upon. If one isn't able to devote a lot o funds to the task, start off small and accumulate, reload, or maybe just start a PLAN for your ammo supply. The ultimate goal is to either have what you need or want, or always have access to it. I reload, and am slowly working to have ammo on hand for whatever guns I have. I have witnessed shortages, runs on Wal-Mart, etc, and at the very least want to have primers and powder to continue my shooting enjoyment and defense needs. I can cast bullets for many guns, and if a small supply of jacketed bullets or ammo is on hand for the others, I can cut back on shooting, and make my "supply" last into decades, if needed. But, even for a gun you may never HAVE to shoot, 50-100 rounds might be more than plenty. Anyone should be able to store that much per gun.

 

[trickyric]

if you have to buy new brass every time is loading yourself still cost effective. The ranges I go to do not let you keep the brass and in the miami area you don't have many choices

 

[W.E.G.]

Once you have more stored than you can move, you probably have excess.

 

[Dr_B]

The ammo market certainly has made me pick up .22lr whenever and where ever I see it for a reasonable price. The cheapest I have seen it locally since 2008 is $15.90 for 525 rounds of Federal. I was moving a lot before Obama took office. I hadn't bought ammo for 15 years before that and I spent about $5 on a brick of .22 back then. When I went to get some .22 in 2009, the prices were ridiculous and that was when I could find ammo.

9mm is the only caliber I can afford to buy in factory loads. But I reload that and several other calibers and shoot for 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of factory loads.

I don't generally believe end-of-the-world scenarios are going to play out any time soon. But assuming they do, .22lr would make a nice item for trade. The rounds are easy to carry, lots of guns shoot .22, and you can kill a lot of food with it.

And if the world keeps on spinning with no problems, well then I'll have a lot of fun shooting .22.

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

What claim does any range have to your fired brass? I'd bring a curtain to suspend to retain my brass at my feet if I had to, and pick up and take my own (ammo brought to the range) stuff. If this was not good enough for the range, then they would not get my business, and I'd find an outside range or club where you DO keep your own brass.

 

[J_McLeod]

I'm sure someone will pop up and say "Hey, you should reload"... Well, if you're like me and can't afford the initial expense of getting into reloading, along with the learning curve and the time required (I have two small kids, so no time for reloading even if I could afford $400+ worth of equipment to get started and even if I did get the gear to load my own, the kids have me so distracted most of the time that I'd end up blowing my hand off), you might look into scheduling ammo purchases... buy a set amount of a set caliber once a week, and instead of shooting 3 times a week, cut back to once a month. You don't get to shoot as much, but you enjoy the time that much more.

This ammo market turned me into a reloader.

I also have two kids and limited time, and a small budget. Someone like yourself with only a little to invest could get a Lee Turret and all the other required items for 150-200 or less, spend some time over on the reloading forum and then start cranking out 100-150 rounds per hour at half price. I did that for a year before buying a Hornady Lock and Load and can now make 300+ per hour. It is worth while.

I would never shoot at a range that wouldn't at least let me keep my own brass.

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

PS: Just called Trail Glades Shooting Range in Miami on S.W. 8th st, and they said you can use your own amoo, and pick it up in your shooting area, so there is at least one range in Miami that you can keep your brass.

 

[Armored farmer]

I feel the same as Dr.B

Most of my shooting is done with .22 anyway.....except for hunting and clay bustin'.

Stocking up on .22 is a win-win, no matter what the future may hold. Oh, and no need to worry about the brass.

 

[JohnBiltz]

Ammo prices going up are not a result of hoarding. Commodity prices of lead and copper are at a all time high. They are reopening mines that were too costly to run before because prices are now making them profitable. There is nothing imaginary about that.

 

[leadcounsel]

Buy cheap and stack deep.

No time, $, or interest in reloading at this point. Would rather get a second job, earn more money, and just buy pallets of ammo.

I learned long ago that buying ammo in bulk is nicer than running to the store for the odd box when you want it - and if there's an emergency the shelves will be bare.

 

[mljdeckard]

I did for a while. When the panic hit, I was pretty much dry, and I couldn't get any ammo for months. Now I have some reserves and I'm reloading. And yeah, the price of metals goes up.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I'm sure someone will pop up and say "Hey, you should reload"... Well, if you're like me and can't afford the initial expense of getting into reloading, along with the learning curve and the time required (I have two small kids, so no time for reloading even if I could afford $400+ worth of equipment to get started

I started reloading with a Lee Loader -- the kind where you drove the die down over the case with a mallet. I used Lee dippers to measure powder, and you could keep the whole reloading kit, including a pound of powder in a .30 caliber ammo can.

 

[dev_null]

Unfortunately, too many folks wearin' the tin foil hats have driven the price of ammo and reloading supplies thru the roof.

This.

Last election, a bunch of people panicked and drove supply down and prices up. Well, the apocalypse didn't happen and now supplies have started to come back up and prices have eased some compared to the first year of the current administration. They haven't come back down to where they were, and they won't, not even if one of the current GOP candidates wins. But blaming whoever the current president is at the time (Dem or Repub, depending on their own preferences) is SOP among certain people, so whatever. Of course, this also ties into the other threads on the psychology of marketing SHTF scenarios as well.

Meanwhile ammo technology constantly improves, so it makes sense to have a variety, from less-expensive milsurp to newer (Critical Defense, PDX1, etc.).

But hoarding? What's the definition of that, anyway? To anti-gun folks, two guns makes an "arsenal" and more than a box of ammo is "hoarding." To folks who shoot regularly, a footlocker full of ammo is a temporary supply that must be constantly replenished.

Chacun a son gout -- "To each his own."