The Gun Market is Bearish!

[searcher451]

1. The only thing that's holding me back from buying another half-dozen guns on my must-have list is money; I'm going to have to get a third job, I guess ... or a fourth.

2. And still no signs of an ammo let-up in my neck of the woods. The WallyWorld shelves in my area are still as bare as they were two weeks ago and two months ago and even four months ago. I stopped by the local store yesterday and asked the guy when the next shipment was due. He just laughed. Of course, I told him in my best no-nonsense voice that it was no laughing matter if you couldn't find the ammo to take your concealed carry to the range for a little refresher from time to time.

 

[AmEngRifles]

May need to start new thread

I apologize if this should be a new thread. Please feel free to take this into a new direction if that is appropriate.

This ammo situation is a bit aggravating. I don't even stop in Wally World as I don't need to be reminded of this current situation. Suffice it to say that 4 weeks ago while traveling a good distance, I stopped at every Wally that I went by and they all had the same situation. I was glad to hear from some people that the situation is easing, but in other areas, it seems like there are still shortages.

It is all leading to me getting my idle reloading bench back up and running. If I can't rely on the manufacturers or the retailers to supply me, then I will look to the components makers and increase their bottom line.

That being said, while I have often shied away from purchasing ammo from "reloading specialists", I am starting to think that if the big boys are having issues keeping us supplied, then it just may be time to endorse one of these reloaded ammo suppliers with the necessary jump in business to have a viable alternative added to the ammo mix. My philosophy used to be "I can reload my own ammo, so why would I buy RELOADED ammo!?" But I am now thinking that if a company as one of these would see increased revenues, they may actually start to compete against the big boys for quality ammo.

I am going to find a good reloader specialist and start throwing all my business to them. Anyone else agree with this attitude?

We aren't in a large scale shooting war at the moment, so unless the army is just going through tons of practice ammo, I don't see why the major manufacturers can't keep our distributors supplied. And the idea that some distributors are jacking up prices due to a perceived "issues" doesn't sit well with me either. I will not endorse companies that are taking advantage of us.

 

[frankd4]

Please do not buy guns or ammo for the next couple of months, I stopped about four months ago the fire arms industry has taken full advantage of the current situation and has been gouging the American people, If sales drop off drastically they will be forced to reconsider their actions.

 

[1987rx7guy]

Have not seen any .22 rimfire in months. Have not been able to reload .22 yet.

We have lots of the bulk bricks and a ton of CCI down here in L town. You would do well to drop by. How expensive is it to ship ammo? I could pick up a brick or two and toss it into a flat rate box for you just toss me a five'r for my time ontop of the cost of the bricks/shipping

 

[bearmgc]

Live ammo has to go UPS identified as ordinance. You can't ship ammo via the post Office. Its illegal.

 

[1987rx7guy]

Ah, well the offer stands I have a regular UPS shipper that I use for car parts. I see bricks all the time. Federal/Winchester/Remington and the normal CCI mini-mags, etc...

 

[longdayjake]

I have personally seen the market change in my own business. It has gone from constant sales to spurts of high volume sales down to nothing for a day or two. It is really weird. I think one thing that added to the shortage was that about half of my customers said they were using their tax refund for buying stuff. The tax refunds have probably already been spent so people are having to spend their non "surplus" money.

 

[Lucky Strike]

just got back from a local sporting goods place and they had plenty of .223 (Remington UMC) and even had primers (small and large rifle) although i got there just as they were unloading their weekly shipment

 

[NCSteveH]

As far as ammo goes I have to agree, still tough, however in traveling to Northern PA a few weeks ago I stopped by a local wally world and spied a box of the holy grail 380 bulk pack. scarfed it up in a heart-beat ( I have a Walthers PPK), when I got back to the truck I examined the box and was shocked to find that it had a layer of DUST on it. All I could say was wow!

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Interesting thread; I too think that November-December 09 will hold some STEALS for any of us with some money left. I'll probably be broke.

 

[Titan6]

I have no idea what you mean by a "technichal" ammo shortage. The shortage of ammo is REAL.

The ammo shortage is real to you. What I mean is that there are tons of ammo out there taking up space in somebody's gun safe because people thought they would not be able to get any more or have to pay a few dollars extra for the same product.

There has not been a huge increase in shooting sports that I can see, just buying. So the ammo is there, it is just not for sale.

We aren't in a large scale shooting war at the moment, so unless the army is just going through tons of practice ammo, I don't see why the major manufacturers can't keep our distributors supplied.

I am not sure what you mean by a "large scale war". There are about 175,000 US military members deployed in conflicts around the world today. To most countries this is more than the total of their combined armed forces. NATO has about 25,000 military members deployed in conflicts as well. While the war in Iraq has almost ended the war in Afghanistan has heated up. More than 10,000 enemy were killed in 2008.