There are ways around the Walmart 3 box limit!

[sleepyone]

Yesterday, I hit the motherlode at a Walmart in the town next to me where my parents live. I was waiting for the sporting goods employee to show up and struck up a conversation with an older guy waiting to buy the only box of .30-06. The shelf was full of 150 and 170 grain Federal Power Shok Deer Thugs in .30-30, which is what I was after. When we got to the counter, I asked him if he was only buying one box of ammo to which he said yes. So I asked if he would be willing to get two more boxes of .30-30 for me? He said "Sure!" so I gave him $45. Of course this conversation is taking place in front of the sales lady who says "I can't sell it to him if he is going to give it to you." The guy said why not? I have two boxes left of my three box quota, and I'm paying you for the ammo so it does not matter to you what I do with it after I have purchased it. It was classic. She was actually good natured about it and laughed as he handed me the bag of ammo and my change. BTW, I went to my mom's and had her go buy three more boxes for me! There were only four boxes by the time she arrived. First time she had ever bought ammo, and she is almost 70. So, I scored eight boxes of .30-30 at a single Walmart. I think this is much more creative than dragging your wife out of bed at 6:30am to get your extra three boxes!

 

[ID-shooting]

I am willing to live by their 3- box ration rule. I know others shoot much more than I but I would rather see more people get ammo than have it all bought up by one guy.

Follow me here, if one guy buys up all the ammo and nine guys have none, they will be tempted to buy from the scalpers and keep prices high. If the first guy buys only enough to go shooting and leaves some for the others, then they would be less inclined to buy at higher prices and the scalpers will have to drop their price accordingly.

Someone will come along here shortly and bag on me about free market and socialist rationing but we did the same thing, sorta, during WWII.

We as buyers need to set back and decide not to keep the cycle of ammo scalping rolling.

For me, I will buy my ration and not shoot down my inventory but slow my pace to what I can obtain.

 

[Spdracr39]

I have yet to be unable to find what I need. I only buy what I plan on shooting.

 

[redneck2]

Do you really need that much .30-30 right now?? This is exactly what the guys that start the hoarder threads are complaining about. I'm not impressed.

 

[MaterDei]

Congrats on your haul, sleepyone. I'm sure you're pleased. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night.

 

[Averageman]

I would agree with the three box limit except;
I asked the Lady at the ammo counter, "Where is all the handgun ammo?"
Her reply was "We had a big load of ammo come in last night, but instead of waiting to stock it as we usually do, the guys decided to stock it that night."
Now I was born at night, but just not last night.
What makes you think the people at WalMart aren't playing the same deal the OP did with 30-30 ammo and calling home for someone to come get three boxes and someone else get three boxes and sitting on all the ammo they can get as it comes in the store?
After all they are much more likely to know when it is there than you or I are.
There is no good idea that cannot be scammed.
Also might I add;
What would happen to us if this was food rather than ammo?

 

[Airbrush Artist]

and thats why everyone cannot get ammo ...thats why rules work,your still receiving more than your allowed by the rules.. hopefully karma bites You Team Player and half the rounds are duds.., Sad!!

 

[ID-shooting]

I would agree with the three box limit except;
I asked the Lady at the ammo counter, "Where is all the handgun ammo?"
Her reply was "We had a big load of ammo come in last night, but instead of waiting to stock it as we usually do, the guys decided to stock it that night."
Now I was born at night, but just not last night.
What makes you think the people at WalMart aren't playing the same deal the OP did with 30-30 ammo and calling home for someone to come get three boxes and someone else get three boxes and sitting on all the ammo they can get as it comes in the store?
After all they are much more likely to know when it is there than you or I are.
There is no good idea that cannot be scammed.
Also might I add;
What would happen to us if this was food rather than ammo?

I know they are. The guy at my local Wally World to me as much. I often wondered if you put a small mark on the boxes how long they would take to end up on the local classifieds for a 300% mark up.

 

[Airbrush Artist]

That food thing will happen ID, so it will with gas ,water, medication,toilet paper,and INFORMATION for YOU too SURVIVE great point Brudder Scary but true..

 

[scaatylobo]

Disagree with OP

I too disagree with the OP,if you were not in the loop prior to the ammo being this scarce and did not buy at least a year [ or 2 ] ahead then I say shame on you.

You are just messing with all in the same boat as you,and taking away the only part of a S/D plan for a possible family man is shameful.

I am comfortable with my stock,so yes its easy for me to say the above.

But to those that have NONE,your a hog in taking all you can,there are at least a few that have nothing thanks to you.

Making up for being THAT far behind the loop is no excuse for being less than DECENT to others.

Sorry if I sound harsh,but we as a "shooter society" should not be attacking our brothers right to S/D.

The govt is doing a good job already.

 

[Averageman]

I dont even think they are doing it in the classifieds.
I honestly think some are sitting on large quantities and waiting. No matter up or down the price at WalMart is always cheaper than the gun shows here.
I think they are potentially greatly supplimenting their incomes by massing quantities and waiting to see what the market does.
Then dumping it for a profit either way at 30% or 300% it is still a profit and it looks like it will be a pretty good one.
I would like to see corporate catch them at it though.
During my Military years I have seen some pretty ugly stuff, I generally assume people will always act in their own best self interest, but it could get really bad if this is true and it continues.
Think rice and beans instead of bullets and a Katrina like emergency.

 

[gym]

They stock it at 8PM, I posted this a few times, we go back at 8 and they are putting out the ammo for the morning, "at least here in my town", they told us to come back before closing as close to 8 as possible, they had 2 trucks of stuff to unload earlier that same day.

 

[wgaynor]

I'm all for what the OP did. This world isn't fair. People need to get over it. You dont get a trophy for just showing up to things, you actually have to put effort into it and win.

He found ammo because he looked for it. You can find ammo if you look for it.

The CMP is selling a ton of .30-.06. Ammoseek.com has a variety of ammo from .22lr to .30-.30 for reasonable prices. I've even seen .223 and 7.62x39 at the local gun shop for $7 per box of 20. Gander Mountain, Uncle Lee's, Whittakers, Aces, and EJ's Pawnshop all have ammo around here.

Don't sit there on the computer and whine about your lack of ammo. Get up off the chair and go get it.

I'm all for ammo hoarding. That's why I'm sitting on 14,000 rounds of it (including 200 rounds of .30-.30) that I bought after Obama was elected the first time. It's called planning ahead.

It's also why I have a 3 month supply of food (took me 5 years to accumulate), a full tank of gas in every vehicle, 20 gallons of gas stored and rotated, water stored, and a huge garden.

Prep now so you can relax later.

While you're at it, if you see a new shooter about to pay $70 for a brick of ammo on facebook or craigslist, help him out and give him some out of your stash. New shooters may not know better and it's a great time to mentor them.

Since this has taken place, I've given out about 300 rounds of 9mm and the reciever (good friends) have learned to buy it cheap and stack it deep.

 

[ThorinNNY]

Apparently people in my area aren`t listening to Joe Biteme, `cause in Wallyworld you can get ALL the shotgunshells you want. Rifle ammo`s just about gone except for Winchester .300 magnum, Still some .40 & .45ACP on the shelves.

 

[wgaynor]

Another hint, if you want ammo, show up to wal-mart randomly after midnight.

 

[Averageman]

Thats funny, they told me to come in at 8 am.
But either way, whenever I get there it is gone. Now I can understand that maybe 30% of the time or even 50% of the time.
But when I'm told; "We had a big load of ammo come in last night and we decided to stock it then" and every bit of it is gone, not a handgun round available, it begins to smell like the freezer holding the seafood went bad.
I'm not going to fret it, I bought lots of ammo on line and have a bit stashed back, but I'm not only buying ammo now that I see how this works.
My shelves will be full of canned and dry goods before I buy much more ammo, I see how this works.

 

[Torian]

I'm only interesting in buying enough so that I can shoot comfortably and not need to race to the gun store in the next 12 months.

I'm not interested in capitalizing on the ammo shortage by flipping it those naive enough to pay a ridiculous amount. This whole situation reminds me of how oil speculators can drive up the cost of oil, even though there is no real shortage.

I can't blame people for wanting to buy more ammo for themselves as this point...but I can blame them for just buying to feed the fear in the market. There is nothing wrong with what he did. If he was buying it all just to flip to someone on gunbroker...then that would be something else entirely. If you want to sit outside Walmart and wait for shipments to come in...have at it. I'll pay a little more and just buy the ammo from the comfort of my living room...while saving time, gas, and sleep.

 

[Taurus 617 CCW]

I stopped purchasing centerfire rifle ammunition a long time ago. I have a reloading setup and load my own. I can't justify spending $1 per round or more for 30-06. It's half that when I load it myself and the accuracy is much better.

 

[redneck2]

But when I'm told; "We had a big load of ammo come in last night and we decided to stock it then" and every bit of it is gone, not a handgun round available, it begins to smell like the freezer holding the seafood went bad.

All you need is a few guys like OP and it should be clear to you.

This cracks me up. One guy in a post is bragging about buying everything up to hoard it and another comes along and bitches because there's none available.

Concentrate real hard and think about that.

I'm all for ammo hoarding. That's why I'm sitting on 14,000 rounds of it (including 200 rounds of .30-.30) that I bought after Obama was elected the first time. It's called planning ahead.

You've done the same thing I've done. I've got well over 10k rounds of ammo, plus enough components for maybe 5-8k more. I've collected it over a number of years. Planning ahead, buying when it's on sale at the right price. Back a number of years ago I bought 8# if Blue Dot for $49. There were hundreds of other guys that walked past it. Still have a lot of it left.

 

[wgaynor]

Sometimes the stores place orders through the warehouse and think it'll all be on the truck only to find that it's not there. This is the problem with "just in time" business structures. Just gotta keep checking in.

As for the whole hoarding issue, why not. I'm not responsible for the inaction of others.

Here's a question to ponder. When bullets are available in mass quantities and you buy a ton, it's hoarding.

When you buy bullets that are not readily available, in mass quantities, it's called hoarding.

What's the difference? Why is one worse than the other?

 

[Averageman]

I don't blame the OP, he bought as many boxes of 30-30 as he could lay his hands on. I would rather he have it than someone speculating on the price who is a WalMart employee.

My Grandfather always went deer hunting with his Marlin 336. He always got several deer a season, but a twenty round box might last him 4 years.
I ran a trap line in H.S.; other than shooting to enjoy shooting, a box of .22 would last me a season.
So if you figure I'm shooting for meat or money, it doesn't take that much ammo to fill a freezer.

I do shoot IDPA, now here all bets are off; I might shoot over 500 rounds in the span of a week.
Now I can't see why, other than misguided fear and speculation the market has changed so much. I havent had a problem with my IDPA addiction in the past, just but 200 more rounds at WalMart on the way home each time I shoot.

This is in my opinion only, but clearly this is only fear and price speculation. I do understand this is America and our markets live on speculation, from Sow Bellies to Oil; it's part of our economy.
What chaps my hide is that I have more than a clue whats going on here. The employees are the culprits in this little scam.

 

[O C]

I'll speak for myself only. Ammo and reloading components are sometimes hard to find, and since I do more reloading than shooting, the hunt for powder, bullets, and brass has taken on a life of it's own. If you go hunting, do you pass up a shot at a 45 point buck just because someone else may want to shoot it too? You use camouflage, deer urine, tree stands, tracking, scouting,and timing to give yourself every advantage. Then you brag endlessly about your prowess as a hunter. Same thing applies to ammo, muscle cars, and wild women, as far as I'm concerned. Get them whenever the oponunity arises, 'cause they ain't coming back!

 

[wriggly]

I would agree with the three box limit except;
I asked the Lady at the ammo counter, "Where is all the handgun ammo?"
Her reply was "We had a big load of ammo come in last night, but instead of waiting to stock it as we usually do, the guys decided to stock it that night."
Now I was born at night, but just not last night.
What makes you think the people at WalMart aren't playing the same deal the OP did with 30-30 ammo and calling home for someone to come get three boxes and someone else get three boxes and sitting on all the ammo they can get as it comes in the store?
After all they are much more likely to know when it is there than you or I are.
There is no good idea that cannot be scammed.
Also might I add;
What would happen to us if this was food rather than ammo?

You sir, are a breath of fresh air in a wasteland.

I just retired in October, and I ended up working the sporting goods counter at my local Walmart before then for a year and a half, because the company I was working at for many years went out of business because we couldnt compete with China.

Anyway, yes, the Walamrt employees are probably buying much ammo when it comes in.

As for your comment about the food. Right on! I cannot wait till it happens and the muckers start running around like raving lunatics. It will be the closest thing to a Zombie apocalypse without actually having real Zombies.

 

[wgaynor]

Maybe we should work part time at wal-mart on the midnight shift once a week...

 

[Averageman]

You know when I retire again, I just might do that to suppliment my income as I start my own business.
Until then...?