This buying frenzy is rediculous

[grubbylabs]

A guy I go to church with manages a large retail sporting goods store near us. I talked with him last night and he is just plain wore out over this buying frenzy. He said it has even hurt business a little. They did not raise their prices like some stores did and that is all that has been selling is AR related stuff. He says his bread and butter stuff is the clothing and other appeal, they have a much better mark up on that kind of stuff. But they are all out of AR related any thing pretty much so it sounds like work will get a little better for him.

A few weeks a go one of the gun counter guys at the store said that if you are going to buy a gun near Christmas be prepared to wait a long time for your phone call. apparently even when there is not tons of panic buying it still gets pretty busy.

 

[gp911]

Pmags over 80 bucks apiece? Holy guacamole! I remember in 2009 AK stuff was selling really high and I considered trading mine for a FAL (which was selling for a much less inflated price). Now the AR stuff is super high. I'd take the 800% profit on some pmags, but really I'd prefer prices just went back to flippin' normal.

 

[SpringfieldM1A]

Your telling me that nobody is prepaired for the mayan prediction!? these are people who can predict the end of the world but could not predict there own collapse. zombies will rise, the earth will shake, the sky will turn red.... :banghead:

but on a serious note, people buying out primers and powder, flocking to the stores to purchase an AR. This seems all to familiar. This type of purchasing causes price flux which hurts the rest of us. Those of you who purchase an excess of primers then try to sell them for 50 a brick, shame you you!

 

[wriggly]

You know what is really sad? I wonder how many kids will have far fewer gifts under the tree come Christmas morning because their greedy father just had to get another AR or dozen pmags or that case of ammo they really didnt need.

Thats the really sad part. As for shortages. Well, the distributors will have low inventory at this time of year anyway, because at the end of the year, most of the manufacturers close down for the two weeks over the holidays, and everyone has to do their inventories, and they try to shove as much out the door to the end users as they can, they dont want too much completed inventory on hand because it is $$$.

There will be a shortage for a time, but they are alreay aware of the situation, and you can bet your sweet bippy, they will be ramped up for the festivities right after the ball drops in New York after the New Year.

Gun sales are not that great at this time of year usually, because the $$$ are diverted to gifts. But this has caused the reverse to happen, and the masses drained the already low inventories pretty quick. Now its just a matter of time for the wave to slosh back and settle down.

I have to admit, that I too am guilty of getting caught up a bit in the fervor. I was lucky however in that I found a Rock River single stage lower brand new at my local gun store for $250 on Wednesday, then yesterday I found a Rock River A4 upper complete with the Chrome lined light barrel for $500, both brand new. So, I got another AR that I didnt need for $750. Not that remarkable normally. I also scored about 10 pmags at a normal 15 bucks a crack, and last Friday I grabbed three, 300 round dry boxes of PMC X-Tac 62 gr penetrators at Cabelas for $129 each.

None of which I needed. It was all fueled by what happend Friday morning.

My kids are all grown up and out on their own, and all the Christmas shopping was done for them and the grandkids, but I still feel guilty for spending the money on needless crap I already had plenty of.

 

[Onward Allusion]

Holy crap???! $440 for FIVE Magpul??? OMG, that's insane!

Well, at least I think I'm gonna make a killing on all those cheap crappy Eagle mags for the Ruger 10/22!

 

[rdhood]

This whole thing goes one of two ways:

Either a ban on Assault weapons and hi cap mags... or not. And if a ban, either old stuff grandfathered in, or not.

If an AWB/hicapmag ban happens (with the old stuff grandfathered in), then folks who reacted now/first/earliest will be those who benefit, and most of what the OP says is just bunk. If a ban happens, then the current shortage of those things becomes permanent.

If a ban does not happen, or if the ban does not grandfather in previously purchased firearms and mags, then the OP is correct and the panic is for naught. Black rifles and hi cap mag prices drop like a rock either because they are perfectly legal or because there is no resale outlet.

Either way, I don't think the buying frenzy is ridiculous. The speed with which some politicians, both Republicans and Democrats, flipped on their positions was mind boggling. The long proposed AWB renewal went from "not a chance in Hades" to a real possibility in a matter of days. The odds of an AWB within a few months is astronomically higher today than it was a week ago. If you don't have it or can't get it within the next few months, you might never be able to (much like the NFA registry for machine guns). How many folks have kicked themselves for missing THAT boat?

The interesting thing is that I have been building an AR for about 4 years, purchasing a lower in 2008 and other pieces along the way. I purchased the final piece, an AR upper, on Black Friday. It arrived day before yesterday. I only purchased a half dozen magazines. So while I WAS thinking ahead, I still wasn't quite fast enough. And if a new ban goes through, it is unlikely I'll get the opportunity to purchase more before it takes affect. Ridiculous? Not from where I sit.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I guess it must be at it's peak ... seems like there's nothing left out there to buy ...

Good point.

A private seller locally is selling a ruger sr-556c for 7 grand, used, firm

No, he's asking 7 grand firm. Big difference.

It is crazy though. I was at Wally World yesterday and went over to the gun counter out of curiosity. Crazy. There were a few .22s and a few shotguns and one Ruger American, that's it. Usually the case is full.

 

[ETXhiker]

"The long proposed AWB renewal went from "not a chance in Hades" to a real possibility in a matter of days. The odds of an AWB within a few months is astronomically higher today than it was a week ago. "

+1

Considering the audacity of the current administration and their "never let a crisis go to waste" mentality, I feel that the AWB will be back quickly, before the emotions stirred by the Newtown horror subside. My wish, would be that the ban will be less restrictive than previously. Realistically, I expect it to be worse and would not be surprised at a move for confiscation of the weapons they dislike so much.

 

[Quoheleth]

Crazy? Yeah. I had a fellow offer me $1000 for my Garand and two sealed spam cans of Greek M2 ball.

Didn't take him up on it, but I was mighty tempted.

Q

 

[Kiln]

My local gun shop is cleared out of every semi automatic rifle that holds more than 10 rounds. They had guns sitting there for six months that they couldn't get rid of that are gone already.

 

[wriggly]

Good point.



No, he's asking 7 grand firm. Big difference.

It is crazy though. I was at Wally World yesterday and went over to the gun counter out of curiosity. Crazy. There were a few .22s and a few shotguns and one Ruger American, that's it. Usually the case is full.

As I mentioned in an earlier post. I used to work at Walmart, and I went to the store I worked at yesterday, and no one was in sporting goods "surprise", but the associate had his Telzon (the hand held computer/scanner) on top of the ammo display case, and it was logged on, so I took it upon myself to scan a few labels and see if anything was on order, and what the status was. No AR's at the distribution center, No, American Eagle .223, No Federal 100 round value packs of .223, and no Tula.223.

 

[Girodin]

$7K for an SR 556, Bwahahahaha, for a little more I'd just spring for a select fire FNC.

 

[huntsman]

My local gun shop is cleared out of every semi automatic rifle that holds more than 10 rounds. They had guns sitting there for six months that they couldn't get rid of that are gone already.

Obama gun salesman of the year for 5 years running

 

[waterhouse]

You know what is really sad? I wonder how many kids will have far fewer gifts under the tree come Christmas morning because their greedy father just had to get another AR or dozen pmags or that case of ammo they really didnt need.

On the other hand, some of those kids have a lot more money in their college savings because their father got rid of an AR or a dozen pmags he didn't need.

 

[huntsman]

give the kid a gun under the tree, best Christmas gift ever at least it was for my kids.

 

[Onward Allusion]

Garbage is coming out of the woodwork. I'm big on the old school 59xx series pistols and the magazines from third rate manufacturers are being sold for as much as OEM S&W from just a week ago. Buyer beware in these times...

 

[MBaneACP]

It is NOT ridiculous, as RDHood noted quite accurately. How many of you went through the Clinton AWB/mag ban? I got killed on both rifle and pistol mags...I was shooting USPSA Limited with a Para .45 wide-body at the time, and I ended up "babying" 5 magazines for years. Quite frankly, I wanted to change to an STI .40, but the "investment" in magazines parts to build up working mags put it out of my reach. My first AR on a "pre-Ban" lower (J&T Distributing upper) had 3 — count 'em — Vietnam-era rebuilt 30 rounders.

Since Sunday I've added an added AR-15 mag, all at MSRP (I shopped quickly and thoroughly surfed the Internet), AR-10 Pmags (also at MSRP) and a couple of lowers for AR projects "in the queue." I paid the slightly higher MSRP ($19.95) for 10 of the FNH steel magus, specifically because of my experience in the last Ban, when we all coveted the few AR steel mags available because they could be endlessly rebuilt and were much less fragile than the aluminum mags when you dumped them on the ground in competition...no PMags back then! I've had good luck with the FNH mags in the past.

This is the Real Deal kids...

Michael B

 

[Creeping Incrementalism]

My guess, considering that national opinion on guns is less anti-gun than it was in 1994 and that was a disaster for Democrats, is that nothing will pass Congress, and no sweeping bans will get signed by executive order (maybe an import ban at most).

But for those of us in states where the opinion is more anti-gun, this could be it for us. So even if there is no national ban, if it takes an entire year for the backorder to get back in stock, the state ban might already have been passed. In California in the past few days, just introduced was a ban on rebuild kits for magazines, and no internet sales on ammo and a permit required for ammo purchases. In the past Californians were barely able to defeat legislatively or judicially these type of laws, but Democrats gained in the last election.

 

[snake_plisskin]

I stopped by my local Runnings fleet farm and they had a nice pile of steel AK mags sitting there for sale. They were $18.99 a piece.

 

[GlockFan]

Well I had the day off from work so I thought I head to the lgs and Cabelas. WOW. What a sight. Lots were full, lines were deep and racks were empty. I overheard a sales clerk at the Cabelas talking to another customer asking about pmags. He said 4 guys came in earlier in the week and bought every single one. There were no limits and they cleared the place out. Here are some pics...

 

[plainsbilly]

I have been a very bad boy and pushed some frenzy for my own benefit. I sold 5 sequential numbrred lowers for 750 each. Sad to say but i might have just bought on new truck becausr of ignorance and apathy.

 

[mgmorden]

I have bought a little myself during this craze - I ordered 6 M&P 15-rnd .40S&W mags ($25 each) and a 10-pack of P-Mags ($10 each) just in case.

Other than that I won't be buying much though I am low on 9mm bullets that I need for competition. Will need to get an order for those in sometime soon.

Overall though, I think this craze is good. The next AWB may ban the transfer of these items, but that'll be harder for them to push through. The last AWB certainly didn't. Now, if it DOESN'T ban the transfer, then the more people buying now the more the manufacturers of these items keep cranking them out. My guess is that if a new AWB grandfathers the pre-ban items and doesn't outlaw the transfer, then it'll have almost no effect.

The sheer number of AR's and the associated magazines that are in circulation is staggering. We've probably got enough to go around for another 20-30 years at this point.

I say keep buying. Get as many of these things as possible out into the hands of private citizens.

 

[jcwit]

Not really much different than the panic buying when a snow storm is forecast.

 

[xtarheel]

Gun prices going up but my SWHC stock going down? What is the disconect?

 

[jmorris]

A private seller locally is selling a ruger sr-556c for 7 grand, used, firm..... People are feeding this panic. It's so freaking sad.

At that price you can get close to a select fire Ruger that has been "banned" at least from new transferable production since May 19 1986.