Time to stock up on ammo?

[Sheepdog1968]

Shelfs flush where I live. Having said that, I have enough birdshot for trap league to last me two years. As such, I am not worried about six to 12 month supply interruptions.

 

[DoubleMag]

Everything is fine, it's warm here. Winter? Yes it's coming, but I have looked at the Almanac, it's going to be a-ok . Absolutely no need to cut more wood for the furnace....
OK out of never never land. If She gets the nod, and down ticket improvements such as the Senate, She will attempt as in normal political fashion, after the biiiig flush attempt, to plunger through the extra full toilet all her bad stuff in the 1st portions of next year. The Rooter Roooter man will not be called; the man with a bigger plunger will be called. This is normal political practice, the theory is ppl will forget come voting time.
I don't forget, obviously others do.
Another forget time is spring. It's sunny out, 1st time outside all day, lake, picnic, cleaning up the yard. Absolutely no need for sunblock, or extra water bottle.
Again, I don't forget. Yet as consistent with the human nature, many do.

 

[larryh1108]

Oh, poop -- someone else trying to start more panic buying. C'mon now, guys please stop ... just stop. Even if HRC is elected and we lose the Senate, it's gonna take 'em a couple months past January 21st to get the bad stuff rolling ... Can we please wait until then?

So, if there is bad news on the horizon that is 3 months out, we should wait until the last few days to react? That seems silly. IF you believe ammo will become scarce or that prices will jump (or both) then now is the time to prepare. If you don't think anything will change then don't stock up. All I can say is that I doubt ammo prices will go down from the present day prices so if you have spare cash and shoot a lot then now is the time to get a ahead of the game, not January 22nd.

 

[MedWheeler]

The question was if we know others to be "stocking up", and how local available inventory is holding up, so that's what I'll stick to.

Shelves have remained well-stocked at my local Bass Pro and at the local gun showroom, the one known here as "the gun shop that turned down the Orlando shooter." At BP, .22LR ammo is there more often than not, and is placed where it can be purchased without limit (not kept behind the counter.) At the other location, it is available, also unrestricted, but is more expensive, and does not include the well-known "quality" stuff, such as MiniMags. At the three Wal-Mart stores in my city, all have pretty full ammunition cases, but none has had .22LR ammo since 01/13. One of those stores does not sell firearms; the other two do.
These are the only places I visit that routinely sell ammunition.

I personally do not know anyone who is "stocking up", and have yet to see anyone obviously doing so in the stores, each of which I typically visit about every ten days or so.

 

[moonman16]

Most folks I know have the capability to ROLL THEIR OWN,
They also keep several years of supplies on hand since
Bill Clinton days. That helps ease your tensions,
CALL IT AN "INSURANCE POLICY"

 

[Taurus 617 CCW]

I have not observed any unusual buying activity locally up to this point. I am always trying to pick up ammo here and there for later. This has been going on since the first ammo shortage. Amazingly I haven't been without since.

 

[ms6852]

I'm not worried. I've always bought ammo for years way before the current administration every pay day. Had I not done this I never would have survived the Obama drought.

 

[huntsman]

"When the time for action has come - The Time for preparation has past!"
Abraham Lincoln

You should have been buying ammo months ago. After last election I sat here and listened to people complaining about hoarders endlessly. Anyone that had ammo was a hoarder and contributed to the panic. The truth is, if you started buying ammo six months out you contributed nothing to the panic, if you plan on shooting the ammo you were not hoarding, you were preparing. I don't understand waking up now and realizing there is an election in a couple of weeks that is probably 50/50 on there being a panic. All I can say is "Duh". I'm good for two years if I don't buy another round. Ammo has been cheap and plentiful. There was never a better time to buy it. You should have taken the opportunity. I will have less sympathy this time then I did in 2012 and I did not have a lot then.

"Should" is a manifestation of the intellectual disease, the pretense that one's aesthetic preferences somehow override reality.
-Tom Kratman

So what's the action?

The chest thumping by panic buyers is getting old, they act like lemmings scurrying about, makes me believe they're not really hip to what's at stake.

I agree we should be stocked up at all times, just because it's the prudent thing to do.The reality is guns/ammo should only be part of the equation but I guess because it's more fun than buying bulk meat it gets all the attention.

 

[22-rimfire]

It was about the beginning of October in 2008 when I strongly believed the current president was going to win his first election. I accelerated my buying of ammunition at that time as it was available and the price was generally okay at the time. My expectations proved correct, but there was no effective gun control effort until after Sandy Hook which brought on the most recent and longest ammunition shortage in recent memory.

This time. I intend to do "nothing" other than my regular buying. No guns except perhaps 22's, but I really don't need another one. If a shortage develops, so be it, but I won't be contributing to it.

 

[Tirod]

I don't believe the majority of the shooting public is too worried about buying ammo. They are more concerned about what stupid things might be attempted to make them expend it. It's the #1 topic NOT discussed on forums and it's for a good reason - it's totally speculative and depends on future events.

They will not "come for your guns." Certainly not door to door.
They will not "ban" much, if at all, and those states that tried it found all they did was create a class of highly intransigent citizens and public officials who have said they will not comply.
There are more of us than them.
They can't make you obey an illegal or unconstitutional "order," "law," or "EO." It is, in fact, illegal to do so - and your duty to be disobedient made very clear, especially in all the mandatory ethics classes taught in the military.

The only people who don't understand or see any of this are highly underinformed who see the government as being omnipotent, as if it were some kind of all powerful god. Time for an attitude check.

 

[Axis II]

Cabelas and a few others by me are stocked decent. reloading stuff is stocked too. I will be going to Cabelas this weekend and get as much S&B primers as they will let me, maybe a few lbs of handgun powder and rifle powder. I don't shoot a lot of ammo because wasting ammo isn't fun for me. I get enough enjoyment of putting 20rds in the smallest hole possible. I never thought I would say this in my lifetime but I want enough ammo to be able to protect myself and my family when all hell breaks loose. will it ever happen? probably not but one never knows. if you have an extra $50 buy a couple boxes a paycheck and keep it don't run out and blast it away.

 

[salt&battery]

here we go again. 200 years from now they will find guys buried Egyptian style with 300K 22 rimfire rounds. 22 ammo will never be available in all the stores all the time like it used to

 

[il_10]

I usually try to keep at least 500 rounds of everything I shoot on hand, but I'm not able to get out and shoot as much as I'd like to so that lasts me a while. Ammo is as cheap as it's been in a long time and I was a little flush last month, so I doubled that to 1,000 rounds on hand of all my main calibers a few weeks back. I've kept .22lr well stocked since it started getting reasonable again.

I didn't go nuts on the oddball stuff, I don't need 1,000 rounds of .32s&w for the one top break, and I definitely don't need a million rounds of .22 for the occasional plinking. But, whether it's an election, or just inflation, 'now' is always the best time to buy what you think you'll want to have on hand.

 

[Fiv3r]

So far, the shelves look pretty full here. Academy was a little low on .223 and 9mm
of the bargain variety, but I think that was because they were running it on sale. I noticed that Rural King had cheap polymer Ar mags in a bin in front of the gun counter.

My guess is that any shortage is going o be self induced like the gasoline drying up in Nashville TN last month because their was a shortage in NC. I got bitten by the buying panic of SH. .40 became my shortage caliber of choice, and may still be my go-to if something fishy happens. I really want one of those new Ruger Mk IV's, but .22 is tough to come by as soon as any panic starts. Not going to plunk down 5 bills for something that I can't shoot.

However, I am NOT buying up a ton of ammo of any caliber "just in case". I have a little for my Ar (that I don't shoot much as it is). I am thinking about getting into more traditional long arm/non-"tactical" calibers like .45 Colt, 45-70, or even warming up to the ol' 30-30 for plinking. Then if the shooting world runs around with it's hair on fire, I'll just enjoy shooting slow instead of mag after mag of 9mm.

But to stay on topic, no. I havent seen much in the way of a depletion of ammo. The shelves look well stocked and there is a plethora of calibers out there...except I wish one of the box sporting good stores would at least bring in some SD .327

Plenty of 9mm/.38/.357/.40/.45acp so far.

 

[Speedo66]

I'll say to anyone, after all the past availability problems, with the recent glut of ammo and low prices, if you don't have a sufficient supply of ammo on hand to meet your needs for the reasonable future, shame on you.

 

[HOWARD J]

I have been reloading for about 40 years.
I am having a hard time to remember the last time I purchased a box of new ammo.
At this time I have 10-12000 rds reloaded.
2000 rds shotshells
13000 rds 22lr
I hope I get to keep all those semi-auto rifles I have.
Shoot straight & good luck.

 

[Teachu2]

Here in California, we face implementation of poor legislation that's already passed and more of the same on the November ballot. The wife and I started stocking deep last year, and now have enough to stretch out ten years or so. It won't spoil, and it probably won't get any cheaper. It may get much more expensive. If this state continues to erode 2A, I will retire to a free state.

 

[Jason_W]

I'm in California, so yes, I'll be stocking up before new, recently passed ammo restrictions kick in. It's either 2018 or 2019 when we'll no longer be able to buy ammo here without a background check.

I'm not sure if a background check will have to be run each time we buy, or if the $50 purchase permit (yeah, that's going to be a thing here) is tantamount to the background check.

It will also become illegal to buy ammo out of state or have it delivered to your door via online purchase.

Additional new restrictions will place more burdens on ammo sellers that will inevitably drive up the cost to the buyer.

So yeah. I'll be stocking up as much as possible in the next year or two as well as reinvesting in reloading gear.

 

[Old Dog]

So, if there is bad news on the horizon that is 3 months out, we should wait until the last few days to react? That seems silly. IF you believe ammo will become scarce or that prices will jump (or both) then now is the time to prepare. If you don't think anything will change then don't stock up. All I can say is that I doubt ammo prices will go down from the present day prices so if you have spare cash and shoot a lot then now is the time to get a ahead of the game, not January 22nd.

Actually, Larry, what I meant was, can we wait to start creating internet threads that will start, and perpetuate the panic-buying and subsequent retail shortages? I'm not at all saying that we should wait until the last few days to react. IF you believe ammo will become scarce or the prices will jump (or both), the time to prepare has already past. But indulging now in the speculation and fostering discussion will simply hasten the inevitable. Do we really need to talk about it now? Hopefully, everyone here has been paying attention to the polls, the media slant on things, current and pending legislation ...Shouldn't everyone with a clue have already been preparing?

 

[ColoradoShooter77]

My reloading cabinet is fully stocked up, if there is a drought induced by the election, I have enough "stuff" to shoot 9mm, 40 cal, 223, and 308 for 2 years.

 

[Open Carry Jenkins]

It's always time to stock up on ammo, as so many have said already.

That aside, however, I'm not noticing many signs of panic buying either in my AO or via the many online vendors I monitor. Things seem to be holding steady. There are some ammo sales going on right now at big-box outdoor stores, even.

Now, at the risk of some shameless self promotion: I don't think we're looking at a real reason to panic, just yet. Here are my thoughts on the matter in article form: http://www.usacarry.com/second-amendment-2016-presidential-race/

 

[DaisyCutter]

OP, if you have to ask, then yes. But...

*Panic* is a strong term, and I think what we'll see will be less than in 2008/2012.

I geared up for total societal breakdown in 1999. I geared up more for 2004, because the fear was that a new worse AWB would replace the dying one.

I think the internet really drove the recent panics. But frankly, I was squared away before the recent panics, so I didn't participate much.

I think a lot of the people who in past years would rush the stores are also squared away, for the most part. They'll buy an extra case of ammo or a case of primers, but not a truckload. This will cause the supply to get a little lean, but nothing like before.

Who here hasn't bought something as a result of current politics?

For instance, I just bought 500 rounds of reloadable 7.62 NATO. My old stash of $25 battle packs is still in the safe, but they aren't reloadable and cost $115 to replace. I put off buying 7.62 NATO for a decade, but finally decided it's not going to get any cheaper (or more available) than it is now, so I bit the bullet. If I can get 4-5 loadings from each cartridge, then I'll be set for life. If a thousand other people do the same as me (which isn't a stretch), then it'll drive prices up a bit more than they are now. If the retailers get too greedy, then they'll sit on the product a while.

We're looking at a speed bump, not a cliff.

 

[ColoradoShooter77]

13 days to the election and there is still powder out the wazoo at MidSouth Shooters. I'm definitely not seeing a "clean out the shelves" mentality, at least not yet.

 

[Panzerschwein]

Well if it does start, and it may well, I'm hoping (in vain) that I'll be able to find enough quality .22 to target shoot with.

 

[Jim in S.A.]

I was at Academy today to pick up a few primers, and some boxes for my reloaded rounds. When I go there, if they have any .22 Minimags, I usually pick up one or two boxes of those, since they're not really back in full force. I did get the only remaining box of Minimags, but there was a lot of other .22 ammo available. I got to talking to the guy behind the counter and asked if he had noticed any uptick in powder or ammo sales lately. He said he hasn't seen much increase in purchases. He felt more people were just topping off their supplies, but figured enough people had gotten stung with $2,000 ar-15s and thousands of rounds of green tip 5.56, that at least some had apparently learned their lessons, and weren't panic buying.

I hope people have learned, but if my long life has taught me anything, it's that there will always be large numbers of people caught unawares and unprepared, no matter how much you warn them.