Victims of Their Own Success and Alternative Solutions

[Speedo66]

So the popularity of AR's and most semi-auto pistols have come back to bite their owners in the butt. lol

Everyone got on the bandwagon and drank the .223 and 9mm Kool-Aid, giving them unprecedented appeal, myself included.

Result: the hoards have ravaged the shelves of every gun store and online warehouse to the point none are available. After that, other calibers disappeared in descending order of popularity.

What to do? Plan for the future! Many of us saw the writing on the wall after past shortages and stocked up. Everyone who's been a member here for any length of time has seen numerous threads advocating this. Ammo and/or components should have been squirreled away.

So now what? At this point if you didn't stock up, unfortunately, I think the legal term is "you're screwed". But, now is the time to think about the future and make some decisions. Will the popularity of .223 and 9mm continue unabated? No doubt. So maybe now is the time to convince yourself to explore other, less popular calibers.

Think outside the box, check your LGS and big box store, see what's left on the shelves. Find something there that appeals to you and get into it. Just may be your way of surviving the next, and there will always be a next, shortage.

Lots of calibers lost appeal because many wanted the "latest and greatest", even if there was very little difference in performance over existing, but older, calibers.

Be the person that can see past the ads and gun magazine hype and you will be smiling next time the shelves are depleted of the "popular" calibers.

 

[daniel craig]

Not sure that’s accurate. Even unpopular calibers are just as hard to find. At least that’s the case with 7.62x25.

 

[Olon]

I generally go against the grain with cartridge selection so, with the exception of small pistol primers, I've been pretty set.

Guess there's a benefit to being taught to shoot by a man who just didn't give a rip what was popular haha

 

[HPJeep]

30-30 was one of the first calibers to run out due to covid 19 because of the millions of Winchesters, Marlins, savages and Henrys. However they're not tactical. Just goes to show you that the world's is not all 9mm or 5.56.

 

[Tommygunn]

I started stocking up on major calibers I use years ago. I've seen photos on this website of other peoples' stashes and many have me beat by the ton.
There is something to be said for having a ..... "stash" onhand. I did not forsee covid19 a year ago, or how bad the BLM/antifa riots would get.
But it's always something.....

 

[George P]

And going forward, you can bet the left will be going after online sales, eliminating another source that a lot of us use regularly. That will make "stocking up" that much harder to do; which is,. of course, the scenario they want. They KNOW they can't get rid of the guns in civilian hands; but guns without ammo become big blunt objects

 

[Kleanbore]

I don't want to come across as overly critical, but the OP makes little sense to me.

 

[230RN]

Well, the OP did misuse "hoards" unless it was a pun on "hordes."

Seems to me it was a good reminder of the long-term Leftist strategy of creating "choke points" for firearms ownership and use.

It basically re-iterated the need for ammo of all kinds besides the "most popular" ones. For me, 7.62X39 are close friends.

Even if it's not one of "your" calibers, it might make good trading stock. Might even beat the value of gold.... har har.

One question that occurred to me was local fire department (and possibly zoning) regulations in re quantities allowable for private residences. Been a long time since I watched the SAAMI video on ammo in fires, but I don't believe that question was addressed.

Terry, 230RN

REF:
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...on-ammunition-and-fire-fighter-safety.687125/

 

[Walkalong]

I don't want to come across as overly critical, but the OP makes little sense to me.

Yea, nothing really to get excited about, just another swing in demand that has the supply chain behind again, and this too will pass.

 

[Archer]

The problem with the OP’s narrative is that market-driven manufacturing priorities decide what is available. Esoteric or unpopular stuff simply isn’t made when the vast majority of demand is for mainline calibers.

 

[AlexanderA]

When it comes to ammunition, it's a case of hoarding feeding on itself. There is just no other explanation. The "feeding frenzy" on guns is due to two reasons: social unrest and fear of restrictive legislation. Neither of these apply to ammunition. The amount of ammo needed for self-defense is miniscule, even under conditions of rioting. People aren't doing much recreational shooting because of the pandemic. And ammo, as a target for legislation, is far down the list of the antis' priorities. So, we have to conclude that we are our own worst enemies when we buy up all the available ammo.

 

[earlthegoat2]

Diversifying is not a bad idea.

When the panic starts, 9mm, 223, 12 ha buckshot is the first to go. So, next time when the panic starts, you will already have that 357 Sig and a good stock of ammo for it. But instead of trying to buy as much 9mm as you can, also look for some 357 Sig (or whatever your choice is. IMO, 40 and 45 are also too popular to diversify into). Odds are you will find one or the other in the early days of the panic.

 

[PapaG]

And going forward, you can bet the left will be going after online sales, eliminating another source that a lot of us use regularly. That will make "stocking up" that much harder to do; which is,. of course, the scenario they want. They KNOW they can't get rid of the guns in civilian hands; but guns without ammo become big blunt objects

They do keep coming up with bills to tax and or regulate ammunition sales. Or to limit how much you can have. CA even instituted a background check for ammo purchase.

 

[230RN]

But all in all, it ain't like running out of toothpaste.

 

[redneck2]

At the beginning of the year, there were many threads about stocking up on ammo while it was relatively cheap and buying $400 AR’s.

I’m not buying some obscure caliber simply on the hope that some LGS will have a little ammo stocked away.

How about instead of wasting money on an obscure caliber firearm, you get a crap load of components so you can reload your own? Or, just buy a bunch when they’re available? After the dozen or so panics in the past two decades, you’d think people would learn, but I guess not.

 

[earlthegoat2]

In my eyes, the current gun owners are only a small part of shortages. They know and stock up early.

Newbie Johnny Come Latelys or folks who were less interested and now are more interested because of current events are the bigger cause.

When I was working at a shop in 2008, so many who never cared before all of the sudden cared about gun ownership. “I never cared about ARs until I thought I might never be able to get one” I often ponder, do they still care? Are they still voting the way they seemed like they wanted to back then? Do they remember? Are they the same late comers as they were last time?

As you can see, my join date is 2008. That is not because that is when I became a 2A supporter, but rather the current events led me to seek out other like minded folks across the country. So here I am 12 years later.

 

[reddog81]

You can still find 9mm and .223 online. 9mm costs just as much as 45 ACP, .357 Sig or 10mm at this point but, if all you have is a 9mm pistol you're better off just buying ammo for the gun you have. Unless of course you want to buy something else, than I guess it's just as good of an excuse as anything else.

Same goes for .223, unless you're interested in 7.62x39. Everything else is still considerably more expensive.

Right now is not a good time to be buying ammo much less going out and buy new guns and ammo to go with them...

 

[grampster]

I've enough ammo in my calibers for the present. My brother fairly recently purchased a rifle, a revolver and a shotgun. He told me yesterday that ammo supplies are quite slim. He was wise enough to stock up a bit when he bought the guns.

 

[Frulk]

I have ‘tactical’ firearms and the prerequisite stash of ammo to support them. Enough for an impressive last stand. But, I doubt and hope it never comes to that.

The current run on popular tactical caliber ammo...223, 9mm et al doesn’t impact me as I almost never shoot it. My primary shooting enjoyment comes from black powder rifles as well as revolvers, single actions and lever actions in traditional straight walled cartridges.

For those I have enough components to shoot for several years at my normal, pre-covid, pre-societal unrest consumption.

I’ve adjusted my buying and restocking patterns several years back to deal with the unexpected and ongoing turmoil to ensure it doesn’t impact my shooting routine.

 

[Robert]

It's an election year, there is civil unrest in the streets, there is a global pandemic, people are scared and in fear. None of this is new. Be safe, hold on to what you have and buy more if you can find any. But we don't need another panic, ammo shortage, or gun shortage thread Everytime someone turns on the news.