Why is there an ammo shortage?

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Common calibers for potentialy soon to be banned ar/ak etc i can understand the run but .22, ***? That's probably one of the last calibers that'd be targeted. Unless people actualy believe teotwawki is comming and they're gonna have to hunt squirel for a living, why the sudden rush?
 
Common calibers for potentialy soon to be banned ar/ak etc i can understand the run but .22, ***? That's probably one of the last calibers that'd be targeted. Unless people actualy believe teotwawki is comming and they're gonna have to hunt squirel for a living, why the sudden rush?

Just a guess, but perhaps the .22LR rush is the teenyboppers contribution to the panic.

Got to feed those tactical 10-22s ya know
 
In his business travel this week my son stopped at 5 gun stores to see if he could find any ammo or loading supplies. In 5 stores he found a total of 4 boxes of 9mm ammo. He did find one out of the way shop that had primers so he got me some. This is crazy. What are these people going to do with all this ammo. Luckily it will last for 20 years or so and not go bad. The local Academy has been out for over a week and not sure when they are going to get any in. Walmart here is the same way.
 
Three days ago there was plenty of "military type" ammo at the normal price:
.75/rd. of Prvi Partizan .303 "British".

People who actually Had the cash for .223, 5.45x39, 7.62x39 etc in October etc should have bought it before the November election.
Of course many had none available, but those with the cash who are now high and dry, then should have realized that we would always be one mass tragedy from a major panic.

Those people who delayed buying anything Did Know about the Tucson Arizona, Aurora CO, then Portland tragedies (publicized everywhere), didn't they?
 
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One of the guys at work said he has 15,000 rounds in his house and wont sell to anyone.
Not even a few rounds.
Why should he? He saw this coming, and prepared accordingly. He bought what he wanted, or needed, without taking into account supplying his neighbors etc...because, well, why SHOULD he have planned on supplying anyone else?!?! I have a lot of ammo on hand too, and I'm not eager to get rid of any of it either. Its not getting any cheaper, any easier to find, and will last at least the rest of my lifetime if stored decently. The way I see it, having 14999 rounds isn't as good as having 15k, especially when current prices are about triple compared to what I paid.
 
About those that have a very large amount of ammo, doesn't bother me one bit if they have more or less than me.

Because the Constitutional Civil war is about to erupt and there will be plenty of opportunities to get better weapons and ammo.

Its not a stockpile issue, its the issue we are by definition of the 2nd Amendment are to be armed equally as well as the military.

So whatever Walmart sells is FAR below what the military uses. My rant of the day.
 
I walked out with 10 boxes of 9mm that I cant find anywhere without being gouged. I only found one box of 5.56 and it was tracer rounds. Fortunately, they were selling at the pre-freak out rate. I usually dont buy this much ammo, but I dont know when I'll be able to get some again.

Why... here is why.

Many people are afraid right now; availability, ownership, freedom, taxes, and just being able to go shooting when they want to. That is why I read that there were 2.8 million NICs checks in December. As mentioned above, the ammunition has not gone anywhere, just changed to the user's hands. I highly doubt it is being shot up at the rate it is being purchased.
 
You know DHS just put in an order for 200,000 more rounds at the beginning of this year? This is on top of the 2-3 billion rounds that have already been contracted for last year by other government agencies.
 
To go along with what Silverado6X6 is saying, if there comes a time when you REALLY need an AR and lots of ammo, there will probably be plenty of them laying around to be picked up.

I hope we never see that.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr
 
The time may come when having a significant stash of ammunition and firearms may be very important. But as people have seen in this most recent "scare"... the time to buy is not after the mad rush occurs and then whine about not being able to find this or that at Walmart.
 
There is only a shortage for the unprepared. Sorry if that comes off like sounding like a jerk but it is the truth. I have been blasted for some comments I have made in the past about bans and ammo purchases. A lot were saying "buy only what you need", "your a hoarder" and so on.

22 has not been readily availiable in my area for months. The recent run has only caused calibers like 9mm, 40, 223, and 7.62x39 to become scarce. The big box stores are out of all the calibers I listed.

Got to go, headed to the range. :D
 
Wal-Marts have very little handun ammuniton...except for 40 S&W. Consistently. That's getting low as well.
 
60,000 rounds is quite a bit.

It's a good start...:evil:

I haven't tried to buy ammo for about a week now and I honestly expected for things to gradually start to slow down like it did after the election but as of now the panic is still in full effect.

The prices on my local WTS Ammo board have started to ease off. Still see the odd $1K/1K rounds but I don't think many are buying...

Was in my local Turners yesterday and there were two bricks of Remington GB .22LR and a few cases of Wolf black box x39 @ $7-ish/20.

No 5.56/.223 that I could see tho.
 
60,000 rounds is quite a bit.

It's a real pain in the butt to move around too. We used to haul about that much to every gun show we went to when I had my shop.

Keep in mind, I normally shoot a lot! I shot almost 10K rounds of 45ACP this year, alone.

Knocking myself back to 500 rounds a month would be a pretty substantial cut, considering my "normal volume" is x4 that. If I don't check my shooting habits and ammo doesn't become available again, it's a 2 1/2 year supply.

Also, this isn't 60K+ rounds in just a few calibers. I shoot a LOT of different calibers. Have firearms chambered in 26 different calibers, variety is the spice of life!
 
There has "almost" been an ammo shortage ever since we invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. U.S. production factories have been running 24/7 for years now and they are not able to produce what the D.O.D. is asking for. We consumers are at the bottom of the list for ammo consumption and supply. We buy more small arms ammo than we make from other countries now and have been doing so since George W. was in the big house. Be glad you can get anything.
 
I was around but I was and still am pretty well stocked up and don't need any more. I hate to even think about having to move all of my stock. I moved it all in 96 and it took 3 trucks.
 
The holiday shutdown for the majority of ammunition manufacturers hasn't helped availability either. Some might be astounded at how many rounds of ammunition are produced every day at these plants. Ammunition availability will start to improve over the next couple of months as many plants have been scaling up production over the past couple of years.
 
This ammo panic occured at the worst possible time of year. We reelected the same political prostitue. Many manufacturers shut down for a week or two for the holidays.Many stores started reducing stock to avoid the yearend inventory tax.Three strikes and you're out. (Of ammo.)
 
Tankless pro said,
There is only a shortage for the unprepared.

He is right.

No sympathy here. Enjoy you 1800 dollar Olympic AR's, $50.00 C product mags, $100.00 Pmags and $900.00/ case of 55grain PMC, you bought with the xmass money, or the rent money, or even worse, put it on plastic at 19%.
Next paycheck will be less with the new tax law, IRS is looming by April, and by then your AR will sell for $500, mags will be plentiful, and ammo prices will decline.

Being prepared means more than guns and ammo.
 
I have kept the number of cartridge types to a minimum (.22lr, 9mm, 5.56, 3.08) and have some single-digit thousand rounds total across all of them. At the rate I go out to the range, that will last me for quite some time, and well before I run low, the world will have changed many times and, in the case of ammo availability, likely for the better.
Yes, there may be higher taxes
There may be wind-down of specific cartridge-types if there is a ban on some gun designs
There may be long-term hoarding as there is now (though I doubt it - the attention span of most americans is far too short)
So just be patient. Unless you are absolutely dry or have some emergency need, 'this too shall pass'.
B
 
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I do feel bad for those who just couldn't stock up due to low funds by no fault of their own. I know a guy at work, single dad (wife passed), got in accident (car totaled) , he would shoot with us once a month or so. Now, no ammo.

I'm always stocking up when I see a deal. Been that way for awhile. Well stocked. Yes I discretely offered him some SD ammo. He will pay me back, that's just the kind of guy he is.
 
"What are these people going to do with all this ammo"

Shoot it? Anybody remember when Wolf Match Target was $15/brick and Wolf Match Extra was $18/brick and then after awhile it went up a couple of bucks? I bought multiple cases of both and I'm still shooting it. I should sell it all. What's a $1.50 box of Wolf worth these days at auction? :)

I retired October 1st and I've been acquiring ammo as deals presented themselves for at least 10 years. I still have some 28 ga. Win AA that I got on sale at Dick's for $3.49/box. When it's gone I start reloading.

I suppose the answer to the question is either shoot it, store it or resell it.

John
 
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