Topic: Ammo Shortages

[trapeze]

Stopped in at the not-so local Walmart today during a trip to the "big city" and checked the ammo display. Still improving but still zero .22LR available anywhere.

Funny thing: I had put my name on a list to buy .22LR at my local hunting store. Did that back in June and my name finally rose to the top of the list on the first week of December. I was able to by a half brick...not very satisfying but better than none at all. I'm okay, though because I am north of 7K rounds of the stuff. Sure would like to get it up to 10K sometime.

Anyway...back to the Walmart story. I went in there and they had all kinds of stuff that I haven't seen in a while like 9mm (which I don't use) and .40SW (which I do use) in a lot of different packages. The interesting thing about this shopping experience was that I walked away with five boxes of ammo instead of the usual three box limit. The store clerk said that he would allow me to buy three boxes of any caliber. I could have walked out with many hundreds of rounds since they had some calibers available in 100 round boxes. I held back a bit and came away with 180 rounds...quite a few pounds of ammo, actually. Nice to see things relaxing a bit even if it was probably just lucky that I ran into a clerk who didn't care about the three box limit.

One of the real surprises was that they had three or four boxes of .50 cal on the shelf. I hadn't seen that in a very long time.

I visited a larger town a few days before Christmas and they had a fairly new hunting superstore (kind of an ultra-mini-Cabellas wannabe). These guys had all kinds of guns available and not a small amount of ammo sitting out on customer accessible open shelving. They actually had a serious supply of .338 lapua in several different configurations and the same with .50 caliber. I was really impressed. The prices were reasonable, too. Not a single box of .22LR, though. There has got to be a story behind the .22LR shortage.

I am taking the impending lead shortage very seriously and will be making regular ammo purchases of $100 to $200 a trip. I am also going to be on the lookout for old car batteries that I can recover lead from. At some point that may be the only way to make my own ammo...by casting my own bullets. I personally see lead being more valuable than gold some day if you know what I mean. I can also see a point in the not too distant future where I will need to get a gun safe that is dedicated to ammo storage.

I don't think I went shooting more than a couple of times this year. That's sad but it is a sign of the times. I am reluctant to use up any of my supply as long as the prospect of ready inventory replacement remains in jeopardy. I think that when I do start shooting on a regular basis again (hoping that is next year because I need the practice) I will probably buy two boxes for every box I practice with so that I end up with a net inventory gain.

I have been using that strategy with my food supply for the last year in order to build up my survival inventory...buying three or four of something and using one. I have also used that strategy for alcohol inventory. I wish that beer could be stored long term but as most of you know that just isn't possible. Instead I have been stocking up on wine and distilled liquor. Only the good stuff...I am aiming for about a year or two worth of wine and distilled liquor. The way I see it I just can't go wrong with having a good stock of booze in my storeroom. The storeroom, by the way, is well on the way to being filled up. I added two more shelving units and that will max out the room's capabilities. I guess I will need to frame up another storage room after that. I have just got to get another gun safe, though.

Guns, ammo, food, water, seeds. Rinse and repeat.

[AlanS]

Academy has had a great stock of all calibers for a while....EXCEPT .22. Normally they have zilch. One trip last month they had 30- 50 rnd boxes with a sales limit of 3 per customer.

Made a trip to Wally World last month and found they had 6- 100 rd boxes of .22 with a limit of 3 per purchase. Got my 3 and left. Must have been luck because they've had zilch since.

[Glock32]

I haven't kept up with availability in retail stores, because I usually get everything online anyway. I just ordered some Wolf .22 (made by Lapua) but it is now sold out. Not sure why .22 continues to be so scarce.

[Libertas]

I haven't gone looking in-store or online in a while...bit I have to believe the .22LR shortage in entirely a product of the overall ammo panics which became commonplace ever since the SCoaMF seized power...everybody (perhaps even the Fedcoats) is shooting .22LR because even at inflated prices it is cheaper than most other rounds.  Now with Obama forcing the last domestic lead smelter out of business, if foreign sources get too expensive native ammo companies may cut bait.  Now this green movement non-lead crap is gaining ground and right now that crap is more expensive than lead-based ammo and it will increase as the Feds are mandating the military et all convert to non-lead, I forget the hard date they set, but it's coming.  Might be a good idea to stock up on the good 'ol lead stuff whenever you can.  Might not be around much longer.

   Feds!

ETA - Got a call from Fleet Farm yesterday, was on their waiting list for some .22LR...I think I signed up back in 2012!  I think it is for CCI Blazer, wonder how much they set aside for me?  I guess I'll find out.  Got three days to get it, will stop by tomorrow after work.

2nd ETA - Went to pick it up, 500 rounds for $21 & change, less than 4 1/2 cents per round, good not great....cheaper before the shortages, but I'll take it....40gr plain leadheads and brass casings, it'll work.  Nice to see FF fullfill customer requests no matter how long they take.  Oh, and I checked the paperwork, I put it in last March...sure seems longer, but such are the times...9 month wait is long enough.
 

[IronDioPriest]

[AlanS]

 

[Libertas]

Child labor force.   

 

[OldSailor]

I'm going to have to restock myself.  Took the Mrs shooting this afternoon, sort of a "redneck date."  We each burned off 100 rounds and while I have a couple hundred rounds for each still on hand I'd like to lay in more.  Fortunately for me there is another gun show coming up here on 1 Feb.  I can usually find what I need there at prices not quite as steep as most outlets ask.

The local WalMarts are big fricking disappointment.

[trapeze]

I have been surprised at how my local Walmart is getting to have a more normal stock of ammo. No .22LR, of course...no one has that, but not bad on some of the more popular rounds.

Unfortunately, they are still imposing the 3 box per customer thing. Just after Christmas, though, I found a sporting goods clerk who offered to sell me 3 boxes of each caliber that I wanted. I took him up on it and left with about ten boxes of ammo. And some of the ammo was in 100 round boxes...the .40SW, for instance.

They had plenty of .223 and 5.65 on hand. In fact, they even had three or four metal ammo boxes that each contained 750 rounds of 5.65 but the price was not attractive ($457 or $0.61/rnd). They had a far better price on the 20 round boxes...about $0.55/rnd.

They didn't have 9mm but I don't use it. They were also out of .45 but I don't use that either. If I needed the stuff, though, I could get it elsewhere. The shortages are still around but they are nowhere near as bad as they were six of even three months ago.

I can't remember what my stocking level is on .22LR right now but I think it is somewhere between six or seven thousand so I am not unhappy. But, as I have said previously on this thread, I am looking to have 10K on hand eventually.

The next caliber that I need to start working on is the 7.62x39 for the AK builds I am working on. The good news is that, like the .223/5.65 stuff, the AK ammo seems to be readily available and not ridiculously priced. I have absolutely none of it. Yet.

I may be acquiring a reload setup, too. I know someone who is looking to liquidate some stuff and I think that I might get it. Lots of supplies along with the equipment.

[Glock32]

One way you can get the hard to find stuff like .22 LR is to go to the online retailers and sign up for email alerts when items are back in stock. I get email alerts from places like AIM Surplus, and if you go shortly after the email comes in you can usually get it before they sell out again.

Got some Wolf Gold .22 LR from them a few weeks ago. It's supposed to be some of the best .22 made. It's sourced from a German manufacturer that specializes in ammo for Olympic shooting. I haven't tried it yet.

[Libertas]

Let us know how that Wolf Gold shoots G, always nice to get a first hand report of ammo many may never have tried before.

I agree with Trap, many outlets getting stocks returning to normal, but .22LR still a hard find (staking out stores on mornings after a delivery seems to work best) and box limits on most flavors still in play.

[trapeze]

LINK

An update from the hinterlands...

Many area residents agree that store shelves are short of certain types of ammunition — and have been for more than a year.

The explanations for the shortage differ. At a gun show over the weekend at the Ramkota Hotel, a couple of hunters said they believe ammo manufacturers are producing as much as they ever did.

“The only shortage is on the shelves. People are still in panic mode, still buying stuff,” said Dave Soehren of Appleton, Minn.

Gun sales and related activity took off more than a year ago, following the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut on Dec. 14, 2012.
 
The ammo shortage is the result of supply and demand, said SoDak Sports co-owner A.J. Hoffman, who was interviewed at his store.

After the Sandy Hook fatalities, federal officials started talking about gun control and other issues, said Hoffman, explaining whenever there is an increase in gun sales, there is an increase in ammo sales.

Some people at the Dakota Territory Gun Collectors Association attributed the shortage to hoarding by outdoorsmen. Others suggested that federal officials are working with some retailers to limit the amount of cartridges available to the public.

At SoDak Sports, the cartridge in shortest supply is the .22 long rifle.
 
“We manage to keep it on the shelf, but we do limit it,”  Hoffman said.

[Pandora]

No .22 LR today at WalMart.

[Libertas]

As far as I know the local Federal plant is still running 3 shifts per week. 

The pattern of availability and scarcity seems to have established a new norm.

Obamaworld has to be the primary cause to this effect.

[Predator Don]

I've been able to buy 22 at a local gun shop. CCI. He posts it on facebook when he gets it in and the mad rush begins.

[Libertas]

Love that gunbot!

   Alan!

Sucks waiting outside the store and hoping you score on of the .22LR boxes!

Some decent deals on gunbot, prices still higher than pre-obongo, but at least you can find stuff.  Scored some Winchester which is OK, CCI minimags still can be hard to come by.  It is what it is.

[warpmine]

Almost forgot to remind my brothers and sisters here about a pretty good find for .45 ACP at Wideners 14.99/50 for PPU Boxer primed brass case.

https://www.wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=100000103&dir=18|829|842

[Libertas]

Almost forgot to remind my brothers and sisters here about a pretty good find for .45 ACP at Wideners 14.99/50 for PPU Boxer primed brass case.

https://www.wideners.com/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=100000103&dir=18|829|842

Cool, wonder how many boxes they let you have at a time?  I think I am OK in most flavors, but this does look like a good bargain.

[Glock32]

I've had pretty good luck with Prvi Partizan (PPU).  I also like the brass for reloading.

[Libertas]

Serbians, friends of Rus...I thought O'Bongo would ban it just for spite against them and us!

Maybe better buy it while you can, eh?