Disturbing Trend on Ammo

Hi All,

I have not been on in a while, so I apoligize, but I've been busy stocking up.

I have a places in TN and NC and do a lot of work in VA, so its a nice little corridor I travel. I have talked to guys I know that run hunting stores, getting read for turkey season sorry, and the FEDS (HOMELAND SECURITY) and local and not so local cops are buying all the .223 and 9mm ammo.

The thing that bothers me is a fed walking into a store and not announcing who he is but just I want to purchase all your 9mm ammo, it came out later he was HS.

Then cops are traveling 2 hours away to purchase all the .223 and 9mm that a mom and pop store has! Also you can't even order a handgun without getting on a year or more waiting list, because the factories cut back when Obama got elected!

I am also going to do some more research to see how wide spread the trend is by calling sporting good stores and contact the NRA, I am a member and if not please join.

Could be one of those things that slips under the radar with all the finacial stuff going on or maybe not. I hope for not!

Yeah, and with all of the newly unemployed searching for jobs, there are law enforcement job fairs popping up.... There will probably be "shop for money" ads mixed in with your spam pretty soon.

Well, considering ammunition demand is going up these days. At my local police department they're tightening up on ammunition use. Much of the ammunition has been going to military use more than anything else. So it doesn't surprise me that Law Enforcement agencies are going around to smaller shops to buy ammo.
Plus .223 and 9 mm aren't even that big of calibers anymore, (not that 9 mm ever was). Military is supposed to be switching up to bigger things like 6.8x40 mm for rifle rounds. .223 is now the new plinking round.

Huge gun boom essentially...I tried purchasing my first and couldn't find a stock of it. We are viewing a massive surge of people freightened to the point of where they need to buy a gun as soon as possible and frankly who can blame them?

I say even if you don't agree with having one for safety, think about it. There are also alternatives...Knives, crossbows, high velocity pellet guns, etc...

Sounds maybe alittle crazy to some but to those of us who are gearing up for anything...its all about protection.


[edit on 3/5/2009 by AceOfAces]

The FED and MIL rarely if ever use .223. They use 5.56 caliber ammo. I know what you are saying, 'they're the same' blah blah. Sorry, but they are not.

A 5.56 rifle can fire .223, but not the other way around. The 5.56 is longer, plus the MIL uses a green tip variation that usually has a tin core for extra penetration.

The main reason .223 ammo is going so fast because people who have never owned a gun, are gennerally making the .223 their first purchase. AR varients or AK versions in that caliber. Requiring them to get that ammo.

You can find plenty of ammo still, 5.56 and .223 at every gun show, usually for a better price. And there are quite a few places online that you can buy in bulk as well.

reply to post by Contagion2012


Police do use .223 and that was what I was saying not military. Not bashing you just saying. I did 20+ in the military so I know who uses what and which end points down range peace bro!

I've been having trouble finding 9mm ammo in my town. I went to Walmart a couple of times and wound up purchasing about 600 rounds. The last time I was there I wanted to purchase 400 rounds. I got 300 rounds of Winchester, and 100 rounds of some off the wall brand. The girl who sold it to me said she couldn't understand. Normally she had to order 9mm ammo every couple of months. Now suddenly she can't keep it in stock.
Went in today and all they had was 200 rounds of the off the wall stuff. I went ahead and bought it, but I'm going to try some target practice first, before I bet my life on it.

Originally posted by spec_ops_wannabe
Plus .223 and 9 mm aren't even that big of calibers anymore, (not that 9 mm ever was

). Military is supposed to be switching up to bigger things like 6.8x40 mm for rifle rounds. .223 is now the new plinking round.

Hardly. The .223 is still an amazingly effective round, with great penetration.

As for the 9mm, it will always remain an enormously popular round due to its Balance of Power, Capacity, and Carry Capability.

Went to a large outlet in Ontario Ca, bass shop or something, they where completely out of 45 ACP in any brand or type JHP FMJ and so on. They where running low on 9mm and by low I mean they only had 10 or 14 boxs of 50rnd the bulk stuff was long gone...

I have noticed the more common calibers running a little lower than normal, like the .45, .223, 7.62x39mm, .308, ect., but nothing to freak out about.....at least in my little corner of Oregon. But Ill tell you somthing that did happen the other day that really bothered me while buying some ammo.

This may have just been the store that I went to, but it sure felt like something more than that. I went in to buy a box of .45 and a box of .223, to go to the range with a buddy of mine. We had no problem with the lady at the sporting goods counter, but when we went to the checkout to pay.....I got pretty p*ssed.

The cashier asked for my ID, and thats fine. She looked at it, and then called her manager to unlock the computer on the register for age verification to complete the sale. When the manager came up, she snatched my ID out of the cashiers hand, scowled at me, and went on to completely examine my ID.

Now, Im not the best dressed guy in the world, but I sure dont look like a criminal. I sure dont look like a kid, too young to buy ammo, either. And this lady was treating me like I was planning a robbery with this ammo. She eventually sold me the ammo, but not before treating me like a felon.

I was angry to say the least, and while I dont know what her reasoning was for doing that, it still felt like some sort of ammo control. With everything happening in todays world, the last thing I need is for some lady to make me feel like Im doing something wrong, for buying ammo.

reply to post by treemanx


treemanx,

First off to ligthen things up I love your qoute and Big trouble in Little China is one of the greatest movies ever.

But, After looking through the replies one thing I did forget is that with the run on 9mm and .223, there was a bigger demand on .45 and .357 from what they said.

Unverified: One dealer said he had a shipment of 50 R4's go in one day, people are freaking out!

Originally posted by kettlebellysmith
I've been having trouble finding 9mm ammo in my town. I went to Walmart a couple of times and wound up purchasing about 600 rounds. The last time I was there I wanted to purchase 400 rounds. I got 300 rounds of Winchester, and 100 rounds of some off the wall brand. The girl who sold it to me said she couldn't understand. Normally she had to order 9mm ammo every couple of months. Now suddenly she can't keep it in stock.
Went in today and all they had was 200 rounds of the off the wall stuff. I went ahead and bought it, but I'm going to try some target practice first, before I bet my life on it.

If that off the wall brand was CCI Blazer Brass, jump all over it. It's all kinds of cleaner than Winchester White Box, and, in my not scientifically verified mind, a little smoother to shoot. Good stuff!!

My local Wally World never has more than a few boxes of anything on hand.

reply to post by Contagion2012


Well... I was going to say you are full of it, but I found out you are right!

From Wikipedia:

While the 5.56mm NATO and .223 Remington cartridges and chamberings are very similar, they are not identical.

Military cases are generally made from thicker brass than commercial cases; this reduces the powder capacity (an important consideration for handloaders[4]), and the NATO specification allows a higher chamber pressure.

NATO EPVAT test barrels made for 5.56mm NATO measure chamber pressure at the case mouth, as opposed to the location used by the United States civil standards organization SAAMI. The piezoelectric sensors or transducers NATO and SAAMI use to conduct the actual pressure measurements also differ.

This difference in measurement method accounts for upwards of 137.9 MPa (20,000 psi) difference in pressure measurements. This means the NATO EPVAT maximum service pressure of 430 MPa (62,366 psi) for 5.56mm NATO, is reduced by SAAMI to 379.21 MPa (55,000 psi) for .223 Remington.[5] In contrast to SAAMI, the other main civil standards organization C.I.P. defines the maximum service and proof test pressures of the .223 Remington cartridge equal to the 5.56mm NATO.

The 5.56mm NATO chambering, known as a NATO or mil-spec chamber, has a longer leade, which is the distance between the mouth of the cartridge and the point at which the rifling engages the bullet. The .223 Remington chambering, known as SAAMI chamber, is allowed to have a shorter leade, and is only required to be proof tested to the lower SAAMI chamber pressure.

To address these issues, various proprietary chambers exist, such as the Wylde chamber (Rock River Arms)[6] or the Armalite chamber, which are designed to handle both 5.56mm NATO and .223 Remington equally well. The dimensions and leade of the .223 Remington minimum C.I.P. chamber also differ from the 5.56mm NATO chamber specification.

Using commercial .223 Remington cartridges in a 5.56mm NATO chambered rifle should work reliably, but generally will not be as accurate as when fired from a .223 Remington chambered gun due to the longer leade.[7] Using 5.56mm NATO mil-spec cartridges (such as the M855) in a .223 Remington chambered rifle can lead to excessive wear and stress on the rifle and even be unsafe, and the SAAMI recommends against the practice.[8]

Some commercial rifles marked as ".223 Remington" are in fact suited for 5.56mm NATO, such as many commercial AR-15 variants and the Ruger Mini-14, but the manufacturer should always be consulted to verify that this is acceptable before attempting it, and signs of excessive pressure (such as flattening or gas staining of the primers) should be looked for in the initial testing with 5.56mm NATO ammunition.[9]

Originally posted by thiscountryboycansurvive
reply to post by treemanx

 

treemanx,

First off to ligthen things up I love your qoute and Big trouble in Little China is one of the greatest movies ever.

But, After looking through the replies one thing I did forget is that with the run on 9mm and .223, there was a bigger demand on .45 and .357 from what they said.

Unverified: One dealer said he had a shipment of 50 R4's go in one day, people are freaking out!

Hey thanks!! Yeah, I think if everybody tried to live like ol' Jack Burton, the world would be a better place!! Classic bada*s moive!!

I live in Louisiana ... When I go to academy down the road they are usually out of .223 ammo. Now I also go to Cabellas in BA and they are out of 7.62X39 but they have plenty of .223 ammo. I wouldn't be alarmed because its 2nd regular people buying it up and I kind of have the feeling its not the Obama supporters either. I checked wal mart and a man asked for 7.62X39 and he was just Your average hard working joe. A lot of people I work with are buying rifles now just in case if the commies make it illegal. These same people are also buying up the ammo just in case. I believe people are worried that something is going to go down and they are just following their gut instinct just like I am. Hell I bought 4 semi auto rifles last year so I should know and I also made sure I had enough ammo to go with all of them.