Ammunition shortages everywhere!

Ive been reading for awhile now that members have been coming up empty looking for ammo at their local stores. This has finally hit my area. None of my local gun shops have 9mm or .380 ammo. Ive seen .380 go for $50 a box online!

I just went on-line and looked and WOW!
Check out the prices at cheaperthandirt.com $29 a box for American eagle?? That is highway robbery! This is not cheaper than dirt as the site boasts.
Cabelas has Nada and its the same story everywhere I look.

The owner of a local gun shop told me that everyone bought up 3 years of ammo in 3 months and he had no idea of when he might get ammo again.

I'm not freaking out or anything nor do I want to stock up on 1000's of rounds of ammo. I just like to go shooting at the range and this has pretty much put a stop to my range time all together.

There is ALOT of ammo floating around out there right now. People must have crates just sitting in their basements waiting for some reason to need 1000's of rounds.

Mass hysteria is a scary thing....


In the news today...

www.bnd.com...

Last week...

www.vvdailypress.com...




[edit on 4-5-2009 by Digital_Reality]

I've had problems getting .380 ammo and 7.62x39 ammo for the past couple of months. The main franchise outlets run out of ammo the day it comes in, and their shipments are getting further and further apart. A local gun store owner told me the problem is with the 'primers.' The 2 or 3 manufacturers of primers signed huge contracts with the Israeli government to manufacture primers for their military. They are having a hard time fulfilling their obligations, and their is no production capacity left for retail sales. Supposedly, the contracts start running out at the end of this year, so maybe prices will start coming down. I am sure the Gaza offensive did not help the situation.

If anyone on ATS is better funded than I, a primer factory would go great in N. Georgia. There are already several arms manufacturers there, favorable tax laws, and a good work force.................

Just saying.

Ive never reloaded my own ammo but I'm starting to think about going to the range and collecting some brass. I have a friend with our club that reloads rifle ammo so I'm going to run it by him and see what he needs to reload me some 9mm.

I stopped going to the range months ago in order to preserve what 9mm I have left. My friends have done the same. I now practice in my basement with a high quality gas operated Sig 226 air soft replica. Its cheap, easy and operates and feels just like the real steel. It also fits like a glove in my IWB holster. It is great to practice with and to keep the muscle memory sharp.

reply to post by Digital_Reality


Where I came from (northern Idaho), 1000 rounds was considered "almost out". As a kid, my Dad and I reloaded in five different calibres, as well as 12-gauge shotguns shells. We always had several bricks of .22 as well.

I was inducted into stocking up at an early age. We could and were snowed in for weeks at a time. My Mom gardened an acre all herself, canned, and Dad and I hunted, put away elk, venison, and I fished for salmon, trout, steelhead and hunted birds and rabbits. We took what we needed, occasionally sharing with others.

I don't see anything wrong with the notion of having more against possible lean times in the future. That applies to ammo as well as all other stores.

I think there's a perception that the current U.S. administration seeks to disarm the American public, and from my view it's prudent to stock up on reloading supplies as well as factory ammo. Whether President Obama really intends to disarm American or not, I cannot judge, however I don't believe that he reveres the Second Amendment in the way that I do nor those that put their lives on the line for American freedoms.

I believe as much as I believe anything, that those Americans that lost their lives in combat believed in the truth and freedoms afforded them by the Second Amendment. May it ever wave.

reply to post by jibeho


Yeah, I was tempted to take a few boxes of Winchester Ranger ammo to the range but decided that id rather hold on to it. Much too expensive to be shooting at paper targets with.

I have a feeling we will not see prices or supply get better for awhile if ever.

the walmart around the corner from me is missing about 80% of it's ammo from the shelves *but* I was at academy the other day and they didn't seem to be running low

reply to post by argentus


If I lived in the country id be right there with you about keeping 1000 rounds on hand but I just cant see what people in the city are going to do with crates of ammo in their basement.

In your situation its a must and if you get snowed in without ammo your pretty much going to starve.

Maybe we will see butt loads of ammo for sale on Gunbroker in a few months when people get hard up for money and figure out that maybe they over bought.

reply to post by autsse


Did you happen to see the prices at academy? Id bet they are selling plane jane 9mm ammo for like $20+ a box.

reply to post by Digital_Reality


Understand what you mean about city dwellers and mass stockpiles of ammo. Truth be told, I suspect there are a fair amount of folks that own guns that haven't had training, and in my world that means they shouldn't have them. While [currently] firearm ownership is a right afforded to Americans by the Constitution, I consider it a priviledge, and one that should not be taken lightly.

I've had the sad experience of seeing people in cities "accidentally" flash their guns -- something a responsible gun owner would never do.

Having said that, if I lived [as I once did] in a major city in the U.S., I would have already amassed my stockpile in advance of this most recent election. As I said on another thread, [most] Americans honor the Constitution, and it IS a living document. It can be modified by the MAJORITY of citizens, but should never be overruled by a Presidential coup.

reply to post by Digital_Reality


p.s. where I currently live -- under British rule -- I am not allowed guns. Imagine our conflict at deciding to move here. In our capitol, after a hurricane, there was a string of armed robberies. There was nothing to stop the crooks from doing what they did -- they had no regard for the laws. I said for quite a while, "these crimes will stop when a storeowner shoots and kills a robber and not before." So it was. The otherwise law-abiding store owner faced charges for his response, although the perp was not killed, and recovered. I wish I knew the outcome of this case, but alas, it was not NEWS.

reply to post by Digital_Reality


no i didnt, sorry. i just noticed they seemed to have plenty of boxes of bullets. i could be mistaken though. however, someone i know just picked up some small caliber rounds from a pawn shop and they said the price was fair.

edit : add content

[edit on 4-5-2009 by autsse]

The great gun rush of 09 is still going strong, slowing down a little bit though. I even read in a "by police for police" gun magazine where a certain article urged civilians to buy and store ammo, they recommended at least 1 to 2 thousand rounds.

Is there any precedent for this? I'm sure I read somewhere that after 9/11 the same thing happened. Maybe I'm wrong.

I think the thing people need to focus on is that people are scared, they think Obama is gonna take all their guns, there's an economic crisis in full swing, American leadership is on the decline after 8 years of Idiot Bush...

What bugs me though, is that all those with assault weapons (which I understand will be the first thing to be targeted) are out buying up all their ammo, but what are they going to do if the law is changed? Hide the guns?
People know they have them, and someone will pass that info on.

If the law is changed, they've just wasted a considerable amount of money and effort, or they plan to have a shoot-out with those who come to size them.

My opinion? Obama did what every other politician does, he used a popular theme to gain support and has no intention of acting on it. He knows as well as any right-wing republican that actually taking a step to outlaw guns would cause civil chaos.
It's one thing to take the opportunity to vote on something when the issue is raised, and a completely different thing to make a final decision on something so sensitive.

So he voted on gun control. Doesn't mean that's something he'll take the blame for when he's in power.

Ultimately it might lead to some radicalization, and homegrown terrorism by right-wing nut jobs, that seems inevitable. But I very much doubt Obama is going to actually start riling up the public on gun control.

This is a progressive idea, it'll happen over time, and it'll likely happen the same way your civil rights were watered-down. Things will happen and events will force public opinion until people are voluntarily giving their guns up while calling for tougher controls. When there is then a minority holed-up in makeshift camps, numbers that can be controlled, the government will move in to remove the last "pockets of resistance". But none of this is going to happen anytime soon.

The ammo situation is nothing but panic-buying by an idiot public. What should be a fear is what this is creating, the groups feeding off of it. Those seeing the panic and joining in might be thinking this is more than it is, and if TPB decide they are a risk (as is being stated in the media) they become a target.
It seems self-fulfilling to a point;
The myth and fear causes panic (buying of ammo), the panic causes more radical action (formation of closed groups and radical ideas), the radical action causes a response (SWAT teams raiding militias), the response causes the radical action to spread (militias fearing the same will happen to them unless they fight)...

For all the people buying the guns and ammo, how many of them are going to use them if the government ever do do something?

I doubt many of these so called american patriots will even do anything, like we saw in the katrina thing.

So what you are doing is buying something you will not use, and just giving your money to the military industrial complex. Nice of you to send there shares up, lol.

Who Cares??? That is why I beleive in the true art of swords. You'll never have a shortage of sharp objects. Plus it takes skill to use such, unlike guns. And I know I have used both, I was trained by the military, and the thing about swords is, It shows true bravery. Hand to hand or sword to sword is a very intimate exchange; unlike sitting cowering in the bushes hitting an enemy from 300ft.

I found a whole case of 1952 head stamp 30.06 military ball the other day.
the next day the shop had another case. so old surplus ammo is still out there

I am going to pull the bullets on a few boxes and replace them with hunting bullets.

The shop also had a few cases of old russian 7.62x39

I could be the shop owner had his own stockpile and now that he can get a good price for it is selling the old ammo and plans to replace it with new ammo later.