This Ammunition Shortage Sucks...

We have 12 and 410 out the butt up here but nothing else worth paying for. When you do stumble on .22 or .223 it's super through the roof. As is any handgun caliber if you can find it. For now its the bb gun once the weather breaks here and gets a bit warmer. I have what I need for my guns but dont want to dip into my supply until prices start to go back down, and availability is better.

Originally posted by Gazrok


No way am I ever ordering ammo online though...cash only, as if things ever do go south seizure wise, you know they'll use that to trace...

You mean something like this:

In addition to outlawing a broader array of military-style weapons, the measure restricts ammunition magazines to seven rounds, down from the current 10, creates a more comprehensive database of people barred from owning guns, and makes New York the first state to require background checks to buy bullets. The system will also help flag customers who buy large amounts of ammo.

(Bold text added by me)

Source

Thank,
Blend57

reply to post by kdog1982


I agree. I do not get enough time for much target practice but when I do I eat up quite a bit of ammo. Typically I will burn through 4 or 5 boxes for what ever I am taking out that day. I am considering learning to reload but when I went to the last gun show they were even selling a box of wad cutter bullets in 9mm for nearly the cost of complete 9mm practice ammo sold just last year.

I do not think it is even a very good idea to bring any of the proposed ban weapons to the range right now as they might be under surveillance by drones to record info for future confiscations. The feds have nearly unlimited file storage and huge databases full of all kinds of data on everyone. I think it might be smart to train with that type of weaponry in an indoor private range until things either hit the fan or cool back down.

recent gun show, I saw a brick of 22's priced at $65! I nearly puked! $70 and up for small rifle primers, double what they should be for those who don't reload. Yes Senduko, many of us do shoot in our gardens, especially when our "garden" is 100+ yard's long!

Originally posted by Gazrok
I was in Walmart the other day, getting some things, and thought to go check for some more ammo (I like to buy it in cash vs. online, etc.)

The entire section was almost completely empty...a few boxes of 12 guage shells...that's it...all the rest of the case...empty.

I went to a couple of local gun shops...same deal. The manufacturers seriously need to get in gear...the industry has to be losing a ton of money due to this short-sightedness....

i guess you didnt get the memo. gun manufacturers stopped selling ammo and weapons to states that are ANTI 2nd amendment. basically, if u have any kind of gun restriction, u aint getting ammo unless online buddy. good luck though

I have noticed the same thing. Even online ordering I cant get 22LR anywhere. I reload and right now powder, and projectiles are not to be found, either online or locally. Never thought I would see the day you couldn't pick up a brick of 22LR.

well what you know my 50 round ball went up as well from $11.00 to $17.00 per 100 time to dig out the old mold and get to making some lead wonder what the price of powder is?? do i dare ask? holly suzbot $15.75 a can er lb?? and 5lb min order $240 just for two guns in powder yes 10lb in powder 5lb for the 50 and 5lb for my 44 remmy. not to mention the lead. well time to save up for next year.
oh crap i for got the caps yea same price but none on hand any where all back ordered, time to go to flint.

reply to post by CosmicCitizen


yep, a shortage in general....but go to the right place and one can load up.....we bought-up 10 months ago....who needs 44 mags?.....I have three kinds.....

reply to post by SpaDe_


That would mean the price of AR's and AK's would drop considerably,
which i would love to see. may even be cheaper than they were before
all this started.

I've yet to buy one, just havent had the cash, but would love to see the prices drop
quite a bit and take advantage of a dip in the prices.

reply to post by botay

Those 500/525 rd bricks of .22LR should be $18-25. Sigh.

reply to post by bekod


I think it is a good idea at this point in time to invest in a small smokeless powder mill and make my own. Surely I can purchase the components still?

I have been stockpiling for 10 years now. Instead of putting money into my 401K, I invested in Ammo.

I am smiling like a cat in a cheese factory right now.

reply to post by phantomjack


I wish I had been able to start 10 years ago. Until recently I was chronically under employed. Since I have been working more regularly I have been collecting needful things for about the last 4 years when it looked like the economy was going off the cliff big time. When I noticed that it was going to be BHO as POTUS I just new it was past time to start storing what might become hard to find in the near future.

What sucks is that I do not like to spend my lower cost ammo for target practice when it is going to become harder to replace I expect. I am training myself a lot less and when friends want me to train them I now have to ask them to provide the ammo. This puts a crimp on training opportunities that I used to take for granted.

It is not uncommon in the recent past that I would give firearms and ammunition and magazines to friends as gifts. This might be the last year of that tradition as I look at my little shrinking pile and think I can not afford to be so magnanimous any longer.

My motivation for giving firearms as gifts and ammo and magazines and the like was to see more of the people I know being trained in arms and equipped with such if things turn for the worst. Now I can not afford to do this any longer. This is why I am in here commenting. I can feel the OP's pain.

reply to post by Senduko
You mentioned culture, but this ammo shortage is affecting local law enforcement agencies across the nation as well, now is that cultural? These same agencies have to qualify on a regular basis so it's not just a hobby that has been impacted.

Maybe the government is buying all the ammo?

Obama DHS Purchases 2,700 Light-Armored Tanks to Go With Their 1.6 Billion Bullet Stockpile

This is getting a little creepy.
According to one estimate, since last year the Department of Homeland Security has stockpiled more than 1.6 billion bullets, mainly .40 caliber and 9mm.

and

Why are the feds loading up on so much ammo?

In a puzzling, unexplained development, the Obama administration has been buying and storing vast amounts of ammunition in recent months, with the Department of Homeland Security just placing another order for an additional 21.6 million rounds.

Several other agencies of the federal government also began buying large quantities of bullets last year. The Social Security Administration, for instance, not normally considered on the frontlines of anything but dealing with seniors, explained that its purchase of millions of rounds was for special agents' required quarterly weapons qualifications. They must be pretty poor shots.

But DHS has been silent about its need for numerous orders of bullets in the multiple millions. Indeed, Examiner writer Ryan Keller points out Janet Napolitano's agency illegally redacted information from some ammunition solicitation forms following media inquiries.

According to one estimate, just since last spring DHS has stockpiled more than 1.6 billion bullets, mainly .40 caliber and 9mm. That's sufficient firepower to shoot every American about five times. Including illegal immigrants.

To provide some perspective, experts estimate that at the peak of the Iraq war American troops were firing around 5.5 million rounds per month. At that rate, DHS is armed now for a 24-year Iraq war.

Seriously, did you forget to buy ammo?

reply to post by endats01


What better way then to arm your family and friends,barring the crazy one's ,to prepare for what ever comes our way.
We have a custom of sharing firearm's and such.
It's always nice to have someone have your back.

The ammo/ammo component availability ebbs and flows. LC rifle primers were non-existent a few years back. Eventually the panic buying subsided, availability increased, and prices dropped. Hopefully that confluence of circumstances occurs when you have some extra cash As impatient as I am, I think I can ride this one out. Let's hope the grabbers don't get their way.

It always amazes me how people can totally ignore "buy low, sell high". Instead they do the opposite: "buy obscenely high" and then complain because they can't get their value out after the market slides south. Besides that, ammunition is expendable. It's only good for so long. You can't pass it down generation after generation.

I have thought about starting a thread on how to weather times like this. It has everything to do with caliber selection, reloading component selection, and weapon minimalism. It's almost Sun-Tzu-esque: watch the trends and follow where the problems aren't. Every ammo shortage sees the same calibers/firearms in short supply and priced through the roof. Why put yourself continually in that dilemma?

reply to post by ABNARTY


Funny you say that because I have fired ammunition from another generation or 2 ago. It worked quite well for its age. It was 30-06, M-1 stocks from a bunker my unit was emptying that was stocked with surplus from the 50's back in the 70's. This was in the early 80's so it had been there for a while. We got some BARs and some M-1s from the Armory and popped them off. It was that or wrap the pile in det-cord and C4 and blow them in place. The explosion would be more fun but popping them off in those old big guns was a lot more fun and lasted for a lot longer than one big boom.

Well kept ammo can keep for a while the way it was made back during Korea and WW2 in my experience. Perhaps not so much now days.

all my stuff is from the 1890's, so its all reload. when the powers that be come by all ammo-ed up I'll just upgrade and stockpile from the ones that suffer the left groin shock of my 220 grain ballistic tip