Ammo - Scarce . . .

[bayview]

I know that another thread had previously been started on this but I wanted to update with my experience . . .

   Since Friday I have stopped in 5 Walmarts, a Pawn Shop/Gun Shop and Bass Pro in Grapevine, TX . . .

   Walmarts in:
Waco, Texas
Hillsboro Texas
Cleburne Texas
2 in Irving Texas

   All the Walmarts have stopped selling guns altogether.  All Walmarts had mostly rim-fire and shotgun shells. Hardly any hand gun ammo.  One store had 2 boxes of 44mag and some 30/06, another was loaded up with about 30 boxes of 9mm and 6-7 boxes of 223.  A couple had shotgun slugs and buck shot.
   I asked at all of them what happened to the ammo.  Each store said there was a run on ammo, warehouse is empty, and they don't know when they will get more in.  One store employee said that a shipment had come in, but the managers got to it before it hit the shelves.  The managers supposedly then sold to area gunshops that had no ammo.  (At a profit, I'm sure!)

   The pawnshop/gun store was in Waco.  They had maybe, two hundred shotgun, rifles, and maybe a couple of dozen handguns.  No "assault" type weapons.  There must of been over 30 people in the store.  I asked an employee why they were so busy.  "Obama" he said. . . They had some ammo, maybe 3-4 boxes each of the conventional calibers.  Maybe 10 boxes of 44 mag.

   I went to Bass Pro Shop in Grapevine specifically for 223, 44 mag, and 30/30.  Again, plenty of rim-fire, racks of shotgun shells.  No 30/30, plenty of 30/06, about 20 boxes of 44mag - 240 grain, plenty of 40 cal, plenty of 223 - but FMJ.  223 boxes of 200 for $90.  $450.00 per thousand.  I can remember buying a thousand for under $200.00 a few years ago. . .

[MountainDon]

More or less the same all over. Have tried online places like MidwayUSA.com? They had some 223 a week ago; not a lot of variety though.


It's a stupid panic if you ask me.

[ScottA]

I don't think it's a panic Don I think it's a warning. The people are concerned that their government no longer has their best intrest at heart.

[cordwood]

 Our Wallyworld is still selling guns but the people behind the counter don't know which end to hand you . The have started rationing some ammo like 22lr. They will only sell a couple of boxes at a time, NO BRICKS!
My wife works at Wallyworld and the shooter dept. guy told her to check around 8 am when the morning shift first puts the ammo out, They have some people that call every morning to check on certain caliber rounds and come wipe them out when they get it.
As for managers buying and reselling it they had better hope Bentonville don't find out! That carries a Federal penalty and Wal-Mart WILL PROSICUTE IT'S EMPLOYEES!!!!! That way they get to fire them without any U/E and put someone who makes less in their place.

[muldoon]

It's the same here in Houston.  Academies and the like are empty shelves for 223, 7.62x39/54 any kinda of 00buck, any kind of 357, .40, .45.   I went to gander mountain and they had some.  They had a 200 round box of 223 for $150, and they had .. get this ..  5 round box of 12 gauge 00buck for 9.75.  They had 3 boxes left and they guy was repricing the shelf.

It's certainly panic, the only thing to debate is whether or not it is justified. 

[Mike 870]

It's pretty similar in Ohio.  I have been trying to buy some .38 and some .357 for about 3 weeks now with no luck.  The guy behind the counter said they got some 9mm and sold out in 4 hours.  They are even out of 180 grain 30-06 out here.  Plenty of .223 and .308 though, which I thought was wierd, figured that stuff would be gone first.  I haven't seen .45 in a while either, but I have plenty of that.  At least I save all my brass and can get into reloading if I need to.

[glenn kangiser]

Whitlock said Sonora was out - maybe 4 odd boxes.  I'll check a few places on the way hom,e tomorrow if I have time.

I agree.  The people have had it with the criminals.  Not a panic.  It's an intelligent investment.

[apaknad]

i think alot of good points were touched on here. it is a panic but it may be a justified one. we'll see. i do know this, eventually it will turn out to be a good investment. i had mentioned a long time ago in here that ammo will be the new money(i'll trade you 4 cans of beans for three rds. of .308). i have been purchasing more ammo of various cals. and long term bulk storage food from sites that have been talked about on this forum(will get more soon). it will never be a bad investment. just got a new benelli super black eagle and a marlin .450 guide gun and a S.&W. 357 mag, 7 shot revolver. i have been finding it difficult to get bulk .357. the 450 stuff is expensive so that is available,308 is scarce, 22 bricks at wally's, got plenty of 45 for auto, got 12 ga. buckshot up the yin yang.. unfortunatly now i have to move all this stuff to new home(mom's estate, paid for, no more rent $, thanx mom).

[Terry]

I don't think it's a panic Don I think it's a warning. The people are concerned that their government no longer has their best intrest at heart.

I agree Scott.

[peternap]

You will love the Guide Gun. If I could only keep one gun, the Guide would not be it ....but I'd cry all night about not having it anymore.

[glenn kangiser]

Sounds like you have some good stuff there, Dan.

I went to our Madera Walmart on the way home tonight.  The words, Obama and 500% tax and various other bad thoughts were being tossed around by the clerk and a very knowledgeable Asian man.

The shelves were about half empty with the more expensive ammo left - the economy stuff was pretty well gone and there were a few bricks of 22 LR's there.  Most of the lead free stuff was there at double the price of leaded.

Big 5 sporting goods had a pretty good stock but he said it was selling like crazy - probably 25% higher than Walmart.

[bayview]

   Walmart - Lewisville, Tx. 

   Ammo - No rifle, no handgun, no rimfire . . . no display. 

   About a 30" X 30" display of shotgun shells.  Buckshot - $10 for 5, Slugs - $9 for 15.  Asked walmart "associate" about the ammo.  He said when the shotgun shells are gone - thats it.  An order has not been placed for more ammo. ()

[peternap]

Gunshow this weekend

[MountainDon]

We have one here too.   

[diyfrank]

I went looking for ammo yesterday, not much left. The only thing they had for a hand gun was 44 s&w special 200 gr gdhp so I picked a few boxes. I never shot any out of my 629 before.  But its all I could find locally.
I did grab some Hornady 450 marlin 325 gr leverevolution. I always used the Hornady 350 gr in the past.
I did a search on it and found this.   http://www.hornady.com/story.php?s=198

Looks good, now I'm thinking I should put a scope on it.  I currently use the ghost ring sights and only shoot 60-70 yards

[glenn kangiser]

Check this out.

http://www.rense.com/general85/cntrived.htm

Learning from the oil industry?

[MountainDon]

Looks good, now I'm thinking I should put a scope on it.  I currently use the ghost ring sights and only shoot 60-70 yards

These days if I really want the best chance at hitting the thing I'm aiming at, a scope is a necessity. 4X makes a world of difference. If I can brace the rifle and take my sweet time I can still do pretty good groups with iron sights, but the scope makes it much easier to be quick.

[glenn kangiser]

Wal-mart near empty on shells - quite a few shotgun shells - a few expensive 30.06 and .25 cal.  I'd say  10% to 20% stock of ammo if that much.

[Pox Eclipse]

Check this out.

http://www.rense.com/general85/cntrived.htm

Learning from the oil industry?

Huh.  That's contrary to what Remington is saying:

Manufacturers insist they are producing as many bullets as they can.

"Remington Arms is operating at full capacity and will continue to do so," said Al Russo, spokesman for the North Carolina-based company. "We're producing more today and more this month than we have produced in the past."

This is a self-fulfilling prophecy; people convince themselves ammo will be taxed/restricted/banned and they start panic buying, which causes a temporary shortage and price increase (supply and demand), which in turn spurs more hoarding, and the spiral accelerates. 

There simply is no evidence that less ammo is being made or delivered nationally; you guys are just buying it up at a prodigious rate, and manufacturers and retailers are having a hard time keeping up.

[MountainDon]

Correct. The ammo manufacturers are running full time. I caught the tail end of a news short a few weeks back and didn't catch the company name. What I did hear was they were making ammo at the rate of 4000 rounds an hour; 66 per minute.

It's being hoarded and makes the whole thing crazy. I would actually not want to be an ammo manufacturer today. True, today they sell everything they produce. But what's going to happen when some sense finally comes to the market. There are people sitting on years worth of ammo right now; they won't be buying anything for some long time.

I just want to be able to buy some ammo so I can go to the range without having to plan 4 months in advance.

[glenn kangiser]

I think the number of purchasers is also growing.

[peternap]

Well guys, I agree and disagree.
I have a different approach than most people. I own a lot of guns. Many are muzzleloaders. The flintlocks are fine as is. The caplocks need caps (I can make everything else)

I stocked up on 3,000 caps. I may never use them but they didn;t cost much.

I have cases, powder and either bullets or molds for everything else. I am stocked on primers. Again, I may not use them all in my lifetime, but they didn't cost much.

I am a great believer in the basics. Shotgun and 22lr

I am stocked on 12 and 20 ga hulls and primers. I'll use them.

I have been buying every reasonably priced 22 I can get my hands on. I pay less for a thousand 22lr's than a box of 20 308's.
The 22 is a dependable defense gun at close range, an excellent hunting round and is quiet!
If the world doesn't end, I'll plink then away.

I'd rather be stocked and not need them ,,,you know the rest.

[NM_Shooter]

Peter, it would probably be best to diversify your storage.  Send some ammo to me for safekeeping, and I will even test it once in awhile to ensure the integrity of the batch.