Ammunition

[Mr Drysdale]

Based on the current prices, if available, I have a large investment sitting in my safe! 2013 taught me a great lesson.

[Smoke68]

If we ever have another Republican president, I'm stocking up in year 2 of his term. This is nuts, and predictable.

[turkey_picker]

I was expecting ammo inventories to get short, but I never thought that reloading supplies would get "out of stock" across the board. Live and Learn!

[lilwhitelie]

Originally Posted by Smoke68

If we ever have another Republican president, I'm stocking up in year 2 of his term. This is nuts, and predictable.

Good luck!!!!!! Not looking like anytime soon

[randywallace]

It has gotten nuts online and brick and mortar. I occasionally find really good deals, but they are getting much more difficult.

TSS shells are following the increases of rifle ammo and don't appear headed down any time soon.

[Hyckory Styck]

We as the gun owning community are our own worst enemy though. We created a big portion of this shortage by panic buying. If everyone would have just remained calm way back last year when the rona started then we wouldn't be in nearly as bad of a mess as we are right now. I see guys on forums that say they HAVE to have the thousands of rounds of ammo that they panic bought because "I HAVE to shoot every weekend and it takes that much." Well no, chief, you don't. You can sit down and moderate yourself just like everybody else should and we won't have a problem.

[randywallace]

Originally Posted by Hyckory Styck

We as the gun owning community are our own worst enemy though. We created a big portion of this shortage by panic buying. If everyone would have just remained calm way back last year when the rona started then we wouldn't be in nearly as bad of a mess as we are right now. I see guys on forums that say they HAVE to have the thousands of rounds of ammo that they panic bought because "I HAVE to shoot every weekend and it takes that much." Well no, chief, you don't. You can sit down and moderate yourself just like everybody else should and we won't have a problem.

One of the videos from the gun industry I watched said there were 7M new gun owners from Jan to November of 2020. I would suspect December added a few more. That of course caused a substantial increase in ammo demand. The ammo shortage has now trickled down to more people getting into reloading with a corresponding shortage of supplies. I don't see it changing any time in the immediate future.

[Hyckory Styck]

Originally Posted by randywallace

One of the videos from the gun industry I watched said there were 7M new gun owners from Jan to November of 2020. I would suspect December added a few more. That of course caused a substantial increase in ammo demand. The ammo shortage has now trickled down to more people getting into reloading with a corresponding shortage of supplies. I don't see it changing any time in the immediate future.

Oh you've got that right. 7 million new shooters would have caused a shortage in normal times, but not on the epic scale we're seeing now if everyone would have just practiced some self control. But the reloading community is just as bad on the panic buying and hoarding as the normal gun community. Just go look at MidwayUSA and try bullets. 1253 varieties out of stock with no backorder. And that's bullets. Try finding powder, or that unicorn dust known as primers. I regularly see guys in the groups that find 10 or 12 jugs of powder on the shelf somewhere and buy every drop of it. Same thing with primers. Most of the time I scratch my head and wonder how they even afford to buy that much. If I spend $150 on components that's a big hit to my play money budget. But a lot of people dropping hundreds and thousands on ammo and components that in reality, they don't need and probably won't need in their lifetime. I believe in leaving something for the next guy, but a big portion of the gun community doesn't

[GitBit]

What's the difference between "probably won't need in their lifetime" and "ran out of ammunition"? Folks just want to shoot at the range to remain proficient and not run out of ammo due to a limited supply. There are other reasons.

While I agree there's been hoarding there's this posted today by a web newsletter I visit. I know, not everything you read is true but the NICS data is easily available on the interwebs (if you still believe the FBI).

"Fear in American society is apparent with the soaring gun sales for this last year. Measuring, by using the Federal background checks, there have been 4.3 million checks for 2021 vs. 2.7 million for 2020. About 60% of these buyers are new buyers of guns, and about 40% are women. Sales have been so heavy that gun shops are closing because they don’t have any inventory, with people buying two and three guns at a time. The high sales are driven by fear of social unrest, rioting in major cities across the country lasting weeks on end, and fears of suppression of gun ownership by the new administration. Also, people don’t feel they can rely or trust the police to protect them anymore. Additionally, ammunition of all types has been sold out across the land."


Total NICS checks

2019 = 28,369,750

2020 = 39,695,315 (+28%increase)


It's an issue with multiple causes but we probably all agree on one thing. It sucks.

[jakesnake66]

Originally Posted by Hyckory Styck

We as the gun owning community are our own worst enemy though. We created a big portion of this shortage by panic buying. If everyone would have just remained calm way back last year when the rona started then we wouldn't be in nearly as bad of a mess as we are right now. I see guys on forums that say they HAVE to have the thousands of rounds of ammo that they panic bought because "I HAVE to shoot every weekend and it takes that much." Well no, chief, you don't. You can sit down and moderate yourself just like everybody else should and we won't have a problem.

Certainly, all the new gun buyers had a significant effect, but BY FAR the most critically important factor is this right here. Just 8 years ago all this occurred on a similar scale, and there was no influx of first time buyers. I learned many lessons during that time, but the one that shines most brightly for me is just how panicky and reactionary "gun people" are. And I have to add "unspeakably selfish" as well. The very same people who cast stones at those who act like animals on Black Friday and similar times treated their gun-shooting brethren like mortal enemies. I saw rage, dishonesty, deceit, resentment...you name it. I saw very little cooperation and generosity.

There's a streak of paranaoia in every gun owner. In some that streak is very large, and it feeds on times like these. There isn't enough ammo in the world to satisfy it.