How do compare 2008 ammo panic to this one?

That one was not even close to this one.

That one, in my experience?
About all that was hard to get was .380 ACP & some reloading components like primers.
But even that was short lived.

rc

Yep, we got a double whammie this time. The election itself hadn't caused all that much trouble it was the fallout from newtown.

I think the .380 ACP ammo shortage was caused more by the sudden interest in all the new mini-pocket .380's that came along right about then too.

That caught all the ammo makers with their pants down.

rc

I voted worse. I bought my first ar (dpms lo pro classic) in 08. From what I remember the evil guns were in short supply but the more expensive ones (over 1.5k) seemed to be still available. I also bought 100 rds of pmc ammo for about $13 a box and thought that was bad because the old stickers for $10 a box were still on them. I thought it was bad because the had just raised the price on them. A few months later they were back to $10. Also 22 was plentiful and cheap.

The 2008 panic wasn't near as long/bad as this one. Just like RC said, the only caliber I couldn't find was .380.

This one by far! Colt ARs were double within weeks...22 ammo is still very tough to find... 556, 9mm and all the other popular callibers disappeared too. There is no comparison.

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2013 is worse than 2009 was, but a bit different.

It seemed components dried up almost instantly in 2009 and took six months to recover while in 2013, some components were still available at first, then dried up, and now beginning to return.

I rarely buy loaded ammunition, so I cannot comment there.

Maybe vendors were marginally better prepared in 2013 but events cleaned them out more completely.

None of the poll selections is accurate, as far as I'm concerned.

In my area, the 2008 one lasted until 2010. All ammo at the normal sources was unavailable; all kinds of ammo was available at greatly inflated prices. Primers, etc, were unavailable unless you wanted to pay a 100% premium. It came back to "normal" slowly.

Pretty much exactly as this one is panning out. When this one is over, I'll have the perspective to let you know how they compared.

So, if there was a selection that says "2008 and 2012 are similar" or, better yet, "when it's all over, we will have a better idea of how they compared"...then I would select either of those.

No one who was an active shooter in both 2008/9 and 2013 will tell you that 2008/9 was worse. There have been some differences, and different people will have had different experiences, but all things considered 2013 has been worse. I would say much worse. I don't remember the shelves at the big box stores going empty, and staying empty, in 2009 the way they have in 2013. All throughout 2009, I can remember being able to buy ammo at Walmart and Academy, and at gun shows. Components for reloading, especially primers, got kind of scarce, but were generally available. Quantities of powder and primers were rationed at the gun shows, and occasionally, some types were not available, but supplies didn't completely dry up like they have at times more recently.

Really, there is no comparison. 2009 was an inconvenience. 2013 has been a headache.

^^ This!

I've been through them all and nothing compares to this.

I have already given friends over 6,000 rounds of 22LR, 38, 32, 380, 9mm, etc, and it looks like I'll have to carry them about another 4,000 rounds before it's over.


And when it's over we are going to have a talk about them stocking up about two years worth of ammo to get them through the next shortage.

The way things are going politically, there will be another shortage even if this one ends. This one is much worse than when the President was first elected.

Your poll was way to detailed that I didn't even what to read through all the choice. I don't recall how long the shortage lasted in 2008.

I live in southern ill-noise where if you put a flash hider on something, that means its evil. Anyway, my local Wall Mart (China Mart) has rarely sold a semi automatic weopon of any kind and now they have six AR-15s and no ammo. I'm so confused

I got caught in 2008 short some ammo in a few calibers. I vowed never again, started buying components like there was no tomorrow (I was really worried there might not be) and THIS time around I've been shooting every caliber I want, as much as I want. Planning definitely pays off.

Real versus perceived and a host of other issues. Overall 2013 is worse than 2008. Note:

1. Inflation factor. According to an online inflation calculator, this 5 year period represents an 8% inflation. So there is some perception involved.

2. War. War uses resources, lots of stuff that bullets are made of/from. A decade of war has long term costs for shooters needing ammo and gun parts.

3. Fuel. Fuel has spiked and troughed in the last decade, but it was very low in 2008 at about 1.50 per gallon, and now it's over twice that. Fuel adds to shipping costs.

4. The election was uncertain and people were surprised and shocked, but when no new anti-gun stuff came about in 2009, then the panic subsided as the administration focused on healthcare and other pet projects. A sharp peak was quickly followed by falling prices.

5. The election of 2012 in November experienced a short jump in prices, and then Newtown and the very real anti-gun talk made for a long-term gun price spike... and more hoarding...

2008 wasn't as bad, and we recovered by around mid-2009, because no anti-gun legislation was presented. When 2012/13 and the anti-gun talk hit, people woke up...

2013 impacted me less because I was more prepared than in 2008... While I did overpay for a few small things in 2009 (not much), I didn't buy anything overpriced in 2013... but I know people who did!

This has happened many times before and will happen again. It does seem that each time it gets worse than before. Still the last time with the problems sited in post #19 has caused this one to be the perfect storm/nightmare.:banghead: Those of us that already reloaded and had a bit of disposable income, to invest in components or those able to buy finished ammo ahead and stack it deep have been rewarded for their foresight this time around. The lesson is that any hot commodity will go up in price as time advances and some stockpiling will pay off as far as savings in the long run IMHO.

Never had a hard time with ammo back then. That year was when I got back into firearms after nearly two decades with little shooting or other gun-related activity. I also bought a new carry piece that year, a Bersa Thunder 380.

I did notice that ammo in that caliber was a lot more scarce, but I could still get it pretty easily. I knew even then that the lower inventory of it was due primarily to the releases by the gun manufacturers of new micro-guns in that caliber, not to the presidential election (which did indeed drive up demand for guns and ammunition, but not at all beyond the makers' ability to keep up.)

Back in 2008 .380 ammo seemed to be the hardest/most expensive thing to find. In many instances rounds were selling for a dollar or more each. Everything else, with the exception of some reloading components, seemed to be readily available.

This current ammo shortage is certainly more severe and longer in duration than the one in 2008.

2008 was worse in terms of primers but there was still ammo hitting the shelves slowly, except for 380s... This one has been bad for powder, component bullets, and 22s.

In 2008 I had been prepping for a Democrat presidential election for two years and did not need to buy anything at inflated prices, with the exception of a few full capacity Glock 17 magazines that in retrospect I didn't really need, but didn't get raped too badly on, I only paid retail prices for used LE marked mags. I focused on revolvers, shotguns and single-stack gun magazines and had no problem finding them at good prices.

Within two years things had sort of subsided to normal. By 2010 you could find about anything you wanted. By 2011 prices were dropped to pre-Obama and everything was in stock and there were sale prices on stuff that had been unobtanium two years ago, and people were selling off stuff they had bought during the panics.

So far things are going according to my predictions. There is still a steady trickle of product hitting the shelves.
Things like AR mags and lowers are everywhere. I saw SIX Ruger Mini-14's still on the rack at my local gun store, they've been there for months, and the ARs are stacked up like cordwood. The pistol shelves, which used to be thick with traded in plastic high cap pistols, have some stock there but not as much.
I don't think I'd have a problem going out right NOW and getting what I want, with the exception of the CCW guns like G36s which are still hard to get.

And powder. Powder is still tight for popular types.

So far, this shortage has been MEH since I am not into ARs and took reasonable precautions in advance.

We are headed into month 9 of this self inflicted fiasco...Heck 94 wasnt even this bad and it was a real ban.

Difference

2008 was a particularly deep run with people looking especially for certain ammo in quantity for its duration but narrower in time in some respects. Prices went up some, enough to pull all surplus/excess ammo out of the woodwork to be gobbled up, and foreign imports filled the void eventually.

This 2013 run actually started in July 2012 with the Aurora shooting and is only diminishing slowly now though for some ammo people gave up getting as much, if any, of what they want, when they want, at a rational price. It is broader and deeper this time -- across the board. It has already been 15 months. Prices this time were particularly escalated when this started to peak with the Newtown mass shooting nine months ago but even that doesn't seem to have mattered -- there just isn't enough capacity to meet demand most notably in .22 LR.

This latest run is a Left politcal party caused panic, and quite justifiable.

rcmodel said:

I think the .380 ACP ammo shortage was caused more by the sudden interest in all the new mini-pocket .380's that came along right about then too.

That caught all the ammo makers with their pants down.

rc

Click to expand...

That's what I remember most and it led me to buying a .32 ACP pocket gun at the time.

The people I knew that bought .380 pocket guns were allowed to buy one box of ammo with their new gun. That ammo was kept in the back out of view, too.