Easiest/hardest common calibers to find during recent ammo crunch?

[peacebutready]

During the recent panic ammo was not easy to find, of course. Some ammo was easier to find than others. In order from easiest to hardest, which calibers were easiest to find? It's not necessary to rank all of the below cartridges. Even two or three of the easiest would help. Alternatively, one can list one or two of the most difficult to find.

This can help a person plan for possible future panics.


.243 Win
.25-06 Rem.
.270 Win.
7mm-08 Rem.
.30-30 Win.
.308 Win.
.30-06 Spfd.
7mm Rem. Mag.


Happy Shooting!

 

[Mosin Bubba]

The one centerfire caliber that I always saw during the last banic was 260 Remington. A deer-hunting only caliber, in Idaho, during the winter. It's tough to get much lower of demand than that, even during the worst of times for ammo.

For whatever reason, there was a ton of 12 gauge too. Cases of it. I have heard that it was short supply elsewhere, but I never had a problem finding shotgun shells.

 

[wlewisiii]

Always was plenty of .30-30 around here.

 

[R.W.Dale]

Always was plenty of .30-30 around here.

There isn't around here.

I went shopping for some federal ammo to test today and came up remarkably empty handed

 

[JohnhenrySTL]

.357
.308
.22

 

[morcey2]

At the beginning of a panic, the common stuff disappears quick. 223, 9x19, 308, 40 S&W, 45 ACP, 30-06, 270, 357, and (of course), 22LR. (not an exhaustive list, just examples) The manufacturers then shift to focus on those cartridges to the detriment of the less common ones. About the time the common ones start showing up again, the less common and more obscure ones start disappearing if they haven't already. At least that's what I saw in the 2008 and 2012 panics.

I just started stocking up on reloading stuff, and 22LR.

Matt

 

[rcmodel]

I don't even remember.

Every time I checked at Walmart for .22 there was .40, .45 LC, and a bunch of various rifle calibers on the shelves.
But no .22 RF.

I really didn't pay any attention to what was there.
Because if it is center-fire, I already reload it.
And I couldn't run out in my lifetime.

.22?
Not so much!

rc

 

[peacebutready]

At the beginning of a panic, the common stuff disappears quick. 223, 9x19, 308, 40 S&W, 45 ACP, 30-06, 270, 357, and (of course), 22LR. (not an exhaustive list, just examples) The manufacturers then shift to focus on those cartridges to the detriment of the less common ones. About the time the common ones start showing up again, the less common and more obscure ones start disappearing if they haven't already. At least that's what I saw in the 2008 and 2012 panics.

Thanks for the good post. Of the pistol cartridges, I acquired the impression the .40 S&W was more available than the 9X19 or 45 ACP. It seemed more available than the .38 as well.

For pistols I guess it would have been good to have a .40 and 9X19 or .40 and .45. For rifles maybe one of the calibers listed above and something like a .25-06.

 

[CB900F]

Fella's;

The easiest to find for me was 6.5 X 55mm Swedish Mauser. The hardest still continues to be .22lr rimfire.

900F

 

[.455_Hunter]

The round that I ALWAYS remember seeing in the almost bare Walmart cases was .270 Winchester. Other viable candidates were .22-250, .243, 7mm Rem Mag and .300 Win Mag. For rimfire, .17 HMR seemed frequently available.

At the LGS, cult following rounds like .41 Mag, .32 Long, 10mm seemed to hang around longer than most.

 

[briansmithwins]

The stash of my common calibers in my garage.

I generally try to buy a case of rifle or pistol ammo every other month or so. I didn't need to buy any over the last couple years or so when it was expensive and/or hard to find.

BSW

 

[Catshooter]

Since I don't buy rifle ammo or hardly any pistol ammo I'm not much help.

I did see that 40 was the last to disappear and the first to re-appear in my area.

You are very smart to think that there could be another shortage. I think the next one will start when the next Presidential election cycle gets warmed up. Which is soon.


Cat

 

[nathan]

Easiest ammos to find were shotgun shells and .3006 of all bullet weights
Hardest ones to find are .22 LRs

 

[morcey2]

The round that I ALWAYS remember seeing in the almost bare Walmart cases was .270 Winchester. Other viable candidates were .22-250, .243, 7mm Rem Mag and .300 Win Mag. For rimfire, .17 HMR seemed frequently available.

At the LGS, cult following rounds like .41 Mag, .32 Long, 10mm seemed to hang around longer than most.

One of the more interesting things I saw at one of the local Wal-Marts at the height of the shortages was an entire shelf with probably 60 boxes of Federal 6mm Remington ammo. They had that, a couple of boxes of various magnum rifle loads, a box of 7mm-08, and some 22 magnum. That was it.

I was able to pick up quite a few boxes of 9x18 Mak for good prices because people would buy that based on either their own ignorance or the LGS telling them that it would work in a 9mm Luger only to find out that it wasn't the case.

Matt

 

[MistWolf]

It will be difficult to predict what will be available during an ammo shortage. The .gov was buying up 5.56, 308, 9mm & 40 S&W which, among other factors, caused a price spike and caused shortages of civilian availability. Other calibers were impacted when ammo makers stopped production of the less common calibers to meet demand.

Best thing to do is stock up on what you shoot and maybe choose calibers that have proven to be long term commercial successes

 

[buckeye8]

Around here (Ohio), .270 and 7mm Rem Mag were sitting on a lot of retail shelves throughout the panic. 30.06 was somewhat less available, but could be found.

All handgun ammo was scarce (none at retail stores, available but at nasty prices at gun stores).

Shotgun ammo was available if you weren't too picky about what you got.

.22lr was non-existent.

 

[razorback2003]

270 was pretty easy to find. 7mm rem mag and 300 win mag were available too. Shotgun shells were easy to find.

 

[boricua9mm]

Whatever ammo was available during the last panic will not be available during the next. People take note and adapt.

For example, during the panic-before-last, I was shooting my .22s a lot. I had planned to do the same during this most recent panic, but we all know how that turned out.

I was able to continue shooting 5.56/.223 this last time because I had bought a few cases and was sitting on them. That seems to be a good way to weather the storm.

 

[MilsurpShooter]

.22 and .35 Remington. To be fair .35 Rem wasn't easy to find before the crunch, but I could usually track down a 3 or 4 boxes in the local area with some phone calls. Now? I'm just relegated to reloading.

 

[FROGO207]

I actually went out and purchased a few 40 CAL handguns because that was the longest lasting ammo on the shelves at the retail stores. I do reload for it as well now. I just never thought it was worth owning before as I had 9MM, 10MM, 41 MAG, and 45acp firearms already that I reloaded for. The 270 and most of the WSM caliber ammo stayed on the shelves throughout the whole mess.

 

[Moparnut]

My experience was probably just like everyone else. 9mm, 45acp, 5.56/223, 308 and of course 22lr were the hardest to find, if you could find any at all. Early in the panic you could find 380, but late there was very little. 40sw, 3006, 30-30, 243 and 7-08 seemed to outlast the above calibers. It was kinda hit or miss on 38 and 357. At least that was my experience.

 

[cowpoke]

Just a few.The easiest 12ga,243,260,270,7mm,mag,40 cal. The hardest. 22LR,22mag,223,9mm. O and 17 hmr was very easy to find.

 

[bannockburn]

Always plenty of centefire rifle ammunition on the shelves in just about any caliber, with the exception of .223 (though it's back now in great supply), and .308. The only pistol ammo commonly available was .40 S&W.

 

[HoosierQ]

Around here, the only round I consistently saw on the shelves was .270. There is nothing you can hunt in Indiana with that caliber. Same goes for 30-06 of course but there was none of that either. Around here, they bought up everything. .243 was one of the harder hit calibers it seemed to me.

 

[Bearhands]

Until very recently, I saw -0- 243's and 22's were scarce as hens teeth(still are). Even the ole 30-30's were VERY hard to find if at all. 06's were the most plentiful center fire on shelves.