I am the main cause of the ammo shortage

[Agsalaska]

I started to post this on a current thread but felt it deserved its own.

First, as I have stated on this site many times, I am not a real shooter. I am a gun nut like many on here though. I collect guns and my wife might describe me as obsessed with them. But I am just not a shooter. I have not shot 10% of the guns I own. I am a scratch golfer with a 2 and 4 year old, a regular corporate job during the week with a working ranch in the family. You can imagine where gun range falls on the priority list. But as much as I like guns shooting 22lr is really the only recreational shooting I actually enjoy.

Understanding that, I bought ammo on demand. Its deer season so buy ammo. Friend wants to go shoot my Glocks so buy ammo. Time to qualify, or just time for my obligatory practice with my pistols, go buy ammo. But it would be quite normal for me to only have a couple of loaded magazines for a Glock, a loaded .38 with one backup speedloader, maybe a few bucksot shells, and some leftover rounds for whatever rifle I have been hunting with. So less than 50 cartridges is more common than anything(not including 22lr).

It never occurred to me that I would not be able to FIND ammo. I dont shoot enough to worry too much about price. So what if 9mm goes from 50c to 90c a round when you shoot less than 100 rounds per year. But all of a sudden, in 2013, I see the error in my ways. I cant, or couldnt, FIND anything, and I have real fears of the future availability of ammo.

So my behavour has changed dramatically. I will never allow myself to be int his position again. I prbably went into January with less than 50. I now have, in rounded numbers,

200 of 38
200 of .357 mag
200 of .357 sig
150 of 40
100 of 9mm
100 of 25acp
40 of 44mag/spl
500 of 7.62x39
120 of 22 hornet
40 of 30-30
60 of 6.5x55
40 of 30-06
a box or two of 7.62x54r
100 various shotgun shells(and I have not shot a shotgun in years)

So I have bought, some at decent prices and some not, about 2000 rounds of various centerfire ammo. Keep in mind I only shoot, or even use, four of those(9mm, 38, 30-30, and 6.5x55). But I own some other guns that I would be willing to shoot that cover the rest. And I have not shot 2000 rounds of ammo in the last 5-7 years combined.

I am not done either. I plan on buying more and more. I have more guns that I would be willing to shoot, especially rifles, that I will buy. I will NOT buy ammo for guns I consider investments. But when I find ammo available at decent prices I am going to buy it. But for my actual shooting habits I am way over my normal supply.

My fear is the future. I dont want to ever find myself in this situation again.

So figure how many people are reacting like me. I have a buddy that has one XD9. He never had ammo other than what was loaded. He now has over 1000 rounds and an SR9 to compliment it.

Sorry for the long thread, but I think people like me are probably as big of a problem as anything else.

Thanks.

 

[ljnowell]

That aint nothing. Thats less than 1k rounds of handgun ammo. I reload and shoot that much in two weeks. You arent hoarding. Hoarding is waiting at walmart to buy all the ammo that you KNOW you will NEVER shoot just to lock it away in your basement until you die.

 

[Agsalaska]

ljnowell,

You completely missed my point. My point is how many people out there are reacting exactly like me.

 

[Kali]

I am the opposite. I shoot casually and have a moderate stash of a few different calibers.

I refuse to buy at inflated prices. I'll happily burn through my stash, keep shooting and buy more/reload more later to replenish.

The supply will catch up to the demand, econ 101.

 

[JohnKSa]

My point is how many people out there are reacting exactly like me.

This may seem like a flippant answer, but the answer is that while it's impossible to say how many people are reacting like you, it's possible to say that there are enough reacting like you to keep the shelves empty.

I came to the same conclusion that you did, namely that you would never allow yourself to be inconvenienced by a temporary shortage. However, I came to that conclusion many years ago, before I had actually been forced to weather any shortages.

So while I have a significant stock of ammunition on hand, the difference is that I purchased all mine at very good prices in bulk during times when it was readily available. Another difference is that I use a good deal of ammunition each year--several thousand rounds in 9mm alone.

The final difference is that since this shortage started, I haven't bought a single box of ammunition. And I won't until things calm down and availability comes back to normal. Even if that takes a couple of years. Not because I want to make things better for other people but because I want to make things better for me. I hate scrambling around looking for ammunition during a shortage. I hate the idea of wondering if I'll be able to shoot in my next match or practice adequately for it because I might not be able to find ammunition. I hate feeling like I should pay too much for ammunition because the places that do have it in stock are charging a lot. I hate the thought of staying home due to lack of ammunition when I could be going to the range.

When the availability comes back to normal, I'll start looking around for deals. When I find some deals on bulk quantities, I'll buy whatever it takes to restock my inventory.

 

[PCCUSNRET]

Whatever you do, don't start reloading. Trying to keep enough powder, bullets, primers and brass for all those guns would drive you crazy (ask me how I know). I imagine you aren't a whole lot different than some of us that collect guns. I own over a dozen K-31's and have not fired half of them. I have 4 cases of GP-11 ammo and only shoot reloads cause I'm not sure if I will be able to get GP-11 in the future. I am over 60 and probably won't live long enough to shoot all the commercial ammo I have squirreled away.

 

[Ignition Override]

parker 51: A friend has about thirty excellent/mint milsurp rifles (no plastic) in a vault, and he inventoried his ammo at 30,000 rds. among the centerfire types.
He has not tried out most of them.
His mint Enfield #4/Mk. 2 is coated in cosmoline, wrapped in a paper bag and won't be touched for years, if ever.

Today he only wants to shoot one of his SKS and a little Swiss 7.5 because he has much more 7.62x39 than any other type.

 

[TennJed]

Interesting topic. I haven't given it much thought, but my guess (and it is just a guess) is that you are a fairly rare breed. To have at least 15 different caliber guns but not shoot much is probably not that common. Most of the people I know with those number of guns shoot a lot. That is not to say they shoot all their guns, but they do shoot. They may have an extensive collection with guns that rarely get shot, but they still put lots of shots down range. I think the heavy collector but light shooter is not that common

 

[Agsalaska]

Interesting topic. I haven't given it much thought, but my guess (and it is just a guess) is that you are a fairly rare breed. To have at least 15 different caliber guns but not shoot much is probably not that common. Most of the people I know with those number of guns shoot a lot. That is not to say they shoot all their guns, but they do shoot. They may have an extensive collection with guns that rarely get shot, but they still put lots of shots down range. I think the heavy collector but light shooter is not that common

Thats a good point. But if you factor out all of my collectable impulse I cant sell a gun no matter what and cant pass up a good deal guns I am probably like a lot of people. Narrow it down to just what I use. I bet a lot of people who just have one-three guns, a lot of whom are probably also new gun owners, who also just bought on demand, have bought up a lot of ammo. THey are also willing to pay the prices because they dont shoot a lot or dont know the difference. Take my friend in that example. He bought an XD9 off a LEO friend several years ago when there was some trouble in his neighborhood. He shot it a few times a year. He called me in February looking for ammo because he couldn't find any and wanted to go to the range. He said screw it and bought a bunch of UMC FMJ the first chance he got off of gunbroker. He also bought another pistol. That type of behavior is fairly common right now.

 

[Alizard]

You completely missed my point. My point is how many people out there are reacting exactly like me.

Tons of them, hence the total shortage of ammo. It doesn't mattere xactly what percentage of "buyers" are just panic buying and not for their actual need, whatever the percentage is it's more than enough to drain the available supply.

Even if the user only "jump buys" 500 rounds, if their normal usage is 50 rounds/week, that's a 1000% increase. If enough people are stepping up consumption, the ammo is ALL GONE.

 

[Texan Scott]

Best answer: We are the cause of the ammo "shortage", Senator... and we vote.

 

[commygun]

I, too, was struck by how little ammo the OP currently has given the number of guns he must have. Believe me, AgsAK, guys like you are not the ones causing the shortage.

 

[MShort]

Someone said it best ....DHS is one of the reasons. Another reason is the sheer increase in panic buyers.

I had already started a cache of ammunition for the pistols I own. I only did that because I wanted to have plenty on hand so that I can go out and fire them off when ever I dang well pleased, and there was always that thought of "it may become scarce one day".

Now that the scarcity has arrived, well I am still sitting comfy with the humble amount I have and can comfortably say that I will be able to ride this out and shoot whenever. I don't have a stockpile numbering in the thousands but for what I shoot I'm good.

 

[Newcatwalt]

I think a lot of people have seen "the error of their ways" and have subsequently starting stockpiling ammo. That's a big part of the shortage we are experiencing now and will to continue to experience for quite a while.

 

[denton]

Went over to visit our local basement gunsmith one evening, and one of his cabinets was open. It was stacked with plastic boxes of pistol ammo. I said, "Hey Bob, you sure you've got enough ammo?" He grinned and said, "That's only 10,000 rounds. There are two more cabinets, just as full, with ammo in two other calibers."

He shoots revolvers at 100 yards, and hits the target.

Another friend is active in IPSC and he goes through 100,000 rounds per year. He has a commercial reloading machine.

Those are real ammo stockpiles.

 

[TanklessPro]

I have more CCI Mini mags in 22 than all of that combined.



Ya'll dont panic I have not bought 22 in over 8 months.

I bought 6 cases of 1600 that everyone said was overpriced at $92.

 

[ngnrd]

I know I've done the same thing (mostly with components), and I think there are a LOT of folks in the same boat. "Hmmm.... the shelves are looking pretty thin. I better buy a couple of boxes of X, Y, and Z, just to make sure I have some when I need it."

A lot of people blame the "bulk hoarders" for causing this huge spike in demand. You know... the guys that buy multiple thousands of rounds that they keep stashed in a closet somewhere, "just in case". But, the truth is, most of the ammo probably got bought up in much smaller quantities, by a lot more people, just to make sure they had some later.

I figure that most gun owners only buy a box or three during hunting season, and don't really shoot much the rest of the year. So, if all those folks are now buying a few extra boxes here and there because they keep hearing "you better buy it now, while there's still some on the shelf", and "stock up now because you won't be able to get it later", the supply line starts getting hammered. It's like death by a thousand cuts, with no single cut being the definitive cause of death.

Heck, I never had any real quantity of ammo laying around for my hunting rifles, because I knew that I could always just pick up a box or two whenever I wanted. But now, I have a few boxes of factory ammo for each rifle, and enough components to load up several years worth. Same goes for my pistols.

So, yeah. Even though I don't consider myself a hoarder, I suppose I'm part of the problem, too.

Good topic.

 

[95XL883]

While you may have acquired more and not shot any of it, that effect is at least partially offset by guys like me. I pretty much had a stockpile when the "shortage" hit. But since the shortage hit, my shooting has dropped off dramatically. I was going every other week (or more often) and going through 400 to 500 rounds a trip. Now I'm going maybe once every three months and going through a couple of hundred rounds. (Hmmm? Maybe that is why I'm getting grumpy. )

 

[Sam1911]

Someone said it best ....DHS is one of the reasons.

Please don't spread that malarky here.

 

[xxjumbojimboxx]

Sam you always make me laugh....

Anyways. Guys open your eyes. Were slowly working our way out of this "shortage" as we speak. Went to walmart today, I was able to get three boxes of 7.62x39 and three boxs of 45. Still no nine, But thats because thats where the profit is for the store waiters, Look online go to slickguns.com. theres a whole community of peoeple there who post online deals... You gotta be fast with em sometimes. But ive seen 7.62x39 @ that site for 279/1000 in the last two weeks. .45 is coming back. Revolver ammo is coming back.If you LOOK you can find it all online, At decent prices. The only thing were still haveing a hard time with is .22lr and 9mm, those will all be back soon too.

 

[shaggy430]

I can honestly say that I've bought almost no ammo during the shortage. I learned my lesson back in '08 and gradually bought enough ammo and components to weather the next shortage. I don't really shoot a lot of rounds per session. I reload more for precision than bulk blasting. I may spend 2 hours at the range and only shoot 20 rounds. I like to find the perfect load for a particular gun and then about 100 rounds specifically for that gun. I may keep enough components on hand to load another 200 rounds for that rifle.

 

[Delford]

I buy now and then when the store I'm in has ammo. Lately no store has .22lr in bulk and even .45 is somewhat hard to find. Last month I found some boxes of 50 .45 acp at WM for less than $20. .40 a round isn't bad but compared to .33 or .34 it's not great. Once I got it for .30 and someday hope to again. I'm amply supplied and just shot 100 rounds yesterday. Beside the .45 I have a .22 pistol and a Mosin Nagant. I have about 380 rounds still available and since I don't shoot it all that often that'll last a while. I'd like to shoot the 22 but haven't found any ammo since last fall. So I shoot what I have and replenish when I can. Overall I keep ahead of what I shoot each month.

 

[Stargazer65]

I have a stash, but I'm trying not to eat into it much. I'm also not buying much at all. I'm only buying enough to cover what I shoot, and I am shooting less than before.

 

[TanklessPro]

I have plenty. Also seen a lot of late including 22. I would say that the shortage is on the edge of being over. I have seen hundreds of cases of 223/5.56 at decent prices, around 45 cents around. I'm seeing 9,40, and 45 in decent quantity. I have not bought any because I'm in good shape and don't want to add to the problem. You know,save some for the guy who has been panicking.

At least that's what I'm seeing.

 

[docsleepy]

What's happening right now is really wonderful. All over the nation, people like the original poster are loading up their shelves with ammunition. I had put in a huge store, for me at least, of components, and really have only bought a few bullets here and there to supplement my reloading. During this recent crunch. But I'm teaching all kinds of people how to reload, and supplying them with starter packs for their particular caliber.

Never in recent memory will so many people have so much ammunition on hand, so many firearms, and have so many people trained in how to reload ammunition. This is good for our freedom.