Odds are, you're too late.......

[Jesse Heywood]

Spoke with a friend this morning. He went in search of 9 mm ammo. He went to Cabela's and found a supply of 300 Win Mag, nothing else. He said there looked to be a good stock of reloading equipment. I had to ask if he was going to buy a 300 for personal defense.

You have to remember what is important in life.

 

[Walkalong]

someone pointed out to me that some of the folks could be new and ignorant of what history has taught us. So, I’ll cut the new guys and gals some slack but if you have been around the firearms scene for even 4 years, you should know better. 7 years, shame on you. Since 1994, you deserve to go without

Yep. A lot got caught in the last one, and even more got caught in 94. I doubt this gets one gets real bad or lasts very long though. Anyone who has been a member here for any time at all should be ok.

Keep it gun related......already a little slippery....

 

[Hartkopf]

Again...kinda the just of my OP. Folks should have learned that almost any little thing could and has created panic buying of ammo, firearms and components. Thus they should always have on hand what they think they may need, not just for this week, but for several months. For some this is not economically feasible and I understand. One must keep their priorities. Feed the kids and then your guns. None of these scenarios has come around because we feel we are going to enter a "Mad Max" TEOTWAWKI situation. What the 'ell are we in for if that ever happens? That is why, things like canned food, bottled water, batteries and basic medical/hygiene supplies should always be stocked somewhere in our primary residence. Same goes for ammo. Have enough to get you thru for a while now, instead of rushing out at the last minute and getting all that Walmart has left. We are lucky this pandemic is seen to be just a temporary thing. One only has to look back in history at WWI and WWII to see where we could have scenarios where we need to make great sacrifices for years.

My point is to continue to buy even when prices go up a little because they could go way higher. Don’t just rely on a 1 year supply, thinking you’ll buy more when prices come down to replenish your supply. Better to dollar cost average and maintain your stock for whatever your needs are.

 

[BullRunBear]

The previous shortage didn't bother me too much but did point out certain weak areas in my supplies, which have been addressed. The biggest adaptation was using single action revolvers, bolt action mil-surp rifles loaded one round at a time, single shot Contenders, and a lot more muzzleloaders. That slowed the pace of shooting so ammo lasted longer. Of course, traditional muzzleloaders make for slow shooting by their nature. It turns out I liked that pace and still use it. A bit of serendipity.

When bringing up supplies to the current level, I kept in mind having the ability to help out other reloaders, especially new ones, if needed. It doesn't take much to keep folks shooting. A extra pound of Unique and some primers can go a long way.

My wife and I take the same approach for food and household supplies. No panic buying but maintaining enough for ourselves and to help out friends if needed. They would do the same for us. Panic buying means you didn't plan at all, which would be embarassing. I would hate to think that the lessons from our parents and grandparents learned during the Depression, and our own lean times when young, were wasted.

Jeff

 

[Skgreen]

Been fortunate enough to take advantage of Bulk quantities that were on sale previously. Even got to feeling a bit guilty of spending money on stuff that I wouldn't need for a looong time. That guilt is starting to fade.

With that being said, I will still keep buying more as long as the price hasn't been blown way out of line.

 

[Varminterror]

Some folks use more than others. If we pretend legal limits for residential storage of primers and powder are applicable, then things get a lot more “interesting.” I tend to burn more than a legal battery limit of H4350 and Varget - each - every year. Despite incompliance, I do try to meter my purchases to no more than 24lbs at a time, spreading them out through the year, keeping my H4350, Varget, and H110 stores over 50lb each as an arbitrary target. It spreads out my spending, and helps ensure I’m never standing around with money in hand when no powder can be found, OR standing around looking at powder on the shelf without money in hand.

I’ve occasionally stockpiled additional volume purchased on sale to later sell when others dry up during droughts like this - I never gouge, but I keep myself on the positive side of a 5% IRR hurdle. I sold about 30lbs of Varget to other local shooters this fall I had bought last spring on sale when I ordered my volume for the season. It was cheaper for them still than normal street prices, I covered my inventory costs, and they finally had some to shoot the last few matches of the season.

I started dollar cost averaging ammo components about 15yrs ago in the interest of investing in shooting futures... or should that be future shooting... so every check, something is on sale, so I buy what I expect to use and a little more.

 

[Demi-human]

I do try to meter my purchases to no more than 24lbs at a time, spreading them out through the year, keeping my H4350, Varget, and H110 stores over 50lb each as an arbitrary target.

I sold about 30lbs of Varget to other local shooters this fall I had bought last spring on sale when I ordered my volume for the season. It was cheaper for them still than normal street prices, I covered my inventory costs, and they finally had some to shoot the last few matches of the season.

These two sentences alone speak to the amount of experience and good nature contained in your being, and is the reason I listen intently when you have knowledge to share.

Just thought I’d throw that out there. Seemed a good time to...

 

[Riomouse911]

My buddy lives in an area with few ammo options and a large population of retired military.
Nothing he could use has been on the ammo shelves near him for the past few weeks.
I made him a doggy bag using a quart ziploc and filled it with 55 gr fmj 5.56.
One happy buddy!
Sometimes one must pay it forward.

Stay safe.

 

[W.E.G.]

Always keep a three-year supply of the non-perishable stuff you actually use.

 

[Rembrandt]

As a youngster many of the neighbors didn't have indoor plumbing and still used outhouses. Sometimes they had toilet paper, other times they kept it stocked with newspapers, comic books, and catalogs. Always frustrated me when someone had torn a page out of a comic book.....just as the story was really getting good. That has always stuck in my mind how blessed we are to live in such good times. Ammo disappears and panic sets in....hopefully this experience will cause some inner reflection as to what is most important.

 

[Erief0g]

This one is different. Putting my indoor range membership on hold. Outdoor will probably close in a week or two.

I've got at least a year of projectiles and primers and considerable more powder. Didn't buy anything as my stock will stay strong for awhile due to lack of shooting.

 

[Hooda Thunkit]

Strangely enough, I have gotten in some orders that I placed just before everything went bonkers. Strangely, because I usually don't have good timing.

Some 224 bullets from RMR, some ammo from SGAmmo, some primers from Powder Valley. I've got enough lead to cast for everything else.

I'm sitting on enough for my needs for the foreseeable future.

I was caught short of primers back in the Clinton Administration. Never again.

 

[Demi-human]

I’m just glad there are some New Bees to buy up some of the stale things, so a few months from now I can have the fresh stuff...

Most importantly, I’m glad for the new Bees...

 

[Glockula]

I agree with giving the newbies a pass. But at this point any avid gun collector or reloader has some hoarder in them. People keep asking me where to buy ammo because they can't find it. I really don't know. I haven't looked. I've got plenty and it's looking like I might get a little time to make some rounds and add to stock.

 

[Jack Ryan]

Yeah, I kinda got snookered on this one. I should do an inventory of what I've got. I was on a loading binge the last 8 months or so figuring if I got all this laying around, it could lay around loaded up just as easy. Not sure what I've got let past lead, bullits, Red Dot, probably several thousand small pistol primers. I probably have dribs and drabs of everything else I've ever used.

 

[bbqreloader]

I was one that started trying to reload during the last shortage, if you are looking for components now, a little late to the party. I took the sage advice from many of the more seasoned vets on here and stocked up as quick as I could, served me well to pay attention.

 

[GT1]

We should clear one thing up. It is never too late to get in to reloading. Even in horrible times of limited supplies.
Anyone reading this that is thinking about it should absolutely not let the sour times or the prediction of worse times ahead stop them.
The sooner you start in and do your research, read and reread a real manual, set up that list of retailer bookmarks and lay out a plan, the better off you will be.
While you might have to scrape by you will find a smattering of usable components here and there if you are persistent, and even if you get stuck loading up 45acp with 800x(a horrible powder for metering), at least you will have some useful ammo when no factory ammo is on the shelf.

 

[Toprudder]

I was one that started trying to reload during the last shortage, if you are looking for components now, a little late to the party. I took the sage advice from many of the more seasoned vets on here and stocked up as quick as I could, served me well to pay attention.

Pretty much sums it up for me. I was just getting started in reloading when Sandy Hook happened. I was lucky to find enough supplies to keep me busy for a few months. As time went on, I started stocking up, and got in the habit of buying twice the amount I was consuming. I also tried a LOT of different powders and worked loads up with each, deciding what I really liked, and what I could use in a pinch. I have used up some of what I didn’t want to stock, and stocked up on what I like. I have enough now to keep me busy loading and shooting for a few years. And I have also done a rudimentary amount of prepping, so TP is not a concern.

My purpose in stocking up is not because I expect to fight a war, as some have suggested, but because I just want to keep enjoying my hobbies of shooting and loading. However, the local indoor range has closed (and I had not planned on going there, anyway). I hope the outdoor range stays open, but if they close, then being stocked is almost a moot point.

 

[GW Staar]

Dang it, our outdoor range just closed for the virus season! You'd think the stations were close together. Not so....at least 6 feet apart! Not that I need the range yet....I'm still in recovery mode, but the rest of our shooters aren't. Too bad.....over-reaction IMO. This winter has killed a lot more from the flu than from the Corona. Just be careful guys and gals, and take your vitamins. .......and don't visit the grand parents in person right now.....we are the only ones at have immune systems weak enough to let the virus kill. I take 10 grams of Vitamin C powder a day for my heart disease (Linus Pauling Treatment)....it also works against all viral infections....haven't had a sniffle all winter. But try to find some today. I have enough powder to last til summer, that I bought over the internet in late November.....that ought to do it until the supply comes back. Bullets, primers, powder, I'm fine for a while.....mostly because my recovery precluded trips to the range.

 

[JERRY]

I say the same thing about these people wanting to lend guns to "friends" that don't have one, but all of a sudden figure it wise to be armed.

 

[Demi-human]

I say the same thing about these people wanting to lend guns to "friends" that don't have one, but all of a sudden figure it wise to be armed.

...And somehow feel it’s not a big deal to “borrow” a firearm...
That has my name on it...
Having never owned one before...
With three small, and unruly I may add, children.

Solid and incredulous,”No”.
(But I’m glad she is thinking...
I’ll help her out, but not from paranoia.)

 

[markr6754]

I decided to get into reloading a number of years ago...and failed. There was nothing available. Even loading dies were months back ordered. Some sites were advertising taking orders in March with expected September delivery dates. I passed. I wasn’t shooting at the time, so I figured I could just wait things out. When I started shooting again the price of ammo had risen dramatically. I used to buy a brick of 22LR for under $18.
A short while later I saw ammo reappearing...2 box limits, lots of aluminum cases. It was sad...but an indicator of improvement. Within months I could get reloadable ammo again...though 9mm was now $15 a box for plinking rounds. Still...my income had also risen from when I could get 9mm for $7 a box, and 45 for $12. So buy I did, and save brass I did (stupidly, I tossed all the 380ACP, and yes...even the 45 cases). Finally, in late 2017 I decided to take the plunge...sheer sibling jealousy led me to it...my near penniless brother had just been gifted a complete reloading setup by our father...and I figured if a genuine poor can afford to reload...so can I. I bought everything that my brother received, except I needed 9mm dies, so I bought them too. In January 2018 I made my first powder, primer, and bullet purchase, and began my reloading journey. In just over a year I began seeing the many posts of folks declaring they didn’t load 9mm any longer, as it was far cheaper to buy factory. I didn’t care...I was still on a learning curve, and wasn’t about to tell my wife I’d made this huge investment in reloading gear, tools, and components, but now I’ll just buy ammo. So I kept loading, and buying powders to try, and stocking primers, and adding tools, and calibers (now 380ACP, 9mm, 40S&W, 38/357, 45ACP AND 300BO). Then, my wife passed me a local coupon offering 9mm for $8.99/box, good for up to 20 boxes. Mind you, this was 2 weeks ago. I wasn’t hoarding, so I only bought 10 boxes. After all, that’s 500 rounds, and I already had 700 rounds loaded. Little did I know that in just 2 weeks I wouldn’t be able to buy ANY 9mm (or anything else) at any price!
So I have to say...I’m kind of in between here. A new loader that has some supplies just because I was still trying to find a favorite...powder, primer, brass, projectile...but a new loader that remembers I’m not an old loader because of severe shortages the last time around that kept me from becoming a new loader back then. We’ll see if anything actually ships, but I was able to place orders for projectiles before hearing about panic buying, and got in a decent sized order or primers before everything showed “out of stock”. Let’s see where this all goes from here. Side note: I didn’t get any as we have no Sportsman’s Warehouse around me, but they were advertising Remington primers at $1.99 per sleeve, and nearly all CCI for $22.99 a brick. Bet those prices won’t hold when product returns to the stores.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

We have been enjoying really good prices on the common ammo for quite a while now. I knew something would come along to ruin it.
I figure it would be the up coming election though, not a Pandemic.
I don't need any supplies but I still ordered 500 .357 mag JSP just because I wanted some. I always liked JSP over JHPs for hunting or shooting and haven't seen them in bulk for years. But I didn't look real hard either.
I started shooting JSPs in the '80s when I bought my first Model 28. Remington ammo in .357 back then was brutal even in a 28. These bullets are nostalgic for me.
This is what I bought. https://www.evergladesammo.com/bullets/handgun-bullets/38-357-158gr-jsp-bullets.html about .16 cents a piece verses 25 cents for XTPs.

Supplies will come back, but I fear with the over abundance of supplies we all enjoyed in the past few years, that the supply manufactures have scaled back their production.

Now that supplies are going fast it will take time for them to scale back up again so it may take a while but I agree with the Mark6754.

Bet those prices won’t hold when product returns to the stores

You know they won't. Perfect excuse for them to raise prices.

 

[kmw1954]

I was buying primers, powder and plated bullets from Cabela's as needed as they were relatively close by. I'd go in and buy 1k large or small primers maybe a lb. of powder and a box or two of Xtreme or Berry's bullets. That was until the BPS buy out and this same store didn't have any primers for almost forever. Then last summer Winchester had their rebate program and there is a larger shop here in the state, Recob's Targets, and we happened to be up in that area on vacation so I stopped in and took advantage of the rebate. Picked up 7k primers and 2lbs of Silhouette and a lb of AA#2. The powders I can get locally for about the same price it's the primers that get hard to obtain for a good price and larger quantities.

Now my plan is to schedule a trip once a year or 18 months and then buy enough to make the trip worth while. This shop is about 2+ hours from me.

 

[lightman]

Several years (decades) ago I went from keeping a years worth of ammo and components to keeping 2 election cycles worth. Call it hoarding or prepping or whatever you want. But I have been able to shoot without paying jacked up prices through a few of these shortages. And to help a few new shooters or lesser prepared shooters along the way. Like someone else said, new components on the back of the shelf and old towards the front. I also write the purchase date on the powder jug and primer sleeve.

So far during this shortage I have spotted a relative a package of TP and another relative some ammo for a new to him rifle. Not a big deal as both are stand up guys that just happen to have a very busy work schedule that would do the same for me, if needed. I expect to help a few others before this is over.