Out of stock is the new in stock

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coloradokevin said:
I feel like shortages are becoming more of the norm for shooting sports, rather than the exception. Personally speaking, this is really starting to become a huge aggravation for me, and I'm not sure if/when this ongoing cycle of shortages will ever end. It has gotten to the point where it has made me skip range trips just to avoid using up the limited ammo/component stock I have for some firearms.
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I'm not the least bit aggravated.....I learned from past gun/ammunition/component/etc shortages. I expect there will be more, so I buy cheap and stack deep.



I'm not even just talking about the current Biden/COVID induced shortage of everything shooting related, but rather the ongoing and cyclic shortages we seem to have experienced in supplies for the past 25 years or so. It seems like I can't even think of more than a few consecutive years where there weren't shortages popping up, and here's a non-exhaustive list just to name a few examples:

1) Panic after the Clinton-era AWB caused a run on lots of stuff.
2) Y2K caused another run on stuff.
3) 2008-2016 we experienced ongoing shortages due to the Obama presidency, particularly among reloading supplies, and mostly due to unfounded internet rumors about regulations that would never come to pass.
4) 2019-present we're experiencing shortages due to another Democrat taking office, and the whole COVID-19 mess.
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You forgot panic buying after well publicisized mass shootings: Sandy Hook, Ft Hood, Auroroa, etc .......all cause renewed panic buying.



I know the old advice given on this (and other) forums has simply been to stock up, stock up, and stock up. If I'm being honest, I've likely given that advice myself during times of plenty, but this still isn't really a reasonable long-term answer.
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Ultimately YOU are the problem. Failure to plan for shortages means you'll be the one whining on a gun forum that you can't find primers, rimfire or 9X21 hollowpoints.




For starters, ammunition and reloading supplies are inherently finite and consumable. You can work your way through any size stockpile of components, and eventually you'll need to replenish them if you ever use them.
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As are food and water. And your point is?





I don't know about you guys, but I don't buy a ton of ammunition to have it just sitting around like a decoration... I like to shoot! During the last big shortage I was competing a lot, and spent around 2 days per week on the range with my precision rifles. It became very difficult to keep up with supplies back then, even when I bought in bulk.
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And a fat man likes to eat.
Whether your diet is 1,000 rounds a day or 10,000 calories a day.............manage yourself.



Beyond that, needs and interests change. These days if you go and buy a gun in a caliber you haven't previously owned, there's a really reasonable chance you won't even be able to find ammo for it! Or, if you decide to try a new type of competitive shooting that isn't using the same ammo you used in a previous endeavor, you might find you don't have access to what you need for that new venture.
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That's called poor planning. Kinda stupid to go buy a new .499 magnum when you have no clue as to ammunition or component cost and availability. That's poor research that's entirely on the buyer.



It just amazes me that for roughly 11 of the past 13 years it has often proven difficult to find ammo/reloading supplies in stock on a regular basis. This problem struck me again today as I started looking for components to load some stuff I haven't historically loaded much of in the past; naturally I've found those components to be sold out nearly everywhere (as expected).
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False.
In the last thirteen years that I've been an FFL there have been plenty of opportunities to stock up on ammunition or components. That you experienced an awakening today doesn't mean those components haven't been available over the last thirteen years.

Fall of 2018 I bought 30,000 rounds of .22LR from Palmetto State Armory......shipped free and I got sixty free PMags.



I'm sure I'm not the only one dealing with this, but I sure do hope the current panic subsides (again) sooner rather than later! Better yet, I hope someday people grow tired of panic buying every time the political winds change, and maybe we'll find ourselves with a more balanced and robust inventory of shooting supplies!
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Sorry, but wishful thinking will see you continue to be the guy with no ammo and no primers. There have always been periods of panic buying and always will.
Start planning now and it won't hurt so bad next time.;)
 
Keep in mind it’s not simply an economics issue for some folks. There is a space issue at play as well. I know plenty of folks who have the financial wear with all to purchase a stock during the salad days but don’t really have the space to support it. If you are a gun guy with lots of calibers to feed that takes a fair bit of space/weight. Even just 9mm takes up a fair bit of space weight in bulk. So if you want to stack in more then .22LR that can be an issue.

Now of course there are folks who want to shoot and it’s not economically feasible to stack deep. It’s not right for us to judge them outright because they can only afford a box or two of ammo during their individual range trip.

Now I am ABSOLUTELY a build a supply up of ANYTHING you might need or want to last at least a mid period of time but I am also blessed to be able to do so and cannot fault or judge those who cannot.

All that and its just nice to be able to buy a GD box of ammo or three when running to the range without having to call ahead, sell a kidney, wait in line etc. We need to address the legal political side so we can alleviate some of the supply and demand side.
 
As far as shortages, it's not just ammo. A small local supermarket and a large chain supermarket I frequent both have had shelves with large gaps and missing items. Transportation issues of not enough truck drivers, shipping issues of not enough unloaders have created supply bottlenecks.

As far as ammo stocking during fat times, I was one of those here making a case for that. The shortages in the past 20 years or so have been cyclical. After a few of these people should have realized that taking a sandwich from home once a week and buying a box of ammo to stock instead of buying lunch out that day made sense supply wise.

It also made economic sense. I had enough 9mm I'd bought at $8 a box to sell below the current inflated prices and still make a healthy profit.

Same for .223 and 7.62x39. Wish I had more shotshell target loads though, what was I thinking? lol
 
DarkswordDX said:
I can vouch for this. 2016-18 were the worst years I ever had running a gun shop. You couldn't give anything away. Brand new AR-15s on clearance for $400 and people turned their noses up, and ammo rotted on the shelves. Handguns marked down to my cost plus $20 I've been running guns for nearly 20 years and I've never seen the bottom fall out of the market like that.
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Thank you, for the real world information on these shortages and the impact on this hobby/ sport we are all trying to enjoy. It is easy to forget the related businesses that struggle day-to-day to survive
 
One thing I didn't see mentioned was the ammo subsidy given to us by the government. I mean.... The stimulus. Many folks, including myself, spent some of that money on ammo.

When the local academy had 22s, my wife and I went up there and got our limit every day. The price per box was higher, but the government helped me afford it.

I wasnt panic buying, I was doing like always, buying for my and my families stock when I had the extra money. Just so happens there was a panic going on from the government lockdowns and the political winds.

I had a buddy buying new guns. I bought components when I could and 22s and shotshells. I left 30-30 at the ammo counter once and the lady couldn't believe when I said I didn't need it cause I load everything I use centerfire.

I'd guess there was plenty of other folks that used the free money to deepen their stock.
 
Even if every new gun owner only got two boxes of ammo THAT would still be a lot of ammo out of our regular supply line these days. There are a lot of things driving this particular lack of all things firearms related unfortunately. Sadly our current president may end up being the greatest gun salesman ever before this mess is over.
 
I feel bad for the guys just getting into it or getting back to it, but for those of us who know better, I don't have much sympathy. I was buying as much 9mm as I could in 2019 because in early 2019, Federal 9mm was $7.44/50 round box!!! Unfortunately, my supplies didn't last and I'm down to a couple few thousand rounds of 9mm and have helped a few friends new to shooting with a box here and there. I knew we could end up where we are and have been through shortages before but I will admit, I didn't anticipate that the duration of this shortage would endure for this long, but I have prepared myself for it for years and will adjust my shooting as necessary to maintain a good store, I should be good for a Waco siege or two, ;).

Just like everybody else, I'm waiting for things to level off and unfortunately I hear lots of folks still on here can't find a tinkers damn for ammo, fortunately for me I'm seeing good alot of ammo coming back down. $0.36/rd for brass case 9mm isn't uncommon, I'm just having the damndest time finding good prices on flats of 12ga target, which is ironic because in the past 12ga target loads was the only reasonably priced ammo you could find in a shortage, same with hunting ammo but now it seems everything, every cartridge has hiked up in price.

At least it seems to be leveling off and becoming sane, at least around here.
 
Over the years I have learned to always keep a strategic stock of items and keep an eye out for replacements whenever they are available. Having said that I do reduce the calibers I shoot when times like these occur. I'll stick to 38 special, 38 S&W and 30/30 all of which I can cast bullets for and reload very inexpensively.
Things might get really crazy if the Taiwan situation gets out of hand. It could get really interesting really quickly.
 
coloradokevin said:
Do we really have that many new shooters joining our ranks?

Certainly gun sales are way up, but an awful lot of those sales are probably going to folks like us (the enthusiasts with more guns than they already need). In the anecdotal cases where I’ve see new shooters buying a gun because of XYZ concern, they’re often buying just one gun and one or two boxes of ammo... not 8 pound jugs of smokeless powder, or primers by the thousands, etc.

Admittedly I think it would be great if the ranks of shooting enthusiasts swells by a large margin, I just wonder if that’s actually happening.
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Based on what I see at the range, it's not new enthusiasts. Just unsafe wannabes
 
Local gun shops still have higher than online ammo prices, & they still limit the # of boxes you can buy, but getting better. $25 for a 50 round box of 9mm. 22LR is still a little nuts locally. Also, not always on the shelves. I don't buy ammo from the local shops due to the cost when I can get it cheaper online.

Local Wal Marts are bare 99% of everyday too, but on days they have what I shoot on the shelf, I grab a box or three. They limit you to 3 total boxes per day.
 
I seen the writing on the wall concerning the possible length of the current shortage. I seen it way back because I expected trump to lose his second term.

The pandemic, I mean the response to it, surprised me somewhat. The panic is just a taste of what to expect should society collapse. It just reinforced my desires to stock up. But it also helped my wife get more on board. Several times I said during a trip to town to get ammo, that if it was the last time we'd have the chance because of societal collapse we'd be mighty glad we went, but if it doesn't collapse, we will not regret the extra.
 
dogtown tom said:
I'm not the least bit aggravated.....I learned from past gun/ammunition/component/etc shortages. I expect there will be more, so I buy cheap and stack deep.
...
Ultimately YOU are the problem. Failure to plan for shortages means you'll be the one whining on a gun forum that you can't find primers, rimfire or 9X21 hollowpoints.
...
As are food and water. And your point is?
...
And a fat man likes to eat.
Whether your diet is 1,000 rounds a day or 10,000 calories a day.............manage yourself.
...
That's called poor planning. Kinda stupid to go buy a new .499 magnum when you have no clue as to ammunition or component cost and availability. That's poor research that's entirely on the buyer.
...
False.
In the last thirteen years that I've been an FFL there have been plenty of opportunities to stock up on ammunition or components. That you experienced an awakening today doesn't mean those components haven't been available over the last thirteen years.

Fall of 2018 I bought 30,000 rounds of .22LR from Palmetto State Armory......shipped free and I got sixty free PMags.

Sorry, but wishful thinking will see you continue to be the guy with no ammo and no primers. There have always been periods of panic buying and always will.
Start planning now and it won't hurt so bad next time.;)
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I have to tell you, your post is coming across as more than a little condescending, and misses much of my point (if not simply ignoring much of what I said). I certainly didn't just have some "awakening" today.

It's not that I didn't stock up when times were plentiful. I did stock up then, and encouraged others to do so as well. But, none of us can ever possibly and accurately predict the length and depth of the next inevitable shortage, and that makes planning a nightmare, at least for those of us who actually do any real shooting with the ammo we buy. I also couldn't possibly stock up for things like calibers I hadn't yet become interested in, or for types of shooting sports in which I wasn't yet participating. For example, I haven't competed in small bore rifle since college, so while I have 10's of thousands of rounds of .22LR plinker ammo on hand (the kind of ammo you mentioned in your example), I still wouldn't have the right type of .22LR ammo on hand if I were to rekindle an interest in shooting small bore again (because, let's face it, you aren't competitive in that area if you're shooting Remington Golden Bullet .22's, for example).

I have good supplies on hand for the types of shooting I was doing regularly the last time things were plentiful. But, as I illustrated in an earlier post, I was caught in a pinch during a previous shortage because I had just switched from a .308 Win match gun to a .260 Remington match gun. That switch meant that I suddenly needed H4350 powder rather than the Varget powder I had been using. But, that powder became almost impossible to get, and it's not like I would have had it on hand for a gun I wasn't previously using.

These are the reasons that these shortages are aggravating, not because I was too dense to go and buy stuff when it was cheap... it's more about the fact that it's hard to predict what you might want/need in the future, and it's hard to explore new arenas of shooting when we're almost constantly feeling the pressure of the next shortage. On the other hand, yeah, I guess we could always choose to be like the morbidly obese 55 year old guy I met at a club level IPSC match one time who told me that he has over 500,000 primers on hand for his personal use, and was planning to double that supply. He probably won't live long enough to shoot through a tenth of that supply, and he surely isn't storing it to fire code, but he sure has it sitting there anyway, just in case.
 
coloradokevin said:
I feel like shortages are becoming more of the norm for shooting sports, rather than the exception.
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It's not just the shooting sports. It's everything, and it's everywhere, and it's only going to get worse.

Bfh_auto said:
There are many parables in The Bible about being prepared and listening to sound advise.
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That was my first response when I saw the original post, but you beat me to it.

Seven lean cows devour seven fat cows. Seven thin ears of corn devour the seven fat ears of corn.

A prudent man foresees the evil, and hideth himself from it. But the simple pass on, and are punished.

armoredman said:
I warned MANY people during the "salad years" that now was the time...and most ignored me.
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Alas, they ignored Noah, too.
 
Speedo66 said:
As far as shortages, it's not just ammo. A small local supermarket and a large chain supermarket I frequent both have had shelves with large gaps and missing items. Transportation issues of not enough truck drivers, shipping issues of not enough unloaders have created supply bottlenecks.

As far as ammo stocking during fat times, I was one of those here making a case for that. The shortages in the past 20 years or so have been cyclical. After a few of these people should have realized that taking a sandwich from home once a week and buying a box of ammo to stock instead of buying lunch out that day made sense supply wise.

It also made economic sense. I had enough 9mm I'd bought at $8 a box to sell below the current inflated prices and still make a healthy profit.

Same for .223 and 7.62x39. Wish I had more shotshell target loads though, what was I thinking? lol
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There’s a shortage of hamburger buns in my area. Plenty of hotdog buns, though. I too have noticed this. Lots of random empty shelves at the local supermarkets and things. I found all this out the hard way when I went to make sloppy joes the other night.
 
coloradokevin said:
...ammo we buy. I also couldn't possibly stock up for things like calibers I hadn't yet become interested in, or for types of shooting sports in which I wasn't yet participating. For...
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You mean, ppl don't use any forethought and buy tires for the vehicle not purchased yet? Whuddathunkit

D.B. Cooper said:
...response when I saw the original post, but you beat me to it.

Seven lean cows devour seven fat cows. Seven thin ears of corn devour the seven fat ears of corn.

A prudent man foresees...
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...and that was the background for my signature line:scrutiny:.
 
I personally see plenty of ammo for sale on the net, the cost is much more than we are accustom to paying. I see plenty of most everything available and for sale, it simply takes more money to buy it. People who have stockpiled financial means are not really bothered by ammo prices - they can still purchase and shoot as much as they want. Maybe people stockpile the wrong thing and then brag or complain about their status, maybe the braggarts are nothing more than situational simpletons. I would suggest that not being able to afford some ammo when there is plenty for sale albeit at higher prices is the least of your worries - maybe you are concentrating your time and effort on stockpiling the wrong tool and maybe it will always come back to bite you - maybe you may spend an entire lifetime fretting about the wrong thing.
 
This time around, I've just been opportunistic ---I keep my stash of 9mm and 5.56 and won't touch it until it's REALLY needed or easily replaceable.

For now, that means .22 and 12ga because I have been able to find a steady supply at fairly reasonable prices---I even bought a .22mag rifle to take advantage of all the ammo I was seeing---more guns is good--right? I've also used this time around to fully accessorize my existing firearms and even have a couple spare scopes in their unopened packaging and a whole slew of AR mags still in wrap.

No guns? ok----no ammo? that's fine---what else do I need?

Also have been working a lot, so it's not like I have much time to go shooting anyway.
 
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