Strategy for Ammo/Supply Shortages

[wankerjake]

I should get into casting

Do the bullets drop correct size out of the mold or do they have to be sized after casting?

 

[Speedo66]

Unfortunately, there seems to be a trend for states to start banning lead projectiles, and I wonder if the Feds are far behind. Almost all of my stored ammo contains lead, so now I wonder what the long term implications are.

NY Times just today has an anti lead bullet article. I'll post a separate thread about it.

 

[Bwana John]

I should get into casting

Do the bullets drop correct size out of the mold or do they have to be sized after casting?

Sized, lubed, and a gas-check crimped onto anything moving faster than ~1k fps.

There was a guy selling mystery metal (Pb, Sb, Sn...) out of Dony Park for dirt cheap if you bought enough that made pretty good projectiles out of Backpage, I have lost track of him since BP went TU.

 

[jmorris]

I still have primers from before Clinton’s AWB, same with powder. More than a ton of brass in more calibers than I even own yet and a fairly automated process of reclaiming and making my own bullets.

 

[huntsman]

I just wish Ammo wasn’t so expensive! A case of .308 or something or the like is ridiculous.

I’m a cheapskate so yeah to me it’s all expensive but I rationalize it this way.

If I was putting my money into golf all I’d get was entertainment and relaxation, if fishing it’s entertainment and relaxation plus food.

But guns and ammo gets me entertainment, relaxation, food and personal protection, that’s profitable in my frugal mind.

 

[RedlegRick]

Mine is pretty simple: buy what I can when I can. I only have a basic Lee loader for 9mm, and my other two calibers are 12 gauge and .22LR. One issue I have is, some sellers won't ship to New York, so I'm stuck with whatever I can get my hands on at Wallyworld or my lgs. Plus the fact I don't have a credit card, only a debit and I tend to use prepay cards for online purchases slows me down a bit.

 

[cheygriz]

There is another viable strategy.

Join, or organize, a gun club

Get an FFL in the name of the club.

Establish accounts with 2-3 major distributors.

Have your club secretary/treasurer take orders from numerous members before ordering, and buy in bulk. My club buys primners in lots of 500,000. Powder in cases of 8lb caddies. FMJ "ball" bullets in lots of 100,000 or more.

Believe me, it will save you a whole great big p*** pot of money.

 

[RedlegRick]

There is another viable strategy.

Join, or organize, a gun club

Get an FFL in the name of the club.

Establish accounts with 2-3 major distributors.

Have your club secretary/treasurer take orders from numerous members before ordering, and buy in bulk. My club buys primners in lots of 500,000. Powder in cases of 8lb caddies. FMJ "ball" bullets in lots of 100,000 or more.

Believe me, it will save you a whole great big p*** pot of money.

I'm a member of a club, and for the past decade, this subject comes up over and over again, but in the end, always gets turned down because of the liability issues that get brought up. Our CMP arm does do bulk buys, but only for our M1 and smallbore rifle teams, not the general membership.

We have another meeting coming up, maybe I'll bring it up as new business again just to stir the pot.

 

[Texas10mm]

Sized, lubed, and a gas-check crimped onto anything moving faster than ~1k fps.

There was a guy selling mystery metal (Pb, Sb, Sn...) out of Dony Park for dirt cheap if you bought enough that made pretty good projectiles out of Backpage, I have lost track of him since BP went TU.

Bull pucky. There's NO need to gas check bullets going faster than 1000 fps. Elmer Keith never did. I shoot a bunch of 1100 fps 9mm with no problem. No problem with my 1400 fps .357 or .44 Mag. My 2000 fps .223 doesn't lead either.

If the bullet is sized correctly to the bore 99% of leading is prevented.

http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm

That's where ya should start. Powder coating or Hi-Tek eliminates the need for conventional lube. You can get sizing dies from Lee or NOE. I prefer the NOE since they have a much greater variety of sizes available.

I just picked up another RCBS Pro-Melt furnace today for $228 shipped. That gives me a total of seven working furnaces. Also ordered two new molds this week and two more colors of Hi-Tek.

 

[SilentStalker]

Federal has black Friday sales going on now; with the political climate, NOW is the time to stock up

I know. Unfortunately, I just spent a ton of money on gifts. None left over for Ammo at the moment.

 

[George P]

I know. Unfortunately, I just spent a ton of money on gifts. None left over for Ammo at the moment.

Until the Dems take over Congress, you still have an excellent guaranteed window of opportunity

 

[sota]

Yes, but training is important. This is a perishable skill.

There is training you can do that will help keep skills sharp, without burning up ammo. In fact, everyone should be doing it regardless.

 

[SilentStalker]

There is training you can do that will help keep skills sharp, without burning up ammo. In fact, everyone should be doing it regardless.

Yes, dryfiring, mag reloads, target acquisition etc. however, I’m not sure my neighbors will like that too much. And I don’t like to advertise. So, most things have to be done inside or at the range. Plus there is no substitute for real training. Maybe one of these days I’ll have enough money to put a range inside my house. Lol.

 

[Doublehelix]

There is training you can do that will help keep skills sharp, without burning up ammo. In fact, everyone should be doing it regardless.

Yes, dryfiring, mag reloads, target acquisition etc. however, I’m not sure my neighbors will like that too much. And I don’t like to advertise. So, most things have to be done inside or at the range. Plus there is no substitute for real training. Maybe one of these days I’ll have enough money to put a range inside my house. Lol.

Yes, dry fire is one of my most important training exercises. I used to think it was sort of a waste of time until I really started working it hard and saw what it did to my competition scores.

 

[Big7]

When o*bummer' started looking
like he had a shot as prez
(a day I hoped to never see)
I LOADED DOWN THE FORT!

No telling how many unopened tins
of milsurp I have. Even bought 2 more
rifles, for a total 4 in the same caliber.

I have bullets, primers, cases out
the yang for every center fire I own.

Cases of .22 from the dreaded thunderbolt
right on up to match. AND hundreds
of stingers, yellow jackets, sub-sonics
You name it, I probably have it in .22.

I'm ready for "WHATEVER".
And didn't have to go into debt to do it.

 

[sota]

Yes, dry fire is one of my most important training exercises. I used to think it was sort of a waste of time until I really started working it hard and saw what it did to my competition scores.

Yep. Dry firing really improved my control of the trigger and the firearm in general. I now have a blue gun to do holster draw practice as well. (I did it before with an empty firearm, but always felt a bit nervous.)

 

[Walkalong]

I still have primers from before Clinton’s AWB

Me too, although most are gone now.

 

[entropy]

A simple two pronged strategy:

1. Buy it cheap, stack it deep. Harder to do now than 10 years ago, you have to be on the lookout for deals.
2. Reload. BAUUR. Replace the original "Repeat" with "Reload". Watching for deals helps here, also.

 

[JohnBiltz]

I've said this before but when I first started buying guns I was all over the map on calibers. I had so much tied up in guns that I couldn't afford any significant amount of ammunition for any of them.

The first big ammo panic taught me a lesson I will never forget and I promised myself that if ammunition ever became readily available I would never get caught short like that again.

I think I said it in my first post but the first thing I did was dump all of my odd ball calibers and invest the money in ammunition and magazines for the 9mm guns I kept.

The second thing we did was quit buying from Walmart. We buy all of our ammunition on line, usually from SGAmmo. We can get Blazer brass for about 4 dollars less a box online than what it costs at Walmart. We also put money aside from each paycheck and when we find a sale we buy. We have a lower limit but no upper limit. If we can afford ammunition we buy.

Well said.

 

[Jeb Stuart]

Just one of the reasons I shoot mostly 9mm. I bought a 38. last month and already regretting it. I will always stock up on 9mm during sales. I also save the brass and stock pile them along with powder. I have also began shooting more 22 rimfire in relationship to 9mm during range time.
Example: I would normally shoot my LCR9mm at 200 rds a session. Now I shoot 200 rounds of Rimfire through my LCR22 and only 100 rds through the LCR9mm. Same with other guns. I figure the cost of the LCR22 has paid for itself already and besides it is just plain fun to shoot.

 

[JohnBiltz]

I also got caught in the first ammo shortage. Learned my lesson. I stock a year's supply. That has allowed me to ride out the last two shortage without affecting my shooting.

There is a glut of ammo right now. Buy some. If you shoot a lot, buy a lot. There will be a shortage before the 2020 election. There will be people here complaining about hoarders having all the ammo and they have none. Those will be two kinds of people. New shooters who did not know better and experienced shooters who should have known better.

Buying a lot of ammo two years before a very predictable shortage is not hoarding. Its being prepared.

 

[CDW4ME]

 

[John Joseph]

Horses for courses. What are your needs? If you're into serious competition you can easily go through thousands of rounds a year just in practice. I know hunters who maybe burn up two boxes a year, including "sighting in."
For HD/SD I want far more range ammo for training than defensive loads, so hand loading cast bullets works for me, also supplemented with .22lr for additional trigger time. A couple of boxes of defensive ammo lasts me an entire year.

What I'm trying to say is, it's not how much ammo (which can be a both costly and a liability) but how you intend to use it.
You're not defending the Alamo, or Corregidor. LOL!

 

[joed]

The only time you can ever have too much ammo is when your house is on fire. I hope mine never does.

 

[TomJ]

With prices being as low as they are right now, I'm buying as much as I can. I'm pretty well set with 22, with over 20,000 rounds. I reload, am set with powder and am ordering primarily 9mm bullets. When I got back into shooting a few years ago we were in the middle of a shortage. I learned my lesson. I won't hoard it, but want to make sure I and my family can shoot if/when another shortage hits.