What Are You Willing To Pay For 9mm?

[Phaedrus/69]

Unlike past panics there is one thing different about this one- it's not driven by solely by FUD. Most of the last panics were based on fears of certain politicians or the belief that gun laws would be tightened. But this one includes a legitimate "supply shock" as economists call it. The capacity to produce ammo took a hit as some plants were forced to reduce staff due to the pandemic. Likewise supplies the ammo makers use were also in shorter supply for the same reason. Even if your ammo factory is fully staffed you need the constituent materials to make your products.

I'm not sure how many folks can't order online but it's not a small pool. California alone has more folks than maybe the twenty smallest states combined. Throw in AK and maybe HI and suddenly a lot of folks are stuck with whatever is on the shelves locally.

I'm not willing to pay a lot more than the "normal" pre-COVID prices but then again I don't really need to. I'm pretty well stocked with ammo. The pandemic has put a damper on my shooting for several reasons. I still get out but not as often due to pandemic-related difficulties in travel and gathering with my usual shooting buddies. So I get out when I can and dry fire when I can't.

 

[lsudave]

Unlike past panics there is one thing different about this one- it's not driven by solely by FUD. Most of the last panics were based on fears of certain politicians or the belief that gun laws would be tightened. But this one includes a legitimate "supply shock" as economists call it. The capacity to produce ammo took a hit as some plants were forced to reduce staff due to the pandemic. Likewise supplies the ammo makers use were also in shorter supply for the same reason. Even if your ammo factory is fully staffed you need the constituent materials to make your products.

Yep. My preferred brand has always been S&B; I don't know if they're even shipping currently. I haven't seen it, even at inflated prices. And places like sportsmans' guide which allow backorders- last I checked, it wasn't available to backorder.

 

[JohnKSa]

I'm not sure how many folks can't order online but it's not a small pool. California alone has more folks than maybe the twenty smallest states combined. Throw in AK and maybe HI and suddenly a lot of folks are stuck with whatever is on the shelves locally.

It could be as high as 20% of the country, based on some really quick and dirty "research" of some ammunition shippers' websites. However, it's not clear that all of those areas are truly stuck with whatever is on the shelves. In some cases, they can actually order online as long as the ammunition is shipped to an FFL local to them. Sort of like how online gun purchases are handled. Obviously there would be some kind of fee for that service which would add to the prices--and you'd have to find an FFL who would agree to handle the transfer.

BTW, there is a workaround for CA. One can acquire an 03FFL (C&R FFL) which costs $30 for 3 years, and some other paperwork from the state and then they are eligible to have ammunition shipments delivered to their door.

 

[jmr40]

I won't give more than 10 bucks a box for it. I can wait this drought out and shoot something else in the meantime.

Reading through this thread I came across several similar comments. If this is your plan you may well never buy another box of ammo. I'm old enough to remember people saying they'd walk before paying $1/gallon for gas or starve before paying $1 for a McDonalds hamburger. I remember when you could get a burger, fries, a drink and get change back from a dollar at McDonalds.

The drought will end, and I don't expect it to be terribly long. Prices may go down some afterward, but as long as there is demand they will never go back to where they were previously. People who were unprepared this time will continue to buy and stock up keeping prices up for a long time.

 

[Robert]

I know times are stressful, but can we lay off the doom and gloom for a while?