Posted on 05/12/2013 10:46:45 AM PDT by ziravan
Why is there such a shortage of ammunition? Is the FedGov buying it all up so that we can’t get any? When will this ammo crisis end? When and where can you find reasonably priced ammunition in the Bryan/College Station area?
The Department of Homeland Security recently put in a five year order for 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition. The government contracts provide that Uncle Sam has priority to be supplied first and this allows the government at any time over that five year period to play havoc with the supply of ammunition. There have been calls from prominent Republicans to investigate. Although this is certainly a factor in the current ammunition shortage, it’s probably not the main reason ammo is so scarce at the moment.
According to a major ammunition supplier, Hornady, government contracts account for less than 5% of their current production. Hornady is adding workers and working overtime to make ammunition. Here is part of their statement on the shortage, “We are producing as much as we can; much more than last year, which was a lot more than the year before, etc. No one wants to ship more during this time than we do.”
The main reason for the prolonged gun and ammunition shortage is panic buying superimposed on a ‘just-in-time’ delivery system. The panic buying started in December after Democrats in Washington began a large scale assault on gun rights in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting. For months, popular so-called “assault rifles” (any weapon, by definition, is designed to assault) were almost impossible to find with resellers making a killing. AR-15s are expensive even when they’re regularly priced and so that market could only be strained for so long. There is a steady supply of AR-15s back on the shelves here in the Brazos Valley.
Ammunition is a different story. Most of us in times past have kept just enough ammunition to plink and shoot because a resupply required little more than a trip to Wal-mart. We’ve all known that if the SHTF, having lots of ammo could only be a good thing: BLOAT – Buy Lots of Ammo Today. Everything has a priority and when the shelves are stocked, why worry?
Now that the shelves are no longer stocked, worried we are. This is the main reason ammo remains so hard to find: we are all kicking ourselves in the butt over being caught short and we won’t make that mistake again. We are going to buy until we have a real stockpile. Add in the millions of new gun owners in the last several months, and ammo is flying off the shelves (or more accurately, never makes it to the shelf in the first place).
Take .22LR for example. No potential gun ban and no government purchase order should affect the sale of .22LR. At this moment, however, .22LR is one of the hardest rounds of ammo to buy. Why? Because we all own a .22LR platform, of course! It’s the first firearm we shot and it’s the rifle that was handed down to us across at least one generation. We are causing the shortage of .22LR because we are no longer content to have a partial brick of ammo in the closet. We’ve all vowed that as soon as we can, we’ll have enough .22LR for the mainstream media to refer to our gun closet as “an arsenal”.
Most of us aren’t going to run to a gun show and pay $95 for 500 rounds of .22LR (an average price at the Fort Worth gun show May 4-5th). That doesn’t matter. Millions of us have collectively decided to buy a few bricks as soon as they’re back on the shelves. That’s enough to change the business model for ammo. The question that ‘just-in-time’ delivery ammunition suppliers must ask is if the change is permanent. If it is a permanent change, then gearing up new production is a sure-fired moneymaker. If, however, it’s only a temporary spike in sales, investing in new capital equipment for a temporary sales boom could put a severe strain on a company. Until the smoke settles, companies such as Hornady are going to run their current infrastructure harder instead of adding new facilities.
(Imagine what this same effect would be if this was a pent up demand for food, which is also delivered ‘just-in-time’).
If you’ve decided to wait until the shelves are restocked to buy again, you are probably in for a very long wait. Is there an alternative to waiting months for ammunition to become regularly available again? Of course there is. Several places here in the Brazos Valley routinely receive and sell ammunition. You just have to know when and where to be when it arrives. Here are some tips for buying ammo in the Brazos Valley:
1. Free market at work:
Independence Firearms on Hwy 50 going into Brenham has all the ammo you need, mainly because they are pricing their ammo at what the market will currently bear. There is no shortage of practically anything if the price is right and that’s not a bad thing. How much is ammo worth? Ammo is worth only and exactly what someone is willing to pay for it.
2. Internet:
Most of the routine internet sales sites (Cheaper Than Dirt, etc.) are having just as much trouble keeping stock as anyone else. If you want to buy from someone’s private stockpile, exchange sites like texasguntrader.com and gunbroker.com have ammo for sale. You will pay the current inflated price.
3. Local Brazos Valley Businesses:
Champion Firearms, Burdett and Sons, The Great Texas Gun Company, and Gunsmoke Shooting Range all have ammunition from time to time. Champion and Gunsmoke normally have a separate supply set aside for range shooting and that’s to be expected. If you need to practice but don’t want to dip into your dwindling supplies, you might be able to buy some ammo to shoot while you’re at the range that you wouldn’t be able to buy and take away.
4. The Big Box Retailers:
The big box retailers are much more sensitive to criticism about taking advantage of a shortage. They will go far out of their way not to be accused of price gouging so they still sell their ammo (if you can find it) for about the same prices as they were selling before the panic set in.
Wal-mart in Bryan and College Station receive supply trucks daily. Most days they receive at least some ammo and on good days they receive a large supply of ammo. Both stores stock their ammo at 7AM daily and both stores have people waiting daily to buy (as a result, most popular brands and calibers of ammo are bought out by 0730 each morning and before they are ever stocked on the shelves). If you want a reasonable place in line to buy ammo, queue up about 6:30 AM (earlier on weekends). There is a three box limit and you’ll probably have to make several trips to find something interesting and still available by the time it’s your turn in line. In the past two weeks, I’ve made about 7 trips to Wal-mart between 0630 and 7AM and I’ve bought 200 rounds of 9mm, 60 rounds of .556, 150 rounds of .380ACP, and 650 rounds of .22LR by using this method. I’ve also passed on .40 and.45 that otherwise were available (but that I didn’t need). NONE of this ammo was still available at 0730.
Academy has ammo delivered on Tue, Wed, Thurs, and Sat. Academy has a one box per popular caliber limit and a 3 box total limit, but they sometimes have large deliveries that make them a very desirable place to seek ammo. Academy opens at 8AM and the line starts to queue about 4AM. If you want one of the better items, you must be in line before 6AM. Saturdays are worse than the other days. Why do people queue in line at Academy four hours early for a one box limit? In the past week, Academy has had .22LR Bucket of Bullets (1400 rds), and 1000rd packs of .223 and 9mm. If you’re one of the first 10 in line at Academy on an ammo delivery day, a 1 box per caliber limit is often all you need.
Gander Mountain takes delivery of ammo only on Thursdays and puts out their ammo about 11AM. They push their ammo out on carts and there are normally dozens of eager buyers waiting to buy. The queue for ammo starts hours early. They change their limits, but a good expectation is being held to 5 boxes.
Do you have enough ammo? Is such a thing possible? If you’ve been convinced the last few months to stock up the next time you see ammo on the shelves, you’re not alone. The shortage is here and it’s likely here to stay. In the meantime, good luck meeting your ammo needs: happy hunting!
Even if you don’t live in the Bryan/College Station area, find out when your big box retailers take delivery and show up then. Most stores will tell you the days and times they normally stock. You can find ammo, but these days you have to go looking for it.
In the meantime, while you’re waiting, you’ll probably find yourself in the company of fellow gun enthusiasts hoping to find some ammo as well.
Makes for some interesting early morning chit chat: and it is probably the only way you’re going to find ammo reasonably priced for awhile.
The Free Syrian Army - the anti Assad coalition has put out out a call for more ammunition
It said the average American has more ammunition under their
beds than they have on the belt......
Bump
I was looking for powder on the net. A pound of powder that was $20 is now over $100 on the auction sites. I’m not playing that game.
The long term large orders by the government should provide the incentive for manufacturers to significantly ramp up production of ammunition, especially in the popular calibers.
Shortage is easing up.
I finished topping off my inventory yesterday.
Prices are inching downward.
Be patient and don’t overpay.
I picked up 308 powder two weeks ago 25$ a pound online. Got it before it vanished. Ya just hafta be checkin the sites.
Yup, and what could happen is they overproduce, the market then becomes flush with ammo and inventories are stuffed, driving the prices way down.
I purchased a 22 rifle a week ago in central KY. I could find no ammo anywhere and the internet wanted absurd prices. So I stopped by this gun/ammo store on Monday and they said they were getting a shipment on Wednesday. My wife just called and we got 250 rounds at $.08 per round, though they are not copper.
But I’m happy for now. Plenty of small game around here...
Be patient and don’t overpay.
I have ~500 rounds for my SKS (I bought it about 18 years ago), about 150 for my shotgun and just got 250 22LR’s for the 22 rifle I just picked up last week. I’m good until the prices come down. But when they do...well, I’m not gonna get stuck in this mess again. Owning a gun for which you can find no ammo is beyond frustrating.
I liked the author’s example of 22LR. The fact is that once everyone has stocked up on way more than what they know what to do with, it will be like the day after Y2K. There was a huge return line at Costco. People were returning lots of everything from generators to potato chips and Penut butter. It was comical.
You usually can’t return ammo, but when it eases, a lot of people are going to need to burn off a lot of ammo before they return to buy more.
Nobody will be returning ANYTHING!
The potential for disaster or emergency is far too great.
Nobody will be returning ANYTHING!
The potential for disaster or emergency is far too great.
I agree, to a degree.
You will find that folks have defined for themselves a new “Minimum Supply Level”.
Folks will be restocking and topping off from a much higher base.
You will find that folks have defined for themselves a new “Minimum Supply Level”.
And this is especially true if anything comes of all the news about this week’s obama scandals.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.