Posted on 04/28/2009 7:27:55 AM PDT by newgeezer
Life is good at Mid America Arms in south St. Louis County.
Traffic inside the gun shop has doubled in recent months. Sales are up a solid 40 percent. And they can't keep the shelves stocked.
What started late last year — about the time President Barack Obama took office — as a nationwide surge in gun buying has evolved into something much larger. Good luck finding ammo for all those guns. Or the components and tools to make your own.
At stores such as Mid America, empty shelves and disappointed customers speak volumes about a supply-and-demand equation that's been knocked off its fulcrum by changes in the political landscape. The most popular calibers — 9 mm and .380, for example — are difficult, if not impossible, to find. And new shipments don't last long.
"It's a struggle," said Al Rothweiler, one of the owners. "Where someone used to buy two boxes of ammo, now they buy four, five or six boxes."
Rothweiler and others say it's pretty easy to explain ...
Most of the fingers point to fears that Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress eventually will get around to pushing for new laws restricting gun ownership and placing severe tax rates on ammunition sales. So people are buying guns and ammo before that happens.
"They realize this administration does pose a risk to their Second Amendment freedoms," said Alexa Fritts, spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association.
For its part, Obama's administration has been fairly quiet on the subject, citing the need to focus on the economy and other issues at this time.
However, the president's urban policy agenda, at whitehouse.gov, makes it clear that Obama would like to make permanent the so-called "assault weapons" ban that was signed by Bill Clinton in 1994 but allowed to expire in 2004.
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
I have been checking around for .308 brass on a daily basis, Cabelas had at the shortest a 6 week backorder on it, well last week in the wee early morning I checked them again and it was in stock, so I hurriedly placed an order for 200, that was all I could afford on my bank account, I have been waiting to finish some reloads using Barnes 150grBT Triple Shocks that I bought and the reason I bought those bullets was that they were the uber high priced ones everybody steered clear from while buying everything else up. BTW if a person has the money they are worth it, and I am still buying them but directly from Barnes themselves, free shipping over $75.
I don't reload, so I have just been building up stocks of ammo in common calibers to fit my favored weapons.
I've pretty much got 9mm, .38 special, .357 Mag, .45 ACP, and 7.62 x 39 covered.
I still need to get a good 12 gauge pump, but after seeing the scarcity of 00 buck and slugs, I decided to hold off.
I’m satisfied with what I have but I do wish I had some #7 for my .40 and 10mm reloads, I can substitute either Unique or Bluedot.
Years ago I bought something like 5 thousand .223 used brass that I spent a week sorting and cleaning plus a full can of loaded .223 that looked like misfires with bent spirepoints, I used a pencil sharpener to redo the point and cleaned them up a bit, they are only for plinking or maybe to be pulled.
Use only recommended cleaners in your firearms.
Good idea.
Lots of folks recommend using Windex to clean Enfields after shooting corrosive ammo. ;-)
Do a web search on "windex and enfield".
Wonder if I can find pork jerky? Probably too fatty to make jerky out of ... just thinking that adding bacon flavor to the bullets would 'be the right thing to do' if I needed it to fight off some 'Johnny Jihad'.
I agree. I have seen more people who obviously don't know anything about firearms purchasing handguns at gun stores I drop by. I know people who I thought would never own a handgun who have purchased them or talked about purchasing a handgun and getting a concealed carry license. Something is motivating people.
The only thing I have seen similar to the current price availability of handgun ammo was when Clinton banned the import of Chinese 7.62x39 ammo. I remember ammo going from $2.49 per box of 20 to close to $10/box of 20 rounds and even then being next to impossible to get.
At that time a lot of SKS rifles and MAK's have been imported and people were use to going out on a weekend and firing off one hundred or so rounds of ammo, so the import ban caused a shortage and panic buying. Within 6 months imports from Russia and former Warsaw pact countries of new production and mil-surplus 7.62x39 ammo soon caught up with demand.
I hope that the shortages disappear within six months.
Well if you can; find some of that USDA pork in a can. That’ll keep for an awful long time. Its really fatty so you can use to lube weapons and bullets as well as eat it. I don’t know what others think but that stuff tastes good. Best thing for a jihad.
I get the impression most people are buying and hoarding the wrong things. If the whole system goes down, the thing you really want is something like the little Ruger 10/22 rifle, preferably stainless, and an endless supply of various kinds of 22 ammo including subsonic.
check out www.crusaderammunition.com if you haven’t already...
Old thread, but I’m having hard feelings for those who are just stuffing the ammo in their closets. They’re driving the dearth!
I would like to shoot more often, but I can’t find any target ammo and I can’t afford to use high-end ammo for weekend jaunts. I was traveling today and stopped at 4 Walmarts along my trip. I found two boxes of 9mm at one store and that was it. I stood next to disappointed shooters each time I went to the ammo counter. Oh well, I guess I’ll at least get 100 rounds in on Monday...
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