I know that with the 22 ammo these guys were buying from Walmart. The managers would let them know when the shipments came in and they would be there first to purchase it at normal price. Take it to shows and triple price. Now the local stores are paying more and customers have to pay more. I stocked up and quit going to the range a while back so I could keep my supply. But always will get more. Need 223.. and wouldn’t mind 9mm.
I worked remodeling Walmarts and they had 2 boxes of 9mm on the display shelf, however, in the cages in the stockroom they had thousands of rounds.
Just doing what they can to keep prices up!