Ammo shortages (now 2016)? What are you seeing out there?

[TexDaddy]

Well, it was Sunday afternoon and I wandered into the local Walmart. Lo and behold, they had five 1000 rd. boxes of 5.56. It was even a fairly decent price, $447, so I snagged one. I haven't seen that in a while.

On the down side, they didn't have much of anything else.

[dep190]

Today was the first time at my local walmart they had some handgun ammo the prices were higher but not outrageous! still not what they used to carry! Some tula 9mm but no usa ammo or value packs and still no 22 ammo

[MississippiJarhead]

I went by a local gun store and found .223 and 7.62x39 at reasonable prices. They had a small amount of premium .22lr for those that just need a little for hunting at the regular premium prices. Premium .300 Win and .30-'06 hunting ammo was available at their usual $40-$60 a 20 round box price range. Less prominent hunting calibers (such as 7mm-'08, .243, .30-30 & .35 Whelen) were much more readily available.

[Hootie]

Last week in Milwaukee WI:

Walmart: still a hit or miss, but cheap prices

• 3 boxes left 9
• 10 boxes left 40
• no 22LR
• a few boxes of rifle caliber

Local Gun Range Store: strong supply, but prices 10% more expensive on average (reasonable prices)

• full shelf of boxes and a few bulk cases of 9
• full shelf of boxes and a few bulk cases of 40
• full shelf of boxes and a few bulk cases of 45
• full shelf of 22LR
• full shelf of boxes and a few bulk cases of rifle

[FrugalFannie]

all ammo is back in stock but still kind of scarce. 22 is most scarce and federal is doing stuff like making boxes of 40 instead of 50 lately.

Components are also starting to show up. Mostly powder and primer, some bullets.

[ag2]

I stumbled across a radio station in which they were discussing the ammo shortage.  (It was not AJ)  They said that FEMA or DHS was buying .22LR.  I had to scratch my head at that one.  What gov agency buys .22LR?  Anyone know?

[inbox485]

I stumbled across a radio station in which they were discussing the ammo shortage.  (It was not AJ)  They said that FEMA or DHS was buying .22LR.  I had to scratch my head at that one.  What gov agency buys .22LR?  Anyone know?

I usually hear about .gov conspiracies as they come out. Heard nothing about this. It is probably 5th hand rumor. Heck most of the actual ammo buy by the .gov is 5th hand rumor. I wouldn't put stock in it unless a source gets coughed up.

[NWPilgrim]

Mea culpa!  I admit to hoarding today.   

After watching the news on the DC shooting most of the day and hearing noise of "we need more gun laws" I got to thinking about my ammo supplies in a new light.  I have everything pretty much in abundance as I have been replacing what I shoot when the opportunity arises.  And we are just now starting to see more supplies come back on the shelves.  I was pretty happy with my stock levels.  And I know it is a VERY SLIM chance that any more gun laws will be passed.

BUT...

I just do not trust our govt at all any more.  Just that small chance some thing will happen to tilt the scales in the favor of the gun grabbers I reviewed my reloading stocks while out working up some loads for the .44 mag tonight.  The hardest thing to get when things go south are primers and powder.  I have plenty of powder and don't really want to store any more at the house.  But I am just above my restocking level for small rifle mag, large rifle, and large pistol primers.  So I went ahead and ordered some more of each from Natchez at inflated prices.  I'm not going to run out and double my ammo or bullet stocks, but I will feel a little more confident in my supplies with a few more thousand primers on hand.

My apologies for feeding the frenzy beast, but I at least tried to be selective about it.    Does that count?

[fzrspirit]

Saturday I took my normal morning trip to walmart. I almost didn't go near the ammo section because I don't even bother to look if I'm in a hurry. I wasn't in a hurry so I decided to check:

SCORE!
2 - 100 round boxes of Remington JHP .380 ($42.27)
1 - 100 round box of Federal FMJ 9mm ($22.47)

The last time I bought the Rem JHP in .380 it was $35 and that was maybe a year ago.
The last time I bought the Federal it was $20 and that was early this year.

[inbox485]

Last I was at Walmart, I scored 3 boxes of 225 .22 lr and 3 boxes of 100 .22 lr. I gave 1 one of the 225 boxes to the guy behind me since there were 4 total.

[ag2]

Last I was at Walmart, I scored 3 boxes of 225 .22 lr and 3 boxes of 100 .22 lr. I gave 1 one of the 225 boxes to the guy behind me since there were 4 total.

+1 for your kindness inbox

boxes in quantity of 225?  Wow.  They are getting smaller and smaller, aren't they?  It seems like they started making them smaller in 2008, right after Hussein was first elected and they became scarce.

[garysco]

I just got back from the Bass Pro Shops' in Manteca, CA. (central valley about 90 miles from San Francisco) Empty shelves except for some over priced odd calibers, lots of bird, dove & some 00 buck shotgun, and and 6 boxes of 50 x .45ACP Remington HP "training" type stuff @$40.00. The pistol case was also really really bare, except for a good selection of .22LR pistols. A fair number of regular hunting rifles and plenty of shotguns.

While there I hung around the sales counter and listened to the prospective buyers. All but 2 did not have a clue what they wanted or how to properly use the weapons even if they owned them. These were regular working class folks that are getting scared and want to buy something before registrations and bans.

The salesman said he spoke with CCI and Winchester, and they told him they are still making .22's by the millions, but people are now in the hoarding mode and buying them all up.

[sirosisofliver]

Cabelas in Omaha is flush with .223/5.56.  PMC for 8.99/9.99 per 20 respectively.  About .50/rd for .223 is average there.  Their shelves were full of everthing, except .22LR (big surprise).  Wouldn't it be more effective to put a pistol grip and a flash hider on that Marlin 60?  THATS what makes a gun a killing machine.  I guess the people who  are hoarding .22LR have figured that out and are stocking up...

[dep190]

Yahoo my local walmart has ammo but you can only buy one box at a time! I got fifty rounds of 22 CCI Standard velocity LR for $3.47 

[konaexpress]

Had to go look around after reading this thread.

Both Wallmarts only had 12, 20 and 410 shot shells. One of the guys told me they only get in a few boxes of 22 at a time and they are sold out 10 minutes after opening in the morning.


Wish I had a shotgun...

John

[ag2]

FOUND LOTS OF .22LR!!!!

This evening I found myself at Dick's Sports in Lee's Summit, MO.  They have lots of bricks (500 rounds) of CCI .22LR.  I picked up a box at $39.99.  The price stung a bit, but I was encouraged to see a supply of what appeared to be every caliber.  There were  two more bricks of CCI .22LR and I asked the guy if he had more.  He said that he had another dozen bricks in the back.  He said they would probably sell out on Sunday.  I noticed that he had several cases of 9mm.  He said that Dick's Sports corporate headquarters has put some pressure on Remington to ship them more product.  So you guys might want to see if there's an uptick in supply with them.  The guy working the counter said he has noticed less panic in customers and slightly more supply.

[mxitman]

I was looking for this thread the other day and couldn't find it. I have spent the last few weeks stopping by the various retailers around here, North of Seattle,WA. I found ay my 2 closest walmarts; Federal 100 rnd packs of 9mm and 45ACP, price on the 45 was $37. plenty of shotgun ammo and standard rifle too, 30-06 etc. They also had 5.56 and 7.62 but they weren't in bulk packs so the prices were higher.

And for the first time one of the guys working there knew when they had something coming in, he said they get a list on what's coming on the next night/week's truck...So I knew the next day they were getting in Winchester 45ACP.

Still no .22 anywhere around here for anything reasonable. Although I've been told from friends they have been lucky getting some at Big 5, I've yet to find it. Big 5 did have everything else pretty much but higher prices, bulk 100 pack of 45 for $57....

Cabela's had a decent selection of 5.56 and 7.62, and 9mm but not much for rimfire. Prices were a little higher than normal.

The best prices for ammo I saw outside of the gun shows was at Kesselrings in Burlington and was sad to see they no longer sell firearms and are catering to just accessories, ammo and reloading. They had 250 rnd packs of 45 for $89, and the largest selection of ammo I've seen in the last year+. If your in the area check them out for ammo. They also had boxes of AR15 mags for really cheap, $10-$15...magpul, aluminum 30 rounders....etc

[ncjeeper]

Local wal mart had boxes of 40 &45 handgun ammo. Nothing in smaller calibers. A little rifle ammo too.

[cheryl1]

The last .22 ammo I saw was still $55 a box

[Smurf Hunter]

Try shopping outside of major population centers.  Last weekend we drove out to eastern WA (walla walla) to visist some extended family on my wife's side.  I stopped by Bi-mart each day we were there and bought my limit of CCI primers and Titegroup.  It was hunting season, so the rifle components were picked over, but I stocked up on handgun stuff.

They did have match grade .22lr for about 4x more per round than my long time favoriate Federal Champion.  As I still have 5 bricks at home, I declined the fancy stuff.

Additionally the prices were far less than I'm used to seeing out here in Puget Sound. 

[MississippiJarhead]

At a nearby WalMart they had plenty of the $5 a box steel cased .223 ammo but they only allow three boxes per customer. I got three and was there the next day with the Wife and four month old. The fella let me, my Wife and my baby girl buy three each. Heckuva nice fella.

[theBINKYhunter]

stopped in wally world the other day and their shelves looked pretty good. they have doubles the prices on several items but and still limiting purchasers to one box/caliber, but they had half full shelves, which i haven't seen in months.

[shambo]

I stopped in my local wally world and the shelves were full too.  All but .22s We were still limited to three boxes only per person per day.  I got three one hundred round  boxes of Winchester white box for 46 bucks per box. 

[Canadian Prepper]

My two most recent trips to local gun shops would indicate that aside from a few items out of stock, and some goods like the bulk Norinco .223 going up from $350 per 1600a few months ago to $390 (plus 13% HST), that we've weathered the US ammo crisis fairly well. My biggest disappointment was to see the crates of Winchester #7 steel that had been advertised months earlier as going for $56 now priced at over $100, as we just got our first dove season in over fifty years.

I've never had trouble all year purchasing .22LR at before panic prices, which was probably just a tad higher than what they went for in the US, and was limited more by my budget than any shortage of ammunition. I suspect however that many Canadian shooters have amassed a larger reserve of ammunition than they might have normally carried before the crisis.

We're seeing the effects of the panic here more in terms of irregular shipments of rifles, and increased prices on some guns. New Ruger 10/22s have hardly been seen, and a Remington Tactical Shotgun that went for just under $360 with tax a few weeks before Sandy Hook was listed at the same establishment at about $499 plus 13% HST. Guns are selling well, and permits for authorization to transport handguns and restricted rifles (i.e. AR15s) to shooting clubs has gone up by 14% in Ontario alone. The possibility that the Conservatives might not win the 2015 elections seems to be fueling the trend, as people are either getting into restricted firearms, or buying non-restricted firearm that they fear might be reclassified in the future.   

[LICountryBoy]

FOUND LOTS OF .22LR!!!!

This evening I found myself at Dick's Sports in Lee's Summit, MO.  They have lots of bricks (500 rounds) of CCI .22LR.  I picked up a box at $39.99.  The price stung a bit, but I was encouraged to see a supply of what appeared to be every caliber.  There were  two more bricks of CCI .22LR and I asked the guy if he had more.  He said that he had another dozen bricks in the back.  He said they would probably sell out on Sunday.  I noticed that he had several cases of 9mm.  He said that Dick's Sports corporate headquarters has put some pressure on Remington to ship them more product.  So you guys might want to see if there's an uptick in supply with them.  The guy working the counter said he has noticed less panic in customers and slightly more supply.

The Dick's stores near me have had everything except 30-30. They seem to sell out of that first for some reason and don't get it in as often.

[16onRockandRoll]

Our shop is out of 9mm fmj again.  We have managed to keep a little in stock for the past few months by limiting purchases, but we have had a couple weeks in a row without any again, and it took us down to 0.  Now it trickles in, but good .22 has been almost nonexistent for the last month or two (it was sparse before that, but would come in on occasion).  Our suppliers have warned us that there is another smaller wave of shortage coming.  I am noticing a little more on the shelves at Walmart though.  Not the really slim calibers so much, but at least something is staying on the shelves.

[ag2]

What's the reason for "another smaller shortage wave"?

[Skunkeye]

Yeah, I'd be interested to hear what their reasoning for that is.  My guess would be hunting season...

[pokeshell]

So, it has been a while that we have had $$ issues. I have "thousands"  of rounds or boxes or cases in stock. Zombie Aplocpics levels, just for fun. But I am felling greedy with my 9mm at the range, as it seems like I am driving a chromed out lambo when shooting, and even dirtier looks with .22.

Should I buy a .40? At the rate I like to shoot, and avliblility at price, .40 is about 25% cheaper, or about 7 months worth of a new GLOCK. Should I just restock at .40 and go that way?

Will the next ammo shortage be the same? .45 came back first in my local. I can get all the amo I can feed into my rifles at regular prices, shotgun also.

Typical shortage?

[Hootie]

Should I buy a .40? At the rate I like to shoot, and avliblility at price, .40 is about 25% cheaper, or about 7 months worth of a new GLOCK. Should I just restock at .40 and go that way?

I get that 22 and 9mm is hard to find. And that you are thinking of getting a 40sw gun. But little confused by what you mean by

At the rate I like to shoot, and avliblility at price, .40 is about 25% cheaper, or about 7 months worth of a new GLOCK. Should I just restock at .40 and go that way?

Would you explain that a little more?