Thanks to a lack of baby-sitter coverage I was unable to join TTAG writer Alan Brooks at Asgard Training to secure my Texas Concealed Handgun License. Bummer. It could have been even more of a bummer; Alan couldn’t source the required 100 rounds of .45 caliber ammo. Nor could he find 100 rounds of .38 for his GF. Luckily, I had a supply. His near-miss illustrates a sad fact: popular pistol caliber ammo is still is short supply here in The Lone Star State. How’re things in your neck of the woods?
Question of the Day: Got Ammo (Yet)?
We have lots of ammo and reloading supplies here in Wisconsin! 22lr is still rare and expensive however.
Where?
Walmart. Every other Thursday, for approximately 15 minutes, Walmart is flush when .22 LR.
Fleet farm, local FFL’s. Wallyworld too, from what I’ve been told…
TO: Robert Farago
RE: Heh
Try gun shows.
Here in Colorado, they sell ammo by the case, i.e., 1000 rounds: .45, 10mm, 9mm, .38, .357, .223. You name it. They’ve got it.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[Be Prepared…..]
P.S. Why would anyone one want just 100 rounds of their favorite ammo?
The two new Cabela’s stores in the Denver suburbs are generally well stocked with ammo, but components can still be scarce. They’ve forced Bass Pro, Gander Mountain, and Sportsman’s to up their game a bit so we’re seeing more with them. Wally World is still light on supply generally, and .22 is spotty.
Tanner Gun Show this coming weekend!
No I still can’t find 12 gauge in wally world and the stuff in my LGS is expensive like 30 bucks for a box of 4 slugs.
You live in NYC? Mass?
Madisonville KY
No 12 gauge? Do you live in the ocean? Every store from here to Timbuktu has every kind of 12 ga imaginable.
Yeah no kidding…even in the worst of it my local Academy had an entire isle full of 12 guage. About the only thing that people weren’t buying.
Scarce around here in Florida. Fortunately, I’m “GTG!”
And, what IS available… is stupid-expensive. Same goes for what’s available from all the usual online sources. Crazy prices.
Bloomer, Shoomer, Feinstink, Shotgun Joe, Eric “Brainwash Americans Against Guns” Holder, Barry et al. want to see crazy high prices.
Actually, this ammo scarcity has NOTHING to do with so-called leftist liberals or anything of the sort. I am a left-leaning, liberal gun-owner. The reason for the ammo shortage is simple. A large population of paranoia-inclined people have bought right into the conservative hype and have vastly over-purchased available supplies of ammo well beyond the capacity for ammo manufacturers to meet the sudden spike in demand. You all have bought right into an illusion, and the only people benefiting from it are ammo manufacturers and ammo retailers.
It is a well known fact that liberals are the ones that are gullible. Answer me this one pal! Why is it that
you find very little 308 ammo on store shelves, but you can find all the 3006 and 270 ammo that you want.
I suppose that just the people who own 308’s have bought into this illusion, but the people who own 3006 or 270’s have not. Are you kidding me? 308 ammo used to be as easy to get as the other two mentioned.
It is not an illusion. I have had large rifle primers on backorder from brownells since april. They are CCI BR2’s. I cant find anybody looking for them. I guess its just me and the 1000 primers I ordered have overloaded the demand for them. Typical liberals always talking about things that they don’t know anything about.
Except for 22LR it’s back to normal in Northern Virginia.
Define “back to normal.” To me, that would mean available stock at pre-Sandy-Hook prices. So, you can get .223 for 30 – 34 cents a round?
That is a very good point. It is hard to get .223 or 5.56 less than .50 a round for decent stuff.
I live in northern VA too, and things are far from normal. One store will have a reasonable stock of ammo, all the popular calibers and the next store has nothing. 9mm (Winchester white box, the last 9mm I saw retail) is still 50 cents a round. My local wally world has nothing on the shelves, except some of the hunting rounds, 7mm and 30-06 and 12ga slugs. Gun shows occasionally have ok deals on steel cased stuff, I’m using freedom munitions and Georgia Arms to buy ammo, cause I can get what I want at an almost Pre-Sandy Hook price. Even paying shipping and handling I’m still doing better than paying retail in my part of VA when ammo is available.
Here in the Dayton area of Ohio, it’s available- not at the best of prices, but it’s available. 50 cents/round for M193 or M855, 40 cents/round for PMC Bronze 55 gr .223. Handgun ammo is about 50-60 cents/round for .45ACP, about 35-45 cents/round for 9mm.
I’m still having trouble finding 22lr, 9mm and .380 in central Missouri. To be honest I have found about 5000 rounds of 22lr, just not the brands I wanted. That was going to walmart every day for about 3 months (and hating what they call service) and lucking out on Midway once.
And you wonder why ammo is hard to get Brucy
Here in KS you can get almost everything except .22LR. It looks like pre December 2012 at the big stores. The smaller stores seem to be sold out. I know some of the stores are refusing to buy at current prices because they don’t make any money on it.
Last month I was buying like crazy, even .22lr. Back to nothing in stores again this month.
Same for me – I got lucky three weeks in a row and scored 1k rounds of 22 each time.
As for 9mm, http://www.freedommunitions.com
http://www.freedommunitions.com/9mm-115-gr-RN-B-p/b9r115r-b0500.htm
I don’t even bother looking elsewhere.
Wal-Mart is still empty. The new Field & Stream store was well-stocked for a while, but they’re running low. Everywhere else is slim pickings. I was able to pick up a little bit more, but my supplies are still short.
A lot of people are probably going to give you grief for shopping at Dick’s Sporting Goods( aka Field and Stream).
Dick’s opened up a new store in Tallahassee and they are still too pussified to put up any semi-auto rifles other than 10/22’s etc. They can rot in hell before I buy anything from them.
Southern Central PA has all the ammo you could want but, with a few caveats. 9mm and 22lr are still rare and everything else is 50-100% more than this time last year. Reloading supplies however, are a different matter. Few and far between and expensive locally. The internet has gotten way better for supplies lately. I havent shot a round that I didn’t reload in at least 3 years and I have no plans to change that.
Central Iowa here… No problems, except .22lr.
Centerfire ammo is becoming more available, albeit expensive, here in southern AZ. .22LR is still very scarce, and still selling at stupid high prices at the gun shows. Walmart gets small quantities in, and the prices are reasonable (by today’s standards) but sells out by 7 a.m.
Popular calibers are still rare in Southern California. Powder and other components do not exist here.
i haven’t seen .22 in so cal this YEAR!
Here in Middle GA still little to no ammo to be had in any caliber unless its a niche hunting round, unless you want to haunt Walmart at 6 in the morning to hit their ammo shipments right when they come in. I just recently bought 150 rounds of critical defense because it was the first time I had seen defensive ammo in close to 6 months for less than 35 dollars a box of 25. Still no 22LR, its been gone since December, and even 6am walmart runs rarely result in any being for sale. Reloading components no longer exist in brick and mortar stores, and all of my regular places to order have been on backorder status for several months now.
My son and I scored 1100 rounds each of .22LR last Saturday at Academy in Cumming. There’s no limit on any of their ammo EXCEPT .22 and 9MM, and that’s 2 boxes per customer. 525 bulk pack of Remington for $21.99, which is pre-scare pricing.
In Georgia like most states, ammo is available and it is just a matter of price. But prices are coming down every day.
One of my pistols is a 5.7×28, love to shoot it, but only two real ammo producers. What was selling for $55 to $60 per box of 50 rds at a local gun show in April is now down to $30 to $35 per box. Given some more time and we will be back to the $25 per box price.
While some is still a little pricey, most ammo is readily available (22 LR is probably the worst but it is coming around)
Simple supply and demand
‘Round these parts, Wallyworld is alway out of everything except 12 gauge, .410 and .22-250. The LGS’s have been getting a fairly steady supply of popular pistol and rifle calibres though. Prices are pretty close to pre panic levels. I did see some .223 at Walmart yesterday, but it was $25 for a 20rd box of 55gr Remington soft points. I passed on that amazing deal.
Ditto in SE Virginia.
Cabelas has most (90%) of everything and a similar to a year ago price. Except .22
Wally very spotty but local store had 150rd boxes of Win MX855 greentip last week for $70ea. Have found .22 a couple times in the last month.
I think the difference is Cabales pays for their orders and Walmart thinks suppliers should give them 500day terms.
Shelves are mainly empty at Wally World locations in north Texas.
I did find 5.56 62gr XM855/SS109 Green Tip Steel Core online for $0.45 per round and PMC 9mm Luger 115gr FMJ 50/Box $15.99.
.22 LR is still difficult to find and when found it’s high.
Gonna echo what folks are saying here: Mostly everything but .22LR … (Colorado). 9mm is hit or miss but not unobtanium, .380 is a ghost though, too, like .22lr
.223/5.56 available, .45 is gettable but expensive.
Improving in MA, particularly for 5.56/.223. 9mm and .22lr still scarce. Ammo prices are up 25-50% though and some shops have limits.
Mass Firearms School in Holliston has a pretty steady supply of 9mm for about $15/50rds. It was Swiss ammo no limit I had no problems with it in my PPS. Also they have 855 green tip $.50/rd no limit.
In Lufkin (East Texas), Wal-Mart is still low on everything. They had a about 4 boxes of .45 ACP and several boxes of .38spl last time I was in there 2 weeks ago though. Had several ARs on display. Academy had a pretty decent stock nearly a month ago when I was last there: .223, .357Mag, .45ACP, 9mm… Not sure if Academy is still limiting how much you can buy.
Both places always seemed to keep pretty decent supplies of 12G however, Bird and Buck shot.
I went to the High Caliber Gun show here in June and ammo was almost ridiculously overpriced. One old goober was asking about $16 for a box of 20 55gr .223 that I found (exact same brand) for $10 at Academy the same day. Another crazy old coot tried to sell me a junk Romanian AK-74, with a rusty barrel and junk looking thumbhole stock for $1200… I could’ve bought a brand new Arsenal AK for that price!
…crazy old coot indeed, you can buy two Yugo PAPs from J&G Sales for that much. Sheesh.
still cant get 22LR or 9mm but everything else is coming back here in tennessee
Sorry, but that’s a failure on the part of the trainer. While you may not like the price, there is a bunch of ammo available if you think about where you are going to get it from. Here’s just one place where you can choose type, price, quantity, manufacturer, etc… 🙂 Delivered to your door.
http://ammoseek.com/?gun=handgun&cal=48&type=&grains=0&mfg=&ikw=&ekw=&noblanks=noblanks&sortby=cpr&find_ammo=1
In addition to AmmoSeek, GunBot.net is your ammo-findin’ friend.
Found bulk 500 rounds. CCI 22lr at indoor gun range on the counter as I was checking out, Should have purchased more but only brought one box. Still have a good supply of .22lr, 9mm, 380.
Need more 357s and 38s for new Ruger GP 100 3″ Talo version revolver, winging it’s way to local gun store this week.
Planning Christmas shopping in October for ammo. Nothing says Merry Christmas like the gift of ammo
A couple of weeks ago, I visited a Bass Pro Shop in Fort Myers, Florida. For pistol ammo, they had a 2′ X 1′ shelf with a few boxes of premium HPs in .45-ACP and .38-SPL. The whole lot could have fit into a single standard shopping bag with room to spare. That was it! And, they were pricey.
They had a bit of rifle ammo in oddball hunting calibers. Plenty of shotgun ammo. And, oddly enough… a fair bit of reloading components.
Actually, I can find factory ammo in most calibers. Except .22. I haven’t seen .22 on a shelf in months. The .22 supply seems to have got worse, as the others start to show up.
SW Iowa still sucks, we struggle to keep a small decently priced supply to sell. Someday……….
Well, I was looking for some factory .38 special for my girlfriend for her first IDPA event this weekend (she did well). My reloads are all wadcutters so they don’t feed well with speedloaders.
Walmart had one box which I bought, but I needed 3 more to be safe, so I went to the god-forsaken Dicks Sporting Goods. I was in luck, they had 9 boxes on the shelf. There was a detailed sign on the counter that said the store policy was you could buy no more than 3 boxes per caliber, or up to one bulk pack per caliber. There was a huffy attendant literally watching glue dry on arrow inserts he was doing as I was standing there wondering if he’d maybe take 10 seconds to hand me 3 boxes of one caliber of ammo.
He didn’t, so I found someone else who was less “busy”. The other person checked the sign, and then gave me 3 boxes of ammo and then the huffy attendant spoke up, “he can only have one”. I asked him if a 50 round box of .38 was considered a bulk pack at Dicks. He said “No”. Then I said, your sign says right here (reading the sign word for word) that I can buy 3 boxes of any caliber, or one bulk pack. That would appear to be the policy. He then explained that it was at his discretion to limit it to one box if “I don’t have a lot of it in stock”. I counted 9 boxes on the shelf out loud to him. “My limit is 10” he made up on the spot.
He explained that I could come back tomorrow to get another one. Like fu*king hell I’ll go in that store again.
P.S. the going rate for an $12 box of .38 special is $20 right now.
I’ve always thought that the store was aptly named. My shadow will never again darken their doorstep after a similar encounter.
I would have asked to talk to the store manager since the clerk is making shit up.
Thanks
Robert
The local Cabela’s here in NE has plenty of everything except for 9mm and any rimfire. I’ve been thinking about picking up a .40 or .45 just so I can have something with available ammo.
Maine here.
Most popular pistol rounds are easy to come by. They’re just 5-10 cents per round more expensive than they were this time last year :/
I befriended a neighbor that works at a major ammo manufacturer and i get a deal on factory “seconds”.
In North Texas, Cabelas had all the .45, .40, 9mm you could ask for. 22LR and .38/357 rare to very rare.
I’ve been able to buy .45, .32, and .38 spl at various Walmarts in WV, and I pick up three boxes of 7.62×39 virtually every time I’m there.
Haven’t seen 9mm there yet, but my local sporting goods stores have it. Expensive, but I’d rather pay $20 a box and have it than see that it is sold out at $15.
.22 is still scarce. When I do favors for my friends, I ask that they pay me in .22 if they have it!
There’s ammo out there, but it’s damn difficult to find decent .22 LR at $.05 / round and Lake City 5.56 for $.35 / round is likely impossible. The lefties and antis are achieving part of their dream even in free states. The cost of ammo is steadily increasing. Not only that, but many of our enterprising “friends” are screwing us over by stalking the neighborhood Walmart and re-selling .22 LR at triple the price via GunBroker. Also at issue is the fact that those of us who can see what is happening in our nation are stockpiling for a rainy day. Tim Sundles has an excellent intro regarding the ammo situation at Buffalo Bore.
Tim Sundles has an excellent intro regarding the ammo situation at Buffalo Bore.
Ya know….it’s kinda a big interwebz out there…posting an actual link is free. 2 minutes of scrounging was my limit.
In MO (St. Louis area) I can get 9mm and 223 all day. 22lr still hard to get.
I can find 9*18 Makarov ammo really cheap online. Managed to get a brick of 22 at the local gun show in Ft. Lauderdale.
Here in TN, 22 LR is easy-ish to find…if you’re willing to spend a few hours waiting outside before the local sporting goods store opens on Saturday mornings. I was actually able to pick up a couple 1400 round buckets in the last few weeks, but those are hit and miss.
.223/5.56 is available, but decent stuff is still running ~50 cents a round. Hell, my local Walmart has had a 1000 round box of Federal 5.56 62 gr. on the shelf for a week ($447).
.45 and 9mm are hit and miss, you can usually find some, but it’s not packing the shelves, it might last hours instead of minutes, sometimes as long as a day or two.
It seems that all in all, everything has slowed down from a few months ago, with the exception of .22
I have plenty of ammunition for my firearms.
Our Walmart has even been getting in 555 rd. bulk packs lately.
Just came home with 400 rounds of 55gr .223 (nonmagnetic) for just under 48 cents/round.
LGS had all the calibers here in California. My online dealer has it all in stock also. .22 lr is still the only iffy find in my area.
Maryland:
Some lucky hits at Walmart and other sources have kept me shooting 22lr, .380 and 9mm at decent prices but I haven’t seen any .38 or .357 in a long time. In short, it still very, very dry here.
Another report from Maryland. Wal-Mart seems to generally have stock of 12G, 7MM, and 30-06 with 9mm, 40, and 45 coming in and going out in hours. .22lr only last min. If you are willing to pay higher prices you can get anything. I bought a 100 Pack of Win target .45 for $55. I was able to get a brick of .22lr but cost me $45 way to high a price but I needed a box. Overall the prices are coming down some but they are still way above pre-newton prices.
Thanks
Robert
I’m seeing everything except .22lr here in North Texas, at near before panic buying prices too.
Here in El Paso, Wallyworld seems to be the only store that can’t get ammo. I here a lot of people line up there at 7AM and buy before it hits the shelf. I’d rather pay just a little bit more at the range or gun stores for the privilege of sleeping late.
Upstate New York in the Catskills all the usual suspects have most of the common rifle rounds in stock. Wally-world near me even had Tula 5.56 for $6 a box recently. I don’t pay attention to pistol calibers too much since I don’t have a permit yet.
Haven’t seen .22lr in ages though.
I just got a 100 rounds of .357 hollow points, Remington, from Wal Mart. 9mm is pretty common, .38 is uncommon but I’ve found it. .45/.40 seem common everywhere.
Massachusetts.
Well if your you are in the Las Vegas/Henderson/Boulder City area, Spurlock’s gun shop seems to have ammo in stock every time I go in. But to be honest I don’t ever ask if they have 45, 380, 40. I have a 9mm, 30-30 and a couple 22s and they have never failed me yet for those. The 22lrs are usually mixed sorted 100 and you can usually only buy one for .10 a round. Not terrible but not great either
Gander Mountain and Academy in Round Rock Tx. (near Austin) have a good supply of all calibers, with Gander’s stock being at Pre-Sandy Hook levels.
GunsPlus in Phlugerville has an EXCELLENT range and some decent ammo supplies.
Red’s Gun Range in North and South Austin has a decent supply, but they are still kinda pricey.
Cabelaa’s in Budha Texas has great stock, and even carries HSM SW 500 ammo at 1.00 a round.
North Texas has plenty of Academy’s and a Cabela’s with great ammo selections.
There are a ton of North Texas groups on Facebook that keep track of stock.
If all else fails there is Gunbot.net ……
There is no excuse these days for not being able to find ammo in North Texas.
Cabelas in STL is cool except for .380 FMJ. I have 12,000+ rds of various calibers stock piled, even after a visit to Asymmetric Solutions yesterday
I wouldn’t advertise that … executive orders are in place that our embarrassment in chief can use to confiscate just about everything from everyone in a time of “national emergency”, which isn’t defined of course.
Next time you get 4 inches of rain, the feds might show up to confiscate your stuff.
As I understand it the EO’s only apply to employees of the government and not to the citizens of the states.
It would be counterproductive to all the painstaking efforts our founding fathers put forth to create the finest document ever penned by mankind to insure the freedoms of all future generations to give the president such a power to thwart the Constitutional rights of the citizens with a stroke of a pen.
Still can’t get .22lr or 9mm FMJs, but everything else is available if a bit pricey. I got 4 boxes of 38 last weekend and plan to go shooting in the next couple of weeks with it 😀
Gander Mountain in west palm beach had shelves full of 5.56, .223, 9mm, .40, and .45. But they were at post sandy rates. I won’t pay $50 for 100 rounds of Winchester 9mm ball ammo.
I have been able to purchase ammunition in any caliber that I want at what are basically reasonable prices since October 2012. That said, it was quite difficult and anything but ideal. I have brands or types of ammunition that I would not normally purchase. I routinely stop into every store that sells ammunition — occasionally finding what I want and usually striking out. I routinely check ammunition distributors who sell via the Internet — occasionally finding what I want and usually striking out. I have two other people constantly on the lookout for me. I purchase a little bit more than what I am going to use that month. I think you get the idea.
It’s possible to find any caliber of ammunition. You just have to turn over every single rock and not be picky.
Utah is getting better without being great. I can afford to be picky again on 556 and 45, but 22 is still a hot commodity, like everywhere else it seems. Walmart and sportsmens warehouse have helped keep the pricing from terrible, but some of these local shops are out of hand on pricing, and it sucks. Cabelas was keeping me stocked like a bandit on 30 carbine and tokarev, but now that’s dried up. I had a lot of fun during the panic buy, but now the secondary calibers are running dry, and they aren’t a priority stock for most these guys.
Dunno about you Robert but I haven’t had a problem finding anything down here in San Antonio. 22LR, 9×19, 5.56×45, you name it. Cost is a little up but it’s there at the brick and mortar stores everywhere I have been especially at the new Gander Mtn. we got here (our first).
I am a patient man though, I’ll scour for good deals online and wait for ammo if I need to and of course reload when I can.
I’m a little concerned that TTAG is performing gun reviews with such a short ammo supply…
Big fan of GunBot.net. I set up email alerts in 9mm and 5.56 a few months ago. Best price I remember from last week was $0.36/round for 55gr federal from Sportsmans guide, and $0.26/round for some 9mm from Freedom Munitions.
Locally, Everything Weapons in Brentwood, tn has pretty good stock. The prices aren’t cheap, but also aren’t stoopid ($0.45-$0.60 for 5.56 PMC).
…locally (SF south bay area), not sure. Haven’t visited my LGS since early this year. If the CA legislature shuts off interweb purchases, I’m hosed.
So far, that “series of tubes” has enabled me to stock up on .308, .380 (both at “reasonable” prices even after shipping costs), and .22LR averaging around 0.12/rd with shipping. Shotgun shells continue to be widely available.
Reed’s has cases of popular pistol and rifle caliber ammo in the usual spot on the floor, right in front of the door to the ranges. I don’t recall specific prices, but I did note that the 9mm and 223 were both fairly reasonable cost-per-round compared to online prices. I’m in there once or twice weekly right now, as I’m doing consulting work only a few miles away and it’s just too tempting to stop off for an hour of live fire on the way home. 🙂
I haven’t needed to pick up any ammo locally yet, though — I’ve been buying high-quality 40SW reloads and 5.45×39 Russkie milsurp (19.3c/round delivered!) so far this year. I might pick up some more hollowpoint defensive loads this week if Reed’s has Hornady stuff in stock.
…thanks for the tip!
I work at Gander Mountain down near Houston. We have an abundance of popular pistol ammo, but it’s… overpriced. Typical for a Gander Mtn.
Has he heard of the internet? I have had no issues securing either of those cartridge types from the normal online sources. Yes you have to pay for shipping, but the prices have been “normal”
Just bought today, (2) 50 round boxes of 9mm 115 grain FMJ Remington UMC at Dicks Sporting Goods in SE PA, even though I could’ve bought up to (3) boxes.
As the shortage eases, I encourage everyone to pick up another box or two of the “available and very plentiful” ammo you use to prevent a huge surplus as demand weakens. Some manufacturers increased production during the shortage and I believe it should be rewarded -pick up the caliber(s) you use. I doubt this will be the last shortage and when it happens again, we don’t want those ammo makers to remember the coming ammo surplus of 2014 with regret of increased 2013 production.
Here in South Carolina we have a decent supply of ammo, but its at scalper prices. Plenty of 7.62×39 and 7.62×51, but very little handgun ammo, other rifle calibers, and .22 is non-existent.
Tons of ammo in ever caliber most places, prices still high for good defensive ammo even when you buy in bulk. I have tons of ammo ads up on MN armslist at good prices and it’s not moving that fast or often. Reloading is where it’s at people.
I’ve been reading a lot about this “ammo” stuff lately, so I have to ask: What is it? If I see it, will I recognize it? Why is DHS buying it all up? Since it seems to be going up faster than the Dow Jones Industrial Average, can I invest in it? And, where can I get some?
I have not had any problem getting ammo (online) but it hasn’t always been cheap.
Its called being prepared and maybe being a gun enthusiast. Ive never not had at least 1000rnds of any caliber I have a gun for and typically 5000rnds. Its all these people with their thumbs up their well you know and then theres all the folks who voted for obama or could not bring themselves to vote for the billionaire with car elevator and then they went crazy when obama and company started talking about more gun control, made a run on anything that looked like a gun and any ammo that would go bang. The past 9 months of insanity are because of people like the authors friends. Damn if I would have given or sold them any ammo. And as to the authors question, I have never relied on or bought ammo locally in any significant quantity. I really could care less whether wally world has any ammo or not for joe 6 pack who voted for obama and was not ready for what happened because of it.
I went to a local gun show yesterday and they had everything for sale at good prices. I picked up 3000 rounds of 22lr at .08 cents each (which I still find expensive but a hell of a lot cheaper than the auction sites) and I was more than happy to buy as much as possible. I could have bought thousands more for .06 cents each if I had arrived on time, but I was late and the early birds bought up all the cheap ammo. There was one guy who still had cases of 22lr left at the end of the show, but he was getting .15 cents each and he was pissed that his ammo wasn’t flying off the table. Every else could be had for great prices except for .380 and 9mm. I think the dealers believed it was made of gold because they were trying to get .45 to .50 cents for regular old 9’s and .380’s. They had plenty left on the tables and had to cart it all back home. My best buy was 500 S&W ammo for my 500’s that I bought for half price from a dealer who had sold his 500 revolver. I waited until the end and he gave me an awesome deal because he didn’t want to take it back home. I was going to pay him full asking price, but my cheap buddy loves to weasel down the price and he got me a great deal.
Dealers have been cutting a fat hog most of the year on ammo. They’ll find themselves in the coming months, however, becoming painfully acquainted with the intricacies of effective inventory management, as growing supply and relaxing demand find new equilibrium prices. They may not readily admit the market dynamics to their customers or even to themselves; but enough sales-scarce Saturdays that begin and end with schlepping the same boxes of ammo to and from the local gun show will serve as a persuasive reminder never to fight the market.
I was in the Oklahoma City Bass Pro this afternoon (Sunday) to pick up a new hunting coat. I checked out the gun section just to see what was in stock. Lots of the common and less common big game calibers (.243, .270, .308, -06, etc) although the lower end brands were in shorter supply than the premium offerings. Plenty of super duper $2.50 a round .308, much less of the plain Jane Federal or Remington dollar a round stuff. I saw lots of .223/5.56 but the rock bottom price for reasonably decent brass case loads was about .50 a round. There was lots of 12 and 20 gauge bird loads and enough buckshot and slugs to do a good shotgun qual course.
.45 and .40 pistol ammunition was available in ball and how point.9mm was a bit short and .38/.357 was tight.
Over in the reloading department I saw no .45 ball and no .38 bullets except for two hundred round boxes of 125 grain hollow points.
There was no .22 ammunition of any sort.
Bass Pro prices have always been pretty high. By the way I found my coat on sale and used my Discover cash back which has a 10% discount in addition to the sale price.
Academy Sports – the other big box sporting goods store in the OKC area (we won’t even talk about Dicks) – has a fairly good supply of almost everything except .22s. They’re getting about .50 a round for Federal brown box 5.56 with no purchase restriction. I have found a few 100 rd boxes of Winchester .22 at Academy if I get there early on Monday morning. That’s a little rough for a guy who is still working for a living.
Wally World has plenty of 12 gauge bird loads and some center fire rifle ammunition. No .22. The retired guys get it all at 0600 on Tuesdays and then try to sell it at the next gun show.
I’m reloading most of my pistol ammunition. I can find powder, primers and usually bullets as long as I’m not hung up on a particular brand.
Seriously? Asgard is right there in Cedar Park, TX, just north of Austin. I was just in Cedar Park and Georgetown in mid-September for some training and qualification with DPS. Academy, two Walmarts, and a local gun shop all in the immediate vicinity each had the full range of calibers in FMJ, not just hollow point.
Now, I had already brought enough ammo from home for my needs, but I wanted to replenish those boxes. So I picked up Winchester white box in .38 Special and .45 ACP; three boxes of each, with more than that each still on the shelves.
I picked up some Blazer 9 mm, too, just because; which I didn’t realize was aluminum case, instead of brass, but there was plenty of that at the major stores, too. Heck, even at a random local Walmart here in Houston yesterday, I saw 1,000 round boxes of Federal American Eagle .223 55gr going for about $450. Not quite pre-hysteria prices, to be sure, but it’s getting close. There was plenty of Tulammo in 20 rd. boxes, too, if you’re into steel case.
Ammo can be a little spotty here and there, particularly in 9mm and 380 auto, and pricing is still noticeable; but it’s not unavailable outright or had only at exorbitant prices. All that, combined with availability and steadily descending pricing from online retailers, leads me to conclude that supply has turned the corner on both legitimate purchases, as well as hoarding and speculating. I’d say just buy what you need for normal recreational use, then sit back and wait for prices to crash in the coming months.
It’s funny you mention Federal XM193 — ATK must have finally been able to make a whole lot of it because I’ve seen it in pallet-load quantities at multiple local gun stores AND gotten sales fliers from my favored online suppliers offering it at $450/1000. When it gets below $400/1k delivered, I might be tempted to finish building that 5.56 upper that I keep putting off…
45? In central Texas? You have got to be kidding. Almost every Walmart, Academy, and LGS has .45ACP in stock. When it was in short supply, Academy used to have it at the front of the store behind the counter. As of a couple weeks ago, they moved .45ACP back to the self-serve shelving back in the gun department.
I see .38 and .380ACP at lesser levels, but it’s out there. I’d even venture to say that Austin has an overabundance .45ACP. This suits me just fine since it’s the round I use most.
Yet another reason why a “training requirement” or “proficiency test” — which many gun owners and even concealed carriers are unfortunately willing to accept as a prerequisite to the exercise of a constitutionally-protected right — is a terrible idea.
All it takes is an ammo shortage (we’ve had a few in my not-particularly-long adult lifetime) to make it difficult or impossible to obtain permission to bear arms.
Down here around Hattiesburg and Laurel Ms.,can’t find .22 lr,Wal-Mart is starting to get more center fire in but sells out quick.Academy Sports has some ammo too,but also sells out quick,Gander Mountain is high but has ammo ,everyone has set limits on how many boxes you can purchase at a time.Will be awhile before the supply catches up,most ammo that is bought is coming back on the market by individuals trying to scam someone by charging higher prices,sure supply and demand but most of these folks are just price goughers,or crooks as I call them.Be prepared and ready.Keep your powder dry.
NW Oregon getting better. Most everything trickling in on a regular basis. Even .22. It doesn’t last long, but it shows up almost every week. Prices are a bit higher. Even local Bi-Mart had 2,000 round bulk 5.56, but it was 899 bucks. Sheesh.
Northwest Armory in Portland has a decent amount of ammo right now. 9mm was $12 for 50 but there was a 3 box per person limit. Slim pickings on .22 though and no .30-30 to speak of.
Nashville TN is GTG, LGS, Wallyworld, and Academy Sports have just about everything. Except .22lr.
Central IN: Rifle calibers of all kinds are back in wallmart, but handgun ammo there is still hit-or-miss. One day you walk in and they might have some .40, another day 9mm, then .45 next week, etc. Gander Mountain, however, has gobs of .45 and 9mm in the blazer brass 200 round .45 packs and 350 round 9mm packs. All other calibers you can get at Gander, but not at wallmart prices.
In SE Louisiana…. there just isn’t much of anyhing to be found at all, most times any ammo that shows up never makes it to the shelf before its snatched up. 9m., 45 acp, .40 nothing to be had at all. .22LR is about as rare as the dodo bird, my favorite .17HMR…… fagetabiutit.
Twin Cities MN Report:
7.62×39 is back. Sometimes .223 is back, sometimes not. .40 S&W is usually around. Same for .38
9mm/.45 are both rare finds. I don’t think .22 LR is made anymore.
I spent 2 hours yesterday checking every gun store and sporting store thats openo n Sunday and no luck on .22 🙁
Gander Mountain in Round Rock has ammo. Twice recently I went in the middle of the day and could have got .22LR with no limit. (1400 buckets for $70 and 325 Federal bulk cans for $20 in each case). They always have 5.56 at an ok price and plenty of it, same with 9mm, etc… Can’t think of anything they didn’t have, just mostly priced a little higher than I could buy online. They even had 7.62x51R spam cans.
WHERE IS THE .22LR? DO THE MATH:
I was listening to Tom Gresham’s Gun Talk yesterday, and heard a comment that goes a long way towards explaining the shortage of .22LR ammo. He said that US manufacture of .22LR is about 10 million rounds a day – most of that from Federal and CCI, with Remington, Winchester, and a few imports adding to it. Figure 360 days a year of active manufacture, and that results in a .22LR supply of 3.6 BILLION rounds a year.
The problem is that there are [guesses vary] 100 million gun owners in America. I would bet that at least 95% of them own a .22 firearm, and even at $5 for 50 rounds, that is still the cheapest ammo you can shoot. The warehouse supply of .22 ammo disappeared in the 2 months following the Newtown school shooting and subsequent push for banning guns, so the available supply is the current level of manufacturing.
Even 3.6 billion rounds per year disappears quickly if 100 million people are buying it. That supply equals a YEARLY TOTAL of 36 rounds per gun owner – 3,600,000,000 rounds divided by 100,000,000 gun owners equals 36 rounds each. Per year. Even if you figure that only 10% of the gun owners are trying to buy .22LR, that still means 3.6 billion rounds/yr divided by 10 million buyers = 360 rounds/year per buyer. That isn’t even a brick, and it is fairly easy to use up a brick of .22 in one day’s plinking. Even if you doubled the output to 7.2 billion rounds/year, you still have [at 10% of the gun owners] 10 million people trying to buy it – that’s a total production of 720 rounds/year for each buyer. A brick and a half.
I think the 10% figure is way low, so the result is a very limited supply of .22LR for that many millions of buyers. Simple supply and demand – the demand has way exceeded the available supply, and it will be very hard for the ammo makers to catch up. Gresham also mentioned that a new .22 rimfire plant would run around $50 million, mostly because the manufacture of rimfire ammo is, essentially, making primers. And primers are an explosive, so the permitting process for a new plant is horrendous.
Do the math, and let me know if this analysis is off somewhere.
I was just in the Walmart north of Easton, PA 4 days ago, and their ammo shelves are pretty empty. They stock it numerically, stsarting with .22LR. Empty space from the beginning until you hit .270 rifle ammo, then skip to .35 Remington (no .30 cal. ANYTHING), then skip to .45 Long Colt, then a few boxes of 20 ga. shot shells, and some bulk packs of 12 ga. trap loads.. On a brighter note, they did have several “black” rifles in stock with semi-reasonable price tags, just no ammo to feed them.
Our Walmart just got in the 100 round cans of Tulammo 9mm. About $22 with tax.
Plenty here in central P.A., My local gun shop has even lifted mostbox limits.
SE Arkansas: cci, rem, and fed .22 very plentiful. Fed. .223 .49cents/rnd for 500, 1000, and2000 rnd cases. no problems finding any ammo at decent prices throughout all this. i guess its the perks of living in a sparsely populated area. don’t tell the gov’t.
Here in tennessee we are lucky if we can even get 30/06 at walmart anymore, loads of slim pickins