Excellent article on "where's all the ammo?"
 

Those who are in the central Virginia area know of the LGS called Green Top, which started out as a nice little, mom 'n pop, type of store... Then it grew and grew, and now still maintains that down home feel, everybody knows everybody, etc... and it can compete with Bass Pro, Cabela's, and hold its own!

Anyway, getting to the point... Check out this excellent article about ammo from their site. It's mainly their take on the original article from Recoil Magazine.

https://www.greentophuntfish.com/lea...-all-the-ammo/

Also, as seen in the image below, I had stopped in there, after seeing NOTHING in Cabela's, Bass Pro, etc... except 12ga and 20ga birdshot, and 30-06 and .270 rifle ammo at a wicked high price $41.99 a box!! :eek:

.45 ACP --- GONE. 9mm --- GONE. .38spl --- GONE. :eek2:

I just happened to really look close at the rifle shelves, and to my surprise, I found THE LAST TWO BOXES OF .308 AMMO!! :rock: You know and I know, as does everyone, if I had walked away and gone to the fishing section to look at Rapala crankbaits or whatever, and then came back to the rifle ammo shelves, the .308 ammo would've been gone!

$21.84 a box (including my military retiree discount)! 150gr FMJ target rounds. Man, I feel like I hit the lottery! I mean, even the clerk at the register was talking about stuff to the other clerk how they can't even keep ammo on the shelves anymore. People apparently figured out the truck driver's delivery schedule, and they show up at 6:00am, and scarf up the ammo as soon as it gets checked in (inventory control). Good Lord! :eek:

Since 2015 until covid started ramping up, I'd been trying to buy a box of something every week. To make sure I never ran out.

Now I have lots of ammo but I'm afraid to shoot it. Lol.

I've sold a couple boxes this summer already to deer hunting guys that didn't have enough for this fall and were having trouble finding it.

When things are back to "normal" I'll go back to buying.

-Jake

I don't think I'll run short for quite some time. I have about 1000 45ACP, 1000 40 S&W, 2000 9mm. Maybe 500 each of 7-08 and 6.5 CM, a truckload of 5.56 and about 5000 30-06 and maybe 500 rds of .45-70.. Plus I have maybe 20-30 lb of powder of various burn rates and all kind of bullets.. And if worse comes to worse I have about 50 lb of lead and 20 lb of black powder and substitutes and several bullet molds.

Same here. I’ve been dollar-cost averaging my ammo and components since the late 1990’s. I don’t run out because I plan to avoid running out. I’ve not been below 20lbs of Varget/H110/H4350, less than 10,000 of any size of primer, less than 30,000 rounds of 22LR, or less than 10,000 rounds of 9mm on hand even despite any of the various “supply shortages” over the last decade. I also keep separate books for competition components - if I run dry on my competition components, I’ll still have my “casual use” inventory which largely exceeds what I would expect to use in my own lifetime.

But I keep buying more at every paycheck...

I don't need to read an article to know that when regular (non-military) ammo disappears from the store, it's cause people are stockpiling. Covid, riots, looting, protests some police departments going hands off and people just wanting to protect their families along with new gunowners wanting ammo for their new guns. They say theres record gun purchases and 40% or more of the gun buyers are first time buyers. That's a lot of demand non a ammo production system that's been producing at max capacity for the last decade or so.

You are correct about the gun sales going through the roof lately. And with gun sales increasing its only natural that ammo sales also increase. As far as stock piling - many of us have been doing it for years as you an tell just by the replies to this post. As Nomercy pointed out that I forgot I have a couple 50 cal ammo boxes filled with 22 LR ammo that I've amassed over the years. I also have a crap load of 17 HMR too. I'll never shoot all my ammo in my lifetime unless the s**t hits the fan. And if that happens I will be adequately supplied as well as my friend is.

I always kind of chuckle when the news portrays somebody with a few hundred rounds of ammo as some sort of freak. A basic load (what you carry on your person) for your average infantryman is around +/- 300 rounds. One reload is another 300 rounds. A long gun and a short gun for every family member adds up fast, for instance, my family is four. One basic load and one refill for each adds up to around 2400 rounds total. Everything beyond that is a stash.

cause republicons are scurred....

ya'll have enough ammo, chill out, smoke some weed.

Ammo shortage?
Let me share with you a perspective from Peru, South America, where I live and hunt.
And I have really gotten into airgunning in the last couple of years. It's amazing what these newer PCP guns can do, very powerful, big calibers, pellets and slugs.
So.....

Ammo shortage?
Yeah, for something to be described "shortage" means that the supply is "short," as in it's less than needed.
But shortage implies that there IS supply, just not quite enough. 🤔


So, in the US there is definitely an airgun ammo "shortage." Backordered till who know when....! 😟

But here in Peru, thanks to Corona, we don't have no "shortage" — because supply does not exist — the biggest ammo seller in the country had one Chinese brand in .22 — the one that is only good for fishing weights.....


So, thankfully I had the opportunity to scrounge up some ammo in the US — AND I had a person traveling from the US to Peru to bring it down.
I haven't heard the end of the complaints that LEAD is so dang HEAVY...! 🤣

Matthias

I would be dead long before I ran out of ammo, and I don't even keep the preposterous sized stockpiles that the average hoarder does.

210rds has been the basic infantryman's combat loadout since the introduction of 30rd magazines (6x in two triple pouches 1 in the gun).

Automatic riflemen used to carry 10 mags (3x triple pouches), 300rds.

It was also common for troops to carry a slung bandoleer on stripper clips as well. (5x 20rd boxes in the 20rd mag era, and then 4x 30rd boxes in the 30rd era). That would give a total load of 330rds for a standard rifleman.

Veterans on patrol in Afghanistan often take to the field with 150rds. I carry the same amount in my "Break glass in case of xenomorph invasion" gear.

I recently watched an absolutely outstanding youtube video with the former Command Sergeant Major of 5th special forces group who outlined how, on raids, SF guys used to ring their web belt with GI canteen pouches, and put 1x 30rd surrounded by 5x 20rd magazines in each one. In that fashion each man could carry 720rds.

A modern day USMC M27 IAR gunner has 22x 30rd magazines, with the load spread across the squad.

<---- ex infantry

That explains some of your posts.

Imagine bringing politics into the guns section. Salukipv is a very Russian sounding name. Just saying.

Seems like a bannable offense.

But since he brought it up, a massive % of this gun and ammo sales spike we've seen is A) ANTIFA/BLM types arming up for their marxist revolution and B) scared inner city liberals realizing that, hey, maybe the 2nd amendment isnt really that bad an idea afterall.

BTW, marijuana use is a prohibiting offense when it comes to the 2nd amendment an the right to keep and bear arms.

Up here in Canada they keep blaming you guys down south for hoarding ammo :poke: which at least up here creates shortages and drives up the prices. But I believe ammo was in shorter supply when Obama was in in office than with COVID. I still see bulk packs of 9mm, 45ACP, .223, .308 and .22 kicking around. Staring to see some of the Chinese Norinco ammo leaking out to the public.

Either way I buy it up when I see it on sale........nothing crazy but enough to feed my guns for the better part of a year.

Really great article.

Yeah but we have had similar situations before and yet the shortages never ran on for this long. Besides if hoarding was the only answer then wouldn't the shortages be mostly of home defense and s#^t hit the fan type ammo like .223 or 9mm? What cannot be found for love or money in my neck of the woods is hunting ammo in calibers like 30-06, 270, 7mm-08, 243 etc, etc. I keep hearing about all these new gun owners who ran out and bought a gun out of fear over all the social unrest across the land. But if that was your reason for buying your first gun what kind would you get? Wouldn't an AR 15, a handgun or hell even a shotgun be a better SHTF weapon than a bolt action rifle in a hunting caliber like 30-06? I just can't believe all these new gun buyers are the reason for all the hunting ammo being gone. That makes no sense to me.

Back when Obama got elected there was a lot of panic buying of guns and ammo as well. Not only that but the conflicts in Iraq and Afganistan were much bigger and more intense back then. Lot more boots on foreign soil that had to be supplied with ammo. Also around the same time the department of homeland security purchased over a billion rounds of ammo. That's a huge order. And all those things I just mentioned did cause a shortage in supply for private citizens like myself. But that shortage lasted about 2 months.

Now the overseas conflicts are a wisp of what they were back then. No huge government ammo purchases. And yet we are a full year into this drought with no end in sight. I just don't understand what has made it so much worse this time and I don't buy a lot of the excuses that I have heard.

:confused0024::confused0024::confused0024::confuse d0024::confused0024::confused0024::confused0024:

Ain’t the first time, won’t be the last.

I didn’t even have to work as hard to find all of my components this year for my PRS/NRL season as I did the last two years... I picked up 4,000 BR2’s and BR4’s, 500pc of 6 creed and 300pc of 6.5 grendel (form into 243 LBC), 16lbs of H4350, 16lbs of Varget, and 8lbs of 8208, and 1500 103ELD’s and 2500 109 Hybrids during Dec and Jan. Last season it took about 3 months of stalking to find 2500 105’s, and I spent 4 months two years ago trying to accumulate 24lbs of H4350...

For me, it sucks because most of my local gun stores do not have a lot if any product in stock. Yes, I can chase down ammo at some mail order outfit but I like buying it locally.