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Old April 6, 2013, 08:55 AM   #1
FLChinook
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My .22 ammo is back in my gun safe!

Last year, well before "the madness", I started a thread here asking where folks kept their ammo. I had been using my gun safe but I had hit the tipping point where I was buying another S&W revolver and either a gun or some ammo had to be stored somewhere else.

The response to my question was amazing. Ammo was being stored in boxes, on shelves, in closets, under mattresses, but very few were using valuable gun safe space. I decided to follow suit and moved all my ammo to my closet...

That was then; this is now. It's been so long since I've seen .22 ammo on a store shelf that I've reluctantly moved my last brick of .22 target ammo back to my gun safe. It's actually become more valuable than some of my guns...

I was standing in line at a Cabela's last week at opening time because I actually NEEDED some ammo and was very disappointed to find in conversation with others in line that they all had huge stocks of ammo but were trying to buy more! One guy had been unable to sleep at night and had gone to his Walmart at 3am only to discover they had just received an ammo shipment. He went home, woke his wife and son, and they all rushed back to Walmart to buy the max. He already had 1000's of rounds of everything he was shooting. When I suggested he might start staying at home for awhile and let some of the rest o us get some ammo, he just smiled...

We are our own worst enemies...
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Old April 6, 2013, 10:05 AM   #2
taylorce1
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You know I don't blame a guy for stockpiling, this kind of ammunition shortage might last past the next presidential election especially if the country stays blue and keep pursuing "Common Sense Gun Control." I stockpiled a bunch of reloading supplies when Obama got elected the first time, but unfortunately I sold off a lot of my bullets when I was trying to sell my house and know I'm left looking for bullets. Luckily I didn't sell off my stockpiles of primers, powder, or brass.

When the craziness all hit I was working in TX. I went to the local Academy Sports and started stockpiling because it hadn't got as crazy in TX as CO at that time. I managed to get about 5k .22 LR and 2k .22 WMR saved up, and I'm always looking for more since I can't reload this ammunition. I was buying up as much .30 Carbine as I could find as well until I stockpiled 3K of it since they weren't limiting my purchase of it I bought everything they had several times. I went to other gun stores as well as Wal-Mart and bought .38, .357, and 9mm in large quantities because I wasn't reloading for it since I only owned a single stage press.

However I did decide to boycott one LGS down in Lubbock as I saw there employees fill up two shopping carts full of ammunition one morning at Academy and purchase all the AR's they could. That was before Academy started limiting the amount of ammunition you could purchase and limit the AR's to one per customer first come first serve. I think stores that limit purchases are doing a big favor for there customers, sure you may not get everything you want but at least you might find something you can use.

My local Sportsman's Warehouse limits customers to one bulk box or two regular boxes of ammunition per SKU, 1K primers per SKU, and one 8lb keg or 2lbs of reloading powder per SKU. I just wish they would limit the bullets for reloading for the same to two boxes or one bulk box per SKU as well as brass. Since they have done that I've been able to pick up 5lbs of powder that I can use, 1K of small pistol primers, and a couple more boxes of .357 Mag ammunition this last week. I've purchased as well all the dies to reload my .357 and .30 carbine there this week as well. I had to go elsewhere but I managed to score Lee Classic Turret press as a new Dillon or Hornady progressive isn't in the budget or in stock most places. It will make reloading pistol so much easier than doing it on a single stage press.

I don't care how much you have stockpiled, I still say buy what you can afford when you find it. I have a feeling this is going to get worse before it gets better. I only hope when this shakes out in the end the 2nd Amendment and its supporters are the winners.
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Old April 6, 2013, 01:29 PM   #3
coldbeer
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I agree with you FLchinook, it's ridiculous. some people are buying all the 22lr ammo they can get their hands on and they aren't shooting any of it. it's quite bizarre actually.
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Old April 8, 2013, 02:58 PM   #4
Picher
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It's RIMFIRE-AGDDON! I wish people would wake up and smell the gunsmoke. After Congress leaves town and things are whatever they are, we may get back to reason, but it will take several months.

Maybe I'm fortunate to have bought a bit of ammo ahead of this madness, just because I was going to retire and didn't know whether I'd be able to afford to shoot much.

I have enough to keep me shooting pretty much as I did before the mess, but don't have huge stockpiles, just enough to last me most of this shooting season.

There's one problem with ammo rationing. It sounds good to limit customers to a couple of boxes, but locals tend to go back every day to buy more.
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Old April 8, 2013, 03:23 PM   #5
Venom1956
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No he's not. There is a reason he has a stockpile. I took a piece of every paycheck to buy ammo. Hence now I have a small pile of ammo. I always look to buy more because face it ammo is never going to get any cheaper. People who don't stockpile are your own worst enemies. Look now you have guns with no bullets and you all rushed out to get ammo when this panic hit.

Don't blame him for doing something he's always been doing or be so quick to judge. Just because you were unprepared why should he stop his system for you?

This may sound harsh but I find it hard to empathize with someone who owns guns and calls themselves a shooter when you don't have any ammo to shoot once the shelves go bare. I've purchased alot of ammo during this shortage not so much for myself (inflated prices don't interest me) but for others or friends who want or need the caliber and they would do the same for me if I was looking for something.

Quote:
buying all the 22lr ammo they can get their hands on and they aren't shooting any of it.
I am also sitting on my .22lr simply because you cannot get any besides from the manufacturers... It seems to me foolish to use up a finite item that you don't NEED to especially when it is hard to find. Just because I don't plan on shooting ammo I buy that day doesn't mean I don't plan to shoot it. Seems to be poor logic.
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Old April 8, 2013, 03:28 PM   #6
taylorce1
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Quote:
here's one problem with ammo rationing. It sounds good to limit customers to a couple of boxes, but locals tend to go back every day to buy more.
You may not agree with ammo rationing, but rimfire as well as other cartridges doesn't even last an hour at most stores here locally. At least for that hour it goes a little farther and to more people. Most LGS's don't get daily shipments one two three at most a week so locals aren't necessarily hording all the ammunition. I'm not desperate enough to wait hours in line like I've seen some people do to buy ammunition, but I will spend a day hitting all the big box and local stores looking for rimfire and at rifles and other guns quite happily.
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Old April 9, 2013, 07:25 AM   #7
madcratebuilder
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I'm glad I did my ammo hoarding years ago.
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Old April 9, 2013, 07:34 AM   #8
kimbershot
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i don't consider myself a hoarder. i always bought 22 bulk pack, starting in 2005 and replacing my stock as needed. started buying at 11.97/pack. last i saw bulk at wally world pre newtown--18.97. last bulk purchased at lgs--22.99. i still have some with the 11.97 price tag stored for old times sake.
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Old April 9, 2013, 08:19 AM   #9
eldermike
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I am going to wait for all the bills in congress to hit the trash bin and then buy up some really low cost 22 Lr on an as needed basis.

Bottom line: As far as investments go, 22 Lr is not a winner. It's cheap to manufacture and it's going to continue to be a product sold in america.
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Old April 9, 2013, 10:16 PM   #10
moto
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I started a "shoot 1, buy 2" plan in 2000 after the y2k madness. I carried that over into components when I started reloading in 2003. I shoot around 5,000 rounds a year, so it goes without saying I am well stocked in both loaded ammo and components. When times get crazy, (like now), I may scale back to "shoot 1 buy 1", but I try to adhere to the 1/2 philosophy whenever possible. If you see me in line at the local WalMart purchasing my permitted three bricks of .22LR, you can safely assume I had some fun over the weekend.

I've made the mistake of telling a few people about my stockpile, and some have told me that it's people like me that are the root cause of the current shortage. I don't see it that way at all; my purchasing pattern has been constant for 13 years, and will continue unchanged into the foreseeable future. If anything, I'm shooting less because ammo is so hard to come by, and I'm really, really, hard-core about my 1/2 program. IMO, you can lay today's shortage at the foot of people who have assumed ammo was an unlimited commodity like milk, eggs and butter, and not a political football, with price and availability subject to the tragedy or politics of the day.

As for waiting for gun bills to hit the trash heap, and I agree most will; but consider we are only one election cycle from a 2A sheetstorm should the Dems win the house in 2014. No need for panic buying, but a steady acquisition of ammo and arms is not the worst thing you could do with your spare cash (IMHO of course). And VOTE in 2014.

Last edited by moto; April 10, 2013 at 07:16 AM.
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Old April 10, 2013, 08:26 AM   #11
B.L.E.
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Luckily, I bought enough .22 ammo in bulk before this situation happened and I have no plans to curtail my normal shooting or to buy more while this panic is taking place.
What's the point of stocking up if you are going to quit shooting during the ammo droughts? Stocking up when the shelves are full and ammo is on sale is a means to an end, to allow me to keep shooting during times like this. Not so my heirs can inherit a hundred thousand rounds of past its shelf life .22 ammo.

I have a feeling that theres going to be a few people who are going to kick themselves every time they look at that pallet of Remington Thunderbolts that they paid match ammo prices for five or ten years from now.
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Old April 10, 2013, 10:26 PM   #12
Geezerbiker
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Right now I'm only shooting up the cheaper plinking ammo I have on hand. I'm not going to stop shooting but if I get down to less than 1K rounds on hand, I'll probably stop until I can resupply.

I bought 2 new .22 single shot rifles for my twin grandsons this year and I'll be damned if I'll miss out on taking them shooting...

Tony
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Old April 10, 2013, 10:51 PM   #13
hbhobby
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+1 on the buy two shoot one plan. I started doing this back at the Y2K thing and i have plenty to shoot. I was caught behind with reloading suppilies but luckilly i have enough to get by untill things calm down. Am i paranoid no but i am prepared.
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