The "Where is everything?" thread -- guns, ammo, primers, powder, etc.

[Unclenick]

I'll merge your thread into the General Discussion forum thread on this topic.

[Skadoosh]

Yes. Definitely.

I suspect that ammo may come back soon, but I don't expect prices to drop much from their present levels for quite a long while. And I suspect that supplies wont be as abundant as pre-panic levels as we have been joined by many many new shooters as a result of the Newtown tragedy who all need ammo like the rest of us.

[Spats McGee]

IMHO, things will never return entirely to Pre-Panic Prices. However, one or more of several things will happen:
1) Buyers will run out of disposable income.
2) Buyers will discover that they're sitting on a metric ton of ammunition that they need less than they need the for which it could be sold (even if they take a loss).
3) Buyers will discover that they need cash more than they need those new guns that they bought but never shot.
4) New ammunition suppliers will enter the market to meet demand.

[theinvisibleheart]

Pictures from April 6, 7th Pasadena gun show(south Houston metro).

Price of 22LR brick/ammo is getting to be like that of typical 401k/403b investments! Typical 401k/403b cost 5-10X the cost of TSP(Thrift Savings Plan), if you include both explicit and implicit cost such as transaction/trading cost.

So if $20 brick of 22LR went for $100, it's 5X the normal price. If it went for $200, it's 10X the normal price. Compared to capital market, 22LR brick are still a bargain and on low end, LOL!

I suspect that this is probably man made, driven by fear mongering in gun/ammo industry and also by various factions in churches/conservative movement.

For example, I heard one folk active in church state that all government is BAD(their words, not mine) and that the government is coming to take away their ammo/22LR/rimfires.

It's commonly said that politicians are self-serving...it appears that industry and many organizations are so too...

A wonderful book covering the same topic is

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay.

I usually tell folks that current shortage is temporary and all you are getting, out of paying high prices right now, is the ability to shoot NOW rather than wait 6 months or 1 year later.

For now, I usually advise folks to use laser targeting system/AIRSOFT/pellet systems.

[Spats McGee]

theinvisibleheart, I hate to tell you this, but that's not enough to clear the drive-by hurdle. Give us something that invites meaningful discussion, or this will just become one in a long line of (now closed) threads that do nothing more than invite complaints about The Great Shortage of 2013.

I don't want to shut it down again so quickly, so I'll give you a chance to give us something else.

[Evan Thomas]

Spats, it oughta be closed anyway, and I'm doing it.

Mike Irwin has started a thread in this forum titled The "Where is everything?" thread -- guns, ammo, primers, powder, etc... That's the one, central thread where discussions of the prices and availability of these things should now be taking place. Feel free to continue the conversation there.

Invisibleheart, it would be fine to repost in that thread, but we're trying to keep all such discussions in one place.

[Spats McGee]

Well, it's enough to clear the "drive-by hurdle." Unfortunately, it's still more of the same Great Ammo Shortage of 2013 story. We're trying to cut down on the number of threads that we have going on this, so I'll add it to the: The "Where is everything?" thread -- guns, ammo, primers, powder, etc. thread.

[JagFarlane]

Ran across this elsewhere, nifty site that updates what retailers have in stock and the price they're asking: http://www.gunbot.net/

[FISHY-A-NADO]

Dropped in at Wally World this morning on my way to work. Bought Winchester M-22 1000 round box of .22lr for $48.37 + tax. They had 2 in the cabinet and the clerk asked me if I was sure I didn't want both of them. I said one was plenty for now and I would leave the other box for another customer.
In the same case they had 8 of the Winchester 555 round hollow point at $23.17 and 8 of the Winchester 100 round boxes of .45ACP 230 gr. FMJ for $40.77.

As the clerk was ringing me up he told me they get ammo on every shipment but the selection is usually very narrow. Said he had not seen any .38 special in several weeks but that recently the .22lr had started to come in larger quantities the past week or two than at any time since January.

Interestingly enough, this is a location that has never sold firearms of any kind.

[Spats McGee]

Can be found at SGAmmo:

Never mind. Gone now.

[carguychris]

I found an adequate quantity of .25ACP at the Academy Sports store in Dallas on Forest Lane east of US 75.

Hint for DFW area buyers... according to a memo at the customer service desk, all local Academy stores have imposed a 1-box limit on ".22, .223, 5.56, 9mm, .40, .45, 7.62, and .308" ammo and have placed this ammo at the customer service desks rather than at the gun department. (More about the wording of the memo in a minute.) However...

• Academy is apparently NOT limiting the purchase of multiple boxes of other calibers such as .25ACP, and they evidently do NOT consider .380ACP to be a 9mm round. If you want to buy less-popular pistol rounds such as .25ACP, .32ACP, .32 Long, .380ACP, .44Spl, etc., check Academy. When I was there, they had 10+ boxes of the regular "Monarch" house-brand .380ACP 95gr FMJ (which is made by Prvi Partizan) at the usual asking price.
• The staff at this particular store had apparently taken the language on the memo literally and had placed 7.62x54R and .308 Marlin Express ammo at the CS desk, where the boxes were piling up. Do NOT go to Academy if you want to stock up on these!

[theinvisibleheart]

thanks for gunbots site link! +1

[trobin]

Got 500 cci sr primers, 1 lb imr 4350, rcbs fl 223 dies, and 2 rcbs #10 shell holders today. Lafayette Shooters in Lafayette, La. Very limited supply and the primers were their limit.

[BKH]

Man oh man, I was looking to get into reloading to help with the increase in ammo costs, but there isn't much in the way of components in the Sacramento area. I'm having trouble just finding a press out here. Anybody in the area know where I might have better luck finding supplies?

[theinvisibleheart]

used market.

[Evan Thomas]

used market.

Umm, probably not, at least for powder, primers, and bullets.

[theinvisibleheart]

meant for stuff like dies, press, etc.

You can also get new stuff like primers in secondary market, not necessarily used but from local private individuals.

[Evan Thomas]

Yeah... sorry. Couldn't resist.

[theinvisibleheart]

there are folks who dig up used bullets and recast it to make new...LOL

[cal10]

So Cal gunshows had 500 rd 22lr for $50.00, If you're lucky and first in the Bread Lines @ Walmarts or big 5 you can get a brick for $30 or so on the one day a week they get shipments.

[OkieCruffler]

Walked into a pawn shop today and they had a batch of 22LR. Everything was marked at $60/brick regardless of brand. Sitting between the Remington Golden Bullets and the winchester 555 was a single brick of SK standard plus marked at the same $60. It was there anyway...See you folks at the range.

[overthere]

PowderValley has several Accurate powders in stock, including 2495:

http://www.powdervalleyinc.com/

[FISHY-A-NADO]

I had been searching for ammo since Christmas with absolutely zero success. Over the weekend, I loaded the Walmart app on my iphone. As of this morning, the app has allowed me to fill the following holes in my ammo supply.

1666 rounds .22lr (Winchester M-22 and 333 pk HP)
100 rounds .357 magnum (Remington 100 pk)
150 rounds .38 special (Winchester white box)
50 rounds .22 win mag (Remington accu tip)
250 rounds .45 ACP (Remington/UMC 250rd Mega Pack)

Granted, I had to make 4 stops between 2 locations but none were special trips. Only once did I actually buy the limit of 3 boxes and not once did I buy the last box of anything.

Prior to this week, I only had 3 50 round boxes of .22lr and less than 40 rounds of .45 ACP. Now I have plenty (based on my normal usage) for all my guns and will not be purchasing any more in the foreseeable future.

[Jeff #111]

I've always been pretty stingy with my ammo. Except for when I was in the Army or my department is supplying ammo (something that it hasn't done for many years - long before the great ammo shortage of 2013) a heavy shooting session for me is going through fifty to 100 rounds with one of my handguns.

I've been a big proponent of dry firing for years. I still am.I remember reading years ago how the old timers were big on "snapping -in" since ammo wasn't very plentiful and expensive. Reloading was still in it's infancy 100-140 years ago.

Dry firing has made a difference for me though I know there are those who don't agree. Fortunately Snap Caps are available (at least where I live) and prices haven't gone up on them. Snap Caps are my friends.

Over the years I've always picked up a box of ammo here and there. Mainly if I see that it's on sale etc. As a result I have a healthy inventory. But, like I said at the beginning of this post, I've always been conservative anyway so I'm just a little tighter now.

I'm not saying that I'm right and everyone else is wrong. Just sharing information.

[dajowi]

I was talking to a local Bi-Mart customer service rep yesterday and he was informed by a Remington spokesman that by June or July the store should be getting it's regular amount of ammo.

I'm sure happy that I reload and don't have to depend on this information.