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Taking a moment to remember the struggles and panic buying at the end of 2012 and a few years after. Sandy Hook kicked off the biggest shopping spree in gun culture history. Even bigger than electing President Obama.

Gun Broker was the go to for selling Or finding the impossible. I still have emails from then. Some selling, some buying, some watching. I remember seeing Wolf 223 at $550 a thousand.

What did you change after market stabilized? Any purchases or sales you remember.

.13c a round .22 Ammo
.86c a round 5.56
$30 Pmags
$775 DPMS Oracle upper

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I remember the $80-$90 brick of .22lr!
$50 Pmags
$1000 for a $400 AR15.

man those were hard times.
I drove around for one of my jobs (had 2) and would hit up 3-5 Bimart stores a week buying a few boxes of ammo at a time.
That week of Newtown, I had ordered a 10 pack of pmags, then panic hits and I ordered 10 more for a good price.
the first 10 showed up fast, the other was on backorder.
it took like 3 months and I forgot I had ordered them when 10 more showed up on my doorstep!
Now I try to buy ammo here and there and keep a small stock on hand.
I began buying more once the panic died down and then built up a decent collection of firearms. Not a lot, but enough.
the big thing I stopped at that time was selling one firearm to buy another. I told myself I was going to add to the heard and not get rid of one to fund another.
 
I had no thoughts of anything relative to the panic buying, and I'm still no less for wear of it all.
These days, I'm likely considered a lunatic by the anti-2A. LOL
 
IIRC there was a gun show in Salem the Saturday of or the Saturday after Sandy Hook. The line was absolutely huge to get in with several hundred people in line. The wife and I drove right past and went to the Bi Mart in Keizer and and got 3000 9mm 2000 5.55 and several bricks of 22lr. I then went online to Classic Firearms and got 5 lowers on the way. Few weeks later I was sure glad I did as prices went full retard. The week after the gunshow I went back to the same Bi Mart and it was pretty much wiped out. Ammo is long ago shot but still got 2 of the lowers sitting in the safe for a rainy day.

As for changes after the panic. Now I have more disposable income than I did so the ammo for the major calibers are stacked MUCH deeper then they were.:s0010:
 
The 2008 election result was totally unexpected and I was deployed. I had not even considered Obama as a serious contender. Afterall, he had no credentials and was a Muslim up against a war hero senator McCain. I was really shocked. And not in a position to buy anything, being deployed.

When I got back prices were outrageous. I did buy a few things and pay way too much. Examples: I bought 3 stripped AR lowers for $150 each! An AK for $800, and an AR for $800. Probably a few other things. And even those prices would later go higher. I ended up trading the AK for a $1200 Springfield TRP 1911. I also kick myself because I had the opportunity to buy a Python for cheap, like $600, but passed because "black gun fever" was great. Thankfully, I didn't take too much of a beating, and did pretty well in a few trades and buys/sells to even it all out around that time. I cooled off for about a year, and when prices returned to normal around 2010 and thru 2012 I did a lot of buying at normal prices.

I remember Sandy Hook like yesterday. I was home on Christmas leave from the Army and saw it unfold on the news. I immediately opened up the laptop and bought a bunch of stuff at normal prices. Within probably that day many places were sold out or jacked up prices. In 2012-2013 and beyond I didn't pay a premium for anything because I had been adding consistently to inventory for the 2 years prior. I had learned my lesson from 2009...
 
It dramatically changed the amount of ammo I consider to be adequate. I now try to maintain a 2 year supply of my general target ammo. And I've bumped up my SHTF ammo too.

Having grown up in Kommifornia, I've long subscribed to the notion that if there is anything you want...even anything you THINK you MIGHT want, buy it now. Because it may not be legal/available tomorrow. Sandy Hook only solidified that further.

If you lived through Sandy Hook and get caught with your pants down in the future, that's on you. Obviously there are financial constraints here. But you should absolutely be working to ensure you have the core things you need. For example, if you live in Washington or Oregon, it is HIGHLY likely that AR's will be outlawed sometime in the next 5-8 years. Maybe sooner. You should absolutely be working to ensure you have what you need for you and your family.

WOLVERINES!!
 
It dramatically changed the amount of ammo I consider to be adequate. I now try to maintain a 2 year supply of my general target ammo. And I've bumped up my SHTF ammo too.

Having grown up in Kommifornia, I've long subscribed to the notion that if there is anything you want...even anything you THINK you MIGHT want, buy it now. Because it may not be legal/available tomorrow. Sandy Hook only solidified that further.

If you lived through Sandy Hook and get caught with your pants down in the future, that's on you. Obviously there are financial constraints here. But you should absolutely be working to ensure you have the core things you need. For example, if you live in Washington or Oregon, it is HIGHLY likely that AR's will be outlawed sometime in the next 5-8 years. Maybe sooner. You should absolutely be working to ensure you have what you need for you and your family.

WOLVERINES!!

I had seen panic shortages come and go for a long time. Learned long ago to not let stuff run out. Primers, powder, bullets, ammo. I had never seen one like the great rimfire one though. I a few times got some real mad who wanted an AR and Wally would get a few in and sell them at normal price to people who promptly put them up for sale at twice what they paid. Every time someone complained about this I said "if you wanted an AR why did you wait till there was a panic then try to buy one?". This often made them mad <shrug>
I now keep a LOT of .22 ammo since that I use weekly for play. The rest I seldom roll my own any more but, I do keep the supplies. If there is another panic I can roll my own if I have too. What amazes me is how many shooters my age who seen shortages and seem to learn nothing. Soon after they are over they go back to doing nothing. Next panic they are again scrambling. :confused:
 
Mostly I bought .22 RF to stock up because I had less than I thought, but never paid more than 10 cents per round and only then for minimag or the sort - usually in the 7-8 cents per round. And that was the last few years before the prices started coming down. I now have about 35K rounds, which should be adequate IMO. I am going to pickup more premium ammo like the Federal hunter match HP ammo - for hunting.

Since then I picked up self-defense centerfire ammo when it was on sale at good prices and some of the hunting ammo for firearms that are not self-defense, like 30-30.
 
I had seen panic shortages come and go for a long time. Learned long ago to not let stuff run out. Primers, powder, bullets, ammo. I had never seen one like the great rimfire one though. I a few times got some real mad who wanted an AR and Wally would get a few in and sell them at normal price to people who promptly put them up for sale at twice what they paid. Every time someone complained about this I said "if you wanted an AR why did you wait till there was a panic then try to buy one?". This often made them mad <shrug>

I've seen that a bit.

What always interested me were the panic buyers who then sold after the panic was over (like after Y2K) and expected to get panic prices. :s0092: Buy low and sell high is Economics 10, but they windup doing the opposite. They never seem to learn. :s0153:

I really don't care what someone paid for something - I have no interest in validating their poor decisions, or making sure they don't lose any $ on their purchases. If I can buy it cheaper elsewhere I will, especially if that includes delivery to my doorstep.
 
I've seen that a bit.

What always interested me were the panic buyers who then sold after the panic was over (like after Y2K) and expected to get panic prices. :s0092: Buy low and sell high is Economics 10, but they windup doing the opposite. They never seem to learn. :s0153:
No doubt when Trump won and the market bottom fell out a LOT of people were stuck with stuff they could not get even 50% back on. I suspect a lot of people probably ended up with a whole pile of .22 ammo too. At least that they could eventually shoot. The people who bought every AR they could lay hands on though who then had to watch the price drop like a rock? That had to hurt!
 
2008 "panic" I paid stupid prices for 2 stripped anderson lowers in CA. That won't happen again, and in the grand scheme of things it wasn't too much extra money.

2012 panic, I was sitting on the toilet browsing ammo as I needed some anyway. Saw the news come through and bunped up my order. I can't remember exactly what happened, Target sports tried to cancel my order and raise the price, or they raised it right before I ordered. I sent them a nasty email and they refunded the difference.

I wasn't shooting as much back then amd I had a decent stockpile so I just let it ride.

Picked up .22 when I could but never at high prices.

I couldn't last 2 years at my current shooting rate with my current stock, but I could dial it back or shoot more .22 and be fine for a while.
 
2008 "panic" I paid stupid prices for 2 stripped anderson lowers in CA. That won't happen again, and in the grand scheme of things it wasn't too much extra money.

2012 panic, I was sitting on the toilet browsing ammo as I needed some anyway. Saw the news come through and bunped up my order. I can't remember exactly what happened, Target sports tried to cancel my order and raise the price, or they raised it right before I ordered. I sent them a nasty email and they refunded the difference.

I wasn't shooting as much back then amd I had a decent stockpile so I just let it ride.

Picked up .22 when I could but never at high prices.

I couldn't last 2 years at my current shooting rate with my current stock, but I could dial it back or shoot more .22 and be fine for a while.

That was what impressed me about a few places that sold .22. They sold it first come first served as they got it at the normal price. I had the stuff coming weekly was working nights I could jump on it as soon as it went on the site. Academy had it weekly. I often wondered how they could possibly make any money off it with the free shipping. I was supplying a few others with my buying.:D
One guy I worked with used to drive all over the county to every Wally and would grab it up when they had it. Would then go to the show every couple months to sell it at a profit. I often wondered how much he must actually be losing though by the time he drove all over hell and gone to buy it, then rented a table at the show but, what the hell, I guess it was fun for him :confused:
 
A buddy and I went to BiMart prior to a shooting trip. He got pizzed that they had 0 .22lr (again/still) and said, "Ya know what... ? F-it!" and bought a Savage .17 HMR and about a gazillion rds for it. We shot that thing all day while everything else sat on the table, cold, unloved, and ignored. :(

A Boyd's stock and $100 rimfire scope brought it up a notch and convinced me that I needed one too.
 
A guy on ifish posted a need for 22 ammo so he could teach his daughter how to shoot. Willing to pay top $. I told him to pm me his addy and I dumped a brick into a $6.95 mailer.

He offered to pay me after the box arrived. I told him to KMA, take your daughter shooting.

That's how it's supposed to work.



P
 
I remember I was making minimum wage, if anything at all, living in a recently vacated warehouse. It didn't matter if the prices were high or low, I couldn't afford a 10 round Glock mag
 

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