Ammo Scalpers - We have met the enemy and he is us

[Ura-Ki]

You'r right About the newbees not knowing and paying extra for something they shouldn't have to. I have been raising hate and discontent at the local shops round here, about not selling every thing to just one guy, or group that are all together! If a fella wants a brick or three, fine, but one that wants it all is just re selling it for a profit, and should be blocked from buying more then one brick! Most shop owners here have instructed there employees how to do business with out screwing the normal folks! Mission accomplished here, but other places need to adopt this attitude!

 

[Riot]

To quote the old Pogo comic strip character; "We have met the enemy..." ​

A brand new Bimart store opened in town earlier this month, so on my first visit on opening day, I headed straight to Sporting Goods. There on the shelves, open for all to see, were several 50 round boxes of CCI Velocitor .22 lr ammo. It was a glorious sight to behold, so I bought a couple of boxes, the clerk telling me he had a whole bunch in the back room. On a subsequent visit, I picked up another two. One can't have too much .22 ammo these days.

I checked again a couple of days ago. All gone and on back order. It seems a week or so ago, a crew of several folks showed up at the gun counter and each bought as much as the store would sell to them (2 boxes per customer). The ring-leader of this group bragged they make the rounds of sporting goods stores, buying all of the .22 they can lay their hands on, in order to sell it at gun shows for twice what they pay for it. We knew this was going on, but this jerk was openly bragging about ripping off fellow gun owners.

People wonder where all the .22 is going? This is the answer, not some imagined government conspiracy. Gun owners preying on fellow gun owners, drying up the supply in order to make a few bucks. This kind of stuff is going to continue until other gun owners refuse to buy from the scalpers at gun shows. Their behavior is not illegal, but is certainly profiteering and thus considered unethical.

What you are describing is why I won't go to gun shows anymore...scalpers have ruined gun shows. Gun shows used to be a place where you can get a good deal...trade firearms with other gun owners, learn about the products, get a chance to touch a piece of history and network with follow patriots...

Now, Gun Shows are just GunBroker.Com in person...selling overpriced P-Mags and .22lr.

What has been hashed time and time again is that this is what happens in a free market society...Capitalism. The buyer dictates the market (i.e. if nobody was willing to buy the product at the said price, then the seller would be forced to lower the price).

The real problem is that people need to stop buying the ammo at the prices from these scalpers...that's the only way this will stop...otherwise, even .22lr manufacturers will begin to exploit the market (doubling their price to meet the constant demand). If we stopped buying from scalpers and attending gun shows, prices would plummet to actual MSRPs again...but the political atmosphere needs to change and people need to stop panic buying from these scalpers.

 

[The Heretic]

1) I no longer go to gun shows. Can't remember the last time I went - couple of years ago? I discovered that I can buy ammo online just as cheap, and that there are guns here to be sold.

2) I have noticed online and store sales of rimfire ammo has been ramping up, with higher limits and reasonable prices.

3) I have about 20k rounds of rimfire ammo now, so I figure for a while I will let others buy what is on sale. Eventually it will even out.

Let the idiots pay twice what they could online or in the stores, and I hope eventually the scalpers get stuck with their ammo, because I won't pay their high prices.

 

[Member 5605]

Heck I turned down a retail $34 box of 22 Thunderbolt at Sportsmans Warehouse....

No thanks. I'll keep the federal match for $18

 

[Bravo1]

Pretty disappointing this is happening. 15 years ago I got the .22 conversion kits for my AR and PT-92 since it was so much cheaper to to fire .22. Now, they just sit on the shelf and it's almost cheaper for me to shoot .223 and 9mm.

 

[70cyclone]

You'r right About the newbees not knowing and paying extra for something they shouldn't have to. I have been raising hate and discontent at the local shops round here, about not selling every thing to just one guy, or group that are all together! If a fella wants a brick or three, fine, but one that wants it all is just re selling it for a profit, and should be blocked from buying more then one brick! Most shop owners here have instructed there employees how to do business with out screwing the normal folks! Mission accomplished here, but other places need to adopt this attitude!

not sure where you are but I can't remember the last time I was able to buy all the rimfire I could carry anywhere around portland. 1 brick or 2-4 50 round boxes per person has been in place for some time. The 'groups' just don't go in as groups anymore to pickup their stash.

 

[mjbskwim]

We're not getting regular 22lr but we get plenty of mini mags and target ammo.
And these guys let you buy all you want. But the locals buy it for themselves not to resell.

 

[Koda]

bricks of 500, no limit. Works out to .07c/rd...

http://defenderoutdoors.com/remington-tb22b-thunderbolt-22lr-40gr-round-nose

 

[mjbskwim]

I'll pass on that stuff.

 

[Koda]

how about some higher quality than the Thunderbolts...?

650 rds of federal automatch, .08c/rd
http://usarmorment.com/ammunition-c...-22-lr-lead-round-nose-650-rounds-p-2834.html

Federal Ammunition 22 LR 40 gr AutoMatch 325 Round Pack:
http://www.sportsmansoutdoorsuperst...munition-22-lr-40-gr-automatch-325-round-pack
(^^this one does have a limit of 4, per day....)


Federal 712 Game-Shok 22 LR Copper Plated Hollow Point 38 GR 500 Rounds:
<broken link removed>


22 LR Federal 40 Gr Auto Match 975 Rnds:
<broken link removed>

Armscor 22 LR 36gr HP CASE 5000rds:
https://www.outdoorlimited.com/Armscor-22-LR-36gr-HP-CASE-5000rds-p/arm22lrhpcase.htm

all about .08c/rd, the web is loaded (pun intended) with 22lr.

 

[erudne]

I don't sell ammo

 

[70cyclone]

the shipping on some of those...wow...there's the gouge

 

[deadeye]

Use ammoseek they rate the shipping.

http://ammoseek.com/ammo/22lr

 

[Koda]

the shipping on some of those...wow...there's the gouge

yeah, I checked on a couple... the shipping added roughly .02c/rd so about .10c/rd average. Roughly.

so what exactly are the scalpers selling for? The OP suggested twice what they paid in the stores (no shipping) so its still cheaper to buy online.

Last time I was at Cabelas they had a whole shelf full of 22lr. (read: no shipping). Sportsmans always has some 22lr in stock too but seems to be about 8 or .09c/rd

 

[70cyclone]

at the shows I see the 325 round auto match for $30-40...fishermans has it for $20
cabelas and NWarmory had the 1400 round buckets of 36g plated hollow points for $90...next show you will see them for $140 lol

 

[Koda]

Use ammoseek they rate the shipping.

http://ammoseek.com/ammo/22lr

that's where I got all my links from, great site.
their rating for shipping works. I clicked on one of the lowest and it only added a penny to the cost per round (.09c total) and that was only for 1 500rd brick. I added their limit (3 bricks/1500 rds) and the shipping was the same rate ($9.99).
<broken link removed>

 

[70cyclone]

bottom line...do the math and don't overpay.

 

[The Heretic]

Pretty disappointing this is happening. 15 years ago I got the .22 conversion kits for my AR and PT-92 since it was so much cheaper to to fire .22. Now, they just sit on the shelf and it's almost cheaper for me to shoot .223 and 9mm.

I can't see how people can say that.

The most expensive bulk rimfire ammo is about 10 cents per round, usually more like 6 to 7 cents per round.

Bulk ammo for 5.56 starts at 21 cents per round and goes up from there.

Rimfire is still much cheaper than centerfire.

 

[MountainBear]

Except I've seen people asking $70-$90 for a 500 pack. That would be .14 to .17 per round, and all of a sudden .20 per round 5.56 doesn't seem quite as bad...

 

[The Heretic]

Except I've seen people asking $70-$90 for a 500 pack. That would be .14 to .17 per round, and all of a sudden .20 per round 5.56 doesn't seem quite as bad...

Cabelas - which is not known for the lowest prices in town on anything, is selling 3 or four different kinds of rimfire ammo, for about 7 cents per round, in quantities of 500 to 1000 rounds (they used to have limits of just one brick per buyer, but for a while now they have a two brick limit, and if you buy the limit on all of their bulk rimfire ammo, you would have 3 to 4K rounds of ammo at 7 cents per round).

PSA has similar deals and no limits (although they sell out quickly).

If you buy enough from either seller, the shipping is free.

If someone buys for double the going prices found with a simple search on google, then well, as some people used to say - a fool and his money are soon parted.