Did you stock up on ammo while the getting was good?

[echo1]

The secondary reason I've NOT started to reload is I realize that's a whole can of worms that takes precise and diligent execution, or you're just wastin time & ducats. One of the local gun shops had an inhouse ammo builder. He also gave instructional seminars. He built me a mess of .41 mag. and regularly had .45, .357, 9mm in 100 round batches for a good price, new brass, good deals. Before I retired I always kept an eye out for ammo, estate & garage sales, guys with cased milsurp and vendor sales. I tried to buy at least monthly. I know you shouldn't buy someone elses reloads, but I have after looking over their workstation and why they rolled their own. One fella was a competition .45 runner, bachelor, with a dedicated clean room for his set up. I got 600 rounds and a 1917 Colt 1911 from him. Another guy got after prairie dogs at distance and was going to a different caliber. I picked up all his .22-250 & dies, his boolits (500) has all the load data on each box of 50 & the date made, new brass. Other than .22lr and the occasional NIB 7mm Mauser & .41mag, I haven't bought bulk since it went crazy with Obummer. PAX

 

[DunRanull]

Short of an all-out shooting war and a cut-off of all ammo- Im sure I have enuff to last me the rest of my life, with enuff left over for the wife to have a profitable "yard sale"...

 

[Alexx1401]

I used to buy a brick of .22lR at BiMart every Friday, and they were always on sale at $7-$8 a brick then. I've probably got over 20,000 rds. and finally stopped when prices jumped over $10 a brick. Kinda funny to look back now and see how much a brick costs today!

20K is plenty for many. Before the panic we had about 2 decades back now I always kept about 10K of .22 ammo. Since every range trip I take at least one .22 to have some fun. That was the first panic I had seen since the net got up and going big. It lasted a LOT longer than ones I had seen before. Lucky for me working nights I could watch the places that sold at normal price but had limits. As soon as stuff would hit I would order the limit. So had the stuff coming to the house weekly. After than one I doubled the amount to keep on hand. Probably tripled it now after a couple more panics. Last many buys were full cases as this got the best price. Doing it any time I worked a little extra made it easy to do and not really even notice. One thing about ammo is it will never "go bad" in my lifetime, and the price will never be what it was a decade ago. So to me there is no downside other than when I have to move.

 

[Alexx1401]

I think some of that is a personality and/or training thing. Some people are highly organized and some people aren't. Some jobs require more organizational skills than others.

I'm nowhere near that organized. I have a general idea of what I have for ammo and supplies, and a basic system for where it's stored, but no spreadsheets or anything written. It works for me and that's all that matters. To each their own.

I have a coworker who's highly organized, to the point of OCD, I think. A place for everything and everything in its place, to a bit of an extreme. I know I really bugged him for a while. I'm organized but nowhere near like he is. I could tell minor clutter and lack of extreme organization really bothered him, but he just had to get over it. I'm not going to change, and I am the senior tech, with two decades more experience.

ADDED: I don't mean to knock those with mad organizational skills; I'm actually impressed by that, even if it's not me.

Sometimes when I see people put up pics of their work space like a nice set up in the garage or basement that looks like something from a magazine it makes me say "I am going to get my place ship shape." Then I start in and before long I find something else I need to get done and it never looks like that at my house

 

[Hawaiian]

It is good to have a supply of ammo put away. It can be rewarding in many ways.
During the last shortage we had friends of my wife over. They are not familiar with firearms. and not aware of our 'hobby'. Their teenage son mentioned to my son that he had gotten a 22lr rifle for Christmas, which was months past. He told us he had not shot it as they could not find any 22lr ammo in any of the stores they searched. I looked at his Dad who shook his head and said can't find ammo anywhere.
I went and got a brick out, came back and handed to the kid and said, belated merry Christmas, go shoot your gun. The look on his face was priceless, he looked like he just won the lottery. Best use of ammo I ever experienced.

 

[Alexx1401]

It is good to have a supply of ammo put away. It can be rewarding in many ways.
During the last shortage we had friends of my wife over. They are not familiar with firearms. and not aware of our 'hobby'. Their teenage son mentioned to my son that he had gotten a 22lr rifle for Christmas, which was months past. He told us he had not shot it as they could not find any 22lr ammo in any of the stores they searched. I looked at his Dad who shook his head and said can't find ammo anywhere.
I went and got a brick out and handed to the kid and said, belated merry Christmas, go shoot your gun. The look on his face was priceless, he looked like he just won the lottery. Best use of ammo I ever experienced.

GREAT! Several panics back co worker bought a (at that time new on the market) Sig AR. There was NO .223 ammo to be had. I told him last time I cleaned out one of the safes I had found some I had forgotten when I sold my last AR. Next day took him in a dozen or so boxes of WWB and said I think I paid like $2 each for these so you can have them for that. He looked like he was ready to offer me his first born the grin on his face. He could at least sight in the new toy now and was shocked at the price.

 

[echo1]

.... There was NO .223 ammo to be had. I told him last time I cleaned out one of the safes I had found some I had forgotten when I sold my last AR. Next day took him in a dozen or so boxes of WWB and said I think I paid like $2 each for these so you can have them for that....

I completely forgot about the 5.56...since I offed my onliest AR & Mini14 but I held on to 2K of various brands in 500 rd lots and kept all the mags. Ammo is as good as cash. PAX

 

[Mono1]

I do as well, but still can not figure out the "rimfire equation". So, I have been picking up a few boxes of 22 WMR each time I'm in town. By the way, Bi-Mart has the best prices on 22 WMR of any of the online retailers I've found so far.

Yeah Bi-Mart is good around my neck of the woods!

 

[Mono1]

Ammo is as good as cash.

Eventually maybe Better?!

 

[gmerkt]

Primers will be the problem again as last time, plenty of bullets on the shelves.

Large primers will be quite scarce. Both Ukraine and Israel use a lot of small arms chambered for cartridges that take large rifle primers.

 

[Alexx1401]

I completely forgot about the 5.56...since I off my onliest AR & Mini14 but I held on to 2K of various brands in 500 rd lots and kept all the mags. Ammo is as good as cash. PAX

Every time there is another panic common caliber ammo is gold. Even if you do not need it you can sell it or barter with it. I have mentioned before the one kid looking at me like I had gone full kook last move until I showed him how much that ammo was worth right then. That when I shuffle off he can sell it. I suggested he wait till the next panic since they are a regular event.

 

[echo1]

Every time there is another panic common caliber ammo is gold. Even if you do not need it you can sell it or barter with it. I have mentioned before the one kid looking at me like I had gone full kook last move until I showed him how much that ammo was worth right then. That when I shuffle off he can sell it. I suggested he wait till the next panic since they are a regular event.

As a Nation we are so screwed. PAX

 

[ma96782]

Take it with a grain of salt?

Aloha, Mark

 

[ma96782]

Well.....what do you think?

Aloha, Mark

PS....Imagine the bigger problem......IF, the US Military was shooting a non-NATO standard ammo type (say, the NGSW 6.8 caliber)?

 

[thebigbaby]

"Dear Customers of KIR Ammo:

Several events over the past week have contributed to a significantly tumultuous time in the ammo industry. I will address these as succinctly and objectively as possible to give you information you can use and share to make informed decisions about ammo purchases in the coming months.

1) The Lake City Army Ammunition Plant is the single largest producer of rifle ammunition for the U.S. military and is operated by Winchester-Olin. Winchester holds the contract to run the plant and is thereby granted permission to sell some of the ammo that is produced there - this includes 5.56x45mm M193 and M855, the most popular rifle cartridges in America. On Thursday last week, we were informed that demand from the military has overridden all existing commercial orders, and that Lake City has temporarily suspended all production for the civilian market. When will this end? We do not know, but an educated guess might be a few weeks to a couple months - however I could be wrong; we can't tell with certainty. This move has already tightened supply and demand has soared for many popular calibers including, but not limited to: 5.56x45mm NATO, .223 Rem, 9mm, 7.62x39mm, and .308 Win. We have secured a temporary supply of 5.56 FMJ which will be arriving throughout this coming week, but we do not know how long it will be available on the open market. I will share more information as I learn it.

2) On Friday morning (10/13), Hornady experienced a fatal explosion at one of its manufacturing plants in Wood River, NE. Sadly, one woman died, and the cause of the explosion has not been determined. Reports state the explosion occurred at a chemical compound building which we can safely assume manufactures and stores powder and/or coatings for Hornady ammo. Hornady has been tight lipped about what happened (rightfully so after such a tragic event) and we do not know how this will affect production, but it would make sense that this will tighten supply on Hornady products. Which specific products, we cannot say; it may be all of them, or just a subset (think Superformance hunting rounds vs. Frontier that use different powders).

3) The recent conflict in the Middle East has further tightened supply on ammunition and firearms from IWI (Israel Military Industries). These include their popular Razor Core line of 5.56 and various firearms. Mass shipments of ammunition are confirmed to have been delivered from the U.S. to meet demand. This ties into the Lake City's restriction on commercial sales. The continuing conflict in Ukraine has tightened supply around .338 Lapua Mag, 7.62x39mm, 5.45x39mm, 5.56x45mm, and other popular calibers. I do not anticipate Covid-type levels of inflation, but with all of these factors combined, we are inching in that direction.

4) KIR Ammo is the #1 distributor of Norma Ammunition products in the State of Texas, so we keep in close communication with their U.S. HQ in Savannah, GA. As of Thursday last week, Norma is completely sold out of all major FMJ calibers mentioned above. They are not sure when the next run of 5.56x45mm, 7.62x39mm, or 9mm will happen, but they are completely out of that ammo for now. We were able to secure (only!) two pallets of 5.56x45mm which will be delivered sometime in the next week or two. This gives you an idea on how strong demand has gotten in a very short period of time. Norma is not the only manufacturer affected by this supply constriction.

5) Black Hills Ammunition, famed manufacturer of the 5.56x45mm MK262 MOD 1-C cartridge, will likely halt commercial sales of that particular variation as well. They did not make any formal announcements, but it is a safe guess that we won't be seeing that round available for some time. We were lucky enough to receive half a pallet early last week before the preceding events transpired.

Here at KIR Ammo, we are experiencing record levels of demand and will continue to ship all of your orders in a timely manner without sacrificing service and quality. We always try our best to get back to each and every one of you when you have questions, but please bear with us as right now we are "all-hands-on-deck" in the warehouse, printing, picking, packing, and shipping!

Thank you from myself and the team here at KIR for your continued support of our family-owned business.

Respectfully,

V. Campbell
Owner - KIR Ammo"

 

[Member 38805]

Ammo hoarding got my new granite countertops installed much faster back a decade ago! I did a total remodel of our kitchen and when the guy came to measure up for countertops we got to talking, and he mentioned he was starting his son out shooting his .22 rifle, but couldn't find any ammo at all.
As he finished measuring he told me the counters would be ready in 2 weeks, but it would be 6-7 weeks before the crew could come and install them! I told him that not having countertops or a sink for another 6-7 weeks was really not great, and I asked if he could get them done sooner if I found him some .22 ammo to shoot? His eyes lit up, and he asked how much .22 ammo? I asked how soon he could schedule it if he got a brick of 500 rds.? He said he could rework the schedule and have them installed in 2 weeks!
So I went down to my basement gun room and grabbed a brick of cheap (then) Federal Lightning ammo and handed it to him....no charge. Two weeks later my wife had her counters done and installed! That brick of .22's had a $7.50 price tag on it! Cheap little bribe to get my wife happy!

 

[ma96782]

More?
Remember........

Aloha, Mark

 

[Unicykle]

I didn't know you were ever supposed to stop stocking up, hmmm I'll ponder on that.

 

[ma96782]

Insider info?

Aloha, Mark

 

[ruger45blackhawk]

Speaking of stocking up. The shelves at this Cabela's (Tualatin) yesterday (10-11-2023).

Bullets,
View attachment 1739421

Brass,
View attachment 1739420

Primers,
View attachment 1739426

and Powder.
View attachment 1739430

BTW....the loaded ammo selection was also GOOD.

Aloha, Mark

Where's the LPP??