JavaScript is disabled
Our website requires JavaScript to function properly. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser settings before proceeding.

Preparedness ammunition stockpile philosophy

  • Enormous stores of ammo are essential. Stack it high and deep! Can't have too much!

    Votes: 25 23.6%
  • Having a large supply is good, but must be balanced with space and cost with other preps.

    Votes: 66 62.3%
  • Having defensive arms, and ammunition for said, is important, but not a huge consideration.

    Votes: 3 2.8%
  • Minimalist approach because it just isn't that important. Some handy, some to practice, or hunt.

    Votes: 3 2.8%
  • It is not important at all. Have the means to defend yourself, but lots of ammo is a waste.

    Votes: 2 1.9%
  • Guns are scary and bad! Dot Gov will save you during an emergency!

    Votes: 5 4.7%
  • Um ... eh, wut wuz duh (burp!) ques'n eh-gain? (Bromp!)

    Votes: 2 1.9%

  • Total voters
    106
The economics of ammo prices and arguing over "who" is driving up ammo prices is silly. This is like the argument that if we all just stopped buying airplane tickets they would drop the prices to the point flying would be ridiculously cheap. Well, the ebbs always come with the flows, eventually there is always going to be "somebody" who is willing to buy at the price offered and before long all the hold outs hoping for cheaper tickets realize they need to buy too because it isn't getting cheaper and before long you are right back to where you started.

Same thing with the ammo.

Except for 1 thing.

The 5+ million Americans who rushed out and bought guns for the first time in their lives (who previously felt they didn't need guns) and then subsequently bought a bunch of ammo to go with their guns - THEY are the ones who drove the spike in prices the most because THEY were the anomaly in the standard volume of purchases. The system was already stable with the regular purchase volume every year, it was the anomaly that was this nee volume that threw a wrench in the system that had been regular for years.

Even if they only bought 100 rounds each, that was still 500 million+ more rounds of ammo that regularly was not purchased by them, but I am sure many of them bought far more. I know a guy who bought about 1500 between rifle and pistol ammo, so potentially 5+ million times 1500 rounds, that's potentially 75,000,000,000 (75 billion) rounds that would have normally not been bought by people.

Then the cascade happened with reloading as well because mostly all the experienced shooters decided "I'm not paying $1 a round for target ammo" and jumped into reloading.

On one hand I am not blaming the new buyers, unless they voted for Biden, in that case they should live their ideals and only own a double barrel shotgun that they can fire both blasts into the air from their balcony if an intruder comes to scare them away. (Advice from the then vice-president Biden)
One of the biggest ammo and components manufacturers, Remington going TU right at the onset of the panic didn't help either.
 
Follow up question due to curiosity: for those that are (more or less) in the "Enormous stores of ammo are essential. Stack it high and deep! Can't have too much!" camp, for what purposes or emergency scenarios do you see expending tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition? Thanks. :)
Well, I shot about 1,500 rounds 2020, and another this year so far... that's 3K since ammo prices went through the roof. I can't afford to pay 30 bucks for a box of 9mm and still shoot like that, so I have to "get while the gettin' is good".
No, my point is that ammo buyers, collectively, shouldn't shoot themselves in the foot. If everyone had simply continued as they had, prices would have never fluctuated at all.

But we aren't very good about thinking of ourselves as a community.
There was no way that was going to happen, most of the panic was by people who never prepared for anything in life and had to buy their first gun with all and any ammo they could find. It's the same as with toilet paper, I'll betcha some people are furnishing their homes with the stuff regretting their poor life choices.

The good news about panic buyers who don't enjoy the sport is they'll likely sell off whatever they bought for dirt cheap, it's only a matter of time.

PS; when I could afford ammo I too bought enough to last me a year or two of shooting every other week.
Glad I never paid more that $17 a box, and usually it was closer to $8. Don't worry tho, they had piles they couldn't get rid of at the time!
 
I was shooting and reloading through all of those, and the only thing I remember dealing with was hard to find magazines.
I wasn't.

However I am aware that there were historic market fluctuations (whatever the reasons, depths & breadth's), so made the choice to buy manufactured ammunition & components when the market was low.

2 fold. We enjoy shooting & "just in case". Neither of which has had any bearing on the market today. As previously mentioned, by removing the prepared from the current market has also removed competition for the same.

The only way to eliminate price and inventory fluctuations is via tax & regulation. THAT is a fools wishful thinking, compared with a free market...
 
The good news about panic buyers who don't enjoy the sport is they'll likely sell off whatever they bought for dirt cheap, it's only a matter of time.
I already see people selling ammo they say they just bought.

That isn't because they think they don't need it - they are most likely looking for a profit.

But yeah, once the panic has subsided, they will be selling their preps - I saw it after Y2K; lots of ammo, guns and preps sold to pay the credit card bills they thought they wouldn't have to pay because of an apocalypse. Just like with gensets after a widespread power outage, or water pumps after flooding. Lots of people panic buy and then forget why they panicked, never thinking ahead.
 
Newbie has lots of ammo now
Newbie can shoot monthly for life without purchasing more
Newbie will happily replace what he shoots
because
Newbie goes without things like an $800 diesel truck payment, $2000 annual vacations or using retirement funds to make a house payment.

Look at what people pay monthly to eat out.

Shooting is still fun, cheap entertainment.
This guy gets it.

Discipline.
 
I already see people selling ammo they say they just bought.

That isn't because they think they don't need it - they are most likely looking for a profit.

But yeah, once the panic has subsided, they will be selling their preps - I saw it after Y2K; lots of ammo, guns and preps sold to pay the credit card bills they thought they wouldn't have to pay because of an apocalypse. Just like with gensets after a widespread power outage, or water pumps after flooding. Lots of people panic buy and then forget why they panicked, never thinking ahead.
Yeah, plenty of profiting people around too. I know I picked up some ammo for people that said they wanted some and then turned around and didn't want it ("glad" I footed the bill). Still would like to trade some .223 for 9mm, or even sell it, but I'd rather shoot it than take a loss.

I think we shouldn't forget another major issue with the ammo market was the slow down of manufacturing and production of raw materials due to the shutdowns of covid. That played a big role in the initial market scarcity that manufacturers are just now getting caught up with.
 
My first at least 20 years of ammo buying, from the late 80s on, had no fluctuations. So what I am complaining about may seem like the norm to you, but four presidents and the Crime Bill didn't affect ammo prices and availability. In 2006 I bought 1000 rounds of shiny military .308 surplus for $120. 50 rounds of 9mm could be had that entire time for $5 box, with a choice of brands. 1000 round value box of .22 was $14. Stuff was never out of stock.

I was in a number of shooting clubs at the time, and while many of us reloaded, no one ever talked about stockpiling ammunition. So all this may seem normal, but there wasn't any prepping going on, and no one ever talked about zombies. So I don't know if everything changed because the president was black or what, but this new normal is not.
With a humble, respectful, "same team " tone I would make a simple suggestion.
Take a good long walk through the grocery store next time you run in for coffee and butter.
Food is on the same course as ammo, and has been for years. The last 18 months have seen sharp increases in prices for almost every category. Food and ammunition are both "consumables " , while ammo is not perishable. Prices of perishables typically won't double across the board all at once, simply because everyone in the supply chain must sell them (before expiration). Ammo has the stability of not expiring on the shelf.
This is a very loose comparison, I realize.
Underneath everything else, the dollar is down. Global confidence in the USD is lower than ever, our government has been dumping benefits on the public at a record pace for almost 2 years, productivity is also down.

You mentioned 2006 . Your $100 bill would definitely have bought you more ammo in 2006 than it would today, but that's true of frosted flakes and Halloween candy too. If you want to feel better about ammo prices, just go shopping for 3/4 ton trucks. Or real estate.

Once again, my friend, same team.
 
My first at least 20 years of ammo buying, from the late 80s on, had no fluctuations. So what I am complaining about may seem like the norm to you, but four presidents and the Crime Bill didn't affect ammo prices and availability. In 2006 I bought 1000 rounds of shiny military .308 surplus for $120. 50 rounds of 9mm could be had that entire time for $5 box, with a choice of brands. 1000 round value box of .22 was $14. Stuff was never out of stock.

I was in a number of shooting clubs at the time, and while many of us reloaded, no one ever talked about stockpiling ammunition. So all this may seem normal, but there wasn't any prepping going on, and no one ever talked about zombies. So I don't know if everything changed because the president was black or what, but this new normal is not.
Interjecting the reference "maybe because the president was black" made me question the merit of anything else you wrote. What a ridiculous thing to say.

"Shooting club people" really means nothing in terms of ammo volume, most shooting club people are firing bolt actions and trap/skeet shotguns, those aren't in the crosshairs of gun grabbing tyrants, and have never effectively been. If you knew lots of guys of a more "tactical" mindset back then, I would bet they were stockpiling ammunition, you just never heard about it because why would they tell you and the internet wasn't around for you to easily see what other people were advertising they were doing.

Zombies aren't real and people who talk about preparing for zombies in the "walking dead" sense are dumb. Metaphorical zombies do exist though, they come in the form of people drugged out of their mind, or people that say things like "you don't need a gun, the government will protect you."

I would surmise the biggest difference is the availability of information, you didn't know what you didn't know in the 80's because the accessibility of that information was significantly reduced.
 
Yeah, plenty of profiting people around too. I know I picked up some ammo for people that said they wanted some and then turned around and didn't want it ("glad" I footed the bill). Still would like to trade some .223 for 9mm, or even sell it, but I'd rather shoot it than take a loss.

I think we shouldn't forget another major issue with the ammo market was the slow down of manufacturing and production of raw materials due to the shutdowns of covid. That played a big role in the initial market scarcity that manufacturers are just now getting caught up with.
Being in the "never too much ammo or guns" camp, I just keep the ammo I buy unless I don't have a gun for it (e.g., last year I sold my AR50 so I sold all my .50 BMG ammo too).
 
Interjecting the reference "maybe because the president was black" made me question the merit of anything else you wrote. What a ridiculous thing to say.

"Shooting club people" really means nothing in terms of ammo volume, most shooting club people are firing bolt actions and trap/skeet shotguns, those aren't in the crosshairs of gun grabbing tyrants, and have never effectively been. If you knew lots of guys of a more "tactical" mindset back then, I would bet they were stockpiling ammunition, you just never heard about it because why would they tell you and the internet wasn't around for you to easily see what other people were advertising they were doing.

Zombies aren't real and people who talk about preparing for zombies in the "walking dead" sense are dumb. Metaphorical zombies do exist though, they come in the form of people drugged out of their mind, or people that say things like "you don't need a gun, the government will protect you."

I would surmise the biggest difference is the availability of information, you didn't know what you didn't know in the 80's because the accessibility of that information was significantly reduced.
I was shooting in a variety of IDPA and similar clubs with a mix of fellow military and civilians starting in the late 90s. I have been on various gun forums since at least 1999. Several of my fellow members were SEALs, but maybe they are too tactical.

I don't know if Obama's race had anything to do with the way the right reacted to his election vs Clinton's, but no other presidential candidate has been attacked for supposedly being foreign born, either. So it doesnt seem like much of a stretch to suggest that some of the less-than-wise average behavior during those periods was the result less-than-laudable prejudices.
 
I don't know if Obama's race had anything to do with the way the right reacted to his election vs Clinton's, but no other presidential candidate has been attacked for supposedly being foreign born, either. So it doesnt seem like much of a stretch to suggest that some of the less-than-wise average behavior during those periods was the result less-than-laudable prejudices.
It all depends on whose ox is being gored.

I see Biden being criticized for stuff Trump did (especially speech patterns - albeit, in the case of Trump it was pathological liar rambling and other crap, while with Biden it is probably old age).

Being Libertarian it is disappointing to see the pot call the kettle black with both sides pointing fingers at each other, taking credit for things they did not do, and blaming others for things they did do. This is politics and human nature - many people don't even recognize that they are going it.

And yes, I saw some not so hidden racism here, and the crap about Michelle Obama's appearance, was just beyond the pale.
 
I was shooting in a variety of IDPA and similar clubs with a mix of fellow military and civilians starting in the late 90s. I have been on various gun forums since at least 1999. Several of my fellow members were SEALs, but maybe they are too tactical.

I don't know if Obama's race had anything to do with the way the right reacted to his election vs Clinton's, but no other presidential candidate has been attacked for supposedly being foreign born, either. So it doesnt seem like much of a stretch to suggest that some of the less-than-wise average behavior during those periods was the result less-than-laudable prejudices.
Well, Obama's birth certificate was a serious credibility issue and it was a historical fact that Hawaii was giving out birth certificates to foreign born babies, and it is further complicated by his family in Kenya having things to say about what is accurate or not, but regardless of that. I think Obama drew significant criticism because he was inspired by Saul Alinski, referenced his dedication to Islam despite pretending to be a Christian for votes and was pushed into political power for what he said rather than what the results were. He sucked, plain and simple.

Regarding "Seals" when I worked at a gun range, we met "Seals" all the time, in fact it seemed that we had the highest concentration of "Seals" in the country visiting the range. While I am not saying they weren't actually "Seals" necessarily, a lot more people claim that title than actually are. Regardless, for a lot of those people anyway, it's a job, it doesn't mean that they personally feel the need to procure vast amounts of supplies, just like how many police aren't gun people either, it's just a job.

I wonder if competitive shooting has increased in overall participation in the last 40 years, I believe it has, it's definitely on cable now and to my knowledge that was never the case 40 years ago.

I wonder if due to the social media mindset, people just share far more than previous generations, I'm still shooting .22lr that my grandpa had in storage before he died, but barely if any people knew the volume of what he had.
 
Easy for me to confuse SHTF ammo levels with OTHER ammo level requirements. Different. For mobile adaptable SHTF planning, just enough ammo for a good balanced boggie loadout and not more is all that is necessary. Water and shelter is more important.

Evac bags. Three to seven day boggie bags. Auto, bike and on foot. Wildfires will take everything else if your home is burnt down. For me this means keeping guns and ammo to a minimum. One light rifle, no handguns at all and about 100-150 rounds of ammo.
 
Regarding "Seals" when I worked at a gun range, we met "Seals" all the time, in fact it seemed that we had the highest concentration of "Seals" in the country visiting the range.
These were real SEALs. I was Navy, knew a lot of the same people. Went through OCS with two well known SEALs.

There weren't nearly so many of them back then.
 

Upcoming Events

Tillamook Gun & Knife Show
Tillamook, OR
"The Original" Kalispell Gun Show
Kalispell, MT
Kids Firearm Safety 2 Class
Springfield, OR
Teen Rifle 1 Class
Springfield, OR

New Resource Reviews

New Classified Ads

Back Top