Should I buy ammo if I don’t have a gun yet

Aero Denezol · Mar 18, 2022

Its all a big lie

Certaindeaf · Mar 18, 2022

Aero Denezol said:
Its all a big lie

You're bluffing!

OldBroad44 · Mar 18, 2022

Jay Walk said:
When is the last time you purchased a car without any gas in it?

Not a good analogy. You're talking about buying several tanks of gas on your own from one party before you buy a car with a partial tank of gas in it from another party.

Somewhere in this thread you mentioned the gun and caliber you want, which was a .40 caliber. I had a Glock 23 for a while, a 40. It was pleasant to shoot with lighter loads but too snappy, I thought, with heavier loads. This surprised me since I enjoy shooting .44 mag revolvers. But then, the G23 was a very light gun. The heavier load would have been no problem in a heavier gun. Fortunately I didn't stock up on the ammo with the heavier load. I bought just one box, as I do with any ammo I have not tried.

Mikej · Mar 18, 2022

OldBroad44 said:
Not a good analogy. You're talking about buying several tanks of gas on your own from one party before you buy a car with a partial tank of gas in it from another party.

Somewhere in this thread you mentioned the gun and caliber you want, which was a .40 caliber. I had a Glock 23 for a while, a 40. It was pleasant to shoot with lighter loads but too snappy, I thought, with heavier loads. This surprised me since I enjoy shooting .44 mag revolvers. But then, the G23 was a very light gun. The heavier load would have been no problem in a heavier gun. Fortunately I didn't stock up on the ammo with the heavier load. I bought just one box, as I do with any ammo I have not tried.

Chances are had you stocked up on .40 back then, you could have MADE money selling it now. So there's that.

OldBroad44 · Mar 18, 2022

Mikej said:
Mikej said:

Chances are had you stocked up on .40 back then, you could have MADE money selling it now. So there's that.

Click to expand...

I kinda doubt it. I bought the G23 and ammo in the 80s. Internet tells me inflation from 1980 to 2022 is $1 then is equivalent to $3.44 now. So a price then would have to be 3.5X higher to be equivalent. But what about opportunity loss? How would "investing" in .40 cal ammo bought at full retail 30 or 40 years ago and sold wholesale now compare with other investments, such as just putting the money in a stock market fund based upon Dow Jones stocks? Dow Jones for last 30 years to 2020 went from roughly 7,000 to roughly 35,000. That's a 7X difference. So very roughly about half the apparent appreciation in stocks was inflation, but the stocks did manage to appreciate about 3.5X in three decades. At any rate, the ammo price now would need to be 7-fold higher now than then to match a mundane uncreative investment in stocks. Anybody have some boxes of .40 cal ammo from the 80s with price tags on them?

What's interesting to me is the same considerations apply to guns. And even the Colt Anaconda .44mag I bought new in the 80s for under $1,000 and that might possibly be sold used now for about $3,000 (had I kept it) would still represent a loss by the time inflation is considered. Not even counting opportunity loss. And that is certainly of all the guns I've ever owned the one that has appreciated the most. And in spite of SW pre-lock revolvers of certain types seeming to hold their value, at least if bought used, they probably don't by the time you consider inflation. And certainly don't if you count opportunity loss such as comparing with the same amount invested in the stock market. Of course, you can't defend yourself against a home invader or a bear with a stock certificate.

ma96782 · Mar 18, 2022

Get some from that guy on the corner.......I hear that he sells more than just off label pharma.

Aloha, Mark

Mikej · Mar 18, 2022

OldBroad44 said:
I kinda doubt it. I bought the G23 and ammo in the 80s. Internet tells me inflation from 1980 to 2022 is $1 then is equivalent to $3.44 now. So a price then would have to be 3.5X higher to be equivalent. But what about opportunity loss? How would "investing" in .40 cal ammo bought at full retail 30 or 40 years ago and sold wholesale now compare with other investments, such as just putting the money in a stock market fund based upon Dow Jones stocks? Dow Jones for last 30 years to 2020 went from roughly 7,000 to roughly 35,000. That's a 7X difference. So very roughly about half the apparent appreciation in stocks was inflation, but the stocks did manage to appreciate about 3.5X in three decades. At any rate, the ammo price now would need to be 7-fold higher now than then to match a mundane uncreative investment in stocks. Anybody have some boxes of .40 cal ammo from the 80s with price tags on them?

I didn't know we were talking about the OLD days. All I had then was a Ruger 10/22 that was buried in the closet. I spent all my free time fishing back then. Still have the .22 though. And a couple more now.

Jay Walk · Mar 18, 2022

I shoot guns for recreation. I doubt 3 boxes of .40 is going to put anybody out. I can always sell the gun and ammo. Like said, the 40 will be ready for pick up soon.

Ordered 3 boxes of 45 acp this morning, when I purchase a 45 I will not be "stocking up" on this caliber either, It's just for fun.

So Yah, I have purchased ammo before the gun many times cause buying the gun is the easy part, Ammo can be hard to locate, .357? .410 and 45 target? Purchased them all when I saw them.