Has the ammo shortage permanently changed your buying habits?

jar

jar

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I just got back from buying some ammo. As I was putting it away in the safe, I realized that what used to be a comfortably large amount of ammo seems just barely enough.

I'm a typical regular but not terribly serious action pistol shooter. I shoot on average about 300 rounds a month. Pre-election, I'd buy a case(1k) of 9mm, shoot until I got down to about 200 rounds and buy another case. Now, every time I see ammo at Walmart, I buy the 600 round max. Lately this has kept me slightly ahead of my consumption.

I was thinking about it and trying to figure out when I'll stop doing this as availability improves. Even if the ammo counter is fully stocked on every trip, I don't think I'll ever be comfortable with just buying it as I use it again. I'm wondering how typical my experience is and what it might mean for the future ammo market if/when things settle down.

The occasional shooter who buys a box or two of ammo on the way to the range may be much less common in the future. Anyone who's been around longer than me or especially who's worked in a gun shop for a long period care to opine?
 
Jeff,
I don’t generally buy much factory ammo and usually only had it on hand so friends could shoot my guns. But do to the increased difficulty in obtaining the components I like for reloading I’ve bought a little more than what had been normal, just to make sure I have ammo (with the correct PF) for sanctioned matches.

Respectfully,
jkelly
 
What I originally thought was a MGL actually proves to be a guide to the well stocked ammo supply. I try to stick to it.

EXCERPT.....
527 CMR 13.04: Licenses, Registrations, Permits and Certificates

(1) Exemption: License, Registration, or Permit: In accordance with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 148 § 13, the Board hereby prescribes the following quantities of explosive materials that shall be exempt from License, Registration, and Permit and may be kept, or stored in a building or other structure:

(a) Small Arms Ammunition

1. Not more than 10,000 rounds of rim fire ammunition.

2. Not more than 10,000 rounds of center fire ammunition.

3. Not more than 5,000 rounds of shotgun ammunitiion.
Click to expand...
 
Well now that I own a 380, whenever I find any I buy as much as allowed. Seem like people are doing the same thing for that calibre.
 
icyclefar said:
What I originally thought was a MGL actually proves to be a guide to the well stocked ammo supply. I try to stick to it.
Click to expand...

haha - good idea...

I've been having a really hard time finding 357 sig... other than that I pick up a few boxes here and there, it seems like they've always got something on the shelf...
 
jar said:
I just got back from buying some ammo. As I was putting it away in the safe, I realized that what used to be a comfortably large amount of ammo seems just barely enough.

I'm a typical regular but not terribly serious action pistol shooter. I shoot on average about 300 rounds a month. Pre-election, I'd buy a case(1k) of 9mm, shoot until I got down to about 200 rounds and buy another case. Now, every time I see ammo at Walmart, I buy the 600 round max. Lately this has kept me slightly ahead of my consumption.

I was thinking about it and trying to figure out when I'll stop doing this as availability improves. Even if the ammo counter is fully stocked on every trip, I don't think I'll ever be comfortable with just buying it as I use it again. I'm wondering how typical my experience is and what it might mean for the future ammo market if/when things settle down.

The occasional shooter who buys a box or two of ammo on the way to the range may be much less common in the future. Anyone who's been around longer than me or especially who's worked in a gun shop for a long period care to opine?
Click to expand...

The ammo shortage got me started in reloading so the only thing I buy now is .22LR and some 223 because I haven't learned how to reload it yet.

Get started. I just loaded 1k rounds yesterday and the day before.
 
Underwhere said:
The ammo shortage got me started in reloading so the only thing I buy now is .22LR and some 223 because I haven't learned how to reload it yet.

Get started. I just loaded 1k rounds yesterday and the day before.
Click to expand...

That's what I'm doing. I convinced my parents to get me a press for Christmas. I went over to EC's last week to get a demo/lesson on the Hornady LnL. Now I've got to start finding primers.
 
I have always been one to randomly buy a couple boxes when I was at a store that had ammo. I also reload and have a tendency to pick up components anytime I am at the gun store. If you pick up a box of primers here and a pound of powder there you don't notice the dent in your wallet as much.

Sean
 
I look at ammo like any other commodity we use regularly, like soap. paper towels, or tuna. Buy it cheap, and stack it deep. When paper towels are on sale, I buy a lot. I almost never by one or two rolls of paper towels, and I almost never buy a single box of ammo. The economics are just against it. Almost at any time, some ammo is a deal compared to the market. For a while, it was .30-06 from CMP; 7.62x25 and 5.45x39 still are.

Case lots are the way to go.
 
My wife and I have a only somewhat joking saying: "Always buy Ammo." If we see it available, we take some home. Most of our shooting is 22lr, and each shoot maybe 1000 rounds a month. We have more than a 1/2 year supply.

Thankfully, I believe we are not subject to any laws limiting the amount of ammo we can own, in Connecticut.

Our other accompnying saying is: "Always buy a__wipes," keeping with the idea of stacking some of life's real essentials very deep.
 
ScottS said:
I look at ammo like any other commodity we use regularly, like soap. paper towels, or tuna. Case lots are the way to go.
Click to expand...

+1 have a monthly ammo budget.

If you only buy a few boxes a month or purchase a couple cases,have an ammo allotment.
You don't have to "Break the Bank",and there is no such thing as "Too-Much" ammunition.
 
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Sure, I've has changed my buying habits. I used to make specific trips for ammo - "I need more XXXX, I'll go buy some", otherwise I never thought of it. Now, if I'm anywhere that sells ammo, I look every time. I may not buy anything they have, might laugh at the price and move on, but I'm looking. I can't walk by a Walmart without running in to check for Minimags and Federal bulk 22.
 
icyclefar said:
What I originally thought was a MGL actually proves to be a guide to the well stocked ammo supply. I try to stick to it.
Click to expand...

Since those restrictions are per structure (rather than per person), does that mean that people with sheds, detached garages, etc. can have 10k rounds in each structure?
 
Affected my buying habits? Absolutely! And it will continue to affect my buying habits for the foreseeable future... probably for as long as crazy leftist Dems control congress.

Permanently changed my buying habits? Permanent is a very long time. I can't see the current threat lasting at this level of intensity forever. Call me an optimist, but I'm thinking the threat will pass in time and buying habits will return to the pre-Barry/Nancy/Harry level.

CLMN
 
lupis42 said:
Since those restrictions are per structure (rather than per person), does that mean that people with sheds, detached garages, etc. can have 10k rounds in each structure?
Click to expand...

Search the threads. I remember someone saying it was per residential address, not per individual structure.
 
CLMN said:
Permanently changed my buying habits? Permanent is a very long time. I can't see the current threat lasting at this level of intensity forever. Call me an optimist, but I'm thinking the threat will pass in time and buying habits will return to the pre-Barry/Nancy/Harry level.

CLMN
Click to expand...

That's exactly the point I was asking about. Once you can walk in to a gun shop and buy whatever you want at a reasonable price, will you STILL have different habits BECAUSE of living through the shortage? I will.
 
I have permanently changed my habits. No more relying on the store to have what I want.

I have a " rainy day in hell " stash , for the End of the World. I'll probably know it when I see it.

And I have my Using supply. I load what I shoot , except of course 22LR , and try to buy more than I use , I am usually ahead.

The other thing I've changed is * What I Shoot * , instead of spending the day going through a bunch of crappy Wolf .223 , I spend most of the day shooting medium to high quality 22LR in my 10/22 that I set up as a Liberty Trainer/Appleseed gun. And then a Mag or 2 of handloaded .223/5.56 .

Better quality practice , better quality ammo in the black gun ( for less money ) , and my shooting has gotten a hell of a lot better.

Gotta find the bright side to bad situations.
 
Every payday is a buy, I consider it an Asset as in Essential.

I am paid by-weekly so twice a month works for me.
 
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Spanz said:
Search the threads. I remember someone saying it was per residential address, not per individual structure.
Click to expand...

I remember a previous thread in which the consensus was that it WAS per residential address and that the reason was based on fire department concerns.

They want to know/limit what they might face on a single call to a single location. It's possible to get waivers for these limits from the fire department...again, the intent is that they are informed of what they might face in responding to a call.
.
 
reload

i started reloading just short of 3 years ago. i kept hearing that price
increases were on the way, and so on and you know the rest.

since reloading i have not bought any ammo, just components.

If you reload buy in quantity, buy a case of primers if you find them
not just one box.

i'm sure folks are aware that you can't reload 22lr.

JimB
 
I reload all the calibers I use the most.

I try to lay in as much supplies as I can afford to stay ahead of the price increases. Things are stabilizing a bit now, but you never know. I like to have enough stuff on hand so that if I don't order/buy anything for 3-6 months, I'll still have ammo to shoot with, or be able to make it.

-Mike
 
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JuergenG said:
No, because I started to buy relatively large quantities of ammo and components before the SHTF[smile]
Click to expand...

You and me both. Started buying a few years ago...no current politics involved...when I saw what China was doing. They were buying up all scrap metal in sight. I knew (gut) that this would eventually affect the ammo market. Looked for all the sales I could find at the time and bought what I could afford in the calibers I normally use. Am damn glad I did.

While friends complain about "availability", I now have enough for practice and matches. Don't get me wrong, not gloating by any means. Am just happy I listened to my gut....and could afford what I did.

The wife was not happy at the time....she now sees the light. [wink]
 

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