Ammo shortage conspiracy or are we just in a buying frenzy?

[drjoker]

I heard that Obama and Bush told domestic ammo manufacturers that they had to slow down civilian sales or they'll lose their defense contracts. They've also stopped selling surplus to civilians. This is a plot to render all guns useless due to a lack of ammo. This is how they'll ban guns, by banning the ammo since technically, guns are protected by the constitution but not the ammo. Is this true?

I also heard that Americans bought 14 million guns last year. This is more than the total gun inventory of 21 of the world's biggest armies. This resulted in 14 BILLION rounds of ammo purchased for these guns. They can't keep up with demand? Is this why we have a shortage? http://www.ammoland.com/2010/01/13/gun- ... s-in-2009/

Interesting tidbit: Americans own 200 million guns. That's more than ALL the guns in the world held by all the worlds' armies. Wow. that's impressive. Makes me proud to be an American!

[Mike1951]

The stories I've heard have every ammo maker running at full capacity, unable to keep up with the war needs and increased domestic purchasing.

There is some foreign surplus available, but hoarding has burned through what's available and driven the cost up.

I may be corrected on this, but I don't believe there has been any legitimate U.S. surplus for many years. I believe the Lake City being sold is commercial.

Also, if you've been following the Ammo Prices thread, you know that things are better now than they have been for about 16 months.

[MadMonkey]

Wish I had some hoarded ammo

[joe817]

Thanks for posting the link drjoker.

Here's what they had to say on P.2:
"Scottsdale, AZ --(AmmoLand.com)-As expected, the end of the ammo shortage is a spotty affair, with readers writing to say that their neck of the woods is still sparse or barren."

http://www.ammoland.com/tag/ammo-shortage/page/2/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It reflects what we've been seeing. The ammo shortage is ending, but it's not over.

[The Annoyed Man]

I believe the Lake City being sold is commercial.

Also, if you've been following the Ammo Prices thread, you know that things are better now than they have been for about 16 months.

I shot some Lake City 175 grain HPBT Match in my .308 bolt rifle yesterday that was one of the most accurate cartridges I've ever fired in that rifle. It was purchased at CTD.

[E150GT]

In my neck of the woods, the only ammo that is hard to find is .380. It can be found at the gun shops, but its $30 for a box.

[cougartex]

In this area ammo is available, but limited to "X" number of boxes bought at the same time.

[chabouk]

Caliber .380 will continue to be spotty, because it's in vastly greater demand than it used to be. People are not just buying .380 pistols, they're carrying them, and they're taking them to the range and shooting them. It's not like the days of yore, when you bought "the little woman a gun she can handle" and one box of ammo, let her shoot one magazine full, reloaded it, and the rest of the box sat in the closet gathering dust for years.

A friend of mine has contacts at the Remington ammo plant outside Little Rock, and they told him that they plan their entire year's production run a year in advance. Once they start a production run on a particular caliber, they don't stop until they've done the year's run, and once they change to the next caliber, they don't go back to another even if they run out.

There's not much room for market bumps in ammo production. It's not a Just-In-Time supply chain.

[rgoldy]

Geez, I dont know who ever thought one of them small .380's was "for the little woman".
I got her one,(Keltec) she shoots it, I shoot it, but man......that thing is a handful with commercial
loads. Not something I want to spend an afternoon shooting. She much prefers her Kahr steel frame
in 9mm. The Keltec is a good choice for a concealable personal defense weapon, or a backup to a
full size pistol, but that is about all I want it for.
That said, .380 is available, but expensive.

[TexasGal]

I have noticed more 9mm available at the local Walmarts, but still not much .38 spl and no .380. They still have the rules in place allowing only two boxes at a time per caliber. I buy it as often as I can squeeze the money out of the budget. Since that's not a lot, I guess I don't classify as a hoarder. I only have enough for the first wave of zombies

[RECIT]

I buy ammo in bulk most of the time. 9mm and 7.62x39 is usually bought is bulk. I shoot a lot so I want to have a lot on hand. I don't think it is hoarding if you are using it in a six month to a year time frame. I usually only buy those calibers once to twice a year b/c of the amount I buy. .308 is just too expensive to really buy a case of it, so I buy battle packs and milsurp when I can get a deal...cough cough. Is any .308 really a deal? I have recently acquired a .45 1911 and a .357 revolver so those are two more calibers I will be buying for in the near future.

[ericlw]

walmart seems to have quite a bit of 9mm and tons of .40

they seem to have issues keeping .45 in stock.

I dont think its as bad as last year around this time when you couldnt buy anything or it was super expensive.

[Mastodon]

Walmart has been good overall with WWB & Federal 9mm and .40, also Remington .38 special.
Academy has been good, but slightly less so than Wally World, with their Monarch. I prefer Federal and Rem over Monarch though.

I do wonder how much a difference living in a large metropolitan area vs. a smaller city makes currently.

I, generally, twice a month walk into a Walmart and pickup a couple of boxes of the aforementioned cals.

Ammo seems generally more available than a yr ago..

[MojoTexas]

walmart seems to have quite a bit of 9mm and tons of .40

they seem to have issues keeping .45 in stock.

I dont think its as bad as last year around this time when you couldnt buy anything or it was super expensive.

I've noticed the same thing. The only .45 ACP they have are the JHP self-defense rounds. I've already got those...what I want is just some plain ole 230-gr FMJ for going to the range.

I'm seriously considering taking up reloading, just so I can stay stocked up on .45 ACP.

[chabouk]

Geez, I dont know who ever thought one of them small .380's was "for the little woman".

Yup, that's why I intended it sarcastically. Whoever thinks that small light guns are easier to handle is just plain nuts. Especially when introducing a woman to shooting, I recommend the biggest and heaviest gun that fits her hands.