If you are like me then you have kind of given up on looking for ammunition. After over a year of nothing on the shelves, the entire pursuit has dropped off my radar. I wrote about the struggles to buy enough to participate in the trap season. Luck was on our side with that.

I have heard via radio and other sources that it is starting to come back. I thought that I would take a look for myself. To be fully transparent, I heard that it was always available online but my searches were pretty spotty. For instance when looking for trap, I did find cases available at $16/box (3-4 times what it cost the previous year) and sold out within hours. I hesitated as I was working multiple other deals and watched the inventory disappear on the screen.

I checked a few of sources in the last couple of days. What I have seen is some of the most common choices were on the shelf. The options were limited and the prices are elevated, I would say that this is far from over. In quasi-reporter style, this is what I have seen consistently in the last three months

  • 7.62×39 FMJ
  • 28 gauge target
  • 20 gauge turkey loads

In my check over the last couple of days I saw

  • 7.62×51 FMJ
  • 223 FMJ
  • 9mm FMJ and HP
  • 30-06 hunting
  • 10 gauge hunting
  • 12 gauge target and hunting

I know there aren’t many people like me (that don’t own a 9mm and don’t really care) but that is a bellwether indicator that ammunition is on the shelf. Industry insider’s public statements indicate that it is going to be at least a year and a half before a return to normal. I give that a hard maybe because that presupposes that everything including politics stay status quo. However, it does seem as this years news cycle is much more calm then last years. It only takes one event to change everything again.

End Your Programming Routine: If you are looking for ammunition, now might be a time to start. I know that I have scaled my shooting down quite a bit from the the previous years so I am still sitting in a good spot other than trap. At some point, this will have to change. The market will market.