Well now… it’s been a while. It seems like I am always working on Thursday and today is no exception. But I am writing on Wednesday to post on Thursday because I can. I created the draft placeholder over a month ago, now I have no idea what I was going to write about at the time.

So, I am going to go a different direction today. I am going to talk about what I see and what we can do in this ‘Tacticool’ space. What do I see? A lot of nothing. In the great firearms buying frenzy of 2010 that cleared briefly and then went from 2012 to 2016 there were some differences than today.

The first is, firearms minus the AR15 variants were abundant. That is not the case today. Many stores that I see have less than full shelves. It looks like you can buy a bolt action hunting rifle or some really inexpensive 22s.

Even the ammunition looks different than the Obama years. I could buy as many shotgun shells as I wanted to. Now, the only thing I see on the shelves at the local store is 28 gauge. I could buy match grade 22LR like Eley where I was paying $6/50. Now we can only dream of finding that. I saw Remington Thunderbolt at $50/500 by a private seller. That is crazy. Someone bought it at $15 or less more than likely.

Fortunately, I bought ammo when it was available. Do I have as much as I want? No. But, since my shooting has scaled way back this last year as I have focused on working and finding work, I have way more than I ‘need’ because I haven’t shot anything since September.

Another thing that is different is that primers were scarce during the Obama buying, but powder and bullets were not. Now, there is none of that. The prices for private sales are three times what they were a year ago. Just crazy. I do have reloading components as well because I started focusing on buying only on performance type ammunition and loading all of my range ammo several years ago (minus shotgun shells cause I didn’t think I would need to). So I have bullets and primers and powder.

So, you are not going to buy ammunition, nor reloading components or probably firearms unless you are willing to pony up the cash to pay the market rates. What is the ‘Tacticool’ guy to do? Here are my suggestions.

  • Optics- these are still available at the the normal prices. I am going through and looking at all of my platforms and tightening up the places where I would like to make enhancements, like adding red dots and saddle mounts for my shotguns.
  • Magazines- I still see AR magazines on the shelf. I have always encouraged having more than you think you need because they break sometimes. You also never know when the standard capacity magazine will be outlawed.
  • Accessories- Barrels for that shotgun, new grips for that handgun, holsters, range bags, tools and equipment like spotting scopes, range detectors or wind meters. There is also targets that can be fun..
  • Quality over quantity- Since a lot of things are not available splurge for the things that will make you happy. Some day, I want to change out the grips on a revolver from black rubber to elk antler. I think it will look really sharp but they are $180, a little hard to justify at the moment.
  • Field time versus range time- I like to hunt. With the exception of waterfowl or predator hunting, usually this involves a lot less shooting. The biggest problem is that this is not a season where I live other than waterfowl or non-game species like rabbits. But some states have squirrel still. Heck some states still have big game at this time. It is the time of year to start planning for hunting season, looking for antler sheds is about to start and general scouting can begin if you are not snowed in
  • Maybe it’s a good time to take up fishing- That is sort of tongue and cheek but I tend to focus on other things when I can’t get ammunition. I plan to get back into fly tying at some point in my life. I would like to try cross country skiing or snow shoeing. All things can sort of be related to general fitness and preparedness and hunting and enjoying the outdoors.

With all this said, I don’t know if it will ever be as good as it was the last couple of years with supply and pricing. Since this is a pay to play world, this might be the new normal. I would bet it is for the next two years at least. So, we might as well get settled in for a longer term strategy. I encourage people to look outside the lines for participation into their hobbies. I know for myself that accessorizing has been a pacifier for not being able to do. That is a story for another day.