Tag: Ammo shortage

January 13, 2022 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

January 13, 2022 /

The other day, I was in a local store and I saw more ammunition on the shelves than I have seen in almost two years. I won’t say that the problem is over by any means but it got me curious about some other locations and specifically components.

Last night, I had the occasion to go to the larger nearby city for some specific lightbulbs I couldn’t buy locally. I thought that I would stop in to Sportsman’s Warehouse to see if that matched my local experience. Again, they had some ammunition, pretty much what they have had recently 9mm, 40 S&W, 7.62×51, 6.5 Creedmoor and 12 gauge goose and duck loads. I did see a few boxes of 38 special, 22WMR, 44 special, 223 and 5.56 and that was new.

This post isn’t another inventory report on who has what, where. As I said in the first paragraph, I was looking for components not just ammunition. And the good news it seems like you can buy bulk (handgun) bullets but still not powder and primers. I have talked about my position before but I thought that I would hone in on my specific situation to give perspective.

Reloading became popular in the 1960’s. It was a way to get much better performance or specific results out of a firearm. So for instance, if you buy 45 Colt factory ammunition, it is loaded for maximum pressures not to exceed what could still be fired in an Colt 1873 Army revolver. The new Ruger Blackhawk can handle pressures up to the SAAMI limit (not the 45 Colt limit) which is three times that amount specified for the cartridge. Hence, you get the +P designation that you will see on a box of ammunition.

Still using that example, the 1873 originally used softer lead bullets. There is a phenomenon causes lead to foul the barrel if travelling too fast. This is why using a copper jacketed bullet is preferable if loading to higher pressures. Since the 45 Colt uses the same bullet diameter as the 454 Casull and the 460 Smith and Wesson there are a lot of selections of construction and weight to choose from (if you reload).

If you already own a 45 Colt, then you might already know all of this including loads safe to shoot in an 1873 are marked ‘Cowboy’ meaning lower velocity and soft lead bullets. Specifically, there is a specification for the pressure and construction that will prevent you from harming yourself if you are shooting something 150 years old. Confused yet?

I reload because I enjoy it. I also reload from the preparedness aspect. This time, I was unprepared in a way. From the last ammo shortage (2012-2016) I learned that primers were unavailable for years, I got those. Bullets are now somewhat available (and I have some). Powder is still scarce. So while I have a little, I don’t really have enough to load the primers I have.

The idea with reloading is that you find the right powder, primer, bullet combination that makes your firearm perform at its best. Where I am in the journey is that I have loaded some but haven’t done a whole lot of testing. Therefore, I held off on really having the stuff on hand to weather an ammunition shortage like I had planned. Now that we are here, I don’t have the options or the knowledge that I would like.

I suppose the industrious ones bought whatever they could find. I have seen a lot of trade requests for powder and primers happening over the year. In fact, a number of my bottles I haven’t yet opened because I just don’t do that much rifle shooting and I have been waiting to build up enough brass to run a batch for testing purposes. The powder on the left were what I wanted to try first.

End Your Programming Routine: So, that is my interest in components. Before all of this hit, I was building a starting point inventory and didn’t quite get there. Now all of that has been on hold for several years with no end in sight. Just because one powder can work in two cartridges doesn’t mean that it is optimal either. The only way to get there with the knowledge is to do it. With that, I hope it clears up soon.

December 16, 2021 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

December 16, 2021 /

One of the few things I don’t mind too much is Christmas shopping for the sportsman on the list. I did a lot of looking around last weekend not because I needed to but because I wanted to. I thought that I would give a summary of my observations today.  Between the run on firearms and ammunition to the supply chain issues I got a general sense of how things are fairing.

I wrote about the gun show earlier this week.  This particular one happens twice a year and happens to be my geographically closest, perennial show.  It also happens to be regarded as one of the best in the state, so I usually make a point to go even though I never buy anything.

The truth was I was looking for a few items.  I was looking for shotgun slugs for my next range trip. I am waiting for some on order but I also wanted a different style as well.  The way things are going these days between availability and quantity limits, it is very difficult to find all of what you want in one transaction.    I was also looking for reloading components, specifically powder.  

Here is what I saw

  • Firearms – Some of the same players were there.  The Old West Colt dealer was there.  He had his $3000 Peacemakers and his selection looked as healthy as ever.  The big, show dealers were absent.  Typically, these are regional dealers that take 3-6 tables and have that many new firearms.  The single table, 7-8 hunting rifles for sale seemed to also be missing.  The side racks usually hold the ‘value’ purchases.  Most of what I saw there were surplus bolt actions, the Mosin-Nagants, Mousers, 1903 Springfields and the prices weren’t bad.  Overall, I would estimate 50% less firearms than normal.
  • Ammunition- Typically there are several vendors that are selling ammunition only.  Sometimes they are reloads, sometimes they are just a selection of factory new.  There were no vendors of this description.  Ammunition in general was pretty scarce.  What was there was no deal, I would say above even market rate which is probably why it was still available.  Components faired worse.  I saw almost no powder, or bullets or primers.  I saw 1000 primers for $144.  That is 4x what I paid two years ago.
  • Knick-Knacks – I wouldn’t say that there any more dealers there than normal.  I would describe the most prevalent tables as dealers that had 5-20 firearms and 75% of the table space was other sporting goods.  I would describe it as a sort of a flea market or bizarre of related goods.  It is kind of fun to see once in a while but largely more of a time waster.  There was one dealer that had several tables of cheap knives, that was new.  There were several dealers of knives only which is unusual.

Because I failed at finding slugs at the gun show, I checked several other places.  Sportsman’s Warehouse had no slugs and no reloading components other than bullets (which selection does seem to be improving slightly). It seems like 9mm is available now, albeit the price is three times what it was and you are limited to two boxes per purchase.  As I said before, I don’t own a 9mm but it is the bellwether being probably the most common and cheapest centerfire caliber.  They even had some 22LR, the price was $50 for a 500 bulk pack which I last bought for $15 two years ago.

I next checked a regional chain called Coastal Farm and they did have slugs with a limit of two boxes.  A box is five slugs and I want five boxes (25) for my sight in test and to have a box or two in reserve.  This chain has several stores in our region so I went to another nearby town.  They also had slugs, but they restricted me to one box.  So, technically I have enough to do my test and that is it.  I suppose the good news is that I paid $8 a box which seems to be the best price I have seen.

In between the two, I went to a local pawn shop that I have had good luck.  They did have a couple boxes of slugs for $10 a box.  I wish I would have bought them based on how the rest of the day went.  They were busy with other transactions and no one was behind the gun counter, so I left. 

I will say it again, but when checking ballistics, having one lot (and brand) of ammunition is important for consistency purposes.  Now that I have surveyed the state of affairs, it will be really difficult to achieve this in this in the current times.

End Your Programming Routine: I am hearing on the national radio shows that the shortage is getting better.  The ammo/component makers are saying that they are making more than ever, yet the shelves still seem to be bare. The reason any ammunition is on the shelves, it is two – four times what it was. My analysis says that it might be infinitesimally better.   You might be able to buy something, be prepared to pay significantly more and don’t expect a lot of choice in load and bullet.

I saw slugs available in September right before hunting season but the way these things go, that will be the last time I see them on the shelves until next hunting season.  I think that we have a long way to go.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see it still a problem in 2023.

 

 

July 8, 2021 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

July 8, 2021 /

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.

February 4, 2021 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

February 4, 2021 /

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.