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Where the hell is the ammo going?

Gatorgrizz27

Well-known member
Joined
May 20, 2020
Member Number
756
Messages
888
First, yes I do have a decent supply and haven’t been oblivious to what’s going on with new gun owners/Covid/shortages/etc. However, I’d like to continue being able to replace (some of) what I shoot, and buy new guns that I don’t have ammo for already.

From the start of this crap until about a month ago, I could still find most stuff besides 9mm here as long as you were quick. It was kept behind the counter at Bass Pro with a 3 box limit, and Academy had been getting trucks 3x a week if you got in line 10 minutes before they opened, it was gone 10 minutes later, but it was at least there.

There has been zero at Bass Pro recently, and Academy just stepped down to trucks coming twice a week. Last Wednesday their entire shipment was 8 boxes of 5.56, and today there was zero of anything.

I’m not falling into the “Bloomberg and Soros are buying it all up”, or “ammo companies are being bribed not to make any”, but some shady shit it going on, even if it’s just being sold off the side for inflated prices, or store employees are involved.

A couple weeks ago there were probably 80 boxes of 5.56 at Academy an hour before they closed. Bought my 3 boxes, came back right before they opened the next day, all gone.

Anybody know what’s up?
 
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It's antifa of course, always buying out all the ammo to keep the real patriots down.
 
Where the fuck have you been for the last year? Between the BLM riots, covid, the election and 7,000,000 new gun owners is where the ammo is going. If just those 7,000,000 new gun owners only bought 2 20 round boxes each that’s 280,000,000 rounds. You can bet people have been buying a lot more than 2 boxes of ammo over the last year.
 
This is about the 5th thread on this. Ammo manufacturers are saying it'll be 2022 or beyond before they catch up. If dems go after guns/ammo, all bets are off.

Covid/riots/election amped up demand. 8 million new gun owners. Overseas supply chain disrupted due to covid. They are pumping out ammo as fast as they can. Hired 100's of workers, etc.
 
The same people buying toilet paper because they heard other people are buying up all the toilet paper are the same people out buying ammo right now. When people feel like they're going to be left out they make a run on goods.
 
Yeah, I understand the demand/panic buying/run. Did anybody read my post? I’m not asking why the shelves are bare, I’m asking why none of this ammo they are cranking out is even making it to major retailers, especially when they aren’t allowing online orders like they used to. It’s one thing for a shipment to hit the shelves and be sold out in 10 minutes, but it’s not even getting there.

I know many companies pre-order their stuff months or a year in advance. Each week it might be 50 boxes of 5.56, 10 boxes of .243, 7mm-08, .300 Win, etc. Where’s that stuff? Couple scenarios I can think of:

1. Ammo manufacturers are selling to the highest bidder, schmucks like “Cheaper than dirt” are paying more for it and then selling it for $1/round. Companies like Academy and Bass Pro that don’t want to price gouge can’t order it at that price. Seems short sighted from the ammo companies.

2. They are just telling retailers “sorry, we can’t fulfill the orders you placed because our lines are setup to make 5.56, .308,etc right now. Again, seems bad for long term relationships.

3. Something else is going on?
 
VG SERE said:
This is about the 5th thread on this. Ammo manufacturers are saying it'll be 2022 or beyond before they catch up. If dems go after guns/ammo, all bets are off.

Covid/riots/election amped up demand. 8 million new gun owners. Overseas supply chain disrupted due to covid. They are pumping out ammo as fast as they can. Hired 100's of workers, etc.
Click to expand...

IF???
Welcom to thw prk way...
 
grandeyota said:
Remember all the scalpers that were hoarding .22lr a few years back? Now they are doing it for more than just .22lr.
Click to expand...

Yaknow, my birthday two years back my wife went to the LGS and asked the guy there for ideas. Came back with two things of BRC coffee and two bricks of 22lr. Like, the massive bricks. You have any idea how many hours I have kicked back in the Kubota shooting squirrels? :laughing:
 
Military contracts are being filled too. They take precedence over all other. Not to mention that back orders from suppliers. Divide that by the number of retailers and the number of buyers (new and old) and you end up with a very small supply showing up. Some of these guys are buying it to resell right now as well with no intention of ever owning a gun themselves. And there are still new gun buyers showing up every day. Was in a LGS just this weekend and 5 or 6 people who had never owned guns showed up looking to buy handguns. I'm betting they aren't the only ones that came in that day or the entire weekend.
 
Gatorgrizz27 said:
From the start of this crap until about a month ago, I could still find most stuff besides 9mm here as long as you were quick. It was kept behind the counter at Bass Pro with a 3 box limit, and Academy had been getting trucks 3x a week if you got in line 10 minutes before they opened, it was gone 10 minutes later, but it was at least there.
Click to expand...

Every, and I mean EVERY, store here in CO hasn't had any ammo for almost a year now. LGS/indoor range I visit MIGHT have a box or two IF you bought a gun from them EARLY in the day. Last time I was there (months ago) there were two Denver cops carrying out two big fish bowl-like containers of, what I can only assume were, reloads (LGS isn't in Denver, not even close). You had ammo as near as a month ago??? I travelled to IA during Christmas, and as a matter of course, I stop in various WalMarts and Tractor Supply stores. Most places I went while there had a couple of boxes of 30-06 and one place had two boxes of 30-30 (which I bought) and ABSOLUTELY NOTHING else (except there seemed to be plenty of 12g bird shot). Where is the ammo going? It's getting distributed so razor thinly that it evaporates before it hits the shelf.
 
So I guess nobody actually knows, huh?

Again, I get why it’s not sitting on the shelves, but if they are making it as claimed I’d think our store should be able to get their hands on more than 8 boxes total in 2 weeks.
 
To add to the tinfoil, I just talked to my gun dealer friend tonight he said that he isn't getting thing in like he is supposed to from his suppliers.

Demand is through the roof, I understand, but the new manufactured ammo should still be coming in and it isn't.

Most of what he is selling is older stock that people are cashing in on.
 
Um people getting isck and not being able to work and supplies for ammo is limited? Same reason we ran out of TP earlier, it was bought up and supply couldn't resupply fast enough.
 
Gatorgrizz27 said:
So I guess nobody actually knows, huh?

Again, I get why it’s not sitting on the shelves, but if they are making it as claimed I’d think our store should be able to get their hands on more than 8 boxes total in 2 weeks.
Click to expand...

Dont worry, every law enforcement agency is well supplied.
 
aron82 said:
To add to the tinfoil, I just talked to my gun dealer friend tonight he said that he isn't getting thing in like he is supposed to from his suppliers.

Demand is through the roof, I understand, but the new manufactured ammo should still be coming in and it isn't.

Most of what he is selling is older stock that people are cashing in on.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Somebody actually gets it.

Heard the same thing from the small shop here that’s been selling stuff at $1/round. Haven’t bought anything from them but they apparently asked their supplier when they would be getting more and basically told “we have no idea.”

If it’s something like waiting on imported primers that haven’t been allowed in, you’d think the ammo manufacturers would be saying that. Instead it’s been “we are running at full capacity, demand has been sky high.”
 
Halffastford said:
Since the plethora of reasons above don't make sense to you, may be read this. It has industry people discussing what's going on.
https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/2020-ammo-shortage/387068
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Thanks. Read that. Seems like allowing so many back orders to be placed is part of the problem with stuff not hitting the shelves. If a place like Palmetto State was able to get in an order for something like 10 million rounds, the majority of the stuff being churned out would be going to them rather than normal retailers trying to get their “pre-Covid” shipments in.
 
TRINDU said:
Dont worry, every law enforcement agency is well supplied.
Click to expand...

They're not though, they can't get any either. One of my brother-in-laws is a LEO at one of our larger cities. They went from qualifying at the range quarterly to annually, and if they have any of the ammo they are given to qualify with left afterwards, they have to turn it back in.
 
It's not just guns, it's literally every industry right now, and especially bad for hobbyist industries.

Guns, sports equipment, video games, pc components, outdoor sports equipment, ect, ect. Demand in these industries is through the roof and manufacturing isn't capable of keeping up.
 
Gatorgrizz27 said:
Thanks. Somebody actually gets it.

Heard the same thing from the small shop here that’s been selling stuff at $1/round. Haven’t bought anything from them but they apparently asked their supplier when they would be getting more and basically told “we have no idea.”

If it’s something like waiting on imported primers that haven’t been allowed in, you’d think the ammo manufacturers would be saying that. Instead it’s been “we are running at full capacity, demand has been sky high.”
Click to expand...

Says someone that doesn't understand the supply chain. It doesn't take much of anything to create the situation we are in. I know it's a boring plain answer but that's reality not some fancy Hollywood themed conspiracy.,
 
I have wondered if the amount of new calibers brought to the market is also helping to limit production. It’s not like there are only a handful of popular calibers now. There seem to have been 2-3 added each year over the past decade (that may be an exaggeration, but there seem to be a bunch).
 
Gatorgrizz27 said:
This popped up in my YouTube feed.

https://youtu.be/Wp2eF-b80JI
Click to expand...

I'm with this guy... I'm sitting on all my stock and not paying the rip off prices. I want to know who is paying over a grand for a case of 5.56? Or 600 bucks for a case of 9mm? 7.62x39 is getting $700 a case in some places. :laughing:

There's no way. I will stop shooting entirely until the prices come back down to sane levels... if they don't then I will have enough to go and take other's stock piles.:flipoff2:
 
Motorcharge said:
It's not just guns, it's literally every industry right now, and especially bad for hobbyist industries.

Guns, sports equipment, video games, pc components, outdoor sports equipment, ect, ect. Demand in these industries is through the roof and manufacturing isn't capable of keeping up.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Tried to buy dumbells or weights lately? Or a bike?
 
I can understand there not being any of the popular calibers like 233/5.56 and so forth but hell....30-30? Who the fuck hords 1000s of rounds of 30-30? I know it's still fairly popular for deer hunting but those guys are happy with a few boxes.

I'd like to sight a new scope in but I guess it'll wait.
 
Thumping said:
I can understand there not being any of the popular calibers like 233/5.56 and so forth but hell....30-30? Who the fuck hords 1000s of rounds of 30-30? I know it's still fairly popular for deer hunting but those guys are happy with a few boxes.

I'd like to sight a new scope in but I guess it'll wait.
Click to expand...

That, 45-70, 444, etc. None of that is tacticool.
 
Aggie06 said:
That, 45-70, 444, etc. None of that is tacticool.
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Exactly so.....wtf?

Seems theres something else in play here. I'm not a tin foil type person but I'm not sure I'm buying people hording shit that's not what one would consider "popular".
 
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