Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Is the ammunition shortage real?

That money is collected and sent to the home state of the purchaser. They don't keep that tax.

80% of lead in the US market is from reclaimed/recycled sources according the the lead trade association.

https://www.ila-lead.org/lead-facts/lead-production--statistics

Just for [bleep], went to AMMOSEEK and typed in 30.06 180gr. It yielded five results and three of them were foreignshit. Not a single Winchester, Hornady or Remington product. I mean like I wasn't looking for 318WR or anything weird.

What took you so long?

Can someone spot me a half a box 9mm for the revolution? I’m good for it..

For somebody who shoots 200 rounds a week, 10k wouldn't last a year.

Not talking about those guys. They are extremely rare. I'm talking about Bubba, who doesn't shoot a 30 rounds a year, but buys it just in case.....

So, anyone who has seen this crap happen repeatedly and takes steps long beforehand to not get caught short again is a hoarder.

Anyone who goes out to buy something he needs and has a chance to buy a little extra so he won’t have to go on the prowl for more in a month or so is selfish.

Whadya call someone who keeps letting the same predictable situation bite him in the azz over and over and over, and thinks the solution is to call sensible people names?

Whiney dumbazz comes to mind.

Well, it’s easy to dream up an imaginary character to support your arguments, ain’t it?

Well, if it's not REAL, what is it then?

From the Powder Valley blog - Some logic for the discussion.
"Normally, we would say “stock up.” But that time has passed, and I would encourage everyone to learn from this. Stock up in times of plentiful supply so that you are not affected as greatly during these times of extreme shortage."

I really do not feel sorry for anyone who is caught short, if you were one of those folks then it means that you have not been paying attention the last few decades. The last time I got caught a little short was the primer scare in the 80's, since then I have always bought whatever I needed when it was on sale or if I had shot more than normal. It was only a few months ago that I bought 22 caliber Hornady V-Max for $7.00 per box shipped, I didn't need them at the moment but it was a great investment. The same with 22 LR ammo, last spring I bought 100 packs of Winchester Super X 40 gr HP ammo for $5.99 per hundred with a $5.00 per pack rebate - Yep, 22 LR for a penny each.

Our shopping mentality in this country has become like European society - buy only what you need for now and go buy more in a couple of days. That is poor thinking no matter what the commodity, whether it is toilet paper or ammo.

For those of you who are not familiar with it take a moment to read Aesop's fable of the ant and grasshopper
https://fablesofaesop.com/the-ant-and-the-grasshopper.html

drover

I know where to buy ammo. You've really got to get up off your wallet to pay for it, though.

Anybody who's seen this happen before should not be contributing to the shortage now. I haven't bought any ammo at all in 2020 yet there is no shortage at my house. In fact my heirs will probably inherit several years worth of ammo along with the guns.

It's real. It's hard to find, prices are inflated....yes, it's real. Producers are behind.

Since covid started back in the spring I've been home a lot more and I shot A LOT more. I shot a lot to begin with. None of it spray and pray I rarely fire over 3 shots quickly. Someone mentioned 200 rounds a week, that's not even a day if you count rimfire. I like to shoot and have a 300 yard range out my door (I have to travel to shoot longer).

Now is the time of year I shoot very little because I'm hunting....so it's not as big of a deal to cut back, I do it naturally now. It's just to verify and dry a bore after hunting in the rain....but Spring is around the corner.

How many shortages have we experienced the past 30 years and still the unprepared blame others?

A year ago ammo was cheap and plentiful and everyone knew an election was coming up and that Dems would create a fake crisis

We are seeing this in our local USPSA club matches. In the past year (even before COVID and the elections), we've had a lot of new shooters getting involved in the sport. Just when they have gotten really excited about it and having fun, now they are having a hard time participating because of the lack of ammo and the cost even if they find some.

We typically shoot 250-300 rds in a match and have 2 matches a month. For someone who isn't reloading yet (or just got started and can't get the supplies anymore), that is hard to do in this environment. So, I feel for those guys. For the ones who show up all the time, really help out with setup/tear down of stages etc, us old timers (in terms of doing this for a while, not necessarily age) have been rounding up resources to help them out and keep them going as much as possible.

I hit a couple places last night just to see how bad it was locally. The shelves were more bare than the worst of the obama years.
Thankfully I’ve got enough to last the rest of my life if need be, but I could still use a little more. I did find one box of 12 gauge 00 buck, so I picked that up because it’s something previously I didn’t think I needed much of.
Handgun ammo gone except a few obscure calibers on the shelf. Rifle ammo really picked over unless you needed 7/08 or 32 special. Even the shotgun ammo shelves were the lowest inventory I’ve ever seen. Not a primer in sight except for a couple hundred 209’s.

Not buying anything just to have it. Will continue to buy stuff I use when I can find it and stuff I want to try, i.e. new powders and bullets. With few exceptions, shotshells, 9mm, and RF, I load everything I shoot.

Faith.