Are the 308 and 223/5.56? In my area those two and 350 Legend are easily available. 30-06, 270 and 243 are very thin on shelves to non existent. 9MM is now well represented along with a small supply of 45acp. $10. a box 22 rimfire is usually on the shelf. It is much better than it was but the focus on Martial cartridges means something.

It just happens to be what everybody was clamoring
for a while back. You don't see many doing magazine
dumps and helluvit blasting with a 30/06 or 270
or any of the weatherby calibers

The last few decades, I've been hearing what I call
the opening day newly acquired Glock field test.
Sure enough, opening general 2021 fell right into line.
9:00 , 9:30, 10 o'clock, BLAM ! BLAMBLAMBLAMBLAM !
BLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAMBLAM !

JMHO- that's part of the deal

9mm, .223/5.56, and 308 seems to be running over here. Some 270 on occasion. 350 Legend has been so available, that I bought a CVA Scout in 350 Legend. It shoots better than I do. I’ve got plenty of ammo for it, but lots of common rounds just not available yet. I was standing in Academy looking at all the 9mm and .223 and a guy walks up behind me and asks if there is any 30-30. 2 or 3 of us just laughed. He said, “How am I supposed to take my kid hunting if there isn’t any 30-30?” Lots of 30-30 users here that just won’t hunt or will break out their 22LR this year.

LGS in FL had 30-06, 6.5, and 30-30. In VA, we have none if that on shelves. In VA it's 350 Legend and 222 Rem. Same boxes sitting forever.

It means all those first time gun buyers bought tactical style guns in the chamberings they were designed for. It also means non hunters have more pull with ammo manufacturers than hunters.

The hunting fudds are finally stocking up like we all were 7-8yrs ago. They are starting to think something's up!

I've had appointments most of this week in Anchorage, so I hit Cabela's, Bass Pro, and Sportsman's Warehouse there/ I walked into Bass Pro yesterday, and they had Winchester .30-30 ammo. this is the second time in 2 months I have seen it, so I bought some. There's plenty of .223, .308, 9mm ammo, and now .380 ammo here as well. If you like 7x64, there's plenty of that as well, along with 6 mm Creedmoor. Need something else, you may get lucky, but probably not as of late. My wife bought me a 7mm-08 for Christmas I found out, not a box one of it anywhere. Oh well, maybe I will luck out and find some brass for it at least.

.350 Legend is in every Wal-Mart I've been in. 150 grain .308 Hornady AW and some Federal Fusion have been pretty easy to aquire at the local Big R stores. Most of the .223 has actually been 5.56 in 55 and 62 grain ball ammunition locally but in decent supply. I was able to purchase 100 rounds of Rem CoreLok 150 grain 06 about 6 months ago, and in the last two years I've been able to buy three boxes of .30-30 Win PP 150 gr and one box of .270 Win PP 150 grain. 9mm has been $19-25 per box for 115 FMJ, .38 SPC/.357 Mag have been darn near impossible to find.

The one local gun shop that handles my transfers has had .308 Fed Power Shok 180 grain for $80 a box! Most of their other ammo was similarly priced 9mm got almost to $2 a round. Needless to say, I didn't buy much.

The 350 legend thing is funny, because I don't think anyone's buying outside straight wall states, where it solves a very specific problem (meeting hunting regs with an AR). Everywhere else it makes no sense, and I can't see much chance of any sales.

I was told in the local SW that they have no choice as to what they get. It is decided above their pay grade, presumably the bean-counters and purchasing departments at Corporate.

Yeah, what Hudge said, exactly, down here in Soldotna. A fair stock of 25-06 on the shelf. also. (also not that common up here). Lots of fmj. No 30-30 ( I had a friend bring me up 4 boxes from CO, back in August). I bought the lone box of 06 150 gr Corelokts for $34 on Wed. Happens to be what one of my rifles is sighted in with.

I have found lately that in the smaller shops, dont assume because you dont see it on the shelf that they dont have any. Some shops keep the common hunting calibers under the counter until people ask so as to control the hoarders.

The main LGS I visit has most hunting calibers except .243 on the shelves. They do keep some in the back for guys that but a rifle so they can get some ammo to shoot in their new rifle.

Outside the legal reasons that 350 Legend exist I believe that it’s an effect killer of deer sized game at close-to-moderate ranges. Basically the same niche as the 30-30/35rem but fits neatly in todays most popular rifles. I guess I’m saying that it makes sense in that it works, even if other cartridges are better. Doesn’t hurt that it’s more fun to shoot than the 450 bushmaster.

There is no 30-06 anywhere to be found.

When the supply line for “martial” rounds is full, they’ll start making other stuff. When you can sell all the pancakes you can turn out, there’s no reason to start making waffles. Sounds like it might be getting closer.

Rogers Sporting Goods has a good bit of ammo in stock, .223, .308, .270, .25/06, 7mm Mauser, 7mm RM, plus some of the new ones. Priced as expected, but not out of reason for someone who needs it for hunting. While they had some .243 not long ago, that seems to be OOS, along with .30/06

100% agree, they're just following the market.

Been seeing more and more ammo show up around here of late. There for a while it was really thing, but last time I was in the closest LGS to me they had some traditional hunting stuff, 30-06, 308, 30-30, etc, and quite a bit of 9mm and 5.56.

Nearest Walmart has seen some 25-06, 30-06, 270, and 308 in an out of stock the past few months, and has had a bit of 22LR, 12 & 20 birdshot, and 350 Legend in stock pretty regularly.

"Hunters" with 30-06, 30-30, etc...go to the range right before deer season and shoot a couple of rounds to check zero...sometimes. Shoot a few rounds while hunting. Heavy shooting year....3 rounds shot to check zero, 3 rounds shot while hunting. I now this isn't true of all but the majority it probably is.....the most rounds most hunters will shoot in a day is the first time they sight a scope in.

"Shooters" with .223, .308, 9mm, etc....go to the range multiple times throughout the year and shoot 100(+ or ++) rounds.

The hunters won't shoot as many rounds in their life as the shooters will in one range session. That's the focus of ammo companies.....make ammo that a hunter will buy 1 box of every 3 years or make ammo that shooters will buy a 1000 rounds of in a year?

Again, I know that's not true of all, someone can definitely be a shooter and a hunter, but I think it's just supply and demand on what is being produced.

Just like the folks wondering why their favorite gloss 4x scope isn't available any longer.

I agree with the OP, 223, 308, 9mm are available from many manufacturers in quantity. My friend just got 10 boxes of 243; the first he has seen in months and guess what? Foreign made (possibly Russian) with steel cases loaded with some type of Hornady bullets. 30-30 are still AWOL! Others that are available are 30-06 PPU brand but no Remington or Winchester, 7-08 Barnes Vortex brand , and Federal 22LR in bulk packs - 800 loose round Range Packs. No Shotgun ammo other than home defense 12 gauge.

Here in MS, primitive firearm season started earlier this week. Lots of 35 Whelen users in Handi-Rifles and Encores. From what I understand, there is one store about 40 miles away that has any Whelen ammo in stock. The only way you can buy a box is to buy the rifle to go with it. I reload, so it doesn't concern me. I've been collecting supplies for years.

[quote=Llama_Bob]The 350 legend thing is funny, because I don't think anyone's buying outside straight wall states, where it solves a very specific problem (meeting hunting regs with an AR). Everywhere else it makes no sense, and I can't see much chance of any sales.[/quote
local stores here in Pa seem to be selling a [bleep] of 350 legends, both rifles and ammo. o and we cant hunt big game with Semi autos

Valid points, but often what separates the Hunters from the Shooters is mostly the amount of recreation time and maybe disposable income available. I was enthusiastic about all shooting long before I had the time and money to gratify my urges. BTDT, as they say. And there’s nothing wrong with being just a Hunter either, for whatever reason. Not too crazy about how often the term “Fudd” gets tossed out either. The original meaning supposedly is a hunter or shooter that scorns certain segments of the shooting sports and doesn’t support the 2nd. Seems to have morphed into something else, like guys who’s firearms interest is limited in scope to maybe just hunting or trapshooting, not the same thing at all.

Based on the considerable interest I’ve noticed on this site, I think it’s going to become a standard of sorts, or semi-standard, and not just in ARs, similar to the 6.5 Grendel and .300 Blackout. Those who’ve bought them as beginner deer rifles seem to end up liking them, and for non-handloaders it’s a good choice now for sure. I’ve been considering a .357 Max for a while, but the .350 comes pretty close, and is easy to come by, and feed. Also, .350 brass is produced, for the first couple of draw steps anyway, at the same time as .223, so it makes the ammo easy and cheap to produce.

Ought to be pretty impressive as a defense round too.

There's quite a few bolts made in it now, too. I came close to buying a Ruger American Ranch in 350 myself, but I already had some other irons in the fire with other new cartridges and decided against it. They were selling a bunch of those around here last year, I know a couple of guys that bought one.

Wasn't implying anything other than in general a "shooter" will buy and shoot 100 times (probably more) as much ammo as a "hunter".

BIG drop this week at the local SW of rimfire, 5.56/.223, and 7.62x51/.308

Added to all the usual shelf warmers....

I bought a Winchester bolt gun in .350 Legend last year as we hunt in Iowa, which is a straight case only state for rifles. It is actually a pretty good round out to 200 yards or so. Has been plenty accurate and kills deer with no drama. I might buy a .350 upper for one of my ARs

Changeovers kill efficiencies in plants. If you can sell every .223, .308, and .30-06 you can produce, why run a bunch of small batch runs if 6mm Remington and .257 Roberts and .30-40 Krag?

What the zoner said our local LGS does this automatic they know they can't sell a gun without ammo. Mb

If the ammo companies would rely on me for purchases, they would have been out of business a long time ago. I only ever killed one animal with factory ammo and that was 30 some years ago. I do however need some primers in the near future.

I know you weren’t; you were pretty clear about that. Sorry if I wasn’t as clear myself.

same ....


except for primers, got tons of those, still using my Y2K stash I dug up to make room for newer stock

Good logic there.

Ditto, except for .223.

Even though I have plenty of what it takes to load .223, I’ve bought good factory stuff when I found it at good prices. Examples are Nosler 64gr Bonded blems from SPS at $1 a pop, and just the other day I found Fiocchi loaded with 50gr Vmax at SG for $.60. Can’t hardly load them for that price with new brass, especially with $08-$.10 primers. The Fiocchi is made in the U.S. and my experience with the 40r was very good. The Nosler won’t chamber in my Hawkeye AW, I suspect because of the seating depth, but it runs perfectly in my Mini-14. Brass used for both is good stuff. Saves me a lot of time.

Quite a few hunters that live outside but travel to and hunt in straightwall states are buying 350 legend rifles and ammo. I bought both my rifle and ammo for mine in Florida.
It solves more than just hunters wanting to use an AR. It puts the straightwall state hunters in a more conventional bolt action deer rifle with low recoil like we shoot in our home states
I agree demand for the 350 L will not be super high in nonstraightwall states but there will be some need for inventories at some level.

I bought a RAR in 350 and I live in MO. No restrictions here, any centerfire is legal. I bought it because it is very similar to a 35 Remington, and better ammo and component availability. I hunt my own place, and 200 yards is about as long a shot as I will find here. It’s low recoil, cheap on powder, and not as likely to keep sailing for five miles beyond my forty acres. And the rifle is light, compact, and accurate. I put a red dot sight on it, zeroed at 150. Point and shoot to 200, perfect for my place. It works for me, and would work as well for anyone like me. Not a fan of using more than I need for anything, and this cartridge and rifle fill the need.

Tossing around the idea of loading subsonic or buying some, and using a suppressor. That was another attraction, factory subsonic ammo heavy enough to hunt with.

There's almost nothing in the last twenty years that isn't odd.

I guess I'm a Fudd.

I consider it a good year if I make it a 3 round year for any of my rifles. One to check zero (these have been previously rung out so I know how they shoot), one to drop the whatever, one insurance shot from a few yards out. If needed or wanted.

Clean the rifle and put it away until next year.

I once made a box of .338WM ammo last 3 years, including 2 caribou and 3 moose. That was about $35 well spent! Yeah, it was factory.

Changing scopes, ammo, working up loads, new to me rifles, bedding, etc all cause the tally to go up until I'm confident in the rifle, then it goes to the hopefully 3 and out group.

I see no point in just pouring lead down a barrel, but YMMV.

Nothing wrong with this as long as the hunter has the rifle skills to take care of business.

I used a 358 Win yesterday. I shot it a couple off weeks ago, only 2 rounds at 100 yards....cold bore and second shot were touching and I didn't care about a "group" so said good enough. Killed a buck yesterday with it still hunting. Honestly, the 2 checking zero rounds weren't needed....but I like to know. It's a hunting rifle, mainly used at 150 yards or less, and I rarely shoot it when not hunting. I had 11 reloaded rounds for it....2 checking zero left me 9 for the year, down to 8 now. I can load up 20 rounds for this rifle and it will last several years, it's a hunter, not a shooter.

....that said, on the same day I checked zero with it, and 3 times since then, I've burned a lot of powder with 4 other rifles.

Nothing wrong with doing minimal shooting for hunting.....nothing wrong with enjoying shooting and running through the rounds for enjoyment/practice.

That sounds boring as heck. I sometimes just get bored and want to go shoot a few rounds rather it be a .223 or a 6.5, 338 whatever as long as it goes bang.

With some cartridges yielding pretty short barrel life, it doesn’t make sense to beat them to death with hot loads without purpose. Load them down or shoot something else for practice, once you’ve “learned” that rifle and primary load. On the other hand, it’d take a lot of shooting to wear out something like a .223, .308, etc. O’Connor made the point long ago about the cost of the ammo required to shoot out a barrel vs. the price of replacing one. His numbers are laughable now, but the principle holds.

Right now, a feller’d have to be pretty flush to be able to afford enough factory to wear out almost anything, assuming he could find it.

We're not straight-wall in Washington state but the minimum bore diameter for big game is .24, which makes the .223/5.56 illegal. For guys who like the AR platform, the .350 Legend makes a lot of sense. That's especially true west of the Cascade crest where the brush is ultra-thick.


Okie John

Truth: I think it means NOTHING. If "they" (gov't) were somehow out to get us, conspiring with ammo companies, etc ... those "martial cartridges" would be the ones they'd keep out of our hands, not the ones they'd be supplying us with in good quantity. Availability is market driven / perception-of-market -driven.

Tom

Yeah, for instance why would someone want to have sex for something other than reproductive purposes?
Sarcasm font heavily active here.

🤣😂🤣

It's also a your gonna take what they are gonna make market now.
Based on what is most profitable for them to do with raw materials.

Make a monolithic bullet/catridge combo or use that same amount of copper in that mono bullet for say x amount of jacketing for x amount of bullets in a different cartridge.
Same with lead.
Produce 180 to 220 gr bullets in x cartridge runs or use that amount of lead to produce catridges with waay less gr weight and get more from the material.

The days of good selection and niche bullets are basically gone it seems.
Very limited production runs on em.

You take what they decide to make is their mindset.

Rem core lock costing 25 to 40 a box
Win power points costing similar.

Ridiculous.... and that is what is presented to buy.
Like 5 major planets line up if ya stumble across a premium offering.

Putting stuff on backorder at midsouth has worked out for me at times.
Stuff don't even pop on their website cause it is already spoken for nationwide.
But ya gotta have patience

JMO.....

neck down 308 brass... that is my supply.. it all says 308 on the bottom.