# Ammo Frenzy Growing



## Ripon (Dec 22, 2012)

It was my hope things would be returning to normal. They aren't. Friday I bought 4 boxes of 22LR when my Walmart source text me. $24.99 for 375 rounds of CCI 40 gr plus tax. Today I see forum flippers asking and reportedly getting $65 a brick. I just saw a post for a Cabellas ammo can with 2100 rounds of Federal 22LR that retailed last summer for $79.99 and less with coupons or even free shipping with two - the post price with takers was $250. 

7.62x39 is trending up. I've seen posts at .40/50 a round
7.62x51 holding at .8 to $1.25'a round
9mm seems to be going up now nearing .50 a round
223 still high, running .60/70 a round
45 ACP holding at about .50 though I've seen higher Adkins I can't see any higher sales.

The real frenzy right now is on 22LR, go figure. I'm going to hypothesize that since Dec 22LR is what everyone is shooting for practice?


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

I'd like to see what Obama has stashed in his basement.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

Now CA has the push on again to band Lead from ammo. The only real alternative is costly and they will band that also costly.
Bismuth:

"Bismuth is a chemical element with symbol Bi and atomic number 83. Bismuth, a pentavalent poor metal, chemically resembles arsenic and antimony. Elemental bismuth may occur naturally, although its sulfide and oxide form important commercial ores. The free element is 86% as dense as lead"


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## Chipper (Dec 22, 2012)

Yep I think your right about everyone using 22 for practice. The raising cost of center fire ammo and the lack of availability is driving the frenzy. Plus you can't find reloading supplies if you have the brass. So naturally people will look for a cheaper way to target shoot. 
Also all the manufactures are producing 22's just like their bigger center fire weapons so you can practice with virtually the same gun cheaper. Like S&W's line of M&P 22's just like shooting an M-4 or a semi auto pistol center fire. Save the 556, 9mm and 45acp for emergencies. Shoot up and practice with the cheap stuff.
Better stock up now on pellets for your air rifles, they will be next.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Maybe we should switch to silver bullets. Isn't that what they used to kill blood sucking vampires? Sorry, that was werewolves, wasn't it, my bad.


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## Ripon (Dec 22, 2012)

I always kind of chuckle when this comes up. Probably because I thought it would be cool to sell silver bullets to the bullion/survival crowd. What a product - when you think about it - silver bullion and bullets if need be. Man that'd rock - only one problem. Its nearly impossible to make. There is a good blog about it and some academics trying to melt silver and put them to molds - its probably only possible in a significant industrial factory with the potential for extremely high temps; and then the ballistics don't hold up that well either. Bummer.



paraquack said:


> Maybe we should switch to silver bullets. Isn't that what they used to kill blood sucking vampires? Sorry, that was werewolves, wasn't it, my bad.


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## Seneca (Nov 16, 2012)

My suspicion is that it's the flipper frenzy is the only thing thats growing...and this is why I suggest flippers...

The introduced gun control legislation that kicked this buying frenzy off is no longer pending and for the time being DOA in a Democratically controlled senate. Thats no longer an immeadite concern and probably won't even be considered until after the 2014 elections...and entirely dependent on whether or not pro gun control senators are elected in sufficient numbers to warrant them having another go at it. 

The Boston thing shouldn't have impacted ammo sales in any appreciable way. Pressure cookers maybe...Savvy canners need to stock up on pressure cookers before they are regulated or outright banned. Given the laughable levels of idiocracy we are currently seeing in caped crusading it is highly possible that several states may require a background check to purchase home canning supplies...yes thats sarcasm...

So that leave us with flippers keeping the panic/profit pot stirred and the gullible idiots that buy from them...


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## Chipper (Dec 22, 2012)

Seneca
So that leave us with flippers keeping the panic/profit pot stirred and the gullible idiots that buy from them...[/QUOTE said:


> Could be that people just figured out like back in 08 their gun "supplies" aren't a given. Without ammo and reloading supplies what good are the guns? Happened once and now a second time will there be a third, and how bad will that be??
> I learned my lesson in 08 and stocked up once the smoke cleared. I've sold some extra's I have and paid for it all, guns and ammo. I'm not a flipper but I will take advantage of any situation.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Likewise, I'd like to put away a few .22LRs for the future, but at $70-$90 a brick (locally), I'll have to slow down on the target practice. Sometimes I'd like take the flippers I see and tie their ammo around their neck and use them buoys in Lake Michigan. But then the Liberals would probably arrest me for polluting the lake with lead. Either that or sh_t!


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## Ripon (Dec 22, 2012)

While the Federal issues may be DOA there are states, like California, that are looking at FAR worse legislation
then what was going through the senate. I've posted a list before but some of the measures still going thru 
include a license to buy ammo (that costs $50 for 2 years), mandatory reporting on ammo purchases, killing
the private sale of ammo (dealer only - and no those "pro gun" dealers aren't exactly lining up to fight that one
so watch out), regulations on reloading components - particularly powder (they can't really beat up the 
pressure cookers can they).


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## csi-tech (Apr 13, 2013)

I am woefully understocked on everything but 7.62x39. My next purchases will be a Glock 9mm and a Mossberg 590 tactical in that order but I have zero 9mm and under 200 rounds of 12 ga. I hope things will settle to whatever the new normal is.


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## wesley762 (Oct 23, 2012)

Maybe I just got lucky this weekend but I just picked up 300 rounds of 9mm at .25 cents a round and 300 rounds of 7.62x39 for .34 cents a round (Ya that 7.62 was overpriced but a ton on the shelf).


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## Seneca (Nov 16, 2012)

Some of these flippers may not even own a gun...greedy jerks who see where a buck can be made by screwing people over...apparently there are several ways to never letting a crisis go to waste...all unethical...

I'm set and keeping it in the family, my brother inlaw is not a shooter but has a large ranch, so he keeps a couple of boxes of .22LR around for guests who do shoot. He goes through a couple of boxes a year, he's out and can't find any. I'll slide him off a couple of boxes. It's a small kindness that will find it's way back to me, and since he runs cattle it's a kindness usually returned in beef. Steaks or roasts...lol


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

There is at least three websites that track ammo prices. I check them often, 95% of the time, I find their ammo more than what I am willing to pay. But for example, Thursday night I checked around 10:30 pm, .22 LR. was about 30 cents per round (too much), Friday morning, I got up at 5:30am to go to work, drinking my morning coffee I checked ammo prices again, to my surprise, Cabelas was selling .22LR for 5 cents per round, limit one box of 333 per customer, I order one box, and my wife ordered another. In the past month or so, I have been able to buy ammo for every weapon I own (except for 9mm) at what I consider reasonable prices. The morale of this story is keep the faith, refuse to pay too much money for ammo, and search often for that deal that pops up now and then, it does happen.


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## shadownmss (Nov 13, 2012)

I scored 1000 rounds of the Tula .223 for $330.00 at Walmart........sure it's the steel cased cheap stuff but since I ant get primers I was pleased to get it.


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## Montana Rancher (Mar 4, 2013)

Haha I have 1200 round wooden crates of 7.62x39 that have a price tag of $79.99 on them

I also purchased severak SKS for the same price, my how times have changed.


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## bennettvm (Jan 5, 2013)

I post .22 lr on ammo auction sites. I can't keep up with the demand. I have people emailing me directly for more and more ammo.

I pay around .06-.08 per round. So a brick is around $35. I have had them go as high as $138 in the last month, and that doesn't include shipping. Most of the ending auction prices are under $100. Which is still pretty nuts. The extra funds go right into my prepping.


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

What you have to keep in mind that the last time this happened it was Aug 2007-till October 2008...about 14 months before things started returning to normal. I suspect the drought this time around will also last that long if not longer especially when Obama is trying to use executive orders to accomplish what his party wasnt willing or able to do. Until then as long as folks are willing to pay big stupid dollar prices for the limited supply thats available, the prices will continue to remain elevated.

While I dont have as much as I would like I have a few years worth of ammo laid back. When it returns to normal and the prices are more reasonable I will go back to buying several boxes every payday again. Until then I am going to just stand by while the ship is in a turn and comes about.


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## Go2ndAmend (Apr 5, 2013)

Ditto the Lunatic


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

We were at a gun store today and the clerk mentioned that the backroom rumors were that their last shipment of .22LR was the last they were expecting for the rest of the year! I am sure those were just rumors. But if it is based on the fact that they are expecting significantly less shipments for the rest of the year, we can expect prices to go up further.

You could absolutely make a mint if you could find a reliable source of powder and the chemical they use in place of a primer for rimfires. You could buy a couple old WWII vintage punch presses for stamping out the brass and set up shop. You could retire by the end of the year. (Although I expect getting the dies made on short notice might prove almost as difficult as finding ammunition now.)


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## Verteidiger (Nov 16, 2012)

Wow, 90 dollars to 138 bucks for a brick of .22LR. Sheep get fleeced all the time.

I paid $22.99 for 525 round Federal value packs - I just grabbed a couple since I already have some on hand to cover me. 

Now I wish I had bought the whole shelf and sheared some stupid sheep my own self. If you can't be part of the solution, might as well be part of the problem, right??


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

LunaticFringeInc said:


> What you have to keep in mind that the last time this happened it was Aug 2007-till October 2008...about 14 months before things started returning to normal. I suspect the drought this time around will also last that long if not longer especially when Obama is trying to use executive orders to accomplish what his party wasnt willing or able to do. Until then as long as folks are willing to pay big stupid dollar prices for the limited supply thats available, the prices will continue to remain elevated.
> 
> While I dont have as much as I would like I have a few years worth of ammo laid back. When it returns to normal and the prices are more reasonable I will go back to buying several boxes every payday again. Until then I am going to just stand by while the ship is in a turn and comes about.


While I agree with your post, I think there is another simple reason. Guns are the fad these days. I am old enough I've seen fads come and go, last year or so, it was motorcycles, everybody and his brother was buying a motorcycle, mostly Harleys, before that it was 4 wheelers, jet ski's, ...... the list goes on and on. Today and for the last year or so its guns, people can't get enough of them, which includes ammo. This is a supply and demand country. Unlike gasoline which we all need to travel back and forth in our lives, fuel a gotta have thing. Ammo after a modest amount, is a want not a need. My suggestion is simply to refuse to buy ammo for inflated prices. Consumers can force the price of ammo to go back down, at least to a reasonable price. 
Remember we might buy ammo cause we want it, but the people in the business are making and selling it are in it for their livelyhood, lets have a battle of willpower and see wins.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

As I look at the last year or 2, I have to agree with Moonshinedave. I especially think of the young guys at the gun shows, who run up to the first table that has AR's and picks one up to his shoulder and looks down the barrel and suddenly there is the weird smile spreading out across his face. It's too bad so many fathers don't teach their kids about guns any more. Maybe it wouldn't be like that.


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## Seneca (Nov 16, 2012)

Verteidiger said:


> Wow, 90 dollars to 138 bucks for a brick of .22LR. Sheep get fleeced all the time.
> 
> I paid $22.99 for 525 round Federal value packs - I just grabbed a couple since I already have some on hand to cover me.
> 
> Now I wish I had bought the whole shelf and sheared some stupid sheep my own self. If you can't be part of the solution, might as well be part of the problem, right??


What I have a hard time understanding is buying a firearm knowing you will have one heck of a time (if you can) finding ammo for it...It's a fancy club without ammo and yet they're snapping them up???

I could very easily be part of the sheep shearing crew...yet who really knows how long this fiasco will last...and I'd rather not find myself competing with the herd...for flipped ammo...


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

Montana Rancher said:


> Haha I have 1200 round wooden crates of 7.62x39 that have a price tag of $79.99 on them
> 
> I also purchased severak SKS for the same price, my how times have changed.


Yep. Mine happens to be steel core Chinese, 1976 vintage. 
The Chinese SKS was free - a gift from a relative.
And I still have a few sealed cans of 1954 Bulgarian 7.62X54R Light Ball out in the barn as well. 
What ammo shortage?
I was preppin' when preppin' wasn't cool.


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## AquaHull (Jun 10, 2012)

rice paddy daddy said:


> Yep. Mine happens to be steel core Chinese, 1976 vintage.
> The Chinese SKS was free - a gift from a relative.
> And I still have a few sealed cans of 1954 Bulgarian 7.62X54R Light Ball out in the barn as well.
> What ammo shortage?
> I was preppin' when preppin' wasn't cool.


Like George and Barbara were Country when Country wasn't cool.


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