Are the ranges hurting due to the ammo shortage?

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breakingcontact

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I know that range officers and ranges get a lot of grief here...

But how long can they ride things out financially if there are less people shooting?

I am assuming that the amount of range activity has indeed dropped like I have seen locally. (But that's not a scientific survey)
 
Range economics

The answer has to be yes. In south Florida one good example is the BassPro range. They sold ammunition at the range and in the main store and now the range has zero supplies and the store has it only for an hour in the morning on the days they get it, The range master was discouraged because they are not allocated a supply for range sales. On the weekend there was like 2 guys milking what they had. It was a sad scene to witness.
 
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Here where I am in West Virginia we are doing great!! Since all this hype started our memberships are going through the roof. But at the same time people are shooting a LOT less. And a lot more steel cased pistol ammo. Our range does things a little differently money wise then most so it's not affecting us. A membership is 40 dollars a year and that's it. Indoor and outdoor ranges. So it doesn't affect us if only 1 person comes out or 50 come out in that day because they've already paid there membership fee. Most people that shoot anymore generally run through a box of ammo and that's it. We've been swamped with brand new shooters so we've been staying busy. Where some of the regulars have cut back we picked up new shooters so it all equals out.
 
The Range/gun shop I am a member of, has plenty of Ammo for range use. I don't think the Shop sells any 9mm over the counter, I believe they reserve it all for the range. Same with .22LR.
They are packed Wednesday (when they start staying open late) through Sunday. I was in there a few weeks ago looking at use .22LR rifles and there was at least 20 ppl waiting to get a lane (10 lanes indoor).
Another range I visited last week and scored a UMC 9mm mega pack also had a range attached and on a thursday had 5 people waiting (not sure how many lanes, never shot there) and they had plenty of ammo for the range use.

I plan on hitting the range on my weekday off when we start working Saturdays at work next month.

I was hitting the range almost every weekend and one night after work for Bowling pin shoot league but been saving the pennys for Trap league.
 
Ranges

I have seen memberships increase drastically since the NY law passed in January. I assume that will slow down as the ammo continues to get more expensive, but the ranges that I have been to are packed.
 
I can't get onto a range without a minimum wait of 90 minutes...it's usually closer to 2 hours. Northern VA doesn't have many ranges to begin with.
I wish people were shooting less. To parapahrse Blazing Saddles: ""They're away staying in droves!" ;)
 
We're strictly rationing range ammo. It gives everyone a chance to shoot, but we get no end of grief from hoarders and flippers.
 
The range where I shoot has been MUCH busier than ever, and ammunition is a concern. It hasn't become a major problem yet, but it soon will if supplies don't loosen up. For the moment, they do not sell any of the lower-priced, FMJ "plinking" ammo for take-out ... only to shoot at the range. They are still selling the premium JHP self-defense ammo for take-out.

The biggest problem is .22LR. They can't get CCI Mini-Mags, and some of the rental semi-autos won't function with other ammo brands/types.
 
At the small 400-member private club I belong to there has been the same amount of shooting. One thing we have noticed is that the regular riflemen who used to shoot often, shoot less now. The handgunners who used to shoot less, are there shooting more now. Another thing we have noticed is that since ammo has gone up there is quite a bit more rimfire cases laying on the ground than there was.
 
Looks like most of you are seeing an increase in shooters. Corresponding to the increase in gun sales, wonder if these are new shooters? I don't go to the range frequently enough to make any definitive statements. The idpa match i shot recently wasnt that busy (but it was a classifier) and last time i went to the range there were a ton of people, but they were there for a class. Otherwise it was pretty empty. However...it was about 40 degrees and people here seem to think thats cold. So perhaps my data is skewed. Hope to hear from more range regulars or those who work at ranges to get a bigger picture of what is going on.

Went to a big police supply store today and they had zero 9mm/40/45 and next to no 556/308.

So if the ranges are busier...people are shooting up their stock? Reloading? I don't understand this math problem.
 
I contemplated buying a membership at a range that is 30 seconds from my place of employment and another that is 10 minutes from my house. I decided not to join either of them because I can't find any 9mm ammo. The few rounds that I do have I'm holding on to because who knows when more will become available. Impact on the two ranges??????
 
You wouldn't there's an ammo shortage here.....our club is breaking membership records every year. We're on pace to hit 1000-to-1100 members.
 
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