OK, I know things are getting bad with the ammo shortage now. I went to Kiesler's in Jeffersonville, IN yesterday on a hunt for some ammo. While they had some, there was not a single round of .357 Magnum in the place and only one kind of .380 auto. The only .380 auto they had was Armscor 95grn FMJ priced at an astounding $45.99 per box!!! Boy am I glad that my Walther PP is a .32.
Crazy Ammo Shortage (aka why I'm glad I don't own a .380)
- Thread starter Webleymkv
- Start date
Texas Rifleman
New member
Ammo is crazy right now. I went to Wal-Mart, Academy, Gander Mountain and two different Academy's on Monday and all of them were out of pistol ammo and most common rifle cartridges. One of the Academy's has/had .45 LC...that was it.
JesusQueen
New member
My local shop has a shelf full of Aguila for 15.99
I have no 380 guns right now. I dug out all my boxes of 380 and will keep a box that has a few silvertips left in it, just in case. Will take the rest of the boxes to the weekend gunshow for tradin' goods. Gotta strike while the iron is hot, you know. Before a flood of new ammo appears on the market. Sometimes it does pay to set on something you don't really need!
I own a Kel-tec P3AT so what do I do about a month ago I bought a Beretta M84 can't find any ammo to shoot it. I have almost a box that I'm hanging on for the Kel-tec so untill I find some the Beretta can sit
Did shoot about 20 rounds now will have to wait till I find some more
Did shoot about 20 rounds now will have to wait till I find some moreKreyzhorse
New member
What? Only $46 a box? That's a freakin' bargain! Cheaper than Dirt was selling Blazer .380 for $59.99 a box!
I keep saying that this will pass, and I'm confident it will. When? I can't predict that. However, at some point panic buying consumers will have all they want and/or greedy sellers will have upped prices beyond the point that consumers are willing to pay. And, then and only then, will the bubble burst. Days, weeks, months from now -- who knows when? -- we'll look back on these times as a strange aberration. Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for Midway to ship me that ammo I ordered back in the middle of March!
Deaf Smith
New member
I was at a gunshop today that is kind of out of the way. They had all kinds of miscellanies ammo. Lots of reloaded .380 with lead slugs.
Funny thing was, for sale was about 1/2 box of Remington .380 FMJ. Some of the slugs were corroded. $15 was the asking price! I just rolled up my eyes at these people. Box with just 8 Gold Dot .357 Sig and 5 FMJs they wanted $10.
Happily I reload ammo, including .380s. And I have 500 95 gr. FMJ slugs.
Funny thing was, for sale was about 1/2 box of Remington .380 FMJ. Some of the slugs were corroded. $15 was the asking price! I just rolled up my eyes at these people. Box with just 8 Gold Dot .357 Sig and 5 FMJs they wanted $10.
Happily I reload ammo, including .380s. And I have 500 95 gr. FMJ slugs.
The only pistol ammo that Bass Pro had today was some Remington Golden Saber 9mm +P and a few boxes of the monster revolver cartridges (.500 S&W, .460, and .454). Absolutely no .45 ACP. Nada. I was tempted to buy all of the .308 UMC I could buy, but I had the wifey with me, and she put a stop to it 
It's funny how they can do that sometimes...
Jason
It's funny how they can do that sometimes...
Jason
Ammo companies do not turn out all the rounds they sell every day. They typically tool up their machinery and do runs of ammunition based on predicted demand.
That means that it's not unusual or unexpected to find that from time to time a particular round will be scarce for awhile. That just means it's been awhile since there's been a run of that particular caliber. In a month there will be .380 EVERYWHERE and some other caliber will be hard to find.
If everyone would just calm down, this craziness would blow over and we'd be back to plenty of cheap ammo in a relatively short time.
That means that it's not unusual or unexpected to find that from time to time a particular round will be scarce for awhile. That just means it's been awhile since there's been a run of that particular caliber. In a month there will be .380 EVERYWHERE and some other caliber will be hard to find.
If everyone would just calm down, this craziness would blow over and we'd be back to plenty of cheap ammo in a relatively short time.
voyager4520
New member
I can find FMJ for the most popular caliburs around here, but primers and defense rounds are hard to come by.
voyager4520
New member
When society falls apart the only things valuable are the necessities, and the guns and ammo necessary to protect your necessities.
christcorp
New member
Each of you should make a mental note of all these local gun shops that are GOUGING you with the high prices. They will lie to you and tell you it's costing them more. Very unlikely. I went into a couple of our local gun shops today. Bought a few boxes of 32 Auto. $19.95 for blazers. $20.95 for Speer Lawman, Magtech, and Federal American. Most of the ammo was in the $20-$30 range. Maybe a little more than a year ago, but not much. And this isn't stocked stuff. Sometimes they are out of something, then get some in a couple days later. But they're not cranking up the prices. When the ammo paranoia ends; and it will; and things get back to a somewhat normal supply; many customers are going to remember the gougers and stop going to them.
In our town, there's only 4 private gun shops; 1 walmart; and 1 Sports Authority. 1 of the private shops already closed down. He tried cranking up the prices a lot. No one would buy it. They'd rather go to one of the others and wait a few days until some came in and buy it there. The gouger wound up taking most of what he had to a gun show (Where there's always suckers and idiots) and had to sell it there. After than, he didn't even try to restock. Customers made it clear they knew what the "Real" prices were, and that the escalated prices weren't coming from the manufacturers or distributors. Only from the retailer marking it up. As such; most customers made it known they wouldn't buy anything from him again. We understand a shortage, but it's not costing more to make the ammo. (Not significantly). The other shops in our town will do fine. They sell it at their normal prices; because they're buying it at basically normal prices. Customers will be loyal to them.
On the other hand; if a person is willing to spend $40-$50 for a box ammo, then they deserve every thing they get. I guess I might have to order some more 45acp ammo online while I'm at it. At under $14 a box, including shipping, I can keep my hobby up.
In our town, there's only 4 private gun shops; 1 walmart; and 1 Sports Authority. 1 of the private shops already closed down. He tried cranking up the prices a lot. No one would buy it. They'd rather go to one of the others and wait a few days until some came in and buy it there. The gouger wound up taking most of what he had to a gun show (Where there's always suckers and idiots) and had to sell it there. After than, he didn't even try to restock. Customers made it clear they knew what the "Real" prices were, and that the escalated prices weren't coming from the manufacturers or distributors. Only from the retailer marking it up. As such; most customers made it known they wouldn't buy anything from him again. We understand a shortage, but it's not costing more to make the ammo. (Not significantly). The other shops in our town will do fine. They sell it at their normal prices; because they're buying it at basically normal prices. Customers will be loyal to them.
On the other hand; if a person is willing to spend $40-$50 for a box ammo, then they deserve every thing they get. I guess I might have to order some more 45acp ammo online while I'm at it. At under $14 a box, including shipping, I can keep my hobby up.