Gun and Ammo Rush.. dying down?

My LGS and local wallmart are practically cleaned out from what I've seen since I last went there, it's insane.
 
inventory

I have visited four gun shows and three gun retail stores in Virginia since the holidays. Taking into account a lot of the purchases were just that, holiday spending, I have seen things trickling back in and going right back out.

The semi-auto rifles are coming in, as one person I deal with in a store told me, its just that they are usually gone within a few hours of being on display. Magazines appear to be a hard find, but they still are available by some at gun shows, retailers have the, but a PMAG 5.56 is now 29.97.

Ammunition has been very sparse, some becoming available but not in enough quantities to fill the shelves and feed the ban frenzied public. I have even talked to some people who are purchasing to stock pile. They're not prepping. They're not afraid of the Mayans or the Asteroids... most claim it is an investment and expect 200+% turn around inside of the year.

I'm not sure I get it. Honestly, I didn't buy into the whole thing the last time the bans had legs. Is this the same, worse or what compared to that? I'd sure like your opinions if you been through it.
 
Stopped by walmart on the way home. They had a sign up saying "limit six boxes per customer"

They had all the pistol calibers but no .223 that I saw. No .22lr bulk packs but a few boxes of 50/100.
 
I've been watching Wal-Mart for the last couple of weeks. No .22LR or any kind or any practice grade semi-calibers that I've seen. Lots of the premium centerfire stuff, but nobody really needs more than a box of those.
 
Luckygunner has Blazer brass 9mm for about $16.00 a box in bulk, if anyone's interested. Yesterday they had a different brand for 15.00 a box. Ammo is out there, just not at the prices we were use to.
 
$16 a box in bulk for 9mm Blazer? In Spring 2008 during that panic, I paid $8.21 per box for the same ammo (delivered in 2009).

You have two problems here: 1) Insatiable demand 2) Manufacturers not increasing supply due to legislative uncertainty.

Since the no increase in supply and large demand have the same root cause, you won't see any chamge on this for months until the future of legislation becomes more clear or people get desperate and start selling off.
 
@DonP - No need to go out on a limb....Your friendly politician will take care of that for you
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What was I thinking????????????:p

Hey Don, just in case you get a hankering to spend $3K on an AK (hey, that rhymes) please look me up, local sale
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Such a deal, I'l take 3 at that price and be glad I did. Bargin of the century!!!!!!!!:eek:
 
Walmart prices vary regionally. Back in 2008 during the last ammo panic, walmart still was getting ammo in reliably. It didn't stay on the shelves long, but they did get it in stock. As I recall, I bought Blazer for $8.97, then a couple months later around $9.50.

It has been a few years since then, and the price of ammo everywhere had gone up quite a bit between 2008 and 2012. Not sure what the ammo prices were a few months ago, because I'm pretty well set in that regard. But I haven't ever known walmart to rapidly increase their price on ammo. I can't say with certainty, but if their prices have gone up, it is probably because their wholesale cost has gone up.
 
I see listings for SKSs on Armslist $600-1000. Mini-14s coming out of the closet for $1000-1400 Colt ARs mostly North of $2K. I don't think that is "dying down". More like musical chairs where everyone is afraid they are not going to get a seat.
 
The parking lots of my local gun shops were packed yesterday. Far busier than the normal day before opening of deer season. Local Wal-Mart doesn't have any .22 ammo.
Slowing down? I think not. Just starting.
 
I see listings for SKSs on Armslist $600-1000. Mini-14s coming out of the closet for $1000-1400 Colt ARs mostly North of $2K. I don't think that is "dying down". More like musical chairs where everyone is afraid they are not going to get a seat.
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Count me out of that nonsense.
 
I just stopped by the Sports Authority here and was finally able to find some 22lr. They were pretty picked over but had had a delivery yesterday afternoon. I bought 500 but considered buying all they had but figured I'd give the next guy a chance. Looked like they had another 10 boxes or so left. I called around, found out when their truck came in and went as soon as I could after.
 
I was browsing yesterday at a large sporting goods store. One of the four employee's were talking about how he had requested a list of all wholesalers and thought he would have to just send out PO's to all of them hoping to get some ammo. They were saying loaded ammo was REAL hard to come by in about any cal. I got lucky and found where someone had mixed in 1500 Hornady 55gf FMJBT with the lead 45 cal pistol bullets.
I fixed that, got them all. Also saw that small rifle primers were now up$10
to $40 /1000
BTW all the online stores are out of about everything-including bullets, powder, brass and primers
 
Midwayusa has virtually nothing in stock that is ammo or reloading related. I got real lucky yesterday....scored 500 223 bullets 10 minutes before they went out of stock.
 
For those that have done the whole buying craze / potential AWB, how long before prices go back to normal?

Given that prices are currently irrational, I'll hold off on buying anything new for a while.
 
If it's anything like the last time, I'd say you're looking at elevated prices/demand for most of this year. Even if legislation is defeated, it will take some time for supply to return to normal. If there is another mass shooting this year or legislation passes, then the problem will get much worse.
 
The demand will last for four more years and then possibly four more or whatever after that. Ruger, never did catch up so we are going on year five in certain respects. In the end, if the market is working, supply will increase and hopefully meet and exceed demand.
 
No dying down, shops are empty here, guns come in but not "EBR's" My LGS has a few coming in for the past three weeks, hasn't seen them. Companies /dealers promise they are shipping soon. I wonder if there is some legal hold up?
 
In the end, if the market is working, supply will increase and hopefully meet and exceed demand.
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I don't think that's physically possible at the moment.

Take the AR-15 as an example. Let's get more specific and use the Colt 6920, since that's the all-arounder. Before the panic, they sold for $1100 or so. Then they disappeared. Then they showed up at the local gun shows for $3500. People bought them.

The result? Huge scarcity and tolerance for huge price increases. At the moment, Colt isn't giving estimates for when retailers can expect a restock. In fact, they're not even answering their phones.

The scarcity gets worse, and people pay more. It becomes a vicious cycle. At the moment, the buying public accepts that equation.

When a couple trickle out to a retailer, he has to raise prices to keep cash flow going. Now regular price on the 6920 is $2000. Hey, that's cheaper than the gun show! Those probably don't last ten minutes on the rack, and the cycle continues.

Eventually, things will level out, but by then the public will have accepted higher prices as the new normal. One local retailer is selling XM193 for $1.00/round, and he's not getting complaints. People want the ammo that badly.

TL;DR: we're looking at significant scarcity for months at least, and higher prices for quite awhile.
 
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