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Aguila Blanca

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At the range today, the owner was busy when I walked in so I spent a few minutes looking over a clearance table. I found a box of Winchester Silvertip JHP in .45 Colt with 19 rounds in it instead of 20, and a box of Silvertip in .44 Special that had 16 rounds and four fired cases.

I got them for $10 each. Not my usual fodder, but I have a gun that will shoot each, so I was happy to get them.
 
Nice find. I had never considered selling a partially shot box of factory ammo. Or selling any ammo for that matter. Peculiar.
 
Both boxes were marked with the shop's standard yellow price tags -- at a substantially higher price. And both boxes were rather shopworn. The box with 19 rounds in it had an empty space where the last round should have been, so that round must have just gone walkabout. The box with 16 rounds had four fired cases in the other four holes, so it's possible that the shop owner [back in a day when he could just call a distributor and order ammunition] may have pulled the four rounds to let a buyer try out a new pistol.

It's all speculation of course, but I was happy with the deal. The shop can't get guns to sell these days, and they're limiting ammo sales to keep some for range customers who want to rent guns and who need ammo to shoot. So I think he's cleaning out the corners and the closets and trying to move anything he can, just to keep the lights on.
 
It’s ironic and sad that at this time of unprecedented gun sales, some dealers are not doing well simply because they can’t get anything to stock
 
At first I thought the shop owner must have come across an estate sale but if it's got the shop's own markings on it, I think your story is more likely.
 
I'm a bit baffled by reports of shops not being able to get guns. My LGS/range is constantly getting restocked and they move stuff like crazy. They have dozens of a variety of makes of 9mm handguns. They almost always have Daniel Defense ARs for sale. I saw them sell their CZ scorpion and in less than a week there was another on the wall for sale.

I've been getting frustrated lately with them cause it takes so long to buy anything (busy as heck).

Now, when it comes to the common ammo, they aren't stocking that stuff on the shelves because they are keeping that back for rentals, but they always have ammo for people that rent.
 
The big fish can get stuff more easily
There’s a large store I frequent that has everything in stock
Just about any gun you want on the wall or in the case, pretty good ammo selection also, considering the time.
This is store that does literally millions of dollars in monthly sales.
Distributors are going to take care of stores ordering 100 guns at a time before stores ordering 5 or 10.
 
ghbucky said:
I'm a bit baffled by reports of shops not being able to get guns. My LGS/range is constantly getting restocked and they move stuff like crazy. They have dozens of a variety of makes of 9mm handguns. They almost always have Daniel Defense ARs for sale. I saw them sell their CZ scorpion and in less than a week there was another on the wall for sale.
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Chipperman said:
The big fish can get stuff more easily
There’s a large store I frequent that has everything in stock
Click to expand...
Maybe it's regional.

I had a telephone conversation yesterday with a friend who lives across town. He mentioned that he had been up-state a few days ago on business so, while he was there, he took a few minutes to stop in at the largest gun store in this state. He reported that their ammo shelves were empty, except for some stock of the more obscure centerfire rifle calibers. The new handgun display cases were empty. The used handgun display cases were nearly empty. The shelves in the reloading corner were empty.

Another friend was at Cabelas two weekends ago, and he reported much the same.
 
I checked some old and similar sized boxes of .45 Colt ammo (Win Silvertip and Speer Gold Dot) I bought 10 to 15 years ago at my LGS. They were priced at $14.95 each so I would say you did get a good deal at today's prices.
 
Distributors are going to take care of stores ordering 100 guns at a time before stores ordering 5 or 10.
Click to expand...

I know nothing about how the gun industry works. Are there middle men? I always assumed that the gun shops got their stock direct from the manufacturers.
 
Are there middle men?
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In general, yes. Most gun shops buy their guns from a wholesaler instead of directly from the manufacturer. Talking with the manager of my LGS, they get most of their supply from
Davidson's which is a huge distributor at least for the eastern US. (You and I can't buy anything from them directly.)
 
ghbucky said:
I know nothing about how the gun industry works. Are there middle men? I always assumed that the gun shops got their stock direct from the manufacturers.
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Smaller manufacturers will sale directly to a dealer or an individual thru an FFL. The larger manufacturers generally only deal thru distributors.

Jim
 
I live in Eastern WA. Local gun stores generally have stock, although they may not have the selection they formerly had. (You can find a 9mm pistol, but likely not the specific pistol you had in mind...) You may find a 9mm pistol, but 9mm ammo is scarce to non-existent.

As noted above, however, they're generally packed. Together with space restrictions on how many customers can be in the store at any time, there may be a wait to get inside, and once in there isn't a lot of counter time for deliberation or schooling. "Get in, get what you came for, get out. We're slammed."

Could be our proximity to either Portland or Seattle.....
 
Aguila Blanca said:
At the range today, the owner was busy when I walked in so I spent a few minutes looking over a clearance table. I found a box of Winchester Silvertip JHP in .45 Colt with 19 rounds in it instead of 20, and a box of Silvertip in .44 Special that had 16 rounds and four fired cases.

I got them for $10 each. Not my usual fodder, but I have a gun that will shoot each, so I was happy to get them.
Click to expand...
I thought you were going to post the score you shot in minor factor class pistol match.
 
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