no 357 ammo at Academy? Really?

K

kcub

New member
lots of assorted 38 special, 1 box of high $ Hornady 20 round defense 357

I asked the young dumb clerk why and his answer was they don't sell any guns that use it, never mind the twenty somthing other less popular calibers they had on the shelves for which they haven't sold a gun so chambered in decades.

last time I was there they had plenty of Monarch and others
 
I’ve found their ammo offerings spotty as well. Sometimes they have lots of one caliber and none of another and the next time I go it’s flipped the other way. Maybe this has something to do with the way manufactures/distributors handle their end of the supply chain.
 
.357 magnum, like most revolver cartridges, is dying. Slowly, but surely.

The modern, young bucks just aren't buying wheelguns. Ammo builders will make what sells, and .357 magnum isn't selling.
 
I haven't noticed this problem but then again I can't remember the last time I picked up ammo from the store. I pick it up on line, I have grown quite fond of Sportsmansguide to feed my firearms.
 
.357 magnum, like most revolver cartridges, is dying. Slowly, but surely.

The modern, young bucks just aren't buying wheelguns. Ammo builders will make what sells, and .357 magnum isn't selling.
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And yet they had plenty and then some 38 special, 44 magnum, 45 Colt.

Besides which you're just wrong. 357 lever guns are selling well and currently being manufactured by several makers. Actually several wheelgun makers still make 357 as well.
 
You know, I was at Walmart and they were out of fricking whole MILK! Sure, they had a lot of other less popular drinks on the shelf, but they had been wiped out of actual whole milk.

You know, sometimes a store just runs out of a given item. It happens, be it because of somebody local buying up the product, bad inventory control, or whatever.

A range where I used to shoot had pistol matches every other week. Guess what would be missing from the Walmart two miles down the road every other week?
 
While my local Academy north of Houston, tx., stocks few of the cartridges I reload, they do have a pretty decent stock of a variety of cartridges, both rifle and pistol. Can't say if my store has .357 magnum, but yea, 38 Special and I do own an old .38 special (circa 1947) . A nickle plated snub nose pistol I inherited from my father many years ago. Seldom shoot it.
 
I understand the cows didn't like the work conditions or the cheapass hay they were being fed so they quit Walmart. For a while they protested but gave up when no one could read the signs.
 
One has to realize that many cartridges are also run in the production schedule once a year and when gone it waits until the next production run. It costs too much to constantly change over production lines
 
Academy is hit and miss sometimes when it comes to ammo. Seems like the problem is a bit exaggerated due to the holidays as I think a lot of ammo was purchased as Christmas presents. Popular rounds were kind of scarce today but 357 ammo is usually in short supply no matter the season.
 
.357 magnum with 125 grain hollow points as devastating stopping power against thin skinned game (including men).

I prefer 2% milk.
 
We run out of various calibers all the time where I work. It happens. A couple random customers come in on the same day and buy 1/2 a cart full. Happened a few days ago with .380 auto (!). You just can't plan for this stuff. We were out for a couple of days.

People are still hoarding ammo (stocking up?).

kcub, sorry to call you out, but totally unnecessary to disparage the 'clerk'. I'm sure he was sorry you were so inconvenienced.
 
I hardly remember ever seeing .357 magnum ammo when I worked at Academy. At least not target ammo. We always had .357 hollowpoints and ballistic tips for hunting and self-defense because it was expensive and the average shooter wouldn't buy it. I only remember us stocking the .38 special in plinking loads. .44 magnum was worse. I think I only remember having the Lever Revolution .44 mag loads and we discontinued selling .44 Special loads. Yet, we did sell .44-40 mag hunting loads and a hundred other oddball calibers.

Side note: I received a half-hearted rebuke after a gentleman asked for .35 Whelen and I said "if we have it, it will be down here with the other oddball calibers" (We kept it with the Krag, Arisaka, Mauser, and other less popular sporting cartridges). The gentleman apparently took huge offense to my description of his chosen caliber as oddball and reported it to my manager, who told me it was hardly worth bringing up. From that point on, I joked with my co-workers that we had to call it the "Non-standard commercialized sporting cartridges" shelf instead of the "oddball" shelf where we put the miscellanea.

Also, agree with Tomas. You can't predict the market. People will buy your entire stock of ammo. Could be .17 HMR, .300 Blackout, or .380 Auto. Some people will find out your delivery dates, call to see if you have it in stock, and buy every box you have. Corporate is slow to respond and you get what they send you. We went weeks without .380. But by God, we had a literal fort stacked 5 feet high with birdshot and .22 Colibri ammo.
 
It's my understanding that individual Academy stores do not order guns or ammo. It's all done by corporate managers. They do have a computer system more advanced than walmart. They ask for your zip code and if they have enough customers from that zip code they will build a store there. If one store or a group of stores in one state is selling more 357 than others then that is where most of it will go. The store closest to me gets ammo delivered 3 times a week. Monday, thursday, and saturday. Like I said earlier they don't know what they are gona get until it's scanned in and unpacked.
 
If one store or a group of stores in one state is selling more 357 than others then that is where most of it will go.
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Hard to buy when it's not there. Their fort is now made out of 380.

They also have plenty of 357 Sig and 38 Super. I like those calibers but there hasn't been a firearm sold in that store so chambered in that young dumb clerk's lifetime.
 
Most folks would simply just go to another store. There are several Academies in Austin along with numerous other stores that sell ammo.

I don't think I have ever seen anybody so bent out of shape because a store was out of a given caliber, LOL.
 
People actually buy handgun ammo?
Since I was a kid, the only factory made handgun ammo I've bought was with rental guns.
And only because it was house rules.
All the rest has been home made.
Lots of fun and probably saved a fortune.
Might very well have paid for my most recent car with the savings.
(Almost said "last car" but that sounded ominous).
And then it doesn't matter what the stores don't have in stock.
 
Seems ammo is "Hit or Miss" (no pun intended) everywhere these days. Whenever I see a good deal I buy it whether I need t or not.

One of the MANY reasons I reload.
 
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