The Walmart Ammo thread

A

American Eagle

New member
I have been reading in this and other forums about people's thoughts on purchasing ammo at Walmart and there seems to be a negative opinion in general about the employees in the ammo section. I have to say that I think some of these opinions are nothing more than unfair in people's parts.

Someone in a thread was complaining that a Walmart employee didn't know if a certain accessory would fit his Russian assault weapon made at such and such factory. Well, while it may have been annoying to them, please remember that if the Walmart does not carry such and such weapon made at the "Blank" factory in Moscow or wherever, their employees do not have to know if a certain accessory would fit a rare or uncommon weapon which probably only a handful of people in the gun owning community even know about.

You will find out that if you treat them with kindness and respect, some of these employees are decent human beings who will take their time to help you. Because of my decent treatment of the staff at my two local Walmarts, the employees in the gun/ammo section know me by name and always set aside 2 or 3 boxes of whatever ammo they know I usually buy when I come in.

It happens that in these two Walmart stores there are 2 or 3 gun dealers who come in and buy every single round of pistol ammo when it arrives so they can re-sell it at a gun show for 3 times the price.:mad:
Because of this practice, no one has been able to get any ammo in these two Walmart stores for 3 months (except for those 2 or 3 dealers who buy up the whole stock of pistol ammo to re-sell). However, because I have always been a courteous customer, these employees have always saved a box or two of what they know I buy, so besides these greedy and selfish dealers who ruin it for everyone else by buying up all the ammo, I am the only other person who gets any ammo from these Walmart stores and hence I have not been affected by the ammo shortage too much.

See, it pays to be nice. These employees are human beings too, and some are quite nice, so if you quit yelling at them because they don't have a certain caliber bullet in stock or thy don't know the difference between an M-1 and an M-14 rifle or the name of a certain gun factory in Russia or the Ukraine, you'll find out they can be quite nice to you in return. Kindness has certainly paid off in my case. :D
 
I can't say my Walmart experiences echo yours. I am always courteous with the employess, as I am with everyone, but I just can't count on them. Half the time it takes me 5-15 minutes to fins anyone to get the ammo from behind the counter to sell me, as there never seems to be anyone in the sporting goods section when I go (during peak hours, mind you.)

That said, I don't blame the employees at all. Its just not a specialty store; I come in, ask if they have any .45acp/.38/.357/whatever, politely inform them its for a handgun/rifle, thank them and leave. Theres no need to be rude, but if I have questions, I know I am better off taking them to a dedicated gun store.

I do wish they would set aside some ammo for me. That would be nice. Instead I have to buy 2-4 boxes anytime I find it instock, rather than my usual 1 box after each range trip.
 
I've never had much luck in the gun department at any walmart.

Although I think it's swell that you have walmart employees holding ammo for you, the average Wal-Mart employee doesn't know jack about guns, accessories, or ammo.
I don't remember ever finding a walmart employee who was capable of telling me anything of any value about any gun (even if the gun was in their store).
Usually, I get blank stares as best. Sometimes I'll even get a cocky response that is not only wrong, but borders on mentally retarded.
For example:
Last week I asked a guy in sporting goods if they still had any Mossberg .22 magazines left. He replied that the "magazines" were in the front of the store by the greeting cards. I explained to him that I meant a magazine that held ammunition to be inserted into a .22 caliber rifle. He then replied that he had worked in sporting goods for over 2 years and that they NEVER sold magazines, even though I had just bought one there the week before. Apparently they moved them or sold them all or something, who knows.
I was sorry I asked for help.

Then, a couple days later, I went to another walmart looking for a youth bolt .22. The guy there pulls out a 10/22 and says "this is what you want...we sell a lot of these". I replied that I needed a Youth model bolt gun (again), and as he reached for the Model 60, I walked away.

These are just a couple of examples off the top of my head, but I could go on...
 
The Wal-Mart in my area is either hit or miss with ammo. recently i went buy and found bulk packs of ammo (250 RDS) 80 for .45, 65 for .40, and 45 for .9MM so I bought 1 9MM and .40 and 2 boxes of .45. The employees are friendly, but I know that any real questions need to be brought to a gun shop.
 
? Think you have it bad, You should TRY to get an answer to a question on a toaster at WallyWorld! But then what can you expect from part time/minimum wage staff. :p You get what you pay for, You might save a few dollars/pennies at walmart versus your local gun shop but that's all you save. PATRONIZE your local gun shop.
 
The only thing I ask if they the ammo I want. Other than that I think asking any employee behind the counter anything technical just not going to work.:) You are better off to ask on here:p
 
It happens that in these two Walmart stores there are 2 or 3 gun dealers who come in and buy every single round of pistol ammo when it arrives so they can re-sell it at a gun show for 3 times the price
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If this is true, post the name and location of the gun shop. And then let everyone nearby know not to deal with them.

Then try to convince the manager/assistant manager at W-M that this is not is the best interests of his customers. Some places are limiting purchases to 1 box per customer per day or visit--while this would be a PITA to everyone, it would mean (theoretically) that everyone would get a little, and the gun shop guy would get very little. :)
 
i have an academy not 1 mile down the road from wally world, neither store has dedicated gun people, but if one store doesnt have it in stock, sometimes the other will.
and academy usualy has more ammoin stock than the gun shops.
 
I heard an employee in Walmart sporting goods (who's been there at least a year now) ask another employee "is there a difference between 380 and 9mm?"
 
You get what you pay for, You might save a few dollars/pennies at walmart versus your local gun shop but that's all you save. PATRONIZE your local gun shop
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I would if they were not 2-1/2 times the price for the same brand of white box ammo. Not even in the ballpark.
 
Walmart

If your expectations are low, you will not be dissapointed. I'm sure that most of the folks that work there are nice enough, and are working part time, at minimum wage.

That's one reason they have low prices, knowledgable employees are more expensive.

You aren't going to get 9mm at 9 bucks a box, and good advice.

Do I spend money at Walmart, yes, their prices are usually 25% lower than my friendly neighborhood gun dealer. I won't ask at Wally what pistol powder is best for my needs, at my dealer I will, and pay him his price for the powder.

Talk to someone who has been or is a Walmart vendor. Their purchasing people are not minimum wage, they are closely related to sharks:mad:
 
I found some knowledgable people behind the counter at Walmart, I've run into some at gun stores that are dumber then a post.

If I want expert advise retarding retail stores, I'll go to Walmart or a gun shop. If I want expert advice about guns and ammo, I'll go to firearms experts. You dont normaly find those in retail sales.

But to condemn all walmart employees or all gun store employees is silly and childish. No one forces us to shop there.

You should know what kind of ammo you want before you go there, regardless of how knowledgable the clerk is.
 
the only thing I ask a walmart employee is "where's the bathroom".

I consider everything else to be on my own.

The funniest is asking the employees in the lawn and garden section about the plants they sell.
 
I don't go to Wal Mart for advice on anything, so I don't really care how knowledgeable the clerk is. I get all my advice from the internet...;)
 
If my local Walmart even had any ammo on the shelves, I might have to deal with these problems. However, for at least the last couple of months, I don't believe that my local Walmart has even received a single shipment of ammo. There is no pistol ammo to be found in the store. They only have 2-3 boxes of shotgun shells and maybe a box or two of .300 Winmag.

I liked to buy the bulk packs of WWB they used to carry, since they were the only place around that carried them and they were cheap, but it seems those days are gone for now.
 
In most of the WM's I go to, you generally have to go searching around the store for someone to come man the sporting goods counter, and when you finally get someone they (95% of the time) have virtually no clue what you're talking about.......to the point that you just have to lean over the counter and point directly at what you're asking for. I once had to explain the difference between FMJ and JHP pistol ammo to a young lady running the counter, since she was infuriating the customer ahead of me by continually handing him the wrong box of ammo; poor girl looked like she was about to start crying.


These are just a couple of examples off the top of my head, but I could go on...
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Don't feel bad, I was once told by 2 "hard working" employees that not only did 20 gauge buckshot not exist, but that their store didn't sell ANY buckshot what so ever.................and when I tried to explain that they were standing within a foot of the very 20 gauge buckshot I was asking for, I got blessed with a racial invective. ;) It was a fun day at Wally World :rolleyes:.
 
For what Wal Mart pays their sales clerks you can not expect anyone with more than a 10th grade education or have any type of experience. My local Wal Mart has a middle age lady that works in sporting goods, she is very nice, polite and dumb as a box of rocks, but she knows where the ammo is kept and on what days she restocks it. I have not yet failed to get ammo when I go on the day and time she tells me.
 
I don't know if this has already been stated but, Walmart does not hire people based on a particular skill. Jeff Cooper could be working in Walmart and one day he'd be stocking and the next day he'd be cashiering. It's not a specialty store, the guy at the ammo counter today might be loading mulch in your car tomorrow. I just think it's silly when people complain that the clerk didn't know .45's from .9mm or that they don't sympathize with your RTKBA. Go to your local gun store for all your ammo needs. There you get a wide selection and jerk who knows the answers to all your questions, especially the ones you never asked.
 
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