walmart ammo "#2s"

tony z said:
Do a search on "Consumer Guide" or "Consumer Reports" and you will learn the answer. Yes Walmart buys in huge quantities and because of that is able to spec out exactly what they want in their inventory, as well as price. Items are not second, but supplied per Walmart's specifications.
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So the ammo that I buy at Wal-Mart, with the exact same packaging, part number, bar code, weight, velocity, etc, etc etc, as the ammo at Cabela's or Academy or the LGS, is somehow supplied to Wal-Mart with a different spec than everyone else?

That must REALLY create some head-aches in the manufacturing, packaging, and shipping departments at the ammo companies! :rolleyes:

I'm an engineer at a major manufacturer, and trying to keep things straight even with a different part number on EVERYTHING is impossible!
 
That must REALLY create some head-aches in the manufacturing, packaging, and shipping departments at the ammo companies!
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The ammunition industry operates with batch production.
They're used to switching tooling.
They're used to switching raw materials.
They're used to switching inspection methods.
And they're VERY used to switching packaging.

Making minor adjustments to production, inspection, or packaging equipment is well within their capability.
 
Logic says that if Walmart is purchasing factory seconds, then the Ammo manufacturers that supply Walmart produce far more "2nd quality" ammo than 1st quality (whatever that means). I suppose only one out of every 3 cartridges is good enough to be called "first quality"???:confused:
 
Wal-Mart is so large that they can indeed "fix" pricing & production costing.

Trust me I worked for a major supplier for them.

They do not intentionally "get seconds", but what does happen is the squeeze the supplier so hard that HE makes short cuts to maintain a large customer while making a profit. If he doesn't cut another 1.6% off wholesale they'll find someone else who does.
 
I would of burst out laughing in his face. Bet he is still laughing at you and anyone else who as not called his hand on that hog wash.

You never know he may of bought his stock from Walmart and reselling it.
 
Here the Walmarts carry basically the budget line shells from the same major mfgs, such as Winchester. The kind of stuff you buy for shooting clay pigeons. It comes in #7 1/2 and they buy it by the truckload, and have cases of it on the shelves, and more in the back. If I want #6 small game loads, or some duck or turkey shells I go to the LGS, they have a hundred or so choices and 3 or 4 boxes of each on the self. Thats why they cost more. I go find Winchester # 7 1/2 pigeon loads and they are $7 instead of $5 at Walmart. I pick out some #6 game loads and they are $12. Then I go home and thank goodness I reload everything but #7 1/2 :D


By the way, seconds are common for a lot of products and usually indicates a cosmetic defect that does not affect function or use. I'd never heard of seconds in ammo, but the photo posted shows exactly that. Seconds must be labled as such and the "defects" must not be functional.
 
A really good way for a small business owner to run potential customers off is to lie.
While on a month long vacation years ago, I had heard about an indoor action pistol match being held in the vicinity.
So, I asked the nearest gun store folks where it might be.
They said they never heard of one around there.
As it turned out, it was a weekly event, being held two streets over in another store with a range.
Guess which store got my business from then on.
 
"So the ammo that I buy at Wal-Mart, with the exact same packaging, part number, bar code, weight, velocity, etc, etc etc, as the ammo at Cabela's or Academy or the LGS, is somehow supplied to Wal-Mart with a different spec than everyone else?"

Depending on exactly what it is, it could be.

Note that I say COULD be.

WalMart has a long history of, as Tony Z said, contracting for items manufactured to their own specifications.

That's why you can often find firearms from the major manufacturers at WalMart in configurations/finishes that you can't find anywhere else, or even cataloged at the factory.

That's what purchasing power buys you.

Is this the case with ammunition? I don't know, but I suspect it's less likely with ammo, and very likely not the case at all with something like .22.
 
"That's why you can often find firearms from the major manufacturers at WalMart in configurations/finishes that you can't find anywhere else, or even cataloged at the factory."

And that's how major retailers offer a price guarantee. The exact product can't be found anywhere else.

But I haven't seen any difference in specs of ammo on any retailers' shelves. Yet.
 
On the flip side, once a manufacturer finds a cheaper way to make a product (possibly at Wal-Mart's insistence) it will go out on the shelves everywhere, after all for other buyers its more profit for the maker.

Remember all the complaining about "major maker" .22 "economy bricks" a while back;)
 
"So the ammo that I buy at Wal-Mart, with the exact same packaging, part number, bar code, weight, velocity, etc, etc etc, as the ammo at Cabela's or Academy or the LGS, is somehow supplied to Wal-Mart with a different spec than everyone else?"

Depending on exactly what it is, it could be.

Note that I say COULD be.
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No. It would NOT have the same inventory number because then the shipping department would ship it everywhere else. If the numbers are the same, then it is the same product.
 
I agree with TonyZ. Years ago I was looking for a washing machine and an appliance store owner told me the same thing about the tag. I actually DID go look at two places that were "Fast sell and cheap" stores. He was telling the truth. The electrical load on the motors were rated lower too, but with out looking at the tag, the machines were identical to the one in the first appliance store I was at.
I don't know if K MART was a national chain or not, but back when they sold rifles, they sold "Seconds" also but they were not marked as such. My buddy was a small dealer and saw a K MART flyer selling 10/22's really cheap. He called the distributor and wanted a couple to throw on the rack. He was told that these K MART guns were only available to K MART because of the volume of their purchases and that they all had "Slight blemishes or issues that had no affect on the operation". Not rumors, true stories. I was in the machining trade a long time and this stuff goes on, like it or not. Companies "Repair" new products or lower the standards on small issues before they hit the floor all the time.
 
I find it disturbing that companies make more mistakes by volume than they get right.

I believe that Walmart can get a cheaper product made just for them...
Cheaper motor in an appliance excetera....

Maybe even a special walmart loaded ammo? Possible

Making enough mistakes to keep walmart shelves full? That's scary lol
 
So how exactly do they make Walmart ammo cheaper? Has anyone bought the cheap Federal that cost $10/50 in 9mm for example and compared the components?
 
The same way they make anything else cheaper, by reducing UhOh's by dropping QC standards, reducing the price of components by sourcing cheaper suppliers & components & so on.
 
Brass, lead, etc. are commodities with a worldwide pricing structure. Federal, Winchester, Remington, etc. all make various pricing as I have already said. Walmart gets good pricing due to the volume they order. If the SKU is the same as the SKU on a box from Gander, Cabela's, etc., it is the same stuff.
 
Buddy of mine manages a Walmart here, his third store. According to him, the ammo in stock is first-class production. Bentonville will not buy products known to be defective at point of manufacture, such as second-grade ammo.

They are the largest retailer of ammo in the world. The ammo makers line up to sell their wares at wholesale prices your next retailer, like Cabelas, and certainly Joe Bob's Gun Shop, cannot hope to get.
 
I'm sure he isn't laughing at me, cause I talked him down on his .22 ammo. Like I said I only enquired about his 9mm and 30-06. which were both $10 more a box of the same ole remington, I buy from walmart. I only pay his price for .22, is cause it's the only place I can get them without driving 40 miles

About Wal-Mart selling seconds, I didnt buy into it. I was actually dumb founded. I couldn't believe that remington and other companies of that status. Would in fact knowingly sell a defective product, so to speak. And the thought of walmart, knowingly buying then reselling a defective product blows my mind.

But it appears some companies have indeed sold dedefected product.
 
Buddy of mine manages a Walmart here, his third store. According to him, the ammo in stock is first-class production. Bentonville will not buy products known to be defective at point of manufacture, such as second-grade ammo.
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This. I work for a consumer products company (we make name brand deodorant, hair color, fragrances, etc.) and Walmart is our primary customer. We sell the same products to Walmart as we do to Target, CVS and Walgreens. We will repackage product for them, but we do not make anything to their spec. I doubt anyone else does either. Differences between a brand's products found at different retailers are likely due to the manufacturer making product to the retailers price point.
 
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