Where Has All the Ammo Gone?

On Saturday, I saw 223 for the first time. It was Hornady 55 gr soft points (zombie-max) packaged in 20 round boxes. $21 per box. They had about 3 dozen boxes on the shelf.

It is the first 223 I have seen since December.
 
I think that the military and govenment LE is getting priority on ammo with us consumers at the tail end of the supply line. The 22 rimfire shortage hurts since it's a round that can't be handloaded.
 
This should be a strong reminder of why people should have several months of food stashed up at home. I dont know what would cause a run on food like the run on guns, but it is pretty clear that if there ever is a run on food, its going to go fast and all of a sudden.

Imagine if for some reason transportation was limited. Whatever food got delivered would be taken by those lined up at the store before it opened and sold for hefty profits later.

The lesson is store up on things you dont want to do without.

Steve
 
My local Wally World had been out of ANY type of 22LR ammo until today. The last time I saw it was over a month ago. The other popular types were hit or miss - I saw (and grabbed) 45ACP and 40S&W FMJ when the 100-round boxes showed up, but the rest of the shelves were getting picked clean.

When I asked the guy with the keys to the ammo case today he said they had again changed their policy - it is now one box per customer per day. This is in the best-supplied chain in the world, as deep into Texas as you can be. So it's not like ammo or gun owners were scarce before. Everyone here already had what they needed, but were buying anything that showed up. My LGS guy said last week that he bought 6 boxes (him and his wife) of 9mm when it showed up on the Wal-Mart shelves just so he would have something for people in his CCW classes to shoot.

Anyway, I grabbed a box of 325 22LR rounds just because.
 
"I think that the military and govenment LE is getting priority on ammo with us consumers at the tail end of the supply".

Hmmmm. I don't think so. I have several LEO friends and 2 cousins in the PD and they all are in the same boat as the rest of us. Originally I thought that they would have access to ammo so I call one of my cousins and ask him to see if he could get me some 223......pfffft, he said. I got a 3 month wait to fill my order. Funny thing is, I few days later I came across some 5.56 at Bass Pro Shop and I call him to tell him never mine... Within a minute he call me to ask me where did I found some.
 
h_townner- By government LE, I wasn't talking about the Fuddville PD, I was talking about Dept of Homeland Security- FBI, Border Patrol, DEA, Customs, IRS, etc. Those in Washington that have purchased millions of rounds over the past few years.
 
The Wal-Mart near me is empty except for the standard 270,30-06,7mag and 410. My LGS received some 5.56 and 22lr ammo this week and sold out pretty quick. There is also talk of a FEMA truck being seen backed up to a Wal-Mart truck, unloading all the ammo off and onto the FEMA truck here in my home town in east Texas. Every Wal-mart that I have been to seem to have the exact same stock on the shelf.

kenken
 
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After watching a few episodes of Hoarders and Preppers I know where all the ammo has gone. There is no shortage of people who think the world is coming to an end in short order and believe that having 50,000 rounds of ammo will preserve place for them in New Eden.
 
It is my opinion that the government contracts are sucking up the ammunition resources at the manufacturing level. Maybe Walmart and other major retailers need to warehouse ammunition rather than the way it appears they are doing it? Why does the government need all this ammunition when the Afghanistan war is coming to a close? We're not in Iraq? Why? I think the answer lies with the government simply manlipulating the market with their big orders so the private citizen his left with nothing. The whole situation sings of Rahm Emanuel politics.
 
SVO, that woud really suck. If the federal government is only looking out for the Feds and leaving the local LEO's out to dry .... Then I understand why there's talk in Texas about leaving the union. This is outrageous. Yet 51% of us believes this admin has the messiah.

BTW, a couple weeks ago a placed an order with Sierra bullets and yesterday I called to check on it only to be told that they were out and wouldn't manufacture any more for about two months. I told her to cancel it. Then within 15 minutes they call back to inform me that they found a couple boxes of the bullets I had ordered and if I was still interested. Hmmmmmm, seems to me they were holding back.
 
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Reality check - TX isn't leaving the union, steer away from politics.

The storage is due to hoarders and flippers camping outside the stores.
 
Glenn, " steer away from politics " is one of the best advice a man can ever get. Unfortunately, politics is at the source of the scare. I agree with you tho. Peace.
 
"I think some are missing the point of the OP. If he works for the largest gun retailer in the US one would think that that retailer would be in line for new ammunition supplies first before the many other smaller sellers. If the number one seller is not getting the ammunition who is?"

Demand has been spiking for some time now.

It's not logical or reasonable to think that the largest gun retailer in the US would ALWAYS, EVERY WEEK, get its full order to the exclusion of every other outlet.

That would mean that a significant number of other customers would NOT get for months on end.

Manufacturers and distributors are cycling through their customers as best they can.

In other words, you're not getting anything this week, you might not get anything next week, but we're pretty sure we can get you at least something the week after that.
 
I don't think they've sold a box. You can't tell me that the LGS down the road that's a one man operation run out of a 70's model single wide trailer gets priority over Walmart. He is currently having no trouble coming up with 5.56, 9mm, .40, and .45. It ain't dirt cheap or anything, but it's available.
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t's not logical or reasonable to think that the largest gun retailer in the US would ALWAYS, EVERY WEEK, get its full order to the exclusion of every other outlet.
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I agree with the second statement.

Having worked in retail, large and small, perhaps I can explain a few things some may not know.

Walmart is huge and it negotiates its prices. It pays way less for the same exact items as smaller retailers, sometimes a huge amount less. additionally walmart almost certainly directly buys direct from manufactures and distributes itself where most small stores, in this case LGSs. is almost certainly be buying ammo and supplies from a wholesaler in the middle.

So the makers have an interest in selling to the smaller stores, and regional wholesalers because they pay the manufacturer more for the same product. Wal-Mart has the negotiating advantage over makers for price and supply a in a time of surplus, but that supply advantage disappears during scarcity once they have sold their contracted amount. the contracts between walmart and ammo makers probably have been fulfilled. a maker of ammunition would not favor Wal-Mart during scarcity.

Secondly it very likely many of the small gun shops bought up a goo deal Wal-Mart's supplies even at retail costs anyway. During either surplus times or potential scarcity that price may well beat the price they get at wholesale.
For my dad' store we used to buy cans tuna at the local large chain. They sold it for about half of what we could buy it wholesale.

there are a combination of other factors this time around, the government has certainly bought massive amounts. The fact that people have new guns means there is a lot of training. On top of that people who are cautious would definaetly be stockpiling some amount, whether it be for three or four training sessions down the road, or more. Lastly in free markets individuals buy with the hope of reselling for a profit.
 
They had a blurb this morning on the radio saying Homeland Security has purchased more ammo than even the US Army, including .22's. Our Walmart has none of the popular brand nor are they getting any. Our LGS says he can't get any either. I don't believe for even a second that hoarders are scarfing it up... I believe it is yet another step instrumented by our politicians to obtain thier goals.... whatever they may be.
OK...they are getting ammo...then what is happening to reloader supplies? LGS says same thing... uncle sugar's taking it.
Wish we knew the truths?? I know when I was a cop, we never used factory ammo for training... reloaded wad cutters at best. Why .22's? Why so many calibers?
 
My opinion, ACC (or I would just call them American consumers because not all are citizens) have increased their demand for ammo which in turn has dried up the supply.

If we are indeed talking about Walmart, I distinctly remember before November 2012 that they were normally flush with 22lr, 223, 9mm etc. After Obama's re-election and Newtown, AC got the scare and panic bought all they ammo they can afford beyond their normal levels.

For example, I used to buy maybe 2boxes of ammo every couple of weeks before the panic--knowing that ammo was abundant and cheap. After November I ramped it up to 3 or more boxes a week, whatever I can afford to buy if there was no limit. Multiply that demand in millions of AC and you get the shortage that we have now.

The American public would have to calm down and slow their demand/purchase of ammo for the manufacturers to finally catch up.
 
After watching a few episodes of Hoarders and Preppers I know where all the ammo has gone. There is no shortage of people who think the world is coming to an end in short order and believe that having 50,000 rounds of ammo will preserve place for them in New Eden.
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Skans, this also is a high possibility.

With the proliferation of preppers/hoarders/apocalypse, other normal individuals have taken to the practice of buying excessive amounts of ammo and supplies to stash for their own, even if they are not preppers.

Some forum members have boasted over 20k of ammo; at first I thought 5k rounds was excessive before. Now 20k and up is the norm esp if you add 22lr to that amount. These hoarders/preppers who bought countless rounds of ammo before it dried up in January is definitely a cause for the shortage we currently have.
 
I also heard the government has increased there ammunition purchasing ... wonder what third world countries are getting our ammo ... Were giving everything else away .
 
I have been able to find ammo, but only in lots of 500, 1000, or greater.

Aside from the occasional box of 20 rounds of SD ammo...

Seems to me that this problem lasted until around August, in 2009, after the first big scare.
 
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