Posted on 06/29/2013 11:38:47 AM PDT by dagogo redux
I thought a weekend vanity thread about the current state of the arms and ammo markets might provide a useful exchange of info for some FReepers.
Post election, and especially post Sandy Hook, many acquaintances - probably just waking up now to the trajectory of history - approached me about the status of the gun and ammo market. I’m not anything of an authority on this topic, but I have had my ear to the ground about such things, perhaps more than some.
There has been another recent flurry of questions as well, revealing that they haven’t looked back into things since then. I’ve been able to correct, I think, some of their worries about the availability and prices seen earlier.
Recent gun shows in the Puget Sound area have seen a significant reversion towards the norm on gun prices, and decent availability for SHTF and personal defense weaponry - certainly not back where it was long ago, but much improved from 3-6 months ago.
I’m not a big fan of finicky or high maintenance weapons, or those chambered for less-than-ubiquitous ammo when preparing for a long-term long survival scenario, but recent gun shows here had a decent supply of handguns, shotguns and practical rifles for prices about 3/4 to 2/3 the prices seen during the recent rush.
Ammo stocks at the gun show were decent, though not great, and there were few really great deals, IMO.
However, I am happy to see Ammoman stocked again with military surplus bulk AK rounds at $0.30/round, and they even had some reasonable NATO/Portuguese .308 battle-packs recently. I don’t pay much attention to the AR-15 platform, but the ammo seems readily available, many places, although still pricey.
Ammoman has no .45 or 9mm bulk, $1.00/round HP .40s, $0.80-1.00/shell 12 gauge Federal and Remington buckshot and slugs. Nothing in 20 gauge.
.22 mag shotshells - one of my favorites - seem nowhere to be found: I’ve been on several waiting lists for a while now . . . Guys at the gun shows spoke of relative shortages in many .22 rounds.
Lucky Gunner has some stuff in bulk as well, and may be worth checking out. Others here may know of other good sources to watch, but those are the two I follow in addition to the gun shows.
I do drop by Surplus Ammo south of Tacoma occasionally, a truly great resource in the past, but it's been a long time since they had anything I wanted. Their ammo shelves were still practically bare two weeks ago.
Anyway, that’s what I tell folks when they ask locally. Anyone else is welcome to chime in.
www.gunbot.net
save yourself from driving around.
Great resource! Thanks for that!
Ammoseek.com
Using them I clean the entire Gander Mountain chain out of .45-70.... both boxes LOL!
On further perusal, even THEY don’t have the .22 mag shot shells - bummer.
But looks like I can sign up to be notified if they ever do.
I'm reloading the .45-70.
Have 1,000 rounds.
At Bulkammo.com, .223/.556 NATO ammo is available and has come down somewhat in price ($785 per 1,000 rounds of Lake City XM-855) but is still expensive.
Last time I was in Bass Pro, they had some Black Rain AR$.
Short supply on ammo though. Esp. 9mm 40SW & 223
The Portugese must have been some prolific ammo makers; I've been buying that stuff for a long time. I've found it very reliable, but not exactly the cleanest shooting stuff, particularly if you're shooting a direct-impingement weapon.
I've long subscribed to, and recommended standard calibers in the thought that it would be the most generally available stuff for both training and in a SHTF scenario, with much of my collection being geared around .40S&W, 7.62x51 and .30 Carbine. In this last go 'round those have become some of the least available with the sharpest price increases.
I'm also a fan of the 10mm and interestingly enough I observed that since Sandy Hook, 10mm prices have increased little if any, and while it was never exactly a common caliber, the ammo supply in my area did not appear to have been adversely impacted. While I'm still of the opinion that "popular" chamberings are still a good choice, based on recent experience, I would also recommend taking a look at something mildly exotic like .38 Super, .41 Magnum, 10mm in a pistol and .250 Savage, .257 Roberts, .300 Savage, .444 Marlin etc. in a rifle as the normally low demand on those rounds seemed to remain relatively steady, without spiking throughout this last pinch.
Starting to see a little ammo showing up here and there over the last couple of weeks.
AR-15s have been available for a while, and there were a ton of them at the Medina, Ohio gun show last weekend.
Woo Hoo !!!
Just found and bought a bunch of the .22 mag Shotshells!
Thanks for that link!
Bass Pro has never been very good on bulk ammo by my experience. Especially with all the good reports on Cabela’s I’ve seen here, even before the Sandy Hook driven panic buying.
I just started with the caliber so I’m using factory to build up a supply of brass. Also seeing what bullet weight etc... my gun likes.
Pedersoli #3 Sharps, waiting on some Soule sights from Montana Vintage Arms.
Before the latest crisis, Bass Pro had a sale on Reming Gun Club 12 gauge target loads for $4.76 a box. There was also a free shipping at the time. I bought 20 flats. (200 boxes)
I'm driving a Winchester lever action (I think the model is 1894) and a Thompson Contender with a 16" barrel.
You have to have a hold on both of them when you let them go.
Yesterday Wideners had a few powders that haven’t been available for months, and some primers too.
And they had .22LR shotshells.
and some Wolf 7.62X39 ammo
Don’t know if they are sold out yet.
Stopped by my local Gibsons yesterday. No 308, 9mm, 22lr, 22 shorts or 22 mag.
Wideners had .22 shorts yesterday too.
In my area on the Rockies, there are fire bans that outlaw firing jacketed ammunition of any kind, and brass is expensive and unavailable. So, like many others, I’ve lost interest for a while and am doing other things. Already have essentials (lead, molds, etc., for old fashioned stuff with big bores). Jacketed stuff will remain on the shelf, until available is up and prices come down much.
As for the end-of-the-world projections, most of us can see, by now, that the economy is declining in slow motion. And it’s going to continue slowly, because our banking bigwigs and government are really prepared for seeing to that.
The dollar will continue to decline slowly, commensurate with, but way behind production on U.S. soil declining. Same with certain crime rates. They’ll continue to increase slowly, as they already are. Austerity measures are ahead. And with Democrats continuing to pile up debt. Republicans will probably do most of the budget cuts after elections to come. The cuts will be more drastic and necessary, as interest rates climb (see money tightening by the Fed in the future, bond yields up, bond prices declining). And with hundreds of millions of new future drives and production increases in Asia, oil will continue to climb.
In sum, we’ll get poorer, little by little. Many more middle class folks will be laid off and will trade their office “politics” (see political correctness, backstabbing, sexual confusion, etc.) for more ostensible acts of crime. No “SHTF.” Only gradual increase in misery and squalor. Welcome to the Third World—a welcome in slow motion.
.45 is great for bullet casting and reloading, for anyone who works with it enough (bore/fire lapping and all). Veral Smith has many years of experience accompanied by close and concerned studies, makes great bullet molds and has written great ballistics information about lead bullets, barrels, etc.
http://lbtmoulds.com/moulds.shtml
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