What the heck happened to all the handgun ammo?

VenezianBlau 87 · 04-15-2009, 08:51 AM

Sig .357, 9mm, .45acp and .380 are my fav flavors

Local shops and online...all out.
If people have been hoarding, wouldn't there still be resupplies coming in?
At least I have a case of .45acp, some BBs, and rocks in my backyard to throw.

Jim Richards · 04-15-2009, 08:59 AM

It makes it hard to burn a few hundred rounds every month at the range. At some point, you have to restock your cache. I bought 1k rounds of 9mm a month or so ago (on-line). I should bought more.

VenezianBlau 87 · 04-15-2009, 09:19 AM

I usually just keep a few of boxes of each on hand for my hour at the range with a friend and then on to BBQ and beer. Hopefully just a temporary thing.

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

ammoman.com just got more 9mm in (per an email).

My range has plenty of reloads - I buy them 1K at a time. Tough to find .357magnum and .38 online though. My local shop has it, but bulk is tough right now. I have plenty of 9mm at the moment.

legion · 04-15-2009, 09:46 AM

I've been able to find some sporadically, but there is definitely nothing just sitting on shelves.

The story I've heard is that Clinton shut down several armories in the late 90's and the military just ran out of its stockpile this year and has had to turn to the civilian market to resupply.

Well, that explains the lack of .223 and 9mm--except that I can get .223 right now (just not the cheap stuff). And doesn't the military use 5.56mm and not .223?

Well, I think the other half of the story is that everyone who has ever wanted to own a gun has gone out and bought one since November, and everyone who owns one has bought every ounce of ammo they have room to store. I think this is for both political and economic reasons.

MotoSook · 04-15-2009, 09:56 AM

Was at the local Farm and Fleet last night .. happened to walk by the Sporting Goods Dept. and checked out the supply with all the talk of shortage...

It was pretty bare of hand gun ammo with a sign limiting 5 boxes for popular ones...but all gone.

Surprisingly they had plenty of Remington UMC .223 55 gr FMJ and .223 45 gr JHP (200/$114). Don't know if UMC .45 gr JHP is any good, but they had a bunch of 200 rd bulk boxes. They also had 2000 rds of Winchester Q3131A1 5.56 FMJ for $9.49/box of 20 and no limit on the number of boxes you could buy.

VenezianBlau 87 · 10:20 AM

Assault rifles jumped off the shelves after the election. But, there's plenty of .223 cal / 5.56mm and 7.62X39 ammo, as well as hunting calibers....
I figured the assault rifle types might hoard the former ones above.
But, it just seems to be acp pistol ammo that's all gone.
I like Fiocchi but there's none to be found.

edit: Thanks for the ammoman link. Although their site is down, I followed a google link to one of their pages and they have Fiocchi for $150/500 rounds of FMJ 130 gr delivered (IIRC).

jyl · jyl's Garage

Speculation - people went and hoarded up the 223 then when they'd filled their pantries, the frenzy turned to hoarding up the pistol calibers. Ammo manufacturers must be loving it, getting top dollar for ammo while raw material costs for brass, copper, lead have plunged. Silly consumers, but as long as no-one is taking out second mortgages to buy AR15s and cases of 9mm, no harm done. Keep stimulating the economy!

MotoSook · 04-15-2009, 10:49 AM

Military goods have always been great for boosting economies, right?

Maybe all the talk about a ban and bullet numbering is just a bluff to get cash flowing...

...maybe they should talk about a ban on new car sales or new home sales.

wait...a limit on bank profits after 2012.

Jim Richards · 04-15-2009, 10:54 AM

+1

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by VenezianBlau 87

Sig .357, 9mm, .45acp and .380 are my fav flavors

Local shops and online...all out.
If people have been hoarding, wouldn't there still be resupplies coming in?
At least I have a case of .45acp, some BBs, and rocks in my backyard to throw.

Where have you been? This has been going on for 6+ months

Aerkuld · Aerkuld's Garage

I, like red-beard, am amazed that you've only just noticed. I'd been looking for some .380 auto personal defence rounds and it would have been easier to find rocking horse poo.

I was suprised by this too...

Quote:

Originally Posted by VenezianBlau 87

Assault rifles jumped off the shelves after the election. But, there's plenty of .223 cal / 5.56mm and 7.62X39 ammo, as well as hunting calibers....

Are you kidding? I hadn't been able to find either locally for weeks. The only stuff that was readily available was a few oddball calibers. Even on-line was getting to be slim pickings, everything seemed to be on backorder.

I've really only seen a difference in the last week or so, but supply does seem to have been coming back up to somewhere near normal even if the prices are still up. At least I'm not in need anymore, I hate empty ammo cans.

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

For .380, you don't want anything special, just FMJ. .380 ACP doesn't penetrate extremely well. So you do not want expansion, which will cut down the penetration.

I do run alternating Corbon and FMJ in my .380. I run FMJ only in my .32

If you are truely short, we might be able to trade...I have quite a bit of .380

on2wheels52 · on2wheels52's Garage

SOG won't take back-orders for the 'hot' calibers.
It's going to take a while to re-fill the pipeline.
Jim

Aerkuld · Aerkuld's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by red-beard

For .380, you don't want anything special, just FMJ. .380 ACP doesn't penetrate extremely well. So you do not want expansion, which will cut down the penetration.

I do run alternating Corbon and FMJ in my .380. I run FMJ only in my .32

If you are truely short, we might be able to trade...I have quite a bit of .380

That's some sound advice - thanks.

I appreciate the trade offer but fortunately I do now have an adequate supply of a mixture of FMJ, hollow point, and Hornaday FTX. Certainly enough to mix and match as you suggest.

If there is anything you really need though let me know. Stocks do seem to have picked up a bit around here as I said.

Mo_Gearhead · 04-15-2009, 05:15 PM

I guess it depends on where you live. They had a gun show in Springfield Missouri last month. I saw ever caliber ammo for sale, some on pallets!

VenezianBlau 87 · 06:40 AM

As usual, thanks guys for the advice.

As production picks up and the hoarder's are satiated with ammo, I expect the whole supply / demand thing to reach equilibrium with prices in line with early 2008.