Hi Everyone!
The last couple of weeks I've been keeping tabs on the Ammo shortages in the US through a couple of forums and Google News.
By all accounts Walmart has limited customers to three boxes of ammo each day, and most retail stores have been cleaned out or running low on .22LR, .223, .308 and often are short on 9mm, .40 cal and even .45ACP. Regular trap loads or light field loads in shotguns are usually available, but slugs and buckshot less so. And while there's more availability of non-military calibres like 30/30, .270 and 30.06 (no longer a military round), even many of those options seem to be drying up as Americans unable to get ammo in the more popular calibres look to alternatives to keep shooting until the shortage abides. Most online dealers are out of stock of a bulk of their selection and no longer taking back orders, while many gun owners line up at stores before opening in the hopes that a new shipment of ammo will provide what they are looking for. It looks as if it could be several months before supply and production will catch up with demand.
My own observations while buying and conversations with Canadian gun dealers (including three site sponsors) seem to indicate that they still have decent stock at regular prices but aren't sure when they'll get further ammo from the states once they've sold their current stock. While we are lucky to get ammo from places like China that are unaffected by US purchasing, Canadians seem to have been buying that at a faster rate than normal to compensate for expected shortages of US ammo, so it's unclear how long that could make up for the lack of supply from the south.
This shortage of ammo is also associated with a shortage of popular guns (i.e ARs, but also less controversial guns like the Ruger 10/22) and reloading components., though that's the topic of other areas of the forum.
Has anyone noticed any trends in terms of ammo selection at their local dealers or changed their ammo purchasing patterns to prepare for any potential shortage. I'd been pretty well stocked for most of my shooting needs but have recently brought a couple bulk packs of regularly priced .22LR, plus other ammo like crates of .223 and .308, for which I hadn't huge supplies, as well as a couple of Glock, 10/22 and extra LAR mags so that I've got enough of the same sized mags for CQB matches. I also picked up some dies, powder and primers to finally reload the 1000 9mm bullets someone gave me a year ago. Luckily the supply here has allowed enough time to ponder any purchases without having to rush or risk spending more than would be prudent, but certainly intend to keep to a higher minimum reserve level to compensate for any future shortages caused by politics to the south of us. I wonder if anyone else has noticed any shortages or have any concerns about future supply?
The last couple of weeks I've been keeping tabs on the Ammo shortages in the US through a couple of forums and Google News.
By all accounts Walmart has limited customers to three boxes of ammo each day, and most retail stores have been cleaned out or running low on .22LR, .223, .308 and often are short on 9mm, .40 cal and even .45ACP. Regular trap loads or light field loads in shotguns are usually available, but slugs and buckshot less so. And while there's more availability of non-military calibres like 30/30, .270 and 30.06 (no longer a military round), even many of those options seem to be drying up as Americans unable to get ammo in the more popular calibres look to alternatives to keep shooting until the shortage abides. Most online dealers are out of stock of a bulk of their selection and no longer taking back orders, while many gun owners line up at stores before opening in the hopes that a new shipment of ammo will provide what they are looking for. It looks as if it could be several months before supply and production will catch up with demand.
My own observations while buying and conversations with Canadian gun dealers (including three site sponsors) seem to indicate that they still have decent stock at regular prices but aren't sure when they'll get further ammo from the states once they've sold their current stock. While we are lucky to get ammo from places like China that are unaffected by US purchasing, Canadians seem to have been buying that at a faster rate than normal to compensate for expected shortages of US ammo, so it's unclear how long that could make up for the lack of supply from the south.
This shortage of ammo is also associated with a shortage of popular guns (i.e ARs, but also less controversial guns like the Ruger 10/22) and reloading components., though that's the topic of other areas of the forum.
Has anyone noticed any trends in terms of ammo selection at their local dealers or changed their ammo purchasing patterns to prepare for any potential shortage. I'd been pretty well stocked for most of my shooting needs but have recently brought a couple bulk packs of regularly priced .22LR, plus other ammo like crates of .223 and .308, for which I hadn't huge supplies, as well as a couple of Glock, 10/22 and extra LAR mags so that I've got enough of the same sized mags for CQB matches. I also picked up some dies, powder and primers to finally reload the 1000 9mm bullets someone gave me a year ago. Luckily the supply here has allowed enough time to ponder any purchases without having to rush or risk spending more than would be prudent, but certainly intend to keep to a higher minimum reserve level to compensate for any future shortages caused by politics to the south of us. I wonder if anyone else has noticed any shortages or have any concerns about future supply?
