[jerry]

I dropped by the LGS, been a while. No ammo or reloading supplies. You know.
So I’m talking to the nice lady who works there. Business has been down overall.
Seems people used to come in, buy a box of shells, pick up another item or two and mosey on.
That’s no longer happening. Please support and pray for your LGS. It’s going to be ugly before getting better.

 

[bsshog40]

Same around here also!

 

[runfiverun]

sporting goods sales are down 20% or so across the board.
i'm sure a bunch of it is because they can't sell you what they don't have.

 

[big shrek]

Yerp, with the current craziness, which ain't gonna get better anytime soon,
its a madhouse. Intentionally. Almost unintended consequences...

Got some gun shops pouring over the ammo sites, buying all they can as fast
as they can...then they double or more the price and put it on the shelf.
So you're seeing $50 a box for regular 10mm ammo...$40 a box for 9mm. 40, & 45.
Finding any non-standard caliber is hit or miss, but it'll be in the $40+ range per box.
Was looking for a box of .380 for my Barber, but can't find any anywhere.

Oddly enough, I just went the other way...sold 17 guns to a local gun shop to fund
buying a Honda Pilot Cut out all my oddball caliber pieces & a bunch of .22lr's.
By the end of the year I may be sold out of guns entirely. Maybe just one or two
for security's sake, but I'm finding that my hand to hand skills haven't diminished
much with age...if anything I got more precise, straight to the nerve centers.
Back on the martial arts/strength training path with a vengeance.
I need way more cardio training, need to get back to 15-rounds of 3-minutes
again to feel comfortable.

The trouble is brewing, mostly up North & Cali/Ore/Wash...
when it really breaks loose up there, it'll just be a matter of time before it hits
everywhere. So if y'all ain't been training, its's time to start.
Any is better than nothing. Even if it's just simple Army Boot calisthenics.

One last thing. Buy PROPERTY. Rent is about to go even more insane than it
already has. All these millions of illegal immigrants need a place to stay, and
they don't mind shacking up 10 to a room. The farther out of the city, the better.
Cities are going to become deadly as bleep.

 

[ChaZam]

I know a couple dealers in Whitesboro and Sherman, Texas and they are getting enough ammo resupply to maintain some inventory. They are limiting sales so that 1 buyer cannot wipe them out. They do have a variety of firearms on hand too, so if you buy a 300 BO AR, or a Glock 17, or a Kimber 1911 for instance, they will have ammo for it. I'll say this though, both of those owners are highly intelligent businessmen. The one in Sherman worked for the guy in Whitesboro for several years so he learned from one of the best and he took those lessons to heart.

 

[ncnascarlady]

I'm blessed to have the same kind of lgs owners. They saw what was coming in 2019 and invested in stock. The other advantage they have are the store is a mini Bass Pro; they carry fishing and camping gear, clothing and added boats a couple of years ago. Add a gunsmith on staff, will put new line on your reel at no charge, do custom arrow heads and fletching, have a boat engine shop, are happy to order whatever you want, do transfers and have the nicest staff going.

They've been in town for 20 years and will be here for at least another 20.

 

[Cyrano]

My local gun shop has plenty of ammo, but the prices are going out of sight. A brick of .22 LR is over $100 now, and 9mm ammo is on the order of $800 for a thousand rounds. Milsurp 7.62 NATO is still reasonable, but Mosin ammo is almost a dollar a round now.

Scotty has also invested in (I think this is the correct name) Ares SCR lowers that make AR-15s legal here in the Peoples Democratic Republic of New York. My reaction to them is, "At last someone has made a Poodle Shooter that is comfortable to shoot." Mind you, I don't like them as much as I like the VEPR, but for people who like the AR platform there is now one you can own that is legal under the UnSAFE Act. If I needed a varmint gun, I'd take a long look at one of the Ares SCR rifles. He also has a supply of milsurp bolt actions (no semi-autos), and a number of the new Tavor 12 gauge shotguns. In the pistol racks, he has an entire case of revolvers, mostly Tauruses and S&Ws, an impressive number of M1911s of various grades, and a whole shelf and a half of police trade-in Glocks. What he does not have is collector pistols; he has one CZ-52, one Beretta Model 1934, and one Yugo Model 57 Tokarev, and that's it. The M1934 does not fit me, and I already have the other two. I was hoping for a vintage Smith in .357 or an H&R 999, but no such luck. I'll keep looking.

 

[Kmcdowell]

I'm just glad to have what I've got. With a good sized handful of assorted handguns and long guns, plus plenty of Ammo and reloading supplies, I feel like I'm prepared for the future events.

Never thought I would see the day when the going price for a box of 9mm FMJ would be $40.00. I bought all of mine for under $10, so I guess I'm independently wealthy. That's not counting about 10K rounds of 22LR.

You know, if the government steps in and regulates this stuff behind the scenes through buying up inventory, it could be this way for a long time.

 

[Junction15]

Around here, the LGS's are getting into fishing tackle. Anything to get customers in the door.

But sadly, one place I like to go has not been getting anything for trade-in guns. I have picked up a few nice firearms from him - some new but low price; some used and in great shpe for an even lower price; and some sold on consignment. Nothing for ammo.
Although, they do seem to be getting a bunch of AR type shotguns in stock. I'm not quite ready to hug onto one of those yet, but it's a thought...

 

[PaleHawkDown]

We've always leaned more towards historic firearms, but we have had to lean into it much harder the last few months just to have any stock. Modern firearms we ordered last summer are only now coming in, and they usually go back out the door within hours of arrival.

It has gotten to the point that the scalpers are cheaper than many of the "wholesalers" in terms of ammo, and our ammo stocks are ridiculously low.

Business has slowed way down in the shop last few weeks, but we did have a good gun show to tide us over for a bit, and the website is going well. Possibly too well, in fact, because as restock trickles in, it is going out at roughly the same rate. This leads to me having a lot of conversations like this.

"It is showing you are out of stock on __ on the website, when are you expecting more to come in?"
"It actually came in Monday, so it will probably be a few weeks before more comes in."
"Well, I've been checking your site twice a week, and I haven't seen any."
"They sold out in less than 12 hours."

I have just been having people send me e-mails so I can contact them when things come in, but that means that people who don't check their mail multiple times a day, everyday, are sometimes out of luck by the time they even find out something came in.

 

[AK Hunter]

A few of the gun shops in my area have cut their hours to 4 to 5 hours a day & one has gone to only Thur, Fri, & Sat days open per week. These were the only honest shops in town, meaning they didn't gouge for the price of ammo. The rest are charging $1 per round or higher.

 

[animalspooker]

We are in the same boat. Sporting goods are down, but I sell Carhartt, Lacrosse, Danner and fishing supplies that are all doing well... at the moment.

 

[PaleHawkDown]

We are in the same boat. Sporting goods are down, but I sell Carhartt, Lacrosse, Danner and fishing supplies that are all doing well... at the moment.

We sell clothing as well, but ours is Western Wear, historical cowboy clothing and Civil War-era clothing. If it wasn't for this new "cowboy church" that popped up locally, this stuff would be all but dead in the water.

The cowboy action shooters are suffering from ammo shortages, reloading shortages, and BP shortages, as well as old guys who won't go out in public until "Covid is over". For similar reasons, as well as political ones, the Civil War reenactors are having a very limited year.

We also have a sideline in custom engraving of presentation boxes and plaques. Between wood shortages, the industry reliance on foreign import, the decrease in local events, and the fact that all our military contracts just dried up, I haven't even fired up the engraver since Spring of 2020.

 

[Jim Bridger]

This is a Historical Habit. Elect the Left Wing Candidates/Democrats and gun owners react. These shortages always occur when the Dems yell more gun control.
Don't pay outrageous fees for anything ammo, reloading supplies or firearms. This always reverts to a slow economy and bargain prices. One of our local gun stores received a hugh back order of Berry's Bullets. They are being sold at regular prices. The ice is beginning to thaw.

 

[rando]

I am glad I am ok at this point. At the Gun show Ii set up last weekend they were selling about any kind of ammo and caliber. Thing is the higher prices. I picked up several boxes of 308 SP Hunting ammo for my son. Was $30 a box of 20 rounds. The ammo guys had all rifle hunting calibers too

 

[Junction15]

This is a Historical Habit. Elect the Left Wing Candidates/Democrats and gun owners react. These shortages always occur when the Dems yell more gun control.
Don't pay outrageous fees for anything ammo, reloading supplies or firearms. This always reverts to a slow economy and bargain prices. One of our local gun stores received a hugh back order of Berry's Bullets. They are being sold at regular prices. The ice is beginning to thaw.

I don't quite share your optimism on that. I truly and earnestly hope you're right but I'm guessing you were seeing a sort of localized "January thaw". I think we still have at least 45 more months of "LGS Winter". And even then, if all the gun-unfriendly Left were to get tossed out on their butts, it will take a while for supplies to normalize.

 

[BigEd63]

Well two days ago one LGS got in I don't know how many cases of 5.56 and 9mm all of it Federal or related brands.
Iirc, the owner may have went to or ordered direct from the manufacturer. Just my guess.
But I bought a couple boxes of practice 9mm as my stock of that's gotten low.
Still not much if any .22lr around reasonably priced or otherwise.

 

[Jim Bridger]

Well two days ago one LGS got in I don't know how many cases of 5.56 and 9mm all of it Federal or related brands.
Iirc, the owner may have went to or ordered direct from the manufacturer. Just my guess.
But I bought a couple boxes of practice 9mm as my stock of that's gotten low.
Still not much if any .22lr around reasonably priced or otherwise.

If you are old enough, you have experienced this 3 times in recent years. It also depends on which state you live in. The Red States will resist President Obidens gun control efforts.

 

[MosinRuger]

We've always leaned more towards historic firearms, but we have had to lean into it much harder the last few months just to have any stock. Modern firearms we ordered last summer are only now coming in, and they usually go back out the door within hours of arrival.

It has gotten to the point that the scalpers are cheaper than many of the "wholesalers" in terms of ammo, and our ammo stocks are ridiculously low.

Business has slowed way down in the shop last few weeks, but we did have a good gun show to tide us over for a bit, and the website is going well. Possibly too well, in fact, because as restock trickles in, it is going out at roughly the same rate. This leads to me having a lot of conversations like this.

"It is showing you are out of stock on __ on the website, when are you expecting more to come in?"
"It actually came in Monday, so it will probably be a few weeks before more comes in."
"Well, I've been checking your site twice a week, and I haven't seen any."
"They sold out in less than 12 hours."

I have just been having people send me e-mails so I can contact them when things come in, but that means that people who don't check their mail multiple times a day, everyday, are sometimes out of luck by the time they even find out something came in.

I subscribe to the email alerts for several of my favorite online ammo dealers, these days im lucky to respond fast enough to in stock emails before they sell out. they have even started putting in the email that it maty be sold out before the email goes out!

I know the prices are bad, and i hate to fuel the fire, but if you come across a caliber you need, buy it, as there is no telling how long this will last. I have also started watching youtube vids on low round count training exercises so I can both maintain my skills and maintain my ammo stocks. wont be doing any mag dumps anytime soon thats for sure!

 

[MosinRuger]

I am glad I am ok at this point. At the Gun show Ii set up last weekend they were selling about any kind of ammo and caliber. Thing is the higher prices. I picked up several boxes of 308 SP Hunting ammo for my son. Was $30 a box of 20 rounds. The ammo guys had all rifle hunting calibers too

thats actuallt not a bad price for hunting ammo. the thing is most fmj is now the same price and SP/HP ammo has pretty much always been.