Thanis

If it is not hording / stockpiling, why has the NRA accepted this as the reason? Now the NRA goes on to state the reasons for the hording / stockpiling.

Well I spoke to an assistant manager at my local store, because a few months ago I asked if it was due to increased military demand. He laughted at me (nothing rude) and showed me something he had printed off showing how much stock had been on hand, sold, and received it various weekly periods. It showed that plenty of ammo was on hand 6 months ago (that would be 8 to 9 months ago from todays date). Then from November to January they could no longer keep ammo in stock. The sales were the same, but the days out of stock (I don't remember the term he used) increased.

Then, it just so happened, the reason the manager had the sheet, was because he had just received in many cases of blazer brass (they normally carry Winchester at my local store) 9mm, 40 S&W, and 45 ACP. My wife has a 9mm, so I bought a box (on 3/8/09) so we could give it a try. I returned later and all that was left was a box of 40 S&W, 3 boxes of 9mm, and 2 boxes of .45 ACP. I purchased the 40 S&W (even though I don't have a firearm of this caliber) and two boxes of the 9mm. That was on 3/19/09 (I track my ammo purchases).

Since then I have spoken to that same assistant manager. He stated that they do get in a few cases about once a month. He has considered hiding it, as he is a little worried about theft, but since people ask daily, and there is no policy limiting how many boxes a person can buy, they don't even take it out of the case boxes.

He did state he has/ not received .357 Sig. I also asked about 9mm, 40 S&W, and .45 ACP. He stated he still receives about two cases a/ month, but they sell in less than two days, often only a few people see it, as they tend to buy the entire case.

I asked if he could give me a call when it came in. He told me that he did not want to get into that, because he really is asked that question daily, and he does not want to "...open that can of worms." I asked if he had considering limiting the number of boxes. He said, "...just another can of worms." I asked if he thought some of the other associates might be giving people a call, he answered an honest, "...maybe. I don't really want to know." I asked if he though the associates might be hiding in. He said something like, "I can't be sure, if I observed it I would tell them not to, but at the same time, we might need to start locking it up." He also stated that he noticed that they stopped even putting it on the shelf, and just leave the cases on the counter for a day or two and they are gone.

He had treated me right, so I thanked him for his time, and stated I thought he was handling it right.

Now, I don't know if things have changed in the last month or two, but I'm willing to believe it is about the same. I went to Wal-Mart a few days ago. No pistol ammo.

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NRA Member
S&W 642 (no-lock) with .38 Spl +P 135 GR Gold GDHP
Glock G31 & G33 with .357 Sig 125 GR. SXT Winchester Ranger

Armydad

My Wally puts out the pallets of stock at about 9:30 at night. You almost have to be there and get in off of the pallet or right as they load it in the case. A 12 or 24 hour delay and it will all be gone. And, they are not getting much in on a daily basis either.
Armydad

grady

All handgun calibers except .380 (and maybe .357 SIG--I didn't look for it) available at my LGS.

sgtD

Wal-Mart here gets a truck in at around 4:30pm and if there is ammo on it they are usually putting it on the shelf between 5 and 5:30. By 6pm it's usually all but gone. They also don't get it in every day. It sems to be hit or miss as far as ammo being on the truck from what I can tell, and from what they have told me.

I have been lucky to be there two times in the past couple of weeks on the day that some 9mm was being put on the shelf.

This thread has now passed 600 posts. Man, I am still hoping that it doesn't hit 1000, but am beginning to wonder if it might.

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When you've got 'em by the balls, their hearts & minds will follow. Semper Fi.

dldeuce

I don't know why the NRA has accepted this conclusion. Do you know if they validated the hording conclusion based upon facts, or have they just concluded based upon the rumors and assertions we've seen elsewhere on the Internet? I'm not saying there's some other explanation. I'm saying that all I've read from many different sources is incomplete facts, assertions, and assumptions. I haven't seen anything from the NRA that's any different. I'd love to see actual facts about the volume of ammunition being manufactured, distributed, and sold at retail. We need to see those numbers month to month over the last 6 months to a year to really understand the problem. What we've seen isn't anywhere close to that.

The sales volume was the same but the days out of stock increased? What does that tell us by itself? I'd also want to look at the re-supply volume over the same time period. Did people rush in after the election and deplete the shelves, with sales volume then limited to a steady state re-supply? That seems plausible, but I haven't seen the facts to back that up. Is that what happened, or was there a drop in supply, where steady state sales volume emptied the shelves and spawned panic buying?

I just don't think hording and panic buying because of the election explains it buy itself. I expect it's a combination of factors like an increasing demand for guns and ammunition over an extended period of time, combined with an inflexible supply chain, combined with a spike of demand after the election, and panic buying when the shelves started to empty out. I don't think we should buy into simple explanations like hording and walk away from the problem thinking this is just going away when we get past this "bubble" of demand.

fogish

I think you basically covered it right there. More people buying guns: more people want/need more ammo. When Obama became president it scared some people in to buying more ammo. Once ammo was in short supply others started buying it out of fear of not having any available. Manufacturers are not changing production (?) but demand is still high.

Maybe chain stores are also directing ammo to places where it disappears the fastest, trying to keep it an even and steady flow rate in all areas across the nation. The flow rate being only in stock for an hour a day but that is better than having excess stock in one part of the nation and not having any in another. I am just making up stuff as I go here, but it seems like it is a simple matter of supply and demand. Supply is not increasing and probably not decreasing but demand has increased for several reasons and has yet to decrease. We won't know when or if it will decrease until we actually know the reasons for the increase in demand.

This can not be sustained indefinitely. People can't afford ammunition prices like this for the long term and if they can't get ammunition many will stop trying and things will even out. While I am just shooting in the dark here how many people who are buying the ammunition are actually firing everything they buy and then getting more? The manufacturers are being smart by riding this out and not increasing production, I doubt they could afford to expand just before everything drops to slightly elevated levels of demand.

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schwaa

If you don't need it, don't buy it. Its that simple. The internet blew this out of proportion, freaking everyone out and causing them to buy ammo they dont need because of a fear that has yet to be seen from obama.

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sgtD

I think most people buying ammo right now are buying it to hold on to and are likely not shooting it up. I may be the exception at least in some degree, because I only buy and shoot 9mm or .22lr when I can get it cheap. For a while, I had quit buying handgun ammo and shooting handguns all together due to the shortages of ammo and components. I wasn't even shooting realoded ammo for a month or two. I still am not shooting any .45acp becuase it's too expensive to replace if you can find it, or even to reload. It's just so much cheaper to shoot .38 and 9mm that I can't jusify punching holes with my .45s right now.

Now, I am shooting the amount of 9mm that I buy every time. If I buy a hundred, I shoot a hundred at the range. In one trip or 50 each in two trips.

Of course, I have some in inventory that gets rotated out and the new stuff gets added in so my inventory numbers stay the same. If I can't buy any, I don't shoot any that week.

Hopefully, more people will reach the point where they are comfortable with what they have on hand and can start buying ammo to simply replace what they are shooting and that may help curb demand.

I admit that I have bought more reloading supplies than I "need" in some cases, in an attempt to avoid not having any in the future, becuase it has become difficult to find almost everything. When I find it, I tend to buy it if I have the money. That's pretty much about to stop as well though, becuase I think I have enough on hand now to last me a couple of years, with the exception of maybe needing more bullets eventually, depending on how much I shoot.

Others will likely reach the same point and stop buying so much and will hoepfully curb demand for components as well. Lets' face it, you can only store so much stuff. Some more than others, but most people have a limit at which they will figure, ok I have enough, and they will stop buying bulk amounts everytime they get the chance. At least I hope so.

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When you've got 'em by the balls, their hearts & minds will follow. Semper Fi.

MP45Man

When the hysteria finally subsides it will be like the old days. You want to go to the range, just stop by Wally World or you local gun store and pick some up and head out. I am a little surprised that it is still this bad. I stocked up before last November because I figured this was coming. It is rare when I'm this prescient.

Patti

I don't even bother with Wal-Mart any more.

The guys at Bass Pro have hooked me up with a case of 9 mil.

I've bought a few boxes at the LGS.

Mostly, I order by bulk on-line.

I've got 1,000 rounds of 380's coming from Cabelas and 1,000 rounds of 380's coming from Sportsman's Guide.

Ship date is mid-July.

Let's just say that my supplies are better than good.

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