The US is facing a severe ammunition shortage. After an uncertain and chaotic year, the demand for weapons has toppled through the roof.
The major cause for this demand mostly stems from the American concern for safety after the multiple public rioting incidents.
Not to mention, the pandemic has had an immense impact on the country’s supply-chain logistics.
Increased Ammunition Sales
The presidential drama, along with the frequent rioting episodes, has caused nationwide civil unrest. People are now worried about their safety more than ever.
There’s a huge number of new gun owners than there ever was in a long time. Anyone with even the slightest concern about their family’s safety or their business will head to the gun shop.
With the authoritative bodies occupied with handling the riots and public chaos, the people feel the need to protect themselves. Thus, the ammunition sales have spiked to a significant height.
Most retail sellers have to face problems with their inventory. Some even believe that the spike in gun sales is a response to the hateful stance of the far-right conservatives.
Furthermore, because of the increased level of uncertainty surrounding the situation, gun owners are purchasing ammunition to stock and not to shoot.
This means that there is plenty of bulk buying amongst veteran gun owners and preppers alike.
The stern belief over preparedness has intensified after the civil massacre and shootings.
Hence, the stockpiling of gun owners are making life difficult for firearm retailers.
Related: 5 Ammo Stockpiling Mistakes You Are Probably Making Right Now
Where Has The Ammo Gone?
Firearm retailers and wholesalers were happily enjoying their full inventory supply at the start of January 2020. No one expected their shelves to become empty by the end of the year in December.
Now, the unavailability of the ammunition is unfathomable for the consumers. The uncertainty of the pandemic, the conflicts over gun rights, presidential elections, and riots have led to the ammunition shortage.
Certainly, the ammunition manufacturers were not anticipating the rise in new gun owners and the rapid demand for gun supplies. Even hunters weigh in on the ammunition shortage.
Just like people were stocking toilet papers earlier in 2020, gun owners and even hunters are hoarding down boxes of ammunition.
In these times of uncertainty, panic buying has become a common practice of the consumers.
This panic-buying practice has transferred from the likes of toilet papers to disinfectants and now to ammunition.
Production Challenges
Keep in mind that 90 percent of the world’s ammunition market is in the US alone, and this seems to be increasing as years pass by. Therefore, the increased demand is causing hefty challenges for ammunition manufacturers to cope with, especially in pandemic times.
Gun manufacturers not only have to meet the needs of the markets but also keep their workers safe at the same time. The health and safety of the US workers will always remain the priority.
One obvious solution, i.e., increasing the number of workers, has gone out of the window due to the social distancing laws.
Manufacturers now have to make separate arrangements in their factories to accommodate more workers.
This is ultimately a time taking process, and the companies that have made the arrangement are still struggling to meet market requirements.
Apart from just the ammunition equipment, the demand for the ammunition material has also stunted. Since the pandemic is a global shutdown of the economy, there is an overseas lack of production in primer and brass.
These are two core materials for the manufacturing of ammunition. Other necessities for ammunition production are also scarce in number. These include gunpowder, cases, cardboard boxes, and packing tapes.
With the closing down of all manufacturing facilities, even small things such as the shipment and boxing of ammunition is now a challenging endeavor. Whether the sudden spike was a result of the people’s desperation or a frantic response to the civil unrest, certainly, the shortage in ammunition will not get better anytime soon.
Conspiracy Theory
Some conspiracy theorists have hinted that the ammunition shortage is a company plan to stockpile ammunition so that they can sell it to the wealthy. However, after stern questioning, the authorities have denied any of this information to be true. The president of the Remington ammunition company had to come out and address these rumors himself.
He simply stated that it is absurd to think that they are storing any ammunition in secret warehouses. He further explained that they are making more ammunition than they ever had. It is just the increasingly high demand for ammunition in such a short period, which has overwhelmed the company.
Related: How to Practice Good Marksmanship Without Wasting Ammo
When Will The Shortage End?
Consider the fact that there are now seven million new gun owners across the nation since March 2020. If you take that number and make a conservative estimate on the ammunition requirement, it tallies up to 700 million new rounds of ammunition. Hence, it is impossible to meet this number in less than nine months.
This fact alone puts many conspiracies spiraling around this shortage to bed. The federal president confirms that production is likely to increase but only to some extent. Increasing the workforce and machinery is a time-consuming process.
Furthermore, in times of the pandemic, multiplying workers for the demands of the business is an irresponsible and inconsiderate step.
Thus, the shortage is likely to last throughout the year 2021 and maybe even longer.
The new Biden administration will also have much to do with the production of ammunition. Their important decisions regarding gun laws and legislation will influence the speed of ammunition production.
What Does This Mean For Preppers?
As a prepper that is looking to stock more ammunition, note that due to the basic laws of economics, the increased demand and decreased supply of the product are causing ammunition prices to soar.
Some bullets and cartridges have tripled in price since last year. Despite, what the reasons are for this ammunition scarcity, expect the prices to stay high until there are high demand and low supply.
However, the free market economy has a way of stabilizing itself. Expect the supply to catch up in a few months.
It is just a matter of patience; if you want to purchase the ammunition at a lower cost, you have to wait for the prices to drop down again.
Otherwise, you can scavenge around retail stores and spend hefty dollars on cartridges and rifle bullets.
If you are a hunter or someone looking for cartridges, you can always opt for switching to a different caliber shotgun according to the availability of the cartridges.
Consider something along the lines of .450 or 7mm Mag because the .223 Rem tends to finish up fast. Furthermore, you can even backorder ammunition and wait until April or March.
In these circumstances, patience is likely to play out in your favor. If you wait long enough for the inventories to stock up and the demand to drop, you can buy ammo for an astoundingly low price.
When companies have excess ammunition in their inventory and the demand does not pair up with the supply, they are likely to put extremely low prices on ammunition. Therefore, once the firearm hype stabilizes, it will become easier for you to stock up on ammunition because of the low prices.
Related: Frugal Prepping: How to Get Cheap and Reliable Ammo For SHTF
How Much Ammo Should You Stockpile?
It depends on how much ammunition you need. It also depends on the location of your house, whether you live in the suburbs or urban areas.
If you live in a distant location, which is safe, then you may not need ammunition for protection. However, if you are a suburb resident hunter, then you will need to stock up on cartridges.
In terms of protection, if in case dire circumstances come about and require self-defense, then typically you should need about 300 rounds of ammunition at hand, per firearm. Some people believe that to be less, while others fancy even more. Another aspect that will determine your ammo requirements at hand is your strategy.
Do you plan to stay put and shelter in times of crisis? Or do you have an exit plan?
Sheltering and firing back will require more ammunition from your side. Whether it is an all-out attack or a threat, you will have to show the opposition that you are well equipped with plenty of ammunition.
On the other hand, if you plan to bug out and retreat to a safer destination, you need to travel light and carry essentials.
In the worst of scenarios, the roads will shut down. You may have to abandon your vehicle and escape on foot. In this situation, you need to have food, water, and essential survival gear. Therefore, carrying extra ammunition is not ideal.
Investing in ammunition is crucial, especially in survival situations.
You must have at least 10,000 rounds for each caliber weapon that you own. This may seem like too much, but in dire circumstances, ammunition will worth more than the most valuable of assets.
It is ideal to have your ammo and stock as much as possible, considering the increasing demand for ammunition and firearms.
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Remember with out guns and ammo, we have no freedom. Straight up fact…
Am not a gun owner…
However, have been reading with interest – for years – about how large, large quantities of guns & ammo are being procured by the deep state ….
Would not recommend approaching ANY local/state/Fed agency to request/demand ANY kind of payments that may be cut off, if/when the economy crashes.
Just sayin’…
Suggesting that one would need 10000 rounds of ammunition per weapon is insanity and the EXACT reason for the shortage of ammunition. It’s like saying you need a whole roll of toilet paper every time you take a shit!
For hand guns, 10,000 rds might work. Some .223/5.56 rifle rounds might, though I’ve heard that some of the barrels might only work acurately to about 3,000 rds [I’ve also heard that they might go the distance of 10,000 rds].However, high velocity rds in heavy (as in magnum rds) are reputed to have barrel life of only 1500-2000 rds. So not buying too much when barrel wear limits accuracy (ESPECIALLY during shortages AND their normal increased prices anyway) simply makes more sense. Remember other essential parts can break down also, limiting your guns to an inferior club role…
Depends on who you are, where you live, how good you are, how much Training/Practice you have done, etc.
“Word” – “Get some Training.”
For the noobs to shooting – you are going to need more ammo for practice than others – otherwise you would be better using that new gun as a Club.
OR – Go to Home Depot and buy a 1″ Dia x 8ft Wood Rod – use as a Staff. Or 1″ 2ft – use as a Club.
As a Weekly Combat Pistol/Rifle Competition Shooter:
Before the crash – I was shooting 500rds/mo practice for 10yr. And a Combat Type competition most every Sat.
Now I can draw (1sec) eyes closed under any condition – even upside down, in a rain storm or snow.
And YES – I have had to do this S*it “For Real”.
100,000 Rounds
You may have heard on the news about a Southern California man who was put under 72-hour psychiatric observation when it was found he owned 100 guns and allegedly had 100,000 rounds of ammunition stored in his home. The house also featured a secret escape tunnel. By Southern California standards, someone owning 100,000 rounds is considered “mentally unstable.”
In Arizona, he’d be called “an avid gun collector.”
In Arkansas, he’d be called “a novice gun collector.”
In Utah, he’d be called “moderately well prepared,” but they’d probably reserve judgment until they made sure that he had a corresponding quantity of stored food.”
In Kansas, he’d be “A guy down the road you would want to have for a friend.”
In Montana, he’d be called “The neighborhood ‘Go-To’ guy.”
In Alabama, he’d be called “a likely gubernatorial candidate.”
In Georgia, he’d be called “an eligible bachelor.”
In North Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky and South Carolina he would be called “a deer hunting buddy.”
And in Texas he’d just be “Bubba, who’s a little short on ammo.”
100,000 Rounds
You may have heard on the news about a Southern California man who was put under 72-hour psychiatric observation when it was found he owned 100 guns and allegedly had 100,000 rounds of ammunition stored in his home. The house also featured a secret escape tunnel. By Southern California standards, someone owning 100,000 rounds is considered “mentally unstable.”
In Arizona, he’d be called “an avid gun collector.”
In Arkansas, he’d be called “a novice gun collector.”
In Utah, he’d be called “moderately well prepared,” but they’d probably reserve judgment until they made sure that he had a corresponding quantity of stored food.”
In Kansas, he’d be “A guy down the road you would want to have for a friend.”
In Montana, he’d be called “The neighborhood ‘Go-To’ guy.”
In Alabama, he’d be called “a likely gubernatorial candidate.”
In Georgia, he’d be called “an eligible bachelor.”
In North Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky and South Carolina he would be called “a deer hunting buddy.”
And in Texas he’d just be “Bubba, who’s a little short on ammo.”
10K rounds per gun is a bit excessive when you need to concentrate on survival gear.
You cannot eat ammo.
Trading ammo (bartering) can be a very risky business.
Hopefully most folks on this site have been buying and stocking ammo for years along with all the other supplies.
As for the scarcity of ammo I can understand the common rounds being all bought up (9mm, .45, .380, ect..) but I shoot a lot of .45 Long Colt, who else shoots this stuff?
Just a small handful of people still shoot revolvers
compared to those that shoot the semi-auto pistols.
“ ammunition shortage is a company plan to stockpile ammunition so that they can sell it to the wealthy.”… I don’t think it’s a theory at all. They do this with other things, like canning products. You can’t find Ball canning lids anywhere, reasonably priced. Last year I was looking for a water bath canner. The prices were up to the hundreds for one. Price gouging exists. Why wouldn’t they do this for ammo?
Timing here for this article is bad. Should have been posted a year ago when you could get ammo. Best now to focus on what you can still get, food, first aid, pm’s, etc.
I like the 45 lc and revolvers rarely jam.. I also have a circuit judge, great little rifle in 45lc
KDC: I am as paranoid as the next prepper but I don’t really see a conspiracy. Given all that is going on presently in the U.S., with costs rising everywhere while I am shocked at the price of some ammo, I must admit that I come from the era of $9.99 for a brick of .22 l.r. and $5.00 for a box of loaded158 gr. plain jane lead nosed .38 sp. bullets and 115 grain fmj 9 mm for about the same price it shocks me to my socks to see 9mm at 80¢ a round. Of course there is more mark-up than in past days when ammo would sit on the shelf for a couple of months before being moved. Have you priced the cost of UPS shipping lately? Yeah, Amazon gets a lower price than you get when you walk into the UPS store. They get that price because one Amazon warehouse ships more parcels in one hour than both of us will ship in our lifetimes. The goobermint isn’t paying 80¢ a round for 9 mm but then you and I didn’t order 4 billion rounds either. If we started firing right this very minute for the rest of our lives, until we dropped dead on the firing line, only breaking for bathrooms breaks, eating on the firing line and only dropping for an hour’s sleep each day, we wouldn’t come close to even a million rounds. I believe I have read that is more ammunition than the U.S. used in WWII. The federal goobermint when questioned about such a sizable order merely said, “Well, it’s for training purposes too.” Like yeah, they use hollow point premium ammo for practice.
Some of us tin hat paranoid preppers believe it actually is for the “Undisclosed Locations” where the continuum government will hide out while the country whittles the population down to manageable levels. That’s where I believe the conspiracy lies. Nancy and Chuckie and pals along with Mitch and Plain Chou, his Chinese wife will hide out in some taxpayer paid luxury underground hideaway while the peasants and serfs struggle it out on the surface.
KDC: I’m no less paranoid than LCC. No, I can’t see that. Why hoard what the feds want to ban? Smart investors know like Hillary the Genocidal Beast, sell long. She sold off all medical stocks, then announced they were going to force med companies to their knees. Panic selling made her a fortune when she bought back all her stock for pennies what she sold it for. The dnc mouthpiece houseboy, biden is against anything like a weapon. That led to panic buying of ammo. Those who are are now targets. When I bought I got it at yard sales and so on. Right now, wrist rockets look interesting. Slings look sort of interesting. My kid is coming home and he’s a weapons expert, Army.
Water Bath canners are any deep pot with a perforated, raised plate in the bottom. niio
How in the world could you be stupid enough to wait till now to get ammo, food, medical, etc…? This has been brewing for a very long time! Too late to “wise up”, folks!!
Have you tried TATTLER canning supplies? Their flats are reusable for YEARS. I have been using them for many years. They are reasonably priced and they sell a quality product.
I use the .45 Colt revolver. The official designation is NOT .45 “Long” Colt, simply .45 Colt. It still makes the name different than .45 ACP. My revolver can shoot the .455 Webley, .45 ACP, and the .45 Colt rounds by simply changing cylinders. Learn to reload your ammo. Primers and LRN rounds are still readily available, but very expensive. But prices are more affordable than no ammo.at all
Have you tried buying factory loaded .45 Colt in the last year? It’s okay if you reload and shoot lead. Heck, lead will kill you just as quick as copper jacketed. Hardcast LBT bullets will probably kill you quicker than a copper jacketed soft nose.
LBT stands for lead bullet technology. They are long nose wadcutters of extra hardness noted for penetrating deeply on heavy boned game. They penetrate deeply and cut a clear path along the way. They plow through bone like a buzz saw. They will penetrate the hardest muscled biggest bad guy to fatal depths with no trouble and as most of them are heavy for caliber slugs. For instance, the standard .38 caliber (including .357) slug used to be 158 grains. Currently in order to keep the cost down, copper clad full metal jacketed bullets in .357 caliber have dropped down to 130 grains. Buffalo Bore LBT hardcast loads are 180 grains of lead that is generally more solid than the 158 full metal jacket and certainly imports more impact than a 130 grain bullet no matter how gussied up it is.
44 mag here, and others.
I shoot 45 LC but not from a pistol. From my Old Henry rifle (best gun I’ve ever owned)
I understand the controversy with the foreign made steel case ammo. The local sporting good store rarely has brass but always seem to have Monarch which is their house brand. Should I purchase some of this if the brass case is not available. I would appreciate your thoughts.
I’ve personally never had an issue with the steel cased stuff. It shoots dirty, but never had another problem of any type. Feel grateful you can still find that…we can’t even get those here.
If you really want to read a factual report on steel cased ammo versus brass case ammo, go to lucky gunner.com and read their report on a very extensive test program that they did. They have factual information based on actual shooting done in what I consider to be a very valid test.
I won’t quote from it. It is too extensive to quote here, but it will answer all your questions about steel vs brass.
I reload steel cased ammo all the time, just not at factory pressures. Steel cases are an alloy that allows expansion similar to brass cases, or you would have propellant gases blowing back past your bolt or bolt carrier into your face. Some rust, some don’t. The trick is to recover “steel” cases that do not rust in the weather. Range brass gives me four to six reloads, range steel gives only three reloads, then no matter what conditions they are in, they go for recycling. Range brass is lower priced at recycling centers for the gas chemicals that are left behind on the case (washed or not). I would cut down brass that had a neck split for .45 ACP if they were a variant of .30 caliber ammo cases. Your calipers will tell you what is able to be cut down.
That’s a good tip, cutting down .30 caliber rifle brass to make .45 caliber acp. It won’t make .45 Colt or .45 auto rim, but it will make .45 GAP. It hadn’t occurred to me. A little labor intensive, but with the right machinery not so much. Wouldn’t want to do it with a hacksaw and vice but there must be an easier way.
Longshorts, how do you cut down .30-06 or .308 to .45 acp length. Give us the details of the conversion.
I use my “hobby” lathe, small but it does the job very well. Then I use my micrometer to measure length, circumference, and primer hole and trim and clean as needed. Then a bath in the vibrator with corn husk media and they are ready. I hear that you can use rimless cartridges in the Colt .45 revolver just as long as you use thin lockwashers in the extraction groove
I stocked up on primers and powder during the first year of Trump’ s time knowing that there would be a backlash of some sort even if Trump won a second term ( he did, but you know the story). Most of what ammo I have was bought 15 years ago when it was really cheap. I reload what I use at the range, so there is no record of purchases kept by anyone. Remember $8 for a box of .45 Colt, $6 for a 100 round box of 9 m? Those were the days!
I’m shy the lathe. I would have to use a miter and a hacksaw. I think I will save my split case 30 caliber to trade to you after the EOTW. Or find someone close by who has a small lathe that I can cajole, bribe or threaten into cutting down the cases for me.
Once the spent case is in the Chuck, no worries, just change pulleys until it gets as slow as you need. Then apply the cutter slowly ( a 45° mounted with the straight edge parallel to the mount and move it in slowly) and if you measured right the case needs almost no forming except expanding the case mouth to accept the bullet after sizing. Steel cases don’t like the lathe, they crush too easily unless the cutter is razor sharp, old brass cases can act the same if reloaded too many times. Ductility does have its problems.
Longshorts: You know that you can buy devices that anneal cartridges fairly simply which extends case life considerably as they can be re-annealed several times.
They aren’t that expensive for a shootist who shoots a lot. You can also anneal cases by hand with a simple propane torch and using special paint that indicates when the case has reached the proper temperature. You then dunk the case in cool water to finish the annealing process.
In an EOTW situation, case annealing just might be a highly valuable trading skill.
I use the pan and torch method, Don’t need the paint, just wait until the case mouth glows dull red then tip it over in the pan. Been doing that for over 30 years. Pistol ammo, the cases only need heating to a very dull red because you are loading them to minimum pressures for practice ammo, medium pressures for defense ammo. Rifle cases get the medium red color, then get tipped over in the Water pan. An old pro taught me that! Thanks for mentioning this for newbies to reloading.
For a small hobby lathe, just go to Harbor Freight and get one of theirs. Low quality, but can be cleaned up and made very useful and has a low cost too.
Dang that’s some case trimming. I did 100 rounds of 25-06 that I necked down from .270. Even with a case lengthening around just .03 it was pretty time consuming.
@ccter, I’ve heard that steel case ammo is a bit hard on the ejector and breech as there is more friction.
Although those Russian and Chinese AK’s and SKS rifle seem ok with it.
I try to stick to brass as much as possible.
The Luckygunner.com website containing the report on steel vs. brass covered use of steel case in ComBlok firearms as well and their recommendations with regard to same.
If you have any questions at all, I urge you to read their test reports. They tested in great detail with thousands of rounds of ammo, no some magazine report where the author of the article fire a hundred or so rounds and reports on the firearm. These folks fired tens of thousands of rounds and reported results from incredibly dirty firearms to corroded barrels along each stage of the firing. They fired X number of rounds and reported what they found. Fired another X number of rounds and reported again what they found. It is compelling reading and is the most significant test of steel vs. brass that I have found.
It takes all the “I have heard” and “the guy at the gun shop said . . .” kinds of comments out with real empirical testing of tens of thousands of rounds in myriad firearms, U.S. made and ComBlok made.
Their test results are far more valid than any “I’ve heard” comments you may read from other posters.
LCC, I think you missed the point of the LuckyGunner experiment. What they really proved is that black furniture shoots better and more reliably than do FDE and OD furniture. 🙂
But, seriously, the article was very interesting. I didn’t see it linked so here it is: https://www.luckygunner.com/labs/brass-vs-steel-cased-ammo/. I’ve refused to ever try steel cased ammo in any of my guns. I won’t be changing that policy based on the article. If I came across steel ammo post-EOTW, and it was all I had, and zombies were coming, I’d definitely shoot it. Otherwise, I’ll pass.
I would. Having something is better than having nothing. I’ve heard some say the ejectors will wear out faster on an AR with steel case ammo, but I don’t think that would matter for the average shooter. Like I said, having something is better than having nothing. I have a mixture of steel and brass case ammo.
True, something is better than nothing, but if you render your firearm useless because you can’t pound the stuck case out of the chamber, then the something is worse than nothing.
If you are planning on firing like a thousand rounds of steel case ComBlok ammo in a SAMMI spec chamber, be assiduous about keeping your chamber clean. Optimum would probably be chamber cleaning every 50 rounds. I definitely wouldn’t fire over 100 rounds of ComBloc ammo in a U.S. firearm without serious chamber and bore cleaning.
Old Sailor, other than some small parts, barrels were the most significant, fastest, failure of the steel-cased ammo because it was also steel/copper jacketed. 6000 rounds per barrel. You’re right that something is better than nothing but if you’re going to shoot steel, keep a few barrels or extra guns – because the same applies to the guns, something is better than nothing.
“spike in gun sales is a response to the hateful stance of the far-right conservatives.”
Excuse me?
Anything even minutely right of the progressive left is considered today hateful extreme far right. There is no center anymore.
Yeah, right, us retrogressive far right extremists, yet the biggest percentage of mass shooters when their politics have been established have been registered dimokrats. Antifa and blm are sure extremist right wing groups.
While the so-called proud boys show up at riots to battle with the other two groups even with the communist rags that pass for new media , I haven’t seen reports of proud boys looting and burning say, Bakersfield or any other city for that matter. When armed groups have shown up to demonstrate there hasn’t been any violence.
When thousands of armed citizens showed up at the capitol in Virginia, there was a huge number of law enforcement called in and there wasn’t a single case of even a negligent discharge during the day long demonstration. No car overturned and no businesses broken into.
I think he meant that “far right conservatives” feel threatened, thus the spike.
Actually, the entire article is a poorly written excuse factory, and could have led with the last paragraph.
That was my question! I thought I read it wrong so I re-read it about 4 different times. Hopefully this is a woeful TYPE-O
Yeah….that statement by the author is pure drivel.
Gee, and here I was thinking it was in response to the hateful far left openly communist America hating globalists.
Silly me…..
I stocked up way back when the traitors allowed an ineligible person to usurp the Presidency of the USA back in ’08. No worries now!
I tried to tell everyone WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN back then too, but they all laughed!
And I won’t lower myself by saying what should be said to all those who ain’t laughing now!
I am angry about the comment saying that the “hate” from “far-right conservative groups” is causing fear…NO, IT IS NOT!!! My fear is of the crazy LEFTISTS, like Antifa, BLM, etc. QUIT BLAMING CONSERVATIVES FOR THE CHAOS!!
Dot: the neonazi left uses words. the left is costing a lot of money and hurting troops, by militarizing DC, but truth be known, they cowardly lions of the dnc aren’t worried about us, but their own brown shirts, antifa and their houseboys, BLM. Remember what Hitler did when he didn’t need them anymore? The dems are telling youtube, fb, twit and the rest to shut them off. niio
I still think someone or some large Asian nation is buying it all. Something just doesn’t smell right with this whole thing. It’s not like there are small amounts of popular calibers to be found…when there is some, it’s Russian calibers or 28 guage shotgun shells. Why not produce more 9mm, .45, 5.56, .308 and stop with the unpopular calibers for a full 3 months. Something just isn’t right about this whole issue.
“Most retail sellers have to face problems with their inventory. Some even believe that the spike in gun sales is a response to the hateful stance of the far-right conservatives.”
I’m thinking of Academy and Dick’s Sporting Goods.
And Wal-Mart!
Rule of thumb for how much ammo to have on hand? Enough …. there is no way to come up with a number unless you can accurately see into the future to know what will happen tomorrow, a month from now, in January 2022. Crystal Balls are as in short supply as .45 acp. I set a goal with each firearm purchase, to have 1000 rds minimum for each firearm I own. And at the range to practice …. I set a 50 rd limit of any caliber.
In a SHTF situation where you may have to hunt small game to survive but there is no ammunition available, high-powered air rifles are a reasonable alternative. They are relatively low-priced and ammunition costs are negligible. Just make sure it is a pump-up type, not one that requires CO2 cartridges.
And to that I would add, in .22 caliber rather than .177. While just looking at muzzle velocities, the .177 would seem superior, the .22 air rifle pellet actually hits with more foot pounds of energy due to the heavier pellet weight and a muzzle velocity only a little slower than a similar pellet in .177.
.22 airgun may ruin more meat than .177 when it comes to starvation hunting squirrels, turkey, and nutria. When you are hungry, an extra ounce counts if you are hunting for a family. Large “wharf rats” count, too. You may not like the taste of rodents, but they ARE calories edible. Possums are greasy gamey tasting, but they eat, too. The real prize is finding a loose free range chicken!
At the low muzzle velocities of even pump up airguns I don’t believe the .22 really does much destruction of the meat. It isn’t all blood shot like shooting an animal with a high muzzle velocity. I haven’t checked either the Benjamin or the Crossman in .22 caliber to see what muzzle velocity is advertised with their .22 caliber model but my hazy recollection is about 750 fps which isn’t all that hot.
Well, according to Pyramid Air Guns website, the Benjamin .22 multi-pump air gun has a muzzle velocity of 800 fps.
That’s with ten strokes of the pumping device.
Considering that the typical .22 l.r. cartridge has a muzzle velocity in the range of 1250 fps with a heavier bullet weight, and that tens of thousands of squirrels are taken every year with .22 l.r., I would think that the .22 pellet wouldn’t do much meat damage.
Well, my preference came to ammo availability. Lots of .177 on the shelf, but no .22 airgun ammo. Yes, I have many airguns, but only one .22 underlever unbranded rifled barrel with iron sights. Going to mount a picatinny rail on it because I have several scopes, one red dot and one green laser scope with weaver mounts. Dovetail mounts get loose after a while on airguns. .22 LR is nice, but noisy unless you build a suppressor, buying one is stupid these days.
Go too Pyramidair.com. They have lots of .22 airgun ammo in stock. They are a major airgun dealer. If you buy 4 packages of any of their ammo you get the 5th one free. For under $100 you can have 500 rounds of .22 pellets — probably cheaper than that. I haven’t priced .22 pellets in a couple of years.
Well if Premier Biden has his way we won’t have to worry about it…
I usually try to find some good in any article on this list.
In Brandi’s case, it is just more drivel on a topic about which her knowledge of guns and firearms could be printed on my thumbnail.
After her last pice of garbage about using BB guns for home defense, I went to Kindle and arranged to get one of her “prepper” novels. She should stick to bodice rippers. I’m glad it was a “free” read and that I didn’t have to expend $1.99 acquiring it.
I quit about halfway through. I gathered from reading what she posted here about BB guns for self defense, oh, and ninja swords too. (She should watch the Last Samurai to find out what happens when swordsmen try to take on riflemen even when the rifle is only a single shot muzzle loader. Or British and French cavalry in WWI against German K98s and machine guns. Or U.S. Marines in trench warfare. We cheated. The Germans used bayonets. We used pump shotguns.)
In any event, her novel had a heroine who had fired a handgun a couple of times with hubby which made her an expert shot. The heroine was a pill popping snowflake who went from snowflake-ness to hardcore one man special operator in a matter of a couple of weeks so she could sneak into the enemy camp and free the hostages. It was finally when she was all set to go barging into the enemy camp that I gave up on the garbage that she had in her book.
She again shows her ignorance in gun handling. She apparently doesn’t know that all the ammunition manufacturers in this country and probably some in other countries are running their loading machinery 24/7/365 trying to keep up. No machine runs forever without service and repair and a machine that is running that constantly needs repair far more than it would otherwise.
Loading ammunition is a high skill occupation. You don’t hire DeLavonne Washington off the street corner in Compton to run a loading press. It requires an intelligent, machinery oriented, detail oriented person to operate a loading machine.
An ammunition loading machine is a custom built piece of machinery. You just don’t bop down to Harbor Freight and pick up something hacked out in Pakistan or Bangladesh to turn out several thousand accurately loaded rounds per hour.
In addition to the civilian market, every ammunition manufacturer in the country has contracts to supply ammunition to the U.S. Government and to a lesser extent state and local governments. Those contracts all contain a penalty clause if not fulfilled by the contractor. Government contracts take precedence over civilian sales. Well, golly gee, whodda thunk? Government order for 4 billion, that’s with a B. It is not a typo — rounds keeps a couple of machines running exclusively for very extended periods of time. Consider a machine can accurately load two rounds a second. That’s 120 rounds a minute. Oops, any government machine gun can easily exceed one loading machine’s total output. To figure how long it would take to load 4 billion rounds, divide 120 into 4 billion. that’s how many minutes it will take to produce that much ammo from one machine. From there it is a simple math problem to reduce it to how many months running non-stop it will take to produce that contract for goons at Homeland Security. You can fool around with any number of rounds per second but try to keep it within reasonable limits. Remember this is precision process where a very small error can result in a catastrophic failure of a firearm with serious or fatal injuries to the operator of that firearm. The miracle of modern ammunition manufacture is that it is so accurate and reliable. We don’t want that to change.
In addition, having seen the up and down slides of the gun manufacturing industry following presidential elections, the ammo guys are reluctant to invest in a multi-million dollar machine that might be sitting in storage after the next presidential election. Not just the machinery, but building space to house the machine and trained crews to run the machine. As I said, it is a little different from running down to Harbor Freight and picking up a loading press. A commercial loading press isn’t something you can house in your hall closet. You need space for the machine, for material storage and for the forklifts and pallets that move and hold the supplies. You don’t have some guy just walk up with a bag of smokeless powder and a box of bullets under his arm to keep one of these machines running. You probably don’t even use forklifts to move supplies. Each machine probably requires a separate storeroom with convert belts and machines to keep the conveyor belts running with supplies, powder, primers, brass and bullets. I am sure powder requires a separate bomb-proof room for storage and has to be handled carefully. It isn’t explosive. Ha ha ha ha. If it ignites, it ignites so fast one would think it was an explosion. The power industry is very careful to guard that non-explosive category. The ATF made a decision that it was really an explosive a couple of years back. Immediately several score of lawyers descended on ATF headquarters in Washington with writs and points and authorities and listed hundred of “experts” all of whom would be willing to testify before congress as to the non-explosivity of smokeless powder.
You won’t find non-explosivity in Webster’s. I made it up.
It is a little different than going on line to Dillon Press and getting one of their multi-thousand dollar progressive home reloading machines too.
So much for why there is a shortage of ammo. Can be summed up in a couple of sentences even by loquacious me, Cost of investment, space for added machinery, lack of skilled (with emphasis on skilled) labor. You don’t want your highly explosive ammunition loaded by some high school drop out. Then there is the problem of raw materials. Since we now must import lead from our BFFs China or our other hermanos, Mexico, inasmuch as Barry Obama and his environmental nazis managed to close down the very last lead mine in the country, together with the requirements like the PDRK that require all bullets used in shooting anything other than paper or two legged varmints be of “safe” material and not contain any of that dangerous lead; add into that all the several millions of new gun owners who naturally want something to use in their new guns, together with us long time shootists who, having seen certain writings on the wall consider that having a stockpile of ammo might not be a bad idea. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that ammo is in short supply.
Did you notice the cool way I slipped in a political rant along with the useful info?
Now let’s address the article by Brandi itself. She opines that 300 rounds should be sufficient but later in her rambling she opines that 10,000 rounds per gun should do.
A while back followers of this list had a much more reasoned article by a writer who at least had a clue what he was talking about where he delineated the difference in needs for particular purpose weapons.
While 300 rounds would certainly be sufficient for your big game hunting rifle, 10,000 rounds for your 7 mm Remington magnum rifle would be, to make a bad pun, overkill.
I like the way she throws out .450 and 7 mm mag like a real gunny discussing the merits of various calibers for varied shooting. Have you tried scoring either of those rounds recently? Low volume loads are getting very low priority these days. Can’t find .223? Try scoring .450 Bushmaster.
A relative of mine was just in the Bass Pro store in Branson MO. He reported that other than a few boxes of shotgun shells, there was no ammo to be had at all period end of quest. Now if a chain like Bass Pro is out of stock on everything how scarce do you think ammo is?
I follow several websites that daily list what ammo they have found available and how much it is. If you really want to score ammo, I suggest that you look up those websites and follow them. Get on them early in the morning and make sure your order goes in before your first cup of coffee. You can find ammo. Be prepared to pay more for it. With prices on everything else going up almost daily did you think you were going to be able to score a brick of .22 l.r. for $9.99 at Big Five forever?
Did you ever wonder why no ammo is manufactured in the coastal regions of this country? If you want an exercise in self-flagellation, try getting a permit to open a reloading facility in any of the states along the coasts. Try getting a permit to open a factory where you are melting lead and copper to make bullets. If you are really into deep pain and anxiety, try getting a permit to manufacture smokeless powder, let alone black powder. Dupont may still have a factory in Delaware that was grandfathered in because it was started back around the end of the 19th century or the start of the 20th century and because DuPont used to own Delaware politically so they might have been grandfathered in. I haven’t done a detailed analysis of gun powder manufacture in the U.S., so unlike the author of this article, who talks about topics she knows little about, I won’t go further in discussing gun powder manufacture except to state that I seriously doubt that any new gun powder manufacturers have opened their doors in the U.S. since the year 2000, almost a quarter of a century and more likely than not, no new facilities in the past 50 years.
The whole topic of supply of firearms and ammunition is a very complicated one that should be addressed by someone who has done some serious research into the subject and knows whereof they write rather than a dilettante with limited knowledge of the topic.
The only value to this article that I can find is that it caused cctr to ask a question which I was able to answer by directing him to a report on a very extensive hands-on test of steel vs. brass cased ammo.
There is some important info in that test and if you have or are contemplating using steel cased ammo in a U.S. made firearm, I would urge you to go to that website and read the report. It compelled me to not purchase a 1,000 round lot of steel cased 5.56 that I was seriously considering acquiring.
I think I am wrong in how long DuPont has been manufacturing powder in Delaware. I think they started their black powder factory back when black powder was your only choice. They may have even provided black powder during the Revolutionary War. Time flies when you are having fun. I will do research on that and report my findings.
Well, as I suspected upon re-reading my post. I was off a couple of years. Like I say, when having a good time . . .
“Using charcoal made from local willow trees, sulfur, saltpeter shipped in on the Delaware River, and water power controlled by French water wheels and turbines, duPont’s mill increased production rapidly, making and selling 39,000 pounds of gun powder in 1804 and triple that amount the next year. During the War of 1812, sales jumped when the United States government bought powder from DuPont. With the proceeds, the company acquired additional land for industrial use at a site on the Brandywine known as Hagley, a name of English origins bestowed by a former owner. With the expansion into the Hagley Yards, E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company was on its way to becoming one of the world’s largest producers of explosives.”
Well, what’s a hundred years among friends??? He is reported to have started his gunpowder factory in 1802. Probably didn’t have a lot of problems with the EPA and code enforcement officers and city planning and special handling permits and Environmental Impact Reports.
I hate to think of the paperwork and lawyers and chemical engineers and environmental experts and flora and fauna studies one would have to endure to build a powder manufacturing plant today. It would take a person who was into inflicting extreme personal pain in order to endure that.
Wonder why prices are high? Hey, I’ve got one of five plants making this stuff in the whole country and there isn’t any likelihood of someone else building a similar plant in the next foreseeable future. I can charge what I feel like. Take it or leave it. We probably are lucky that powder and components are as cheap as they are.
A box of 100rds in 9mm cost me $30 a year and a half, ago. It’s now over $100…same brand/same box. Ammunition in 5.56/.223 has, also, tripled in price, if not more. Even shotgun ammunition, such as buckshot and slug, is getting hard to find at reasonable prices. I’ve stocked for the last 10-12 years and maybe longer. Over the last year, 2020, we’ve seen a run on firearms and ammunition. I Wonder ‘why’? If you weren’t preparing and stocking over the past decade or more…you might be ‘SOL’, at least for awhile. Under the administration of the Left…we will see them doing anything and everything they can to, either strip our rights away or make it so difficult and costly that people will have to choose between feeding the family or buying a few rounds of ammo. The components for hand loading are, also, becoming more costly and, in some areas, harder to find. Remember…’before’ a dictator can enslave a country…the population must be disarmed and then ‘controlled’. The ‘C-19’ lockdowns, mandatory masks and the shutting down of our economy is ‘all’ geared to get us ‘used to’ the control they plan on having over us.
Dave: And less than 20 years ago a box of 9mm, 115 gr., fmj was around 8 bucks and 50 years ago I used to buy reloads at the police range in Orange County for $1.00 for a box of 50 148 gr. wadcutters. I don’t think I could reload of box of 50 148 gr. lead wadcutters for $1.00 today. Fifty years ago tase was selling for 29¢ a gallon even here in the PDRK and we were actually extracting gas and oil right here in River City and we actually had a gas refinery here in RiverCity. Today there are a few wells grandfathered in and the oil companies keep them running at minimal levels to hold on to the lease. Most oil leases in this state contain a clause that if the well doesn’t pump a minimal quantity of oil a year, the lease reverts to the landowner. As far as the refinery, the greenies finally managed to get it closed down. It is now scrap just sitting there rusting, filled with lots of booze parties by underage drinkers, drug users needing a quiet place to shoot up and all kinds of crime.
Things change and because of the dollars ever weakening status, prices go up, especially for materials that must be imported thanks to ill-conceived policies of certain presidential regimes — materials like lead. It costs a lot more to ship lead from China than it did from Louisiana.
What in the name of whatever is tase? Do you think it might possibly be gas? I swear, sometimes I think it takes predictive so long to catch up that I have proofread the post and it makes a change after I have proofread.
So, if the government came for the person with one or two guns, you couldn’t reload them fast enough or likely compete with their weaponry so how long do you think a battle would go on?
Sewnya: You need to read up on Fourth Generation Warfare. In a head on battle with conventional forces, yes, guerrilla forces will lose every time. Remember Mao’s advice on how to attack. Attack where the enemy is weak and retreat where the enemy is strong.
If you think a poorly armed popular front can’t take on the most sophisticated army in the world, do I need to remind you what the VC in the south did before the NVA got involved. Yeah, when we caught them we beat the pants off them but who outlasted us? Who owns the country today?
How come Afghanistan has become the longest war we have ever been engaged in? They are just a bunch a goatherders armed with nothing more than small arms, some mortars and RPGs. No air force, no tanks, no Cobra gun ships or or A-10 Warthogs, no 105 mm howitzers or 155 mm howitzers. Just some raggedy, ill maintained AKs, some sniper rifles that used to belong to the Russians who got kicked out by the same goatherders and RPGs of dubious reliability purchased in the world arms market.
The U.S. is going to declare victory if we haven’t already and pull out leaving some poor Army pogues to continue on with “Nation Building”. I almost fell off my chair laughing at that.
So to answer your question directly, if you want to kill some more government goons at a later date, you shoot a couple of officers, a couple of loudmouth NCOs and scoot before they figure out where you are.
The deadliest killer in the War of Northern Aggression was Jack Hinton who singlehandedly killed over 275 Union officers and NCOs before he stopped counting. By himself he significantly impacted Union operatidons in the area where he operated and he never move more than 25 miles from his home while he operated. He knew the terrain. He grew up there. He didn’t want to participate in that war. He didn’t until Union forces wantonly killed two of his teenage sons.
He is the epitome of what William S. Lind says about our strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan and why, despite glowing reports from politicians and military leaders whose advancement is dependent upon spouting the party line even though they know differently, we are still mired in those two countries and will continue to be so until we either totally change our strategy or just say, “to Hell with it,” and leave. For those who can’t differentiate between vulgarity and a curse, “To Hell with it” is a classic curse. You are damning the person or thing to eternity in Hell. If you are a believer in an afterlife in either Heaven or Hell, you have just uttered a devastating curse. It is what we should say about both of those benighted countries and we should pull out — or totally change our losing strategy.
This is a big country with lots of wilderness. It has major cities, bigger than a great many cities in the world. How would you go about conquering Los Angeles, with the mountain that but right up against the city? How many troops do you think it would take to encircle Los Angeles so that people inside couldn’t leave” How many troops are you planning to lose in house to house fighting to take the city?
How many troops did we lose in the effort to take Fallujah?
And that was only to kill a handful of hajis in a relatively small town. Do you think the U.S. has enough troops if they mustered all 6 branches (I’m including the Space Force too) in attacking Los Angeles to take the city? But they have to take it, otherwise there is a huge nest of insurgents that sneak out sporadically to kill off a half dozen or so troops encircling the city and who knows where they will strike next? It’s called 4GW. The army hasn’t a clue how to handle it. Want proof? Can you say Afghanistan? Can you say Iraq? Can you say Vietnam? The Army started to catch on toward the end of Vietnam before the politicians will shriveled and the Army was called home but then they forgot everything they had learned in Vietnam in the 2nd invasion of Iraq and our ill-fated venture in Afghanistan.
There’s a book on this called Fry the brain. On top of the points made by left coast chuck the workings of the Irish Republic Army is probably closure to what to expect. There ways of getting around gun powder residue tests is worth the book itself.
The information war is much more brutal then the shooting. One of the top IRA snipers was tortured and killed by his own people because of false internal leaks made by the real snitches.
On the short of it, one round, randomly, unexpected, no follow up, one shot just disappear. The physiological toll on a human mind that has an enemy that it cant see, track or prevent from attacking is grave. Those soldiers will lash out at the population out of frustration and add more to the oppositions cause. Fun read, just historical of course.
Got the book. Interesting read. Just started.
A psyop tactic that really works. Used to use that in ‘Nam along the trail. Really screwed them up when you had a Bush “out of place” looking every 300 yards or so. They wouldn’t be able to guess, so they had to stop and check . The guy that had to check went to his ancestors early if the spot had an AP mine or claymore. Just history!
longshorts: but interesting history! niio
Homestead: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/fry-the-brain-the-art-of-urban-sniping-and-its-role-in-modern-guerrilla-warfare/9273189/#edition=8599565&idiq=10592463
dang have they upped the price just more hidden inflation 3 yrs ago i paid 15. Still worth the read though.
Until one of the two is dead
my son has learned how to make homemade gun powder and numerous other things ( ie charcoal gas a lin etc.) just in case it ever comes to that and helps in just this case of an ammo shortage. very smart kid
Far too many are hoarding too much ammo.
And then there are the new gun buyers (former hoplophobes if you will – AKA Democrats).
I wonder how they will feel when Biden confiscates all their shiny new guns they just paid a fortune for?
And their ammo.
Also, many store employees hoard ammo to sell to themselves or their family/friends.
Right now, finding ammo is like winning the lotto.
But you CAN find some.
CTD was selling 22LR for a whopping $1 PER ROUND.
Normal price for 100 is under $10.
Of course then there is the government stockpiling 1.8 BILLION rounds of ‘anti-patriot’ ammo.
Makes you wonder what THAT will be used for?
Why does places like SS office NEED armed guards with anti patriot rounds?
Or a driver’s license place?
Or any lame place?
crazy squirrel: We may be reading from different sources. I read that it was 4 billion rounds of premium hollow point 10 mm ammo. And your questions are quite valid. Why does the social security office need swat trained goons? Why does a whole long list of administrative offices need swat trained goons? What is the government planning that we should know about? You don’t have to be a tin hat paranoid to feel that there is some kind of hidden program adverse to the general population in planning in some inner circles of the government. I don’t believe it is just the dimokratz I believe it is the republcans as well as the upper reaches of the civil service. I believe that’s why we saw such a violent reaction to Trump’s election. He wasn’t part of the ruling class. He was an outsider who threatened to overturn their apple cart; threatened their plush plans for themselves and their heirs and assigns as the legal beagles like to say.
Got any brass or bronze curtain rods left around? They can be swaged into .30 caliber rounds like they did in the resistence to the Nazis and Japanese. .351 diameter lead bullets can be used in: .38 Special caliber, 9mm, .380, and other close calipers. And there are many sources of lead still if you really look for it. Be creative, but be careful. Soft aluminum can be cast into bullets IF you lube them very well.The zinc pennies can be melted into bullets if you have no other choices. Copper pipes in abandoned houses can be used. The world abounds in metals you can use. It’s like its raining soup, but unless you have a bowl, you are screwed.
Make your own black powder reload your ammo with it not as powerful but will get the job done. You can make black powder for about $6.00 a pound
Yes, but you sure can’t use it in your semi-automatic weapons. That’s where the value of the bolt action rifle and revolver come into play. The .22, the .38 special and the .45 Colt all started life as black powder cartridges.
Longshorts: I see you that you didn’t describe how you cut down .30 caliber rifle brass to make .45 acp brass. It would be a big plus to us if you described the step by step procedure in make the .45 acp brass.
Also, please describe how you make hollow brass curtain rods into solid brass bullets.
Forgot to mention how they did it on Mindinao. They formed a cavity in two pieces of steel like a fishing sinker mold, then used a flat faced hammer to TAP, not pound it into the correct size, then swaged it to the correct size. When Marine Gunny Sgnt does it by eye and only drill size bits for the molds, it was miraculous. They couldn’t chance a fire or the Japs would catch them, so all was done by muscle power. Ammo was tailored to bore size after time passed and the rifling wore out, but jungle fighting was always close range anyway. If the bullet tumbled, it only had a short range to go. Powder was taken from Japanese ammo and lots of 7.7 rifles were acquired either stolen from their camps at night, or taken in action. This came from my Dad’s best friend that got caught on the island as the last B-17 left with some Navy PT boat skippers. He survived the war until McArthur “returned” and promptly fell into 6′ of water off the LCI’ s ramp. Dad had a Bronze Star, (both had Purple Hearts with cluster) but his friend got a Silver Star for harassing the enemy. Got to be a story there, but I was never told how. BUT, this tells you how to survive and stay armed.
I have lived through a number of ammo shortages, I really doubt that prices will ever come down much, and I hope this ammo shortage does not last until 2024…For new gun buyers and young folks just starting out I feel your pain..For Folks like me Who enjoy Range Time on a Regular Basis, am cutting back on number of rounds fired…Brave New World….
You need 300rds per firearm, except you may need 10,000 rds. Except?
Welcome to the new world.
I don’t know why Claude posts tripe from this lady unless it is just to generate hits. I have more knowledge about operating the space station than she has about firearms. She should write an article about popping tranquilizers which, from partially reading one of her “prepper” book she has more knowledge about than guns.
Numerous times It’s been said that all serious preppers should stock up on three important metals. Gold, Silver, and Lead. You see what’s happening with lead. How long do you think it will be before Gold and Silver are as scarce as lead? Some sources are already behind by two to three months with ridiculously high premiums.
Well, the Lone Ranger used silver bullets, I guess we could reopen some old mines around Reno and Carson City and make silver bullets. I think they would be pretty soft and would mushroom nicely. Might not do so well against body armor though. Have to place those silver bullets carefully. Wish I could shoot like the Lone Ranger. Let the bad guy draw first, draw and shoot the gun out of the b.g.’s hand from the hip, one handed. Wowee! Great shooting L.R.
“Left Coast Chuck,”,
Everybody is missing an obvious source of lead – old car batteries. When recovering the lead, do so in a well ventilated area wearing a mask and gloves. I feel sorta dumb because I just took three down to the recycling center. What a loss!
Be sure to wear old clothes when working with those heavy things, but salvage the plates, posts and innards. People who rebuild batteries in the far east wear no protective gear, wonder how long they live?
longshorts: You can get rubber aprons for working with sulfuric acid. Sturdy rubber gloves, a rubber apron and rubber boots, googles and work outdoors rather than in your garage. You will be good to go handling car batteries. After you remove them, I would wash them down with baking soda, otherwise they will destroy whatever you set the plates down on. Be careful where you dispose of the sulfuric acid. It is good ant killer but will eat up anything but dirt. It will etch concrete, so isn’t good to spill on pavement.
Yes, the sulfuric acid in batteries is dilute but it is still nasty stuff.
Longshort: How many states have laws that, if you want a new car battery, you have to turn in the old one? All states can charge a core charge. No old battery returned, no refund on it. The federal EPA is getting into it, as well.
https://batterycouncil.org/page/State_Recycling_Laws
niio
Alabama doesn’t, so I will remember that next time a battery craps out. They just have a $5 ” core charge” if you don’t have onet turn in. A battery has more than $5 of lead in it.
“Upcoming US Ammo Shortage”
Seriously? How many months ago was this written?
Here we go !!! a factory makes 1 million rounds, has orders from all 50 states 50 rounds of 9mm per box. divided to all the states. Now 6 grade math…. 1,000,000 divided by 50 (per box) divided by 50 = 400 so in your state ho get the 400 now divided by stores/customers. Just like TP.
I think there may be a lot more than 400 retail outlets in the PDRK alone. Maybe they will start packaging ammo in ten round packets like they do snap caps or six round packets if they are revolver rounds like .38 sp. I have noticed that 500 round bricks of .22 l.r. are now 325 round tubs of .22 l.r.
I don’t think I have seen 500 round bricks advertised for a couple of years now. Every once in a while you will see a 5,000 round case of .22 l.r. but in 2020 I don’t recall seeing one ad for such.
hateful stance of the far-right? what about the far-left?!
No $hit! the far right is scary but very small compared to the mobs that are burning down cities and killing cops. Hope this was a typo or I am unsubscribing!
I bought a few boxes of loose Federal 525 round .22 lr last fall before Wal-Mart dried up and blew away, think it was the last they had. Yes, some guy bought a lot of the common stuff by the case, yet is,selling a 50 round box for $75 a pop at flea market on U.S. HWY 280 near Columbus, Ga. Fat F**k I called the price gouging S.O.B.
Alabama has no law like that. They just charge you $5 extra core charge and there is probably $5 of lead in there at today’s prices.
It would seem to me that the major problem with stockpiling ammo is that it seems to deteriorate over time.
Since degraded ammo can be dangerous, how much is too much and what’s the best way to store it for long term use? I know a couple of people mentioned oxygen absorbers and something to control moisture/corrosion.
Anything else to consider?
Miss Kitty: I had some M-1carbine ammo head stamped 43. It was original mil spec ammo loaded in 1943. It still shot fine out to 100 yards. After that either it wandered or I wasn’t holding ’em and squeezing ’em. It wasn’t as accurate.
Of course the M-1 carbine was not meant for 300 yard moa shots It was designed as an up close weapon for folks who were too weak to handle that “kicks like a mule Colt .45.
I have Berdan primed .303 British head stamped ’55. It still shoots quite accurately and well out to 600 yards in a rifle that left the factory in Canada sometime if my memory serves me correctly in 1948.
I store my ammo in one plastic baggie inside another in military style metal ammo cans in the garage. Some of the ammo has been in the garage since in the 1980s. I don’t know where it was between when I got it in the 80s and 1955 when it was manufactured in France.
I also acquired the M-1 carbine ammo sometime in the 80s and have not the slightest clue where it was between 1943 and sometime in the 80s. It too has been in my garage in an ammo can since I acquired it.
I just read an article by Hodgen Powder Company, a major supplier of powered to reloads They made a positive statement about powder deteriorating with age that sounded quite scary if I didn’t have a totally different experience. A relative of mine had some 9 mm in steel cases which had an obscure head stamp. We could find no reference that identified the head stamp on the cases. Our best guess was that it was Comblok ammo with a made up head stamp for operations in a country or countries where the forces employing such ammo were not supposed to be.
It was on steel stripper clips which made us ask “9mm Mauser?” It fired sporadically but being of uncertain origin and uncertain age but certainly at a minimum WWII ammo, how and where it was stored was anybody’s guess. I pulled the bullets, dumped the powder on my lawn — gunpowder is high in nitrogen, put motor oil in the cases to kill the primers and reloaded the bullets in brass cases with new primers and current powder and they shot just fine.
Unless you are keeping your ammo in some really extreme temps, especially on the high side or plan to shoot your ammo in extremely low temps like -20F ammo stored in your nightstand beside your bed should be able to be shot by your great grandkids. Every once in a while somebody takes down Great Grandpappy’s War of Northern Aggression muzzle loading black powder rifle, tries it out with a new cap and is surprised when the thing actually shoots. By the way, if you are ever tempted to see if Granddaddy’s muzzle loader will still shoot, make sure it is not already loaded. A lot of those old guns were kept fully loaded, just waiting for a cap to be put on the nipple and the trigger pulled. As long as nobody put a match to the nipple hole or put a cap on the nipple and touched it off while pointing it in bad direction those guns were very safe to be kept that way.
While I can’t state it for a known fact, I believe even in the PDRK a black powder firearm is not considered loaded even if all the chambers are charged as long as there are no caps on the nipples. Do not test that theory on the lawn in front of the state capitol in Schizomento however.
LCC: Thanks for the info!
One more question…do they still make black powder muzzle loading rifles? Or have they been done away with?
Mis Kitty: Yes, you can still buy brand new black powder rifles and pistols. Unless you buy a black powder double barrel shotgun, all the b.p. rifles that I know of are single shot. You can buy b.p. revolvers that are six-shooters. In addition, you can fire b.p. in modern bolt action rifles, pump and single shot shotguns and revolvers. They will dirty up and become inoperable very shortly as firing b.p. dirties up a firearm quickly. That was one of the reasons one lubed the patches in a b.p. firearm or finished the loaded cylinders in a revolver with grease. was to soften the fouling left in the bore by firing b.p.. Shooting b.p. is a little more complicated than it seems on its face. If you are considering relying on b.p. as a back up to your more modern firearms and are inexperienced in shooting b.p., I would very strongly urge you to read up on the topic. There are some important caveats that one needs to know before starting into b.p.
They are too numerous to list here.
In many states one doesn’t need permission from one’s masters in order to purchase b.p. firearms. They don’t need permission from the federales to purchase either, so there is some advantage to acquiring b.p. firearms. If you acquire a b.p. revolver, consider purchasing extra cylinders for that firearm. That was the original quick reload for a b.p. revolver. As soon as the cylinder was empty, the shootist just changed cylinders, switching the empty cylinder in the revolver for a loaded one in his pocket. Almost as quick as changing magazines in a semiautomatic pistol.
I have read the many posts about ammo going bad. I have never seen it. I am 62 and have ammo from when I was a kid, .22 cal, I have no doubt that it will fire. I have always kept in house. If you abuse ammo, like keeping in garage or worse out side, I could see that being a problem. I live in HIGH humidity, here there is no real choice. I keep my ammo in the AC.
I am not an expert, but how can “degraded ammo” be dangerous? I would expect the biggest danger would be that it would be a dud….That would be dangerous if you were being attacked, of course, at the range it would just be a click. Just my $.02…..
I have stocking up on blackpowder rifle, pistol and pellets for my pellet rifle.
I am from NY and would like to get out from the NE. I have never been in trouble have experience in the security industry. Iam a disabled guy so don’t move as fast. However have a real good head on my shoulders. If any one has ideas or can recommend any place. I would appreciate it. Just looking for help. amconpatriot@protonmail.com
‘keeping their employees safe’ ?
FROM WHAT?
3 minutes from a REAL EXPERT to show how badly you got played. Again. Wants this to STOP?
Stop believing lies. Stand up. Take that sill muzzle off your face.
https://www.bitchute.com/video/voXHosZjaWFL/
Europe seems to have no problem getting US-made ammo – and at ‘old prices’. What’s obvious to everyone but Amerikans is that ‘this is the plan’:
https://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/where-have-all-the-guns-ammunition-and-reloading-supplies-gone/283850
Folks, been reading for a bit and am surprised by the lead conversation. I have all the lead I will ever need. In the past, I have dipped batteries in alkaline solutions to neutralize the acid, bust open, melt lead into ingots. That worked ok, found a better way. I know a local firing range operator, he charged me $10 and I took a truck load of buckets filled with spent bullets. I had to do all the work myself separating the bullets from the sand, then I had to melt the bullets into ingots. There was a lot of waste product to dispose of, but I got A LOT of lead. I will probably never have to do it again. The other perc is the lead is already bullet lead, so a good alloy for bullets. I cast several calibers and it was worth the work. It is not for the faint of heart, it was a bit of work. There is plenty of lead in the ground at shoot sites. You just have to work for it. Our public site has to dispose of the dirt, I suspect I could get that if I had not found a sweeter deal. Just a thought…..
Yes, just like the shortage of canning lids. 12 use to cost $1.69 and now I’ve seen them for $14 a box. Who uses these every day? No one. Price gouging!
There will be two fundamental scenarios when the SHTF.
#1 One with a government trying to run things.
#2 One without any government anywhere.
We are all prepping for scenario #2…with all else equal, nobody has superior dominating firepower.
We can survive that if we are smart and lucky (many times we will need luck), and your luck will be how well you prepped and trained.
Scenario #1 Come on folks, get real.
If FEMA or other agencies call in military support to take out a pocket of terrorist resistance (you will be labeled terrorists), it will be “Night OPS” with drones, vipers, and Apache gunships…you are toast, game over. They will not mess around with ground pounders until there is a smoking hole where your home base was.
Yes, freedom fighters will have massive numbers…but that will not matter.
There are over 150 million conservatives age 12 and above in this country.
Probably 20% (30 million) are ex-military with a small percentage still active.
The Smart Ones know…they are definitely part of the “silent majority”.
The government knows very little about them. A VERY GOOD Thing!
But the mindsets of the 30 million range from “scared to do anything” on one end, to “hardcore militants” on the other end.
70% (20 million) are in between, watching, waiting, willing and able to protect their families.
The Government knows this…but they are not concerned, Why?
They have the solution already in place…technology.
With a few clicks of the mouse…
– They shut down all the cell towers (and only allow authorized satellite phones)
– They shut down the entire public internet, (except for top secret government OPS websites)
Then WE ARE ALL IN THE DARK, with Martial Law, we can’t find out what is going on across the country, in neighboring states, maybe not even in the next town. We will be fed what they want us to know on the public service network. Like Hogan’s Heroes Sargent Shultz, we will all be able to honestly say
“I KNOW NOTHEEEEENG…”
– Then the CIA/FEMA/Other agencies coordinate hundreds of military squads to acquire or eliminate the “hardcore militants”. They already know who and where they are, but that might take a while since there are probably 500,000 of them scattered all over the USA.
There could be a full-blown civil war in Oklahoma City, but only the highest-level government officials in the surrounding states of Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas will know it.
When these major pockets of resistance occur, the military will order Night Operations with “search and destroy” strikes using Drones, Apache’s, and Vipers…Game Over.
The government will (act like the BORG aliens on a recent Star Trek movie series and) tell us
“Resistance is Futile”.
Good Luck to the USA and ALL of us PATRIOTS
Part Two: Win the elections NOW!!!
The only way out of this national crisis is not simple and may not be painless…but what happened in the last election will probably not happen again…that was a one-time surprise event.
These are some of the many BIG things that can help pull our country away from the abyss…
– First, we need a respected professional Conservative Leader, one that will cause many centrist democrats to consider changing parties. That leader will need significant military background like our first president of the USA. Trump was good, but unless he changes his approach, we probably need to go to a better option than him, if at all possible.
– Our children and grandchildren are our family treasures. Our public education system absolutely must be fixed ASAP!!! On average, our children are some of the dumbest in the industrialized world because of a corrupt public education system. If you are under 30, you were robbed of an excellent public education. We cannot “Make America Great Again” unless we fix the public education system.
– Our forefathers had no idea about technology when they wrote the constitution. BIG TECH is out of control and are violating the constitution. We need constitutional amendments to address technology and legal action to enforce it.
– Voting rights…this is not a complicated one. The right to vote must be earned and there needs to be layers of security to accurately protect the votes from internal and/or external threats.
– There are many BIG problems, they ALL need to be addressed as quickly as possible.
But one thing is certain, ALL of these things can be corrected only after BIG TECH is reeled in. There are other tech giants, but these are the ones that need to feel some pain ASAP:
Facebook, Amazon, Google, Apple, Twitter…
That is essentially the MAGA Holy Grail.
So don’t use any of the above technologies, if 50 million of the “silent majority” shut it down for one week or maybe a month, they would all begin to collapse. I use none of these technologies any more…it is easy to find replacements or just minimize the use.
I am sure many of you can add several more BIG directives to the four mentioned above…for there are many things wrong as compared to 30-40-50 years ago…and most of it leads directly to technology, profit, and corruption.
Good Luck to us all…
May we all Live Long and Our Country Prosper
in 2021 we discovered that LAX Ammunition had decent quality 5.56 NATO, 9mm Lugar, 12 gauge, and several other calibers back in stock. If you live in Southern California, check out this website, but you will have to call to see if they currently have in stock what you are looking for. When you get there examine the rounds for where it was made, brass or steel casing, and if the primers have been lacquered.
https://www.laxammo.com/
forgot mention about the LAX Ammo website, if you scroll down, you will see two icons, one to see locations, and another for free printable target downloads
https://www.laxammo.com/info/more-information/downloadable-targets/
https://www.fixthisnation.com/?p=11543
This is the best blog so far keep
this is interesting, but I have not verified the accuracy
https://www.pewpewtactical.com/military-optics-red-dots-lvpos-more-guide/
10,000 plus would be a good start. You can always pick up extra from the ones who were unlucky. But you better think about magazines!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You need alot, think about this 28 rounds X 20 mags = 560 rounds. Shooting 2 AR’s, allowing one to cool down, 3 minutes per mag, semi auto, that’s a 60 minute gunfight. You cant stop and load a magazine in a gunfight! It could get very WESTERN!
Due to inflation and an unstable economy, don’t expect ammo prices to ever drop back down.
Inflation never goes away.
I ran across this site but have not purchased anything from them, it has ammo and more listed if you’re interested.
https://shop.tacticalshit.com/