Everybody has been going on and on about the run on guns and ammo, but as current events demonstrate, it wasn't a run on all guns and ammo, just certain kinds.
Stores that are completely out of 9mm and .308 have plenty of 12ga birdshot. Rifle and pistol primers may be scarce, but 209 shotshell primers and #11 percussion caps are plentiful. Your local shop may be out of H4198, but there's probably plenty of Pyrodex and Triple 7.
Take from this what you will...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
28 comments:
I've had several shop owners tell me that while they have a lot of shotgun ammo, it's all old stock and that they haven't had anything new in a while. If that's true, it may be worth picking up a few extra boxes before any shortage occurs.
Yeah, shotshells, BP consumables, and odd or very specialized calibers are still available everywhere I look in Va and NC. Regular stuff is becoming more available, but slowly.
Chris
Worked at the "Big Town" gunshow one day this weekend. We had almost sold out of the reloading gear an hour after the doors opened. Half of that were shotshells and wads alone. I don't know if it is an indicator of anything other than my bank account balance going up a bit.
Round these parts, you can't find a box of .380 (for less than $65/50 of ball!) and 9mm is scarce.
.308 and .223 is pretty easy to find, albeit not hella-cheap.
.22LR is a myth and memory.
Shotshells, on the other hand, from birdshot to buckshot is on sale for 20% off at most places.
EBRs and plastic fantastic handguns are flying off shelves, wheelguns are moving well, too.
Shotguns and bolt rifles, however, are being marked down right and left.
Pa-in-law picked up a NIB Weatherby .308 this weekend for less than he paid for a 10-year-old used one 2 years ago.
I dusted off the Mossy 12 gauge (retired by the AR a few years ago) since it was the only thing I felt comfortable firing a few hundreds rounds through. Now I'm thinking of a full-on 870 build or an FNH police pump, since it replicates AR grip and sights.
Basically, if it's a self-defense tool, it's gone or expensive. If it's a hunting tool, it's on sale.
Fudds are NOT in control of this gun market.
Lots of Pyrodex, caps and 209 primers, too. Well this is sad news. I was looking forward to buying a Knight inline. But they have a premium price, so it takes a while to save.
Of course everybody is out of stock on Uberti Walker Colt Replicas everywhere I look.
I suspect others have the same idea as I, that maybe O might want to close the "Blackpowder Loophole"
I could use a new shotgun for skeet; my Remington 870 Tactical (with the Knoxx SpecOps stock, mind you) is fun and gets some GREAT looks at the club, but I wouldn't mind something a bit more apropos.
Problem is, the 1100 doesn't fit me that well, and the Benelli and Beretta autoloaders are a bit spendy; I'd as soon spend the money for a Ruger Red Label if I had any desire to pony up $1500 or more for this kind of thing. I could part with probably about $800 in a heartbeat, but any closer to a kilobuck gives me pause.
I need to do more looking...
Bad news if you're saving for a Knight inline.
"Later this morning, Knight Rifle will officially release the news of their decision to cease manufacturing. The official announcement to Knight employees was made last Friday, but officials have avoided speaking with the media in an attempt to keep the lid on the story until June 1."
http://www.theoutdoorwire.com/archives/2009-06-01
Why would I be saving for a Knight? If I just have to go shoot a frontstuffer, I have a 209x50 barrel for my T/C Encore.
Commenter TJP had his eye on a Knight.
Joe Merchant24,
Did you not click on the link in my post? ;)
From the survey of the local Wally Worlds, it's not a run on ammo...but only if by 'ammo' you mean 7mm Mag, Win .270, .17 HMR or #6/#8 birdshot and the occasional slug.
No pistol ammo at all, no rifle ammo save for the above-mentioned. And the sign still says '6 items per customer' (2 per in some stores).
(This is a totally scientific survey conducted by me with a sampling frequency of 'now and then' at Wal-Marts that were nearby when I felt like going. But even with those caveats, the shelves are bare.)
*eep*
No, I didn't.
Bad Joe. Bad, bad Joe.
Hmmm...I'm gonna have to go feed my blackpowder thunderstick.
This is actually a very good time to have a .40s&w or .357sig handgun if ammo's what you're looking for.
Of course, that's like discovering that your date is the most beautiful transsexual in the world, but such is life.
Tam,
I'm looking for something that feels like a deergun, but not so much interested in the modular aspect. I did the Contender thing, and all I have left is a 44 Mag barrel.
The Omega would be the closest to what I want, which is the Knight Extreme. I also looked at the Traditions Evolution, but it's much cheaper for some reason. I suppose I get what I pay for, but it was pretty impressive in the store.
But it doesn't matter, because a Knight rifle is machined from a solid block of awesome, blued in a tank of bitchin', and set in a stock made from the compressed despair of competitors that failed to out-shoot it.
Hmmm. Who pushes the industry sales? Hunters or Shooters? If ammo and gun availability is any measure, Shooters are king.
Well, I do need to shoot more blackpowder...
Regards,
Maybe it's because the shotshell is mostly plastic? It wouldn't be as affected by the price of brass as an ordinary metallic cartridge. Still, that sort of explanation has a lot of gaps (.22LR is super cheap to make, but it's still scarce).
JoeMerchant24's theory is more plausible, but I think shotguns are viewed as home defense tools by the majority of the population, so a run on self-defense firearms would seem to include them, too. Instead, every big box store I've ever visited seems to have a ready supply of all kinds of shotgun ammo but no 9mm.
This run on ammo seems to be driven by what people are afraid will be banned or heavily taxed. People are buying ammo as an investment and as possible trade goods. It won't be over until the market saturates or we have some reason to stop worrying about future restrictions. Everything the administration has done so far has confirmed my expectations.
Shotguns are the firearm least likely to be banned. People won't turn to panic buying of shotguns unless a shotgun ban starts to look plausible.
18 months ago you could get a case of Winchester Lite or Extra Lite #9birdshot for $5.49/box if you bought a case. Now the price for the same ammo is $8.99 and up. The price of birdshot has also gone up drastically, but that increase has pre-dated the electioon by a year or two and can most likely be attributed to the growing car industries in China and India and the need for lead for car batteries
Thankfully the price on shot recently came down. Now I can get it for around $30 a bag. The high was almost $50!
WV "resin"; probably what's actually in a Knight rifle stock, but not as cool sounding.
"...a Knight rifle is machined from a solid block of awesome, blued in a tank of bitchin', and set in a stock made from the compressed despair of competitors that failed to out-shoot it."Damn. Mind if I use that in my advertizing? -- Lyle
Blackpowder components are still available, but they haven't been immune from the price increases. Goex announced a price increase last Fall, and cap prices have risen also. Last Spring I paid $35/1000 for number 11 caps and $45/1000 for winged musket caps... this Spring, I paid $50/1000 for 11s and $70/1000 for musket caps. Those old Dixie Gun Works tap-o-cap die sets are looking pretty good, but they seem to have discontinued them. Ouch.
On the other hand, we bought my Mother a .32 percussion Traditions Crockett Rifle for Christmas last year... at around 1 lb of powder, 2 lbs of lead, and three tins of caps for 300 shots at a cost of about $30 (I cast my own roundballs) I'm thinking about getting one for myself... 10 cents a shot is not quite competitive with .22s, but at least I can actually still get the components to shoot it.
TJP,
"But it doesn't matter, because a Knight rifle is machined from a solid block of awesome, blued in a tank of bitchin', and set in a stock made from the compressed despair of competitors that failed to out-shoot it."
Heh.
Wish I wrote that. :D
I just wonder if there's a way to make birdshot a viable self-defense load. I'm sure you could melt down and recast the pellets, but can you unload the shotshell and then reload it without firing it or destroying it?
It's best to fire it, then reload the hull, especially with a melt in the middle of a star crimp. I've destroyed enough old shells to know that the shot is pretty much the only salvageable portion. (One flake propellant looks like the next, you know, and the fast target powders under birdshot don't always give good velocity under buck.)
One way to do it that I've discovered is to melt the birdshot into a 30 caliber mold, then water drop the bullet. Put that over, say, 40 to 50 grains of a medium-to-slow rifle propellent, and you've got yourself a load suitable for self-defense.
For reference, Sportsman's Lodge has all the 12 gauge trap loads you could ever want @ $6.47 a box. And for a home defense load, trap works fine. What's the spread on a shot column at 15 feet?
No "Goblin" is going to know the difference between # 7's and a slug until the lead works it's way inside, then the small pellets will do a better job than a Brenneke. They go in but don't come out, leaving all their energy inside.
Slugs make sense when you're shooting at a distance, or when you have to shoot through a tough covering. I haven't heard of many perps breaking into a house in body armor, and I've had to listen to three generations of Irish cops in the family.
Post a Comment