Ammo Re-Up From Widener's

I shop at quite a few online sellers, including Wideners for reloading supplies, and they have a good selection of ammo too.

They've got some competitive prices on 9mm.  Since I've been shooting a bit more recently I just ordered 1000 rounds of Magtech 115 to get some more practice in between matches.  Since I ordered, it went off sale but others have come on sale now, which is a good thing. Ammo prices overall seem to be coming down a bit and stabilizing, so there's more out there at practice-pleasing prices.

I particularly like at Widener's that you can add a non-descript box to enclose the ammo to make it a bit harder for nosy neighbors and porch pirates to figure out what is in the box on your doorstep.

I also ordered some 6.5 Carcano ammo to go with the case of 9mm, as I've been having trouble finding some in stock to try out my Carcano, which I have yet to shoot.

The ammo arrived quickly with no fuss or muss and was nicely packaged.

I think I shall hit the range and get some practice in this holiday weekend and celebrate Independence Day accordingly with some appropriate noise.

Great Customer Service From Lucky Gunner

I had ordered some 12 gauge ammunition from Lucky Gunner to get some practice in and for a class I'll be attending this summer.  I had ordered a pack of 250 rounds.  Lucky Gunner then very quickly shipped it and I figured I would get it soon.

Unfortunately, Fedex had other ideas. 

Got a message from Fedex the very next day that the shipment had a problem and had been damaged in transit. Not Good.  Apparently the damaged shipment was being sent back to Lucky Gunner by Fedex.

I contacted Lucky Gunner and they immediately sent a replacement shipment, no hesitation at all, and since they were out of the ammo I had bought, they sent the next higher quality ammo at no difference in cost.

Really excellent customer service on their part,  I definitely will order from them again.

Biden Admin Finds Another Way To Harm American Gun Owners

So who is the Biden administration trying to hurt more (a) American Gun owners or (b) The Russian Government? The answer gets pretty to figure out in just two headlines.

BBC News: Biden lifts US sanctions on major Russian pipeline

Yep, billions of dollars of revenue to Russia now that the pipeline is no longer being sanctioned and blocked by the US.

and  US Department of State: United States Imposes Additional Costs on Russia for the Poisoning of Aleksey Navalny 

The Biden administration is banning future imports of Russian-made firearms and ammunition to the US.  Just as the ammo shortage was starting to ease, the Biden admin goes off and does this - appearing to be tough on Russia in one minor area while making sure American firearm owners, who tend not to be Biden fans suffer accordingly.  This is a much smaller financial loss to Russia than blocking the pipeline would be but it gives the finger to his domestic non-fans.

Funny how that happens.

Well, That's Is Some Spendy 9!

Went to a local gun shop, not "my" local gun shop mind you, as this one is rather out of the way typically for me, charges a transfer fee over twice that which my local gun shop charges, is known for high prices and so-so service even in normal times. 

But figured I'd look inside anyways on my lunch break.

Well, it was hopping.

New Glocks were being priced at around $799, with a few used ones in the high fives.  One Glock 19 Gen 5 and One G17 and a G43 and that was it. Other firearms were similarly on the high end of the cost index and nothing even getting down to MSRP.

Ammo, however, was where the mark-ups really got crazy.

They had 50 round boxes of 9mm fmj for $40 a box, limit 2, and 100 round boxes of Winchester White Box for $80 - limit 1.  That's $800/per thousand rounds - for WWB.  Most LGS shops by comparison have it in the $19-$24 range per box of 50.

That is the highest I've seen locally so far.  Only Cheaper Than Dirt beats that with their "we're lower than dirt" price of $59.89 for a box of 50. 

There's a lot of new gun owners out there who have no idea what normal prices for ammunition are like when we're not in the middle of both an ongoing civil disorder scenario and an election year with a candidate running on a campaign of banning guns. 

So, they're happily paying that.  Ouch.

Do Check Your Ammo

With the current super-high demand for ammo and all manufacturers going at capacity, some slips are going to happen.

 

From a recent box of Federal American Eagle 9mm:

One bullet was not like the others:

Yes, it's a bullet perfectly loaded into a case - backwards.  Makes for an interesting 9mm hollow point.  

Did not try firing it.

Even 99.999% quality control means something will eventually slip by 0.001% of the time and when you're producing billions of rounds. . . .

No damage done, but it pays to actively look at your ammo from the box as you're loading it.

Happy Thanksgiving And A Great Ammo Deal

Classic Arms has Federal 115gr 9mm FMJ for $124/1000 after rebate and free shipping, which is one heckuva great deal If you shoot 9mm.

I hope all of you had a peaceful and enjoyable Thanksgiving with your families. We had a nice one with family and friends over to enjoy the festive meal.

NRAAM Day 2 - IMI Ammunition

Israel Military Industries Systems manufactures some of the world's best ammunition.

Great quality ammo. I've just picked up some IMI 77 grain SMK razor core ammunition that I'll be testing and will blog about it here.

You certainly can't go wrong using IMI Ammunition.

Is ATF Moving Away From The Proposal To Ban M855?

Over at RightMI, in post based on a misread of a Michigan statute that they thought would make people in Michigan become felons if they possessed M855 after ATF declared it AP ammunition (It won't- It darn likely will. Based on a discussion with someone whom I respect and hold in high regard, who provded me with some solid explanatory legal analysis, it appears that there is indeed an avenue of attack and a clear risk to Michigan residents possessing M855 should the ATF declare it to be AP ammunition. I doth blog corrected and appreciate the additional information and analysis provided), comes the important news that it appears that ATF is going to pause in pushing forward its "framework" that would have banned M855.

ATF's Press Release.

Apparently the flood of comments, and people contacting their representatives got their attention:

Notice to those Commenting on the Armor Piercing Ammunition Exemption Framework

Thank you for your interest in ATF's proposed framework for determining whether certain projectiles are “primarily intended for sporting purposes” within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(17)(C). The informal comment period will close on Monday, March 16, 2015. ATF has already received more than 80,000 comments, which will be made publicly available as soon as practicable.

Although ATF endeavored to create a proposal that reflected a good faith interpretation of the law and balanced the interests of law enforcement, industry, and sportsmen, the vast majority of the comments received to date are critical of the framework, and include issues that deserve further study. Accordingly, ATF will not at this time seek to issue a final framework. After the close of the comment period, ATF will process the comments received, further evaluate the issues raised therein, and provide additional open and transparent process (for example, through additional proposals and opportunities for comment) before proceeding with any framework.

It doesn't mean they won't try to bring the framework proposal forward again once they've processed all 80,000 comments, but at least there is no imminent immediate ban on M855.

Expect them to try again, and again make your reasoned comments and contacts to your representative in opposition to such bans when they try again.

To those of you who submitted comments to ATF and to your Representatives - Good job folks, you did it.

Your Saturday Walmart Ammo Report, It's Raining 40, With a Continuing Drought of 9 and 22.

So in preparation for the planned gathering this weekend I went by Walmart to get some needed supplies.

I also checked the Walmart Ammo counter.

As usual no one was there and it took about 15 minutes before an associate finally showed up to unlock the ammo case after I, the third person to request assistance, asked for some.

On the upside, they had a massive amount of 40S&W in stock, the most I've ever seen them have, two entire shelves full of various manufacturers and packaging, a lot of 45 ACP and a ton of 5.56. They even had a few boxes of 357 Sig, which is the first time I recall this Walmart ever having that in stock. Hmm, now I might start thinking about a 357 Barrel for my 40 M&P....

On the downside - no 9mm and no 22 LR, as in zip, nada, none, not a single box of either. Hopefully more will appear soon as I'm starting to get low in my stockpiles of both.

Your Sunday Walmart Ammo Report

The sun is shining, the snow is melting, it's getting warmer, so this means the opening of USPSA match season in Michigan and more range trips are in the near future. Range trips where I'm not thigh-deep in snow, and I'm looking forward to the change.

So on heading to Walmart, I had a chance to browse the shelves and hopefully pickup some needed ammo for restocking.

Unfortunately, both .22 LR and 9mm were completely out of stock, and tend to be so whenever I drop in to look for some.

There was however a decent quantity of 40 S&W in both 180 and 165 grain in 50 round boxes but no 100 round value packs.

Also present was a very sizable amount of 45 ACP, and a variety of 5.56 mm from cases of Turkish made (ZQ1) 62 grain to some Winchester 55 grain in boxes of 20. There was also some 7.62x39 and .357 about as well as the same few boxes of .270 that seem to have stayed in the same place for awhile now.

So I bought a few boxes of the 165 grain 40 S&W to feed my M&P 40 full-size and compact and went on my way.

9mm and .22 are both still hard to come by around here.

That's Quite The Insane Ammo Price There Folks.....

One begins to wonder how much of the ammo shortage is a real shortage, and how much is people picking stuff up to jack up in price and resell to fleece the suckers.

For example: Winchester White Box 9mm 100 rounds (case of 5 boxes) at $269.99 or$53.99 per box?

Or 1000 rounds of Remington 9mm Yellow value pack for $659.99? or get 1000 rounds of Blazer Brass 9mm for $679.99?

But those are practically reasonable compared to the real winner of the gouging prize, Cheaper than Dirt. Not content to just jack up PMags, Cheaper Than Dirt (or are they named Lower than Dirt, its so hard to tell) outdoes them all.

Cheaper Than Dirt is selling Tulammo 9mm steel case at $1.39 per round. Yes, you read that correctly. 1 farging box of 50 rounds of crap ammo for $69.59. A case of 1000 rounds would cost an insane $1,391.80! Cheaper Than Dirt sure as heck isn't.

One should note that most ammo vendors, unlike the ones above, are not taking the opportunity to put their customers over a barrel.

I'd advise thinking real hard about doing any business with these vendors now or in the future.

Free markets are fine, charging all the market can bear is fine, sucking up all the ammo so you can rip people off is however pretty darn scummy and as such should have consequences.

While they're free to rip people off, they do need to consider that people will remember how they acted in this time and choose not to buy from them now or in the future.

Hopefully when this settles down they'll be stuck with lots of overpriced ammo that they'll have to offload at a loss. Sadly, its more than likely though they're paying standard wholesale rates for it and just jacking up the price and making a killing on the situation.

But When He Got There, The Ammo Cupboard Was Bare

So on my way from my semi-regular meeting this morning I drove by Walmart as it was on the way back to the office and decided to see if any 9mm ammo was available.

It was not. Nor was there much of anything else.

Aside from 6 boxes of 22-250 (4 Winchester and two Remington) and two boxes of Remington Core-Lokt 30-06, the ammo display was completely empty.

Supply is most certainly not keeping up with its best buddy Demand.

Ammo Quest Continued, Walmart Edition

My quest For 9mm ammo continues

At my local Walmart, they did have a little bit. Apparently a ship had just come in and they sold out of a case of Winchester White Box 9mm 100 round packs in less than an hour - and that's with a three box maximum per customer purchase policy.

Luckily for me, there were 6 boxes of 50 rounds each of Federal 9mm remaining and I purchased my maximum of three boxes. That's enough for all of 1 USPSA match, assuming I have no misses (Good luck with that).

There was no .40 nor .22 and only a few boxes of .17HMR, and 3 boxes of .45 Auto remaining, looking all lonely on the very bare shelves, which I didn't buy as I reload for 45 so I might as well let someone else get it who needs it more.

In speaking with the clerk that opened the locked display where the ammo was sitting, she confirmed they do indeed get, and will continue to get ammunition deliveries. She stated it is highly unpredictable as to when they get it and how much they get in each shipment, but they do get it, typically on a weekly basis.

In short, there's no over-arching Walmart conspiracy to stop stocking ammo - they just can't keep it in stock as people are buying it and buying it both early and often.

Supply and Demand isn't a suggestion, but I'd suggest they'd start increasing the supply if practicable as they're leaving money on the table with this shortage.

Yes, I know ammunition manufacturers are at capacity now and it takes time to get new production lines up and running, but this demand increase wasn't exactly unexpected. In addition, the legions of new gun owners likely aren't going to just put up their new firearms into storage and never use them, so the demand for ammunition will likely remain strong (but not this crazy) in the foreseeable future as these new owners get out and practice and have fun with their new firearms in training, competition, structured practice, or simple plinking, hopefully on a regular basis.

The Obama Ammunition Economy: In Stock And Out In Less Than An Hour

One of the online vendors form whom I regularly buy my 9mm match and practice shooting ammo sent a notification email while I was out that they had just got some 124gr 9mm in stock.

As soon as I saw the email I went to order. Before I even got to order, in less than 45 minutes, they were once again out of stock.

Forget About Snooze You Lose, How about gone before you know of it?

Its certainly a high demand item these days, and match season is coming up.

With this level of activity, we can thank the firearms and ammunition sector for preventing our economy from sliding from a recession into a depression.

Ammo Shortages beginning to be a real pain

One that's even being noticed in the news: The Detroit News - It's a shot in dark to find bullets as fears feed ammo shortage

Worsening economic times, fear of crime and concern that Democrats will tighten gun-control laws have led to an explosion of firearm sales and a shortage of ammunition in Michigan and the nation.

Gun and bullet sales started creeping up before the November election. They've escalated since, as many gun owners and would-be owners worry President Barack Obama and the Democrats in Congress will re-establish the 1994-2004 so-called assault rifle ban and levies on ammunition.

Organizations representing gun owners and the gun industry say the fears are valid. Others say concerns are unfounded and the hoarding is the result of a miasma brought on by fear and people looking to make a quick buck if gun-control laws are tightened.

Trying to find even common ammunition such as 9mm and 40 S&W is very difficult in this area, with most shops sold out and my go to store for purchasing these two calibers - Wal mart, has been quite completely out. Very annoying as I'm now eating into my ammo reserves just to go shoot for practice or for when I teach a class.

Hopefully supply will catch up to demand soon. it would of course help if the Department of State, or Commerce or whoever would expedite applications for imports of ammunition to help alleviate the shortage, but somehow I don't believe the curent administration is too interested in fixing this particular problem.

Obammo begins to go after the Ammo

The Shotist: DOD Ends Sale of Expended Military Brass to Remanufacturers

AND SO IT BEGINS...
We all wondered when it was going to start.
...
From now on, remanufacturers of military brass will not be able to buy surplus brass from DOD--actually from Government Liquidators, llc.--the corporation that sells surplus materials for the U.S. government. At least, not in any form recognizable as once-fired brass ammunition.

Now all brass ammunition will have to be shredded, and sold as scrap.

Georgia Arms, who brought this to our attention, is the 5th largest ammunition manufacturer of centerfire pistol and rifle ammunition in the U.S.

Be sure to go to The Shotist and read the whole sordid mess.

In short, the Obama Administration, instead of allowing fired brass (that's the empty cartridge case folks, not even a complete round of ammunition) to be sold, will now require it to be destroyed for scrap, making its value for reloading nil.

In the process the Administration is going to reduce the supply of brass for reloading, thus tightening an already straigned ammunition market that is already casuing scarcity due to increased mikitary need, increased police training and stockpiling, and increased stockpiling by civillian owners worrying about the admninistration pulling stuff like this.

So as a reuslt of this new ban, the price of ammunition will go up, manufactureres of reloaded ammo may go out of business due to lack of components for manufacturing, and the United States will LOSE money as scrap brass is sold for less than fired cartridge brass. Brilliant move all around if you want a nice machiavellian maneuver to harm gun owners and increase the cost and availability of ammunition without having to raise the issue in Congress and face the music for it.

As seen on, and hit tip to Instapundit.