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I had thought that 9mm had eclipsed .38 in popularity, but now it looks like I was wrong. .38 Special is a lot harder to find (and a lot more expensive when you find it) than 9mm.
Or...it could be just a matter of manufacturers creating scarcity.
I guess that would all depend on any particular store's inventory? At least where I live it's hard to find anything and I'm in Arizona. What I've noticed is that over the last year semi auto's are selling faster than revolvers. There are fewer of them sitting on dealers shelves. You can still find single action revolvers (cowboy guns) but few people choose them for any serious self defense purposes. Again this is where I live.
As far as manufacturers go I don't think that they can keep up with the demand and are allocating only so much to distributers throughout the entire United States. One of the stores that I go to was even considering closing because of the lack of inventory. It was not profitable to have to pay their staff while they had nothing to sell.
I just hope that a lot of these first time gun owners who have now realized how important the 2nd Amendment is join pro gun organizations and participate in the fight to preserve it. Voting against any and all politicians from the local level on up that are working on dismantling it one piece of legislation at a time. Death by a thousand cuts.
I think 9mm is way more prevalent than .38spc. Manufacturers simply don't devote a lot of resources for .38spc any longer (at least that's my opinion). It's a lot harder to find because that round is lower on the production totem pole.
This is true and it goes for calibers like .380 ACP as well. IMHO, I don’t think it’s some conspiracy from ammunition manufacturers at all. It’s basically a severe case of a “supply and demand” situation and Covid-19 didn’t help the situation due to the slow down of importation of some raw materials into the United States. What I’m seeing, in my local area, is far more Eastern European/Russian ammunition.
What I don’t agree with is numerous stores selling ammunition. Like “basic” FMJ 9mm NATO rounds for $1 to $2 a round and even breaking down a 50rd box of ammo into two 25rd sandwich bags, to increase their profit... that’s insane, but it’s a free market, so it is what it is.
In my situation, living through three ammunition shortages, “I’m” doing fine in the ammunition department since I made it a point to stock up during the “good times,” before Covid-19 and the craziness in our cities kicked off. Even that I’m good on ammunition, in all the calibers I shoot, I’ll still pick up a box or two of whatever I come across it... To back-fill the ammunition that I use... I’ll be retiring in less than 15 days and I’m hoping to shoot more than I did in the past.
Also, what I’m thinking about doing is “trading” some of my quality defensive JHP .40 cal., .357 Sig and possibly some .22 LR factory ammunition for calibers that I tend to shoot more of. Not looking to sell, since “I” wouldn’t feel right selling at the asking prices or am I looking to give it away only for somebody to resell at a much higher price. As an example, I would basically offer 150rds of my quality factory (Remington/Federal) JHPs for 250 factory brass cased FMJs, either American or European manufactured ammunition.
My logic is that I paid a lot more of this defensive ammunition and to me, it’s a waste to only use it for target shooting, so IMHO, it’s more than a fair trade AND basically, the other side is still making out on this deal. I have plenty of .40 in my stash and I no longer shoot Sig .357 anyway... And I have more .22 LR than I really need.
I’ve given free ammunition to friends and family... AND even two strangers, new gun owners on the range, since they went through the one box they had.
It’s crazy times, and all I can say is that “I” don’t see it getting any better within the next 1-1.5 years.
This is true and it goes for calibers like .380 ACP as well. IMHO, I don’t think it’s some conspiracy from ammunition manufacturers at all. It’s basically a severe case of a “supply and demand” situation and Covid-19 didn’t help the situation due to importation of some raw materials into the United States. What I’m seeing, in my local area, is far more Eastern European/Russian ammunition.
What I don’t agree with is numerous stores selling ammunition. Like “basic” FMJ 9mm NATO rounds for $1 to $2 a round, that’s insane, but it’s a free market, so it is what it is.
In my situation, living through three ammunition shortages, “I’m” doing fine in the ammunition department since I made it a point to stock up during the “good times,” before Covid-19 and the craziness in our cities kicked off. Even that I’m good on ammunition, in all the calibers I shoot, I’ll still pick up a box or two of whatever I come across it... To back-fill the ammunition that I use... I’ll be retiring in less than 15 days and I’m hoping to shoot more than I did in the past.
Also, what I’m thinking about doing is “trading” some of my quality defensive JHP .40 cal., .357 Sig some possibly some .22 LR factory ammunition for calibers that I tend to shoot more of. Not looking to sell, since “I” wouldn’t feel right selling at the asking prices or am I looking to give it away only for somebody to resell at a much higher price. As an example, I’d would basically offer 150rds of my quality factory (Remington/Federal) JHPs for 250 factory brass cased FMJs, either American or European manufactured ammunition.
My logic is that I paid a lot more of this defensive ammunition and to me, it’s a waste to only use it for target shooting, so IMHO, it’s more than a fair trade AND basically, the other side is still making out on this deal. I have plenty of .40 in my stash and I no longer shoot Sig .357 anyway... And I have more .22 LR than I really need.
I’ve given free ammunition to friends and family... AND even two strangers, new gun owners on the range, since they went through the one box they had.
It’s crazy times, and all I can say is that “I” don’t see it getting any better within the next 1-1.5 years.
Not that people aren't doing it, I haven't seen any price gouging in my area. One of my friends manages a gun store and said he's seeing a lot of people who are not regulars coming into the store looking to buy whatever they can get. I'm about a 2 hour drive from Phoenix (the valley). People from there were coming up here looking to buy guns but mostly ammo. It got to the point that he would only sell ammo to his regular customers or to someone who was buying a gun. He kept the ammo out of sight so if someone who was not a regular customer walked in looking to buy ammo he could tell them that he was all out. He also made sure that he had at least one box of ammo for each gun he sold. He felt obligated to those customers as their new gun would be useless without ammo. A lot of those people were first time gun owners.
However I have been in the store when they were to the point of being completely wiped out of ammo for the most popular calibers. Mostly 9mm, .380, 45ACP and .223
Myself I've been stocking up for years. Usually when I go to the store to see my friends I'd buy a box or two whether I needed it or not. This was well before there were any shortages. My friend told me after all this BS started that it's people like me that keep the lights on. The others? I'll never see again. I don't know whether that's good or not as everyone was a first time customer at one point in time. But desperate times call for desperate measures I guess?
One of the gun stores had to close on Saturday because so many people were coming up from "the valley" that they were afraid that they would wipe them out of inventory and be forced to close until they could replenish it.
Obviously sporting goods stores that sell other products besides guns and ammo could stay open regardless. Stores like Sportsman's Warehouse but they too are running short of guns and ammo at least in my area.
Who knows what the next 1-1.5 years will behold? At this point in time while I'd love to go out shooting I'm afraid of depleting my supply of ammo. I used to reload and still have enough supplies and equipment for a few thousand rounds if things get really bad. But those too at least in my area are in short supply.
Pretty much. I'm just glad that I've stocked up over many years. A box here a box there. Every time I'd go out shooting I'd replace what I'd used and then some.
Early in the race to get handguns and ammo it was mentioned that revolvers were very popular especially for women and first gun owners. Isn't 38 special the most popular revolver caliber?
I wonder why but since when I became a first time buyer, I had two decades of military shooting behind me, I was not in that boat since I had two decades of military shooting behind me, I have no clue of really what a first time buyer is.
For women, I would think that a single stack semi auto would be more popular since it is not as big in the hands. Admittedly, for me, it was a double stack DA one for that is what was the modern design after all my time of shooting 1911s. Even in my qualification runs, I was the odd duck, that the instructor had to lay down "special rules" for me since everyone else was using a DA.
My niece got her first pistol last year and as I understand, paid decently heavily for it and her qualification ammo.
Admittedly, when I bought my first box of 50, I bought just that and thought it would be enough, last forever but looking back, I wonder why for on rifle team, we shot up to 200/week. Then I got into practicing and that box has disappeared. When I got back into rifles, what was my first purchase of ammo? A case of IMI . 308 for $250.
I'm starting to see more ammo on the shelves.... .223/556, .22, 30-30, 243, 9mm, 10mm, 30-06, etc... at academy and even walmart.....anyone else seeing ammo on the shelves? In the last 4 days I've bought 500 rounds of 9mm at academy, and there was plenty left.
Our local homegrown sporting goods store had a lot more loaded ammo than I had seen in prior months, and they were stocking more on the shelves last Friday.
I found some pretty hard to find Hornady ELD-X bullets for one of my calibers too. They had 6 boxes, I bought 2. A little bit of a premium price but whaddyagonnado.
i've made a decision to order at least a 50 round box of 9mm and .45acp every two weeks regardless of price just so I can get some trigger time in once in awhile. Marksmanship is a perishable skill. Use it or loose it.
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