The great ammo scramble....when will it end?

Doug Mager

As an occasional hunter and an avid plinker, I've always taken comfort in the fact that I could drop into a number of local stores and pick up a box of .22 cal Long Rifle ammo. However, that is not the case now- and myself along with a number of others are wondering how long before we can do that again?

Most ammo shelves only have the least commonly preferred
calibers available

As I stare at the empty shelves in the ammo aisle I'm usually joined by others, just like me, with the same question- why? There is a full range a theories ranging from "the government trying to dry up the supply" to "DHS is getting ready for a civil war!". While talk is cheap, ammo is not. And the fact remains that bullet manufacturers are running full tilt and are behind on orders as well.

I recently spoke to a clerk in the sporting goods department at our local Walmart and was told that trucks arrive typically three times a week; ammo buyers are usually lined up as many as 15 deep ready to purchase as much as they can as soon as it hits the shelves. As we talked further, we pondered the Walmart business model of "if we're selling lots of it, we need to put more on the shelves". So one has to think that Walmart would be selling more ammo-IF they could get the inventory.

Last weekend I chatted with a fellow from Adrian, who also frequents the ammo aisle and heard that things might be closer to normal later this summer. Forbes has reported that the Department of Homeland Security is in the process of buying 1.6 billion (?) rounds of hollow point ammo and that order is rumored to be mostly complete by the end of Summer. That begs an answer to the obvious question: Why? Does anyone realize our local police departments are feeling the squeeze too?

Regardless of why, you can still find a 550 round box of .22LR for around $70 or so (typically less than $20 up until now) at gun shows and on the internet. Certain shotgun shells, 9mm, .40 cal, .223, .243, 30-30 and more can also be found at a premium. Reloading supplies are a little hard to find as well.

So what should you do? Gary Evans of Ammoland.com shares a common sentiment "Buy what you need, but don’t horde it. Plan ahead so you have what you need on hand when you need it. Most of all, don’t panic- This too shall pass."

We hope.