I thought this would come to pass...

Off the shelf ammo for all Rossi firearms.
Post Reply
Reese-Mo
250 Shots
250 Shots
Posts: 468
Joined: 07 Apr 2021 13:08
Location: Florida Swampland
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 97 times

I thought this would come to pass...

Post by Reese-Mo »

Passed by the old indoor range where my shop was on Friday. Its gone downhill, but folks still shoot there. In the window, with sticky vinyl letters:

WE BUY YOUR AMMO

I didn't stop in. My first thoughts were like the schlock "WE BUY GOLD" sign spinners on every other street corner, they're probably wanting to give old ladies and pensioners two bucks a box for 9mm, while they're selling it for $50.00 a box.

I did stop in another indoor range though on Wednesday. As I've reported, I've got a 12g CZ Bobwhite G2 inbound, and thought I'd see what was available in 12 gauge ammo. I've got maybe 10-12 boxes of #7-1/2 here, and maybe another 5-6 boxes of #9's, so I wanted to see if there was any hunting ammo available, and if I was lucky some target ammo. I usually go though 75 rounds when I trudge down to the trap/skeet range. Well, it shouldn't be a surprise, they had a scant few boxes of #4, no 6's, and some #2 and BBB. Priced at only $72.50 per box of 25 rounds. The #7-1/2 "Dove and Quail" loads were a "bargain" at 2-bucks/shot, or $49.50 per box of 25 rounds. The 28 gauge stuff was $99/box.

This is not "so many new shooters, so many guns being sold to them". This is panic and pandemonium. I tried some online places, and you can get target loads for about $10 a box... but... wait.... the shipping gets it closer to $20 per box, so the $99 for 10 boxes goes for $189 "shipped". It doesn't cost that much to ship. Especially if you're in the business of shipping. I ship well over 300 parcels at day from our warehouse, and were about 80 off "retail" shipping charges with UPS "hundredweight" service. Qualification for that is 200lbs daily, no quantity of parcels. Two hundred pounds of ammo is easy if you're selling it, so the shipping is still a rip.

This will end eventually.
User avatar
GasGuzzler
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 2745
Joined: 02 Nov 2015 19:54
Location: Cooke County, TX
Has thanked: 310 times
Been thanked: 451 times

Re: I thought this would come to pass...

Post by GasGuzzler »

I don't need it but where can I guy 9mm for $50 per box?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
I've always been crazy but it's kept me from going insane.
Reese-Mo
250 Shots
250 Shots
Posts: 468
Joined: 07 Apr 2021 13:08
Location: Florida Swampland
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 97 times

Re: I thought this would come to pass...

Post by Reese-Mo »

I don't wanna start a war, so I wont mention the names, but if you go to shootin ranges around south Fl area, you can find it at $47 to $50 a box for carry out, and a few bucks less if you shoot it there, maybe $3 a box less. Similarly, range time carries a discount if you shoot ammo you bought from them "that day". Bring your own and you pay more to shoot. I'm pretty much done with that scene. They won't let me shoot my Serbu Shorty no more, or SBRs on their rifle ranges (one has 50yd indoor, not too bad). So its gettin' kind of restrictive, and the range folks are gettin' kind of silly. Most of 'em are off duty cops with attitudes (and the several larger ranges).

I understand the "we paid a whole lot more for this ammo, so we'd have it for _you_" mindset/business-decision. But they don't seem to have much shortages. I combed a few places for plain jane light 12g's again this morn. Mostly $11-12 a box, plus godawful shipping. There's always money to be made in a crisis. I had half a mind to stock up on Tapcon's and drills, and sit just outside the Home Depot lot, with a sign, for the next hurricane. Plywood? All ya want. Tapcons? Not a one. Fl houses are usually brick wall construction and if you don't have shutters, its throw up plywood with Tapcons.
Archer
2000 Shots
2000 Shots
Posts: 3942
Joined: 04 Feb 2014 05:30
Location: SoCal Loco
Has thanked: 137 times
Been thanked: 610 times

Re: I thought this would come to pass...

Post by Archer »

I belong to two member's only outdoor ranges in SoCal.
There is a mostly rental range that also sells memberships but the memberships went up by double last year.
They sell ammo but if you buy it there they don't want you picking up the brass. They still allow you to pick up your own brass but in all honesty the last time I was on their pistol range a few years ago the range master kept sweeping my 10mm shells up even after I told him I intended to reload them my own darned self. That plus the fact that I already have memberships at another couple ranges where I CAN pick up my own brass unmolested means I simply don't go there much.

There's a fourth range a little south of the area. When all this started they simply bogarted their reloading section and used the components to produce their own range ammo.

Likewise one of the gunshops north of here did the same thing and was selling reloads for $30/box of 9mm.

I'm hearing from the big box store guys that ammo IS trickling in now but as long as it is selling as fast as they can get it they don't expect the distributor prices to fall any.

As near as I can tell the components are likewise trickling in now but quite slowly as the manufacturers are still diverting a lot of it to ammo production that would normally hit the reloading trade. I've heard that powder production was down due to Covid impacts on mining and suspect the same for primer production.

Remington AMMUNITION announced two or three weeks ago the new owners finally got it set up and back in the game so this entire pandemic bull period was happening with zero production from one of the big three domestic ammunition companies. Whether or not they will be able to turn out anything much is unknown at this time.

In all honesty I suspect there HAVE been some panic buying on the part of the government agencies as well. Maybe not so much in terms of military or feds but state and local leos probably bought some extra when all the lockdowns and race riots started.

As I mentioned before, right before the lockdowns everyone panicked and bought everything and at least out here the government trying to cut off any place you could get ammo on top of that surely hasn't calmed anything down.
Reese-Mo
250 Shots
250 Shots
Posts: 468
Joined: 07 Apr 2021 13:08
Location: Florida Swampland
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 97 times

Re: I thought this would come to pass...

Post by Reese-Mo »

Boca Raton Fl PD did a panic buy about 9 months ago, at citizens expense.
Post Reply