Firearms supply chain woes....worst ever...

[flyrodr]

Was at one of the local combo range-retail stores a couple of days ago. Stopped at the retail side, asked if they had any .300BLK. Staffer said not a bit. Went over to the range to shoot my .22, about 30 feet from retail side. Asked the staffer there if there was any .300BLK. He said, yes, but there was a 3-box (20-rd each) limit, for shooters. S&B 147-gr (and only either that, or the S&B 190-200gr subsonic) for, IIRC, $13.95. This staffer said that, with the limited supply, the manager was allocating ammo disproportionately to the range, since having ammo encouraged more range use.

Still, as they pointed out the obvious, it'd be better to have plenty on both sides of the store.

[hufnagel]

Yesterday I went into an LGS for the first time since February. I have really avoided the places because I have no needs, and I did want to avoid the crowds at close quarters at the cost of losing my browsing and bargain/treasure hunting habit.

They were poorly stocked for them (no surprise) but the owner who I have done business with for 35+ years pulled a handgun off his gunbroker list at my request and held it for me.

In our short discussion through our masks, I was joking with them about the coming "sell off" from all these panic buyers. His prediction to me was that by the first week of December, our area will be awash in $99 deals on used but never fired Mossberg 500's....

He said he was planning extra storage space, possibly even rented shipping containers, for the things they expected to take in once this craziness is over and people need cash for Christmas, regardless of who wins the election. I found that an interesting perspective on what is to come.

if he's right, and he's able to get stuff that Chief, interested in dealing with some out-of-state people? I wouldn't be opposed to giving him a list of things that if we're able to come to an agreement as to markups and shipping costs fund rather quickly.

[JRB]

Interesting observation from the local PX/BX today, which sells firearms and ammo to service members and certain other affiliated folks:

Pistol case is full, surprisingly. Lots of .40 S&W guns overall. M&P 40's, some XD40's, a few 1911 variants of various flavors, and exactly two Glocks - both G40 MOS's, the longslide 10mm and $710 each. A KelTec CP33 hiding in plain sight next to a CZ Shadow 2 as well.
A PTR9C (MP5 clone) was in the case for $18xx.
On the rifle carousel I found a PTR91 for $11xx, a black Tavor-7 for $2k, and an 18in LWRC AR for $16xx.
Also in the rifle carousel was a Ruger PC Carbine with the PPSh-esque MLok foreend and a full American flag paintjob covering both the stock and metal uniformly. $660 to take that one home, almost tempting except for the paint job.

Had some 115gr 9mm for $11.95/box, limit 1 per customer per day. Lots of 10mm ammo on the shelf in 3 or 4 varieties that I saw, limit 2 boxes per day, cheapest was 180gr FMJ @ 18.95/box. No .40 or .45 though.

They had Wilson Combat 8rnd stainless 1911 mags for $32.95 each (no tax) and some of those may or may not have followed me out of the store.

I found the higher end stuff like a Tavor 7 and the pile of 10mm ammo very interesting to see.

[Suvorov]

Well, I was able to locate a M9A1 for about $100 more than I would have paid last year and a case of 762x39 for about 60% more so that’s a plus. Haven’t even been able to set foot in a LGS, but have visited BassPro in OKC and several stores in ELP and while ammo is spotty I saw a fair amount of guns and magazines are surprisingly in abundance. It’s funny - while M9A1s are rare 92x’s and M9A3s were plentiful in ELP. As bad as it is for those of you in America it is 10x worse for us in Kalifornia.

[Salamander]

Available selection of guns/ammo is pretty slim here in far NW coastal California too, with a couple of exceptions. There's one small LGS 10 minutes from here who has had the same few G19s and G17s on the shelf for weeks, and at not excessive prices. Everyone I know in that town already has a full safe, maybe the locals don't need any more and no one out of town knows about this place that mostly sells chainsaws etc and just has one corner of gun stuff.

The LGS that I usually do business with is begging me to bring him things to sell on consignment, his shelves are bare; I gave him two in May and one sold before I'd left the store, the other was gone by the next day. I'll probably bring him a couple more.

At least there are no lines. A couple months ago I talked to an acquaintance who runs a store in Petaluma, and he says he has a sign-in sheet out front and up to a three hour wait to get inside by lunchtime, every single day.

Ammo I'm paying less attention to because I have plenty of reloading supplies. I don't hoard cases of factory stuff, because practice is all on the reloads. So I load what I need and have enough factory stuff for carry and frequent rotation, probably a three year supply with ease. When I stumble on more reloading supplies, I grab another box or two of primers or whatever just in case. Not shooting as much as I'd like anyway because my favorite outdoor range is closed through September, logging on the back slopes which will eventually get us out to 600 yds so I'll patiently wait for that.

[farscott]

My wife purchased a G43X today, so I went along as I needed to lay the groundwork for an incoming transfer (EDC X9). The only 9x19 in the store for people who were not also purchasing a pistol was Hornady Critical Defense 124-grain +P. There was some 12-gauge #00 buck. Tons of Glock pistols, tons of rimfires, almost no shotguns, a few ARs, and plenty of hunting and target rifles were available. I even found powder (Varget), but no primers. And I am out of small rifle primers. I need some more VV 3N38, but that is either another store or Internet order.

We were there for less than an hour and saw several pistols, including a Ruger LCP II, a Glock 43, and a S&W M&P 2.0, sell.

[wvincent]

My LGS has been pretty decent on not jacking up pricing. Seems like Monday is the 9mm 115gr stocking day, 2 box limit.
I'm paying right now 12.99/50 either Federal Champion, or Federal Ultra target and range.
Which is what I was paying for AE 147gr last year.

Although I did score 2 AE 115gr 100 paks for 24.99 each recently.

[pangloss]

I went to Academy here today to see what they had. Plenty of shotgun shells. I bought a couple of boxes of #8s and 10 rounds on Winchester Ranger slugs. Saw various rifle ammo, but not a lot of boxes in stock for any single caluber. They had a few 20 round boxes of 223 Win, 7.62x54, 243 Win, 270 Win, 30-30, etc. There were a couple of kinds of .22LR in stock (mini-mags and American Eagle) and two or three kings of .45 ACP. They also had 45LC. No 9mm of any sort. Didn't see any 40 S&W either. I didn't think to see what guns they had in stock. Anyway, they had a 3 box limit for 9mm and a couple of other calibers which I really appreciate. I'll try stopping in a little more often since they might manage to keep some things in stock for more than an hour or two. All in all, the situation wasn't as bad as I expected.

Sent from my moto e5 cruise using Tapatalk

[Nephrology]

You guys are brave. I am sitting on my stockpile and standing pat. I almost grabbbed the case of brass 9mm at Midway for $300 + ship but couldn't pull the trigger.

Given that I only really have another ~ 10 months before I go back to medical school, the ammo I have on hand will realistically last a long time.

[fatdog]

I actually leaned over and kissed the frame of my freshly factory rebuilt Dillon 650 last night before I turned out the lights in my shop.