quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by holdem:
Holy crap!!! $.85 per round in the group buy, and $1.10-$1.20 per round for 9mm ammo that I could buy now.

Yeah, I knew availability was scarce and prices commensurately high, but I hadn't realized prices were that high.

I'm not so sure that they are really that high.
Last time I was at the range maybe a month 5 weeks ago they were3 selling box of brass 50 count for $30.
Maybe things have changed since then - will have to check.
I can tell this > no way in hell would I pay a buck a round for 9mm or anything close to that unless it is HST or PDX1 but FMJ you would have to be really desperate.

My wife and I are still shooting, we still have a twice a month range schedule. Round count is limited to 50-100 rounds per outing for specific drills, courses of fire, etc...

With the weather turning better, we will be heading out to the outdoor range starting in April.

I have a handgun range on the property. As for ammunition and reloading components I have both. I've curtailed my shooting activity over the winter months. I'll resume shooting in the next couple of weeks.

The other day I reloaded 700 rounds of 9x19mm and I'll be reloading 45ACP. With that said I have components and commercial ammunition. I plan on resuming shooting but in moderation compared to the volume I use to shoot. At the midpoint of my seventh decade I've been shooting since starting at MCRD Parris Island in 1964.

The plan is to limit my range secessions to firing 50Rds every other week until things return to a semblance of normal or what ever the new normal is going to be.

Should the new normal be cost prohibitive I'll just curtail my shooting activities with less range sessions and fewer rounds fired.

I shoot significantly less than I would like to.

I have sufficient ammunition for any reasonably foreseeable catastrophe but I'm at the point where I would like to replace what I use and cost/availability make that very difficult. If I knew this was going to change in a few months I would be fine but I'm concerned it will last a couple more years which would bring me below critical mass at even a very conservative rate of consumption.

quote:

Originally posted by holdem:
I used to shoot a lot. I would make weekday trips to the range for fun. Then I started shooting matches and I would make weekday trips to the range to practice, setting up my own courses. I would go through hundreds of rounds without a second thought.

Nice (and lucky you!)

quote:

As the kids got out of diapers and my life started to revolve around them more, shooting went by the wayside. I think I have shot one match in the last 5 years and I could count on one hand the number of trips to the range during that time.

New kiddos significantly reduced my range time...like 99%.

quote:

I have seen the posts about high ammo prices, but since I have not been shooting, I did not pay much attention. But after seeing the 500 round 9mm karma, and the 9mm group buy, I decided to actually do a little research and see what current prices are.

Holy crap!!! $.85 per round in the group buy, and $1.10-$1.20 per round for 9mm ammo that I could buy now.

Been that way for about a year.

quote:

I had to ask myself, if I had to purchase ammo at those prices, would I get back into or continue to shoot? And I was surprised that I quickly answered no. I would not even consider loading my P226 magazine, which I have in 15, 17 and 20 round versions and blowing through $18-$24 ammo in a string while double tapping a row of steel plates or punching holes in various USPSA cardboard targets.

I am sure everyone has curtailed the amount they shoot because of this. But have you given it up completely? And do you see ever returning if prices do not return to some semblance of normal?

I have a very, very limited quantity on hand of 'range/practice' stuff, and haven't been to the range in quite some time, in no small part due to all the C-19 limitations. I would like to get in a few trips over the next few months...but they'd probably 1-2 boxes a trip...not 4-5. And that is with the fingers crossed/hope that ammo starts returning to the shelves in the next 6-8 months.

A larger concern is if nobody is buying ammo/shooting, what's going to happen to ranges? Are they going to be able to stay in business? Ranges going out of business is not a good thing.

And a third LGS/sporting goods shop in my area is folding this week. I don't know what the average percentage of revenue ammo sales represents for your average LGS, but if no ammo, that's got to hurting their business. Because no targets, cleaning supplies, other accessories, 'hey, I could use another mag too,' etc. sales to go along with the ammo.

Capt. Obvious: Whatever this 'shortage' is, it's NOT helping the shooting community at all.

$.02 worth,
Boss

I have stopped shooting for a different reason. With the WuFlu and the mask requirement at my indoor range, it is no longer fun for me. I have asthma, and a mask makes it just that much harder to breathe. I shoot for fun, and with a mask, it is no longer fun.

For many, many years I would pistol shoot 1-2/week. I am a handloader with ample loading supplies, so ammo availability/price is of no concern to me. I would really like to get back to shooting, but not until this mask thing is gone.

I thought I read Arizona lifted their mask mandate?

The Governor did, but the Mayor is defying him, and telling all of the businesses to keep the mask mandate. She has control over their business license.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
I'm not so sure that they are really that high.

Well, there's currently a SF member running a bulk buy thing at 85¢/rnd. and members are jumping at it, so...

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
Last time I was at the range maybe a month 5 weeks ago they were selling box of brass 50 count for $30.

That's more palatable, but still more than double the 26¢/rnd. I recall paying the last time I bought 9mm range ammo.

quote:

Originally posted by GT-40DOC:
I have stopped shooting for a different reason. With the WuFlu and the mask requirement at my indoor range, it is no longer fun for me. I have asthma, and a mask makes it just that much harder to breathe.

The other problem would be shooting glasses fogging up.

I am shooting more laser rounds in my revolvers using 5 or 6 laser rounds and practice firing. Have plenty of ammo but hate shooting with a mask indoors

Much less bang bang.

Much more dry fire.

Stacked deep but don’t know how long it has to last, so playing it safe

Cut back. 500-600 round range trips are now 200 or less. And the sessions happen less frequently. At the rate I'm shooting this year I'd guesstimate maybe it'll be 2000 rounds for the entirety of 2021, about what I did last year. I still have a good supply of ammo in most of my calibers but it's the aspect of replacing any of that spent munitions for a halfway reasonable price that is my deterrent.

Scarcity.

quote:

Originally posted by Boss1:

A larger concern is if nobody is buying ammo/shooting, what's going to happen to ranges? Are they going to be able to stay in business? Ranges going out of business is not a good thing.

Back during one of the other ammo shortages, I think 2012 / 2013, my good friend owned a LGS / range. It got so bad that he called me one day and asked how much ammo I had and if he could get some from me. He left my house with about 4K rounds of 9mm. He replenished it down the road when the supply was available again.

He's no longer in the business, but I have to imagine it is hurting business. One, it's not readily available, so I am guessing ranges do not always have it in stock. And two, the pricing has to be astronomical, so it limits the amount of people who can afford to make a fun trip to the range.

My friend's range was somewhat close, a 10-12 minute drive, from one of the largest colleges in the country. Everytime I went in there was at least one group of college students, sometimes more than one. Back then, he was probably selling a box of 9mm for $17.99, that was when Walmart had it at $12-$13. But at $50 per box, I have to assume a certain number of potential customers spin on their heel and leave without shooting.

My girlfriend has become quite good at finding 9mm at small town pawn shops where she lives. She purchased 50 round boxes at $27.00 last week.

I have about 25k of 22lr so almost all my shooting has been rimfire.

quote:

Originally posted by SgtGold:
I have about 25k of 22lr so almost all my shooting has been rimfire.

If I could get a .22 rimfire pistol I liked, I would, but they're even more scarce than ammo.

The other day I told my son that way back in 2004 you could buy a 50rnd box of blazer aluminum 9mm for $3.89. Less an 8 cents a round. Where’s a freaking time machine when you need it?

quote:

Originally posted by sigspecops:
The other day I told my son that way back in 2004 you could buy a 50rnd box of blazer aluminum 9mm for $3.89. Less an 8 cents a round.

I don't recall that, but I didn't start buying 9mm until early 2009. (That wasn't the best time to add a new caliber, either.) IIRC, WWB was going for 18¢/rnd.?

I’ve cut back a bit. I’m still shooting but not as many rounds per range visit. I have not fired my revolver, though. I want to conserve what .38/.357 I have on hand.