How is the component/ammo shortage affecting you?

[m_deaner]

I just curious (and a little bored)... is the recent shortage of ammo and primers affecting your choices of which events to attend and how much practicing you do?

Do you think the shortage has the potential to lower attendance at high round count events like USPSA, multi-gun, Friday Night Steel, and the like?

I see limited ammo availability and high prices as a serious barrier to entry for handgun shooting sports. I'm glad I took up this hobby last fall and laid in a stock of components.

[citizenvain]

It affects me in that as I plan my day out, my routes to my varios stops I have to make, if there is a Wal-Mart, Gander, etc on the way, I stop in to see if they have what I need. I read the posts on here, and if someone posts something that is near me, I take a look. I need to get better at updating myself, but my phone doesn't handle this web site that well.

I make these stops because I would rather pay $10 for 50 rounds of ammo than over $14 a box at a firearms store. So the time/gass is worth it if it makes sense during the course of my day.

[Blue Tile Spook]

I don't shoot over a couple hundred rounds a month, so it hasn't affected me. My firearms shop has always had in stock what I needed, when I needed it.

[shooter521]

The biggest effect that shortages are having on me is through the higher prices they create; I'm not having any trouble finding ammo, but paying for it sucks wind. I'm also having to plan farther in advance, given the higher prices and the long lead times most online vendors are citing.

Cases in point - I'm taking a Magpul Dynamics carbine course in two weeks. 1500 rounds of 5.56 and 200 rounds of 9mm over two days. I put my 5.56 ammo on layaway about two months ago; it was fairly reasonably priced, but the quantity required made the total bill a bit more than I could handle at one time. I'm also taking an EAG pistol course in July. I had to order my ammo for that (1000 rounds of 9mm ball) in late April, just to ensure that it arrives in time.

After those courses are done, I'm going to take a nice long break from shooting (other than maybe FNS), in order to get the associated expenses paid off.

[possum_128]

Doesn't effect me at all. I stocked up over a year ago with enough to last me for years. I saw this coming. My wife, who at the time could not understand why I was doing this, just the other day said you sure was smart to buy all that ammo when you did.

Although, I will be glad when things return to normal, if they ever do.

[edsinger]

Originally Posted by possum_128

just the other day said you sure was smart to buy all that ammo when you did.

She Did? She is a Keeper for sure...

[samrothstein01]

Originally Posted by shooter521

I'm not having any trouble finding ammo, but paying for it sucks wind.

I am laughing uncontrollably at this statement....partially because of the truth within. That about sums it up right there....not much more to say.

I personally have resorted to a lot of .22LR shooting to feed the addiction and keep the cost down.

[m_deaner]

Originally Posted by samrothstein01

I personally have resorted to a lot of .22LR shooting to feed the addiction and keep the cost down.

Me too... I've been practicing with .22 a lot more and have been using the centerfire sparingly. I am fairly stocked up on reloading components, but I'm not confident that I'll find primers once I run out. I have enough for about 1 year of shooting, at my current (reduced) rate.

[rvb]

Previous years I shot between 15 and 20 thousand rounds.
So far this year as of May 1? ... 2100.
Practice is pretty much dry-fire only with a handful of lower-round-count live-fire practices mixed in. Planning to add a significant amount of live fire prior to Area-5. So I'm planning on going through about 6-8k this year.

once (if) some back-orders get filled I'll be able to pick the pace back up. Good thing I have a reserve... I'll be able to shoot at my current planned pace for 2-3 years. primers are the worst.... I have enough powder and bullets for about 30k 38-supers for my open gun, but getting low on the wsr primers I use in the load, like about 6k. Once those are gone it'll be back to production division for me...

I purposely let my reserve get low before moving last summer so I'd have less to move. Now I'm regretting that...

I bought a .22 conversion for my production gun, but I only have about 5k 22s on hand and that seems to be getting hard to find even, so I'm not sure that's going to help much. So unless things ease up and some back orders get filled relatively soon, I'm done shooting in a couple years. (powder valley has stopped taking backorders even, saying they have 50 MILLION primers on back order...)

all those "hoarders" either better start shooting or start sharing......

-rvb

[Blue Tile Spook]

Yes, Shooter, I agree and should have said so. That has been the "worst" problem for me, the prices going up.

Thank you for adding your comment.