Buying Guns And Ammo Before The Storm
Ladies and gentlemen… I have been experiencing the exact same phenomenon recently as is experienced just prior to a major forecast storm, where everyone is running out to the stores to buy milk, bread, shovels, gas and other supplies to hold them over. Instead of an atmospheric storm however, this storm I am referring to is of guns, ammo and the Constitution.
Today I observed an amazing situation. The Mrs. and I had decided to visit a major outdoor outfitter store, the one proclaimed to be the world’s largest for hunting, fishing and other such supplies. We had recently each purchased a new firearm (which contains another interesting story) and had decided to purchase some bulk ammo to stock up for target shooting, etc. Today is Tuesday. You would figure that the place wouldn’t be too crowded during the middle of the day. Well, I kind of knew better given the current threats by the White House of 19 Executive Orders surrounding gun control and ammunition.
All was fairly normal in the store on the 1st floor as we entered the elevator to head up to the 2nd floor where the gun dept. is located. The elevator door went ‘ding’, it opened, and we were staring at a mob of people bustling about and filling the aisles of the very large area of firearms, ammunition and supplies.
I could feel it in the air… high concern. In fact there were countless random discussions taking place all over by complete strangers commenting to each other on the current situation… The current Administration’s push for gun control and the unknown as to what would happen next. I purposely stuck my head in to many of these conversations, as did the Mrs., while we logically discussed the irrational behavior of this major coercive effort against law-abiding gun owners. There was talk about the logical fact that criminals don’t abide by rules and law, and any new law or executive order will have zero effect on those same people who would commit the crime. These criminals steal guns. They don’t go through the proper approval channels like the rest of us. Where is the logic in limiting the 99.9% whereas the 0.1% will not abide by the limits anyway?
The first thing that I noticed was the fact that nearly all of the shelves containing ammunition (half a dozen aisles) were half empty, while some looked 2/3 empty. This is a major retailer. I could hardly believe my eyes. There were clerks letting people know that they were limiting purchases to 10 boxes per caliber. People seemed to be scooping up whatever they could get in their caliber. I immediately started jostling my way up and down the aisles looking for the two calibers that I came there for. Fortunately there was some left, but lots were already gone (in all calibers). It was amazing watching it like people in the grocery store trying to find that last gallon of milk and loaf of bread.
The next thing that I noticed was the number of people sitting in folding chairs by the firearms checkout area, waiting their turn. These were people who were purchasing firearms and had to wait in line for the background checks, etc. There had to be 30 people waiting…
Everyone was very cordial and well mannered, however you could sense the urgency. The fact that spontaneous discussions were breaking out due to the obvious unusual nature of what was happening and the spectacle of it all… was telling. Everyone was on the same page, so to speak. It was reassuring to hear and chat with others who are like minded and understand the deeper meaning of what could be happening right now, and the consequences thereof. I must say, it was also unsettling in the sense that IF the 2nd Amendment is attacked the way that many feel that it is about to be attacked… this is going to turn into a $hit storm of potentially very wide proportions… something that I’m fearful could turn real ugly. And when I say ‘fearful’, I mean I fear for the well being of America given the current concerted efforts of the White House, the main-stream media, and their partners. They are all striking at very deep core values, the major differences of which could tear this country up.
We eventually made our way back home, only to discover that apparently the Obama administration will unveil their 19 Executive Orders tomorrow, while surrounded by throngs of children for effect. They are going for it. Unfortunately they are striking at the wrong people, and apparently the wrong things. We shall see.
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Even though I doubt any legislation, umm I mean executive order, will touch ammo, the last four weeks have definitely not been nice to ammo supply. You’re blessed to find a single box of 5.56, much less any other popular caliber. I’ve luckily stocked up a decent amount of my main calibers last summer, but its left me unable to range shoot as I have no way to replenish.
Hopefully once the panic is over, ammo will be plentiful again around March or so. The question is whether the upcoming executive order will make it risky to take your firearms to the range without being harassed or worse.
I’m just saying what it looks like.
If you were in charge of a country.
If you had prior knowledge of an imminent attack / invasion.
How would you best prepare the nation without causing a panic.
There are many forms of war, many involve enemy invading troops clearing street by street, town by town.
How best to get the population Prepared, stocked up with the best fighting weapons and large magazines with plenty of ammo, yet still keep the economy alive.
If a large invading force made it ashore.
Many, many civilians will be left to fend / defend for themselves.
I would think that this would be a good time to start/learn how to reload. Ammunition components seem to be in good supply. Reloading does have an up front cost. Makes your cost up over time. Reloading pistol ammo is easy. Get your powder and primers locally. HAZMAT fees are a bitch.
Have a friend at work. He insisted, a few years ago, that he would never, never, have a gun in the house. He now has a .348 lever action (belonged to his grandfather), expensive to reload. He has a Rock Chucker her found on Craigs List. He also has a Ruger GP100 on personal lay-a-way with a co-worker. He got it for $375 with accessories. A steal.
I kinda disagree with the prior post. Ammo, spare parts, etc are probably not covered by the 2nd (the right to arm bears).
Preppers need a plan on how to find/identify each other in their cities. I’m really careful not to tell anyone, even friends, about my stash or my training. If I were in that environment at that store, I would honestly be afraid to talk too much out of fear of an infiltrator.
Christians in the first century used to use the fish logo to look for possible allies. IMO we could benefit from something similar.
@ Sonja
I completely agree. We need to be able to easily identify friendlies. Any universal sign for preppers? maybe a circle, the sign of everlasting life? The atmosphere is very scary right now. I disagree with the above poster who says that reloading components are easily available. I went to 5 gun stores in my area on Sunday, and every single one of them were out of bullets, powder, primers, etc. then you have Walmart who is withholding ammo sales until O releases his EO’s. I have a feeling that ammo is going to be somehow affected by these laws. I also feel that if you aren’t already stockpiled, your chances are slim and none. We definitely all need to have our head in the game and stick together. No one man can survive all by himself, as Ken has pointed out many many times.
Molon Labe <—– 2nd amendment supporter battle cry.
If you haven’t Joined the Tea Party Community. I recommend you do so. Just like Facebook but better. There are state hubs for each state so that communities can communicate and get to know one another.
https://www.teapartycommunity.com/
Read again the article above (read it carefully) under “related articles” #1 ‘Sneaky ways they can take our guns’– Written, I believe October of 2011 !!!!! Prophetic ???? Look at NY?? Ken, do you know what tomoorow’s lottery numbers will Be??? LOL…. Please stay safe
Molon Labe
As preppers many of us have our bug out location in small towns, away from the big cities. Last weekend my wife and I were making the 2.5 hour drive to our retreat and stopped by two small town Hunting and Fishing stores along the way. Both were limiting ammo sales but both had a variety of calibers available. One even had some hard to find mags. Use your head and stay away from the large population areas.
Still hard to find some ammo here. Whispers are that the Sandy Hook “shooting” are just a ploy to take away our gun rights. The rumors are crazy. People are even posting videos about it. It shows how worried and scared people are.
If you do find ‘em, don’t tell anybody. That’s my advice. Keep your preps to yourself, always.
Greetings, What ammo? Yet, we are a plenty where Sedition, Usurpation, and Treason are in stock. Impeach the Tyrant Obama! Do not worry about ammo, nullify the Government and the issue WILL END! … Otter walks on Two Feet… Survive-All… 16/01/13
Those of you that decided now was a good time to stock up- too late! You should’ve done this years ago when the sharks were not in the water and the feeding frenzy was going on. I’m sitting back and laughing at the lemmings running around trying to procure before a confiscation takes place. Oh, I could use more, but I’m not going to bend over to get it.
It’s funny that non-gun-owning friends are calling asking what they should buy. Lots of luck! I’ve got what I have and nothing is for sale.
This is true for all aspects of preparedness. When TSHTF, there will be a majority of people scrambling for what’s left. This should be a lesson regarding other areas beyond just guns and ammo.
I agree with that. It’s on par with stocking up on extra food for the time when one goes to the supermarket to only find out that there are now “restrictions” to what you can buy and how much. Don’t think for one second the feds will not use food as a weapon.
When asked why am I buying “”, I use the cover story that I live way out of town and only come in once a month to shop. Rotate where you shop, pay cash. Using a credit/debit card is setting yourself up for trouble when they do get around to seeing who bought what and how much. Credit card perks are nice, but piece of mind and privacy are better. Why do you think the government wants cash to go away? There’s no accountability, no tracking. Cash is faceless.
Keep in mind that there are a lot of young people who are new to prepping for reasons other than stupidity. I’d rather have a prepping neighbor who A) has enough skills and pride not to steal from me and B) is capable of shooting once they team up with other preppers, than to have a neighbor who is no use at all.
I’m not about to laugh at a hardworking teenager because they missed out on the easy ammo days.
I sent in a blog several weeks ago about my observations about how many things are now becoming difficult to find. First people are buying the guns. Then they buy the ammo. several years down the road, they begin to reload in order to save money. Now, people are finding it difficult to find reloading components.
Historically, there have been several times where there was a shortage of primers. In the 1980s, there was a great buying frenzy of guns and ammo when the formulation of primers was changed. Shooters and reloaders began hoarding primers and selling to others at grossly inflated prices. (the fear that the new primers would not work was unfounded) When the first Gulf War began, there was also a shortage of components as America geared up for a guns and butter economy. (once again, shooters and reloaders began hoarding components.)
For those of us who have been shooting through several decades and several wars have concluded: We always have a certain amount of inventory on hand. During times of shortage, we tend to limit ourselves to shooting our 22 rifles and pistols alot more and leaving the big boomers in the closet. Even if you have the money, the goods are not available for purchase. Currently, you may still be able to purchase brass, bullets and powder. Lately I have noticed that it is getting more difficult to find primers in the stores.
Even if you do not reload yet, buy some of these components now for purposes of bartering for later. Primers kept in a cool, dry location will keep for years. (10+ years) Some of us out here shoot and reload the way a farmers wife puts up canned goods in the fall. In 30+ years of shooting and reloading, You can find 22 ammo, you can recycle your brass, you can purchase and/or cast your own bullets, you can generally find a powder that will work. ( you may have to switch brands) but without the primers, the cartridges and guns will not go bang.
Then again, you can learn to shoot a flintlock.
p.s. Almost forgot, there are 8 different types of primers available for purchase out there. Here they are:
1. small pistol (and 2. small pistol magnum)
3. small rifle (and 4. small rifle magnum)
5. large pistol (and 6. large pistol magnum)
7. large rifle (and 8. large rifle magnum)
As a general guideline: I generally use standard primers for 95% of my reloading tasks for target and hunting work. Magnum primers are used for magnum loads using powder that is difficult to ignite. (reloading manual will tell you which powders these are) Magnum rifle primers are also used in loads where you are using 59 or more grains of smokeless rifle powder. (in general, cartridges that are larger than the 30-06) Magnum primers are also used in regions of this country that have extreme cold weather.
My collection of firearms, I do not have a rifle larger than 30-06 yet I have a carton of large rifle magnum primers. The reason is because I help my neighbors reload and most of them have 300 win mags. ( they feel they need this in order to drop an elk. This garners gratitude and payment comes in the form of elk steaks, invitations to hunting camps or,…cash. I choose to sell at cost and the advise is free. Keep your powder and your primers dry. (store them in a ziplock bag)
Thanks for those details, Ted. Appreciate it.
The ultimate weapon to own would be one which fired without a cartridge and didn’t need primers at all. A weapon which uses the very best current technologies to allow it to be continually used in the most basic environment. If one had too, one could always make their own black powder, and cast their own lead/zink bullets. Can’t make your own primers or percussion caps. One could use such a weapon for hunting and such, and save one’s cartridge rounds. Hmmmm… How about a stainless steel, breech-loading, .45 calibre, combination black powder/smokeless cartridge, rifle, which is able to fire a .45/70 round, a .410 shotgun round, and a .45 Cal. mini-ball? It would look much like an old Stevens single-shot shotgun, but have a hallow, synthetic stock. It would have a center-fire firing pin for cartridges and use an electronic ignition system to discharge a black powder load. To fire a black powder round, one would crack open the breech, drop a ball into the chamber, fill up the chamber behind the ball with powder, close it up and shoot. Twin electrodes at the back of the breech ignite the charge using a hot electric spark (this is an already established technology — CVA had such a system). I would modify the electronic ignition used in already marketed electric rifles to allow for solar recharging, instead of the 9V battery.
Nothing is easier to reload than a .45/70 round. A small “Lee Loader” kit allows you to do this on the kitchen table without any other equipment at all. The same kit would allow you to prime your .410 shells too. And, the .45 ball is the right size for many applications in black-powder shooting.
Now you have a functional weapon no matter what! Oh, yeah. The rifle would also automatically chamber and fire the .45 Long Colt pistol round too…how cool is that?
One could pattern the basic rifle after the SHARPS breech loading, falling block, style..save the huge hammer..and even use that design to cut any paper cartridges one might make for it for quicker loading.
Best of all, the government would probably ignore such a weapon, but it would still drop an Elk, or a pesky Fascist.
To Ision and other preppers out there:
Thank you for bringing up current alternatives to metallic cartirdges. Which brings up additional ignition choices for those people who hunt with blackpowder weapons.
Most in-line rifles use 209 shotshell primers (currently readily available in the stores) many have interchangable ignition systems that can be used with Musket caps as well as #10 or #11 blackpowder caps by a simple parts replacement.
To the new readers of this blog site: The current generation of in-line blackpowder rifles are so effective they are NOT allowed in many states during their blackpowder season. It is NOT UNUSUAL to be able to hit pie plates at 150-175 yards with the modern generation of blackpowder rifles. The in-lines can have scopes mounted on them for those of us with aging eyes. They incorporate the best of the old and the new technologies.
For the meat hunter, the fact that they are one-shot weapons is not considered much of a handicap. Most rifle hunters place the killing shot on the first shot.
Black powder rifles are versatile and the force the hunter to either wait or creep closer for the shot. I use my blackpowder rifle as a teaching tool for a person who likes to blaze away with a semi-auto rifle. Ammo is expensive. Single-shot rifles teach fire discipline.
Added versatility can be accomplished by casting your own bullets. (scavenging from a variety of sources like outdoor ranges) Bullet lubes can range from very expensive stuff from the gun shop to Crisco shortening from the grocery store. They all work and I have used them all with good success.
Additional resources to the world of Blackpowder shooting begins with a call to Cabela’s sporting goods for modern in-line gear. For more traditional supplies, rifles, parts and period clothing, contact Dixie Gunworks at (800) 238-6785. Both companies are a joy to deal with.
Lastly, most communities of shooters have a small group who participate in Rendezvous Shoots (modeled after the Mountain-man gatherings of the 1800s). I have found these people to be really nice, good natured and willing to share advise on blackpowder shooting, bar-b-que or home-brew recipes. Find out about your local gun club to find out more about these shooters who are trying to achieve greater self-reliance.
I heard these words spoken recently, and wrote them down…
“Our flag is made out of the blood of Patriots. Do not give up your rights, because when you give up your rights, you’re going to have to fight and give blood to get those rights back.”
“The 2nd Amendment has given us every other amendment. Guns are not the problem.”
Rescently returned from Bass Pro shop store loooking for side arm ammo,the shelfs were near empty,save few boxs of calibers that are not mainstream.plenty of bird shot in shotgun sizes,and slugs.
The thinking of old was buy guns that are common calibers so in case of an emergency one could still find supplies.
In actuality, the opposite is true today. It is much easier to find reloading supplies for odd ball calibers. If you have not purchased a firearm and hope to find one today, first look at the major ammunition suppliers on line to see what is available and then procure your firearm. A 243 for example is not nearly as common as 308, 30-06 or 223.
You can still find H380 powder and bullets for reloading 243. Primers are hard to find but large rifle and large pistol are easier to find than small rifle and small pistol.