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Handgun Ammo


Sawhorse Kid

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Reckon they're going for max sales highest demand.
Never mind that I am an old ex-lawman with a great fondness for six beans in the wheel!

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1 hour ago, Sawhorse Kid said:

Why is there no revolver ammo available?

You can get 380, 9mm and 45 acp all day long ..... revolver ammo is virtually non existent.

Those are the three of the more popular self defense calibers.  From the bits & pieces of information I've heard, a rather substantial percentage of guns sales are to new gun owners who want something to protect themselves or their homes with.

 

As for SASS suitable ammo, my guess is 18-24 months before it shows up on the shelves, but I'm rarely an optimist

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I'm in the same fix. I saw more revolver ammo from time to time at the height of the shortage than I've seen since. The only exception is some .38spl. 

 

Obviously 9mm, .380, and .45 acp are 'big', but .40 S&W? Yesterday Bass had mountains of .40 from many manufacturers; they have had it for weeks. Not exactly an orphan cartridge-- but hundreds of boxes and no .357 or .44 spl or mag? There were 3 boxes of .38spl.

 

It's weird. Tons of rifle ammo now; .223 of course, but much .308 and .270; many brands. But the oldies? Very little 30-06. And I haven't seen .30-30 for well over a year.

 

I figure when they finally favor us with .357 and .44 mag it will be through the roof, price wise....

 

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I've ordered bullets for reloading from Ammo to Go (link below) and can attest to their quick shipping, they are a legit business and I have been a happy customer. They also have the ammo that many of y'all are looking for. Some of it isn't cheap but they have it....

 

https://www.ammunitiontogo.com/bulk-ammo-calibers.php

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 If you need revolver ammo you can always check with places online like grizzly cartridge as they have a pretty decent inventory building back up.

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Personally I'm well supplied in all my calibers because I was always in the habit of buying a box or two when I saw a good price over the years and so my inventory is still very good this far into the shortage.

 

The fact remains that they are making a lot of things in line before standard revolver calibers. .357s and .44s are hardly arcane, rare firearms, after all. 

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They are making what is in the most demand, or what they think is in demand. 
 

I recall the ammo shortage of a few years ago. It seems this is a repeat only a longer drawn out repeat. 

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LGS owner messaged me last night.  Someone brought in a large bag of 44-40 ammo.  He said I was the only one he knew of who might need it.  Headed there in a few minutes to pick it up.

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4 hours ago, LawMan Mark, SASS #57095L said:

LGS owner messaged me last night.  Someone brought in a large bag of 44-40 ammo.  He said I was the only one he knew of who might need it.  Headed there in a few minutes to pick it up.

Turned out to be a bag of someone's reloads (mixed brass, two different types of primers, and all the same bullets).  I'll pull the bullets, dump the powder, add my own powder load and reseat and crimp.  

 

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On 4/1/2022 at 4:05 PM, Sawhorse Kid said:

Why is there no revolver ammo available?

You can get 380, 9mm and 45 acp all day long ..... revolver ammo is virtually non existent.

The real question is ? 

Why are you buying ammo instead of loading your own ?

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I carry a 45 ACP 1911, have for decades.  I finally ran out of the LEO rounds I favor and had to load up some carry ammunition.  Been loading for a long time and trust my work.  Though it is largely a myth (see Ayoob) , I'm more comfortable with factory for carry - potential forensic issues. 

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6 hours ago, Rooster Ron Wayne said:

The real question is ? 

Why are you buying ammo instead of loading your own ?

 

 I don't care to mess with loose powder, let alone store it.

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I just remembered that a store near me, LAX Ammo, had .38 Special and .357 Magnum range and defense ammo, but the prices were still really high. 

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I mean lets be honest, outside of this crowd and the Jerry Miculek's of the world, not a lot of people are burning through .38... 

 

That being said, I have had no trouble finding .38, though I reload so its not for me. 

 

SGAmmo has always been one of my go-to's ... they have plenty 

 

https://www.sgammo.com/catalog/pistol-ammo-sale/38-special-ammo

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3 hours ago, Big Hand Zack said:

I mean lets be honest, outside of this crowd and the Jerry Miculek's of the world, not a lot of people are burning through .38... 

 

That being said, I have had no trouble finding .38, though I reload so its not for me. 

 

 I don't know-- there are millions of .38 spl revolvers out there. But mostly .38 spl ammo has shown up. .357-- not so.

 

I admit I know little about .40 S&W's popularity, though I never thought it was all that high. So I've been surprised by the massive amounts of it from several manufacturers at my local Bass. On the other hand-- it stays there. Whether not selling, or continually replenished- I don't know. Just seems  odd....

 

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sounds

On 4/2/2022 at 1:56 PM, LawMan Mark, SASS #57095L said:

Turned out to be a bag of someone's reloads (mixed brass, two different types of primers, and all the same bullets).  I'll pull the bullets, dump the powder, add my own powder load and reseat and crimp.  

 

sounds like you scored just the same , 

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8 hours ago, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

 I don't know-- there are millions of .38 spl revolvers out there. But mostly .38 spl ammo has shown up. .357-- not so.

 

I admit I know little about .40 S&W's popularity, though I never thought it was all that high. So I've been surprised by the massive amounts of it from several manufacturers at my local Bass. On the other hand-- it stays there. Whether not selling, or continually replenished- I don't know. Just seems  odd....

 

 

Partly because law enforcement has been getting rid of their .40 S&W pistols and switching to back to 9mm (and to a lesser degree .45ACP).  I am also seeing a lot of shooters going back to 9mm at local plate matches and many people who buy a handgun for protection tend to buy what the police buy.

 

There was a joke made that the only reason to own a .40 S&W is that when regular ammo supplies get hard to find, there will always be plenty of .40 S&W.

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Assuming the Ammo business is only supplying the highest sellers for the time.

I still find it hard to believe that .38/.357 didn't make the grade.

They are as common and popular as 9mm.

 

 

Side Note: 

.40 cal popularity, I had a firearms instructor state that if you ever had to purchase you own duty weapon, 

Purchase a .40 cal  - because is bigger that a 9mm and holds more bullets than a .45

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43 minutes ago, Sawhorse Kid said:

Assuming the Ammo business is only supplying the highest sellers for the time.

I still find it hard to believe that .38/.357 didn't make the grade.

They are as common and popular as 9mm.

But .38/ .357 revolvers aren't as "sexy" to today's new gun buyer as a micro 9. And a "high cap" magazine goes through more ammo than a 6 shot revolver. 

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Seems to me it's not a question of .9mm now being a lot more popular than revolvers, etc. Whatever the case may be, there are innumerable revolvers out there and before the 'shortage', revolver ammo was always on the shelves. Now it's not (other than .38 spl and you have to scrounge for that). Strange, to me anyway...

 

Hopefully they'll get around to it soon.

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On 4/1/2022 at 7:02 PM, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

I'm in the same fix. I saw more revolver ammo from time to time at the height of the shortage than I've seen since. The only exception is some .38spl. 

 

Obviously 9mm, .380, and .45 acp are 'big', but .40 S&W? Yesterday Bass had mountains of .40 from many manufacturers; they have had it for weeks. Not exactly an orphan cartridge-- but hundreds of boxes and no .357 or .44 spl or mag? There were 3 boxes of .38spl.

 

It's weird. Tons of rifle ammo now; .223 of course, but much .308 and .270; many brands. But the oldies? Very little 30-06. And I haven't seen .30-30 for well over a year.

 

I figure when they finally favor us with .357 and .44 mag it will be through the roof, price wise....

 

40 brass is readily available here too.  Heck they even marked it down as it wasn’t selling.  I would guess the corporate buyers don’t know that it wasn’t all that popular.  
 

38 and 357 are available, but not quite in the quantity as 9 or 223.  I am even seeing sales on 9 and 223 now, so I think they are starting to get caught up on demand.   There has been a guy on MeWe with lots of 38 brass available.  8k + once fired.  
 

I ran across a big of 30-06 brass a month ago.  Other than that, very little brass available.  No primers.   Powder has not been too bad, my local small guy had the powders I needed, so I am set for the next year at a minimum.  

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