Why Buy Ammo Now?

Take a quick look at the ammo selection we have here at Ammoman. No, go ahead and look, I’ll wait, because it’s very relevant to the rest of this post.

Not bad, huh? I mean, pretty much everything you want in any caliber is in stock and waiting for you (or someone like you) to buy it and take it to the range.

But it wasn’t always like this. It was only a dozen or so years ago when just about every kind of ammunition you could think of was not available at any price. You name it, it was out of stock. 9mm, .223, .45, pretty much every single round of the popular calibers couldn’t be found at any price.

And don’t get me started on .22 Long Rifle.

The panic was caused by the political events of the time. People were afraid that with the newly-elected President and his party would enact sweeping legislation to restrict the right to keep and bear arms in the U.S., and gun owners wanted to stock up on ammunition (and guns… LOTS of guns) while they still could. Everything and anything that could be bought, was bought, leading to empty shelves and severe ammo shortages.

No Such Thing As Too Prepared

I have to admit, I knew there was going to be a rush on guns after the 2008 election, but I was caught flat-footed by just how big the demand was going to be. I had bought a few thousand rounds of 9mm and had it stashed away along with some .223 and .22LR, but when it came time to replenish those rounds, there was nothing to be found.

In addition to this, I had forgotten to stock up on practice rounds for my .380 ACP pocket gun. Because I worked in an office back then, I carried that gun quite a lot, so as things turned out, the gun that I relied on the most to save my life was the one that I practiced with the least.

Whoops.

I managed to make it through the lean years, as did millions of my fellow gun owners, but I learned my lesson. As ammo started to become more and more available, I started to buy more and more of it until I’m now (almost) satisfied with on-hand ammo supply.

Remember, you’re not hoarding ammo, you’re stocking up on freedom

Right now, you’re probably saying to yourself, “Yeah, but Kevin, you work for an ammo company, you can buy all the ammo you want! While it’s true that I do work for Ammoman, the fact is, I was stocking up on ammo long before I started working here, and recommending to my gun owning friends that they do the same.

Why buy ammo now? Three reasons.

You Can

That may sound simple and trite, but the fact is, there is a lot of ammo for sale right now. More than a few of the larger manufacturers expected the 2016 election to go another way and ramped up production in anticipation of another shortage that didn’t happen. As a result, there is a plenty of ammo for purchase, waiting for someone like you to buy it.

Prices Are Good

Not to toot our own horn, but 1000 rounds of Blazer Brass for 19 cents a round, including shipping, is a pretty good deal, as is over 1000 rounds of brass-cased .223 for just over $200, shipped. Let’s face it, if you travelled back in time to 2009 and told gun owners that in just ten years, 9mm would be less that 20 cents a round and available in huge quantities, they would have laughed in your face. And yet here we are, so take advantage of this abundance of ammo while you can. Speaking of which…

Things Might Change

Nothing is for certain (okay, nothing except death and taxes), and nothing lasts forever. Ammo is relatively cheap and plentiful right now, but who knows what the future may bring? There is another Presidential election coming up in 2020 and depending on who wins control of the White House and Congress, further restrictions on gun ownership in the United States might soon follow. While this sort of thing isn’t fun to think about, it is a definite possibility, so plan accordingly.

What to buy

An interesting thing happened during all the panic buying of ten years ago: While I had to scrounge around for 9mm, .223 and most other common calibers, there was always .30-06 to be found to shoot in my sporterized M1903 Springfield, and the shelves always seemed to be full of the 9×18 Makarov ammo used in my CZ-82. Conventional wisdom says to buy guns in common calibers because you’ll always find ammo for them, however, that conventional wisdom fell apart once a greatly increased demand for the “common” calibers far outstripped the supply, while the demand for “uncommon” calibers like .30-06, 9×18 Makarov (and even .38 Special) remained relatively constant. Stock up on the calibers you shoot most often, and remember, you can never, ever have too much .22 Long Rifle on hand.