Help! Ammo deprivation depression is setting in!

In another thread in the Shooter’s forum, Suzuki said:

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I gotta do that. Kinda afraid to lower my ammo count though.

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Let me just say, I feel your pain. And guys, I just have to talk to someone about it. I think I have ADDD (Ammo Deprivation Depressive Disorder).

When will this freaking end!!!!!!!! No guns, no ammo, no reloading components, no nothing. Next there will be a shortage of Hopps #9 gun oil.

I had to laugh in a gallows humor sort of way at Suzuki’s post. What do you mean “lower” your ammo count? Are you saying you actually have ammo from which you could further reduce said count? Now I’m really depressed.

I’m down to my last 400 or so rounds of loaded centerfire rifle/pistol ammo. I can’t bring myself to count exactly, mainly because I don’t want to be further depressed by actually knowing the real number. I mean, what if it’s 375 instead of 400? Then I’d really, really, really be depressed.

I’m now in a total holding pattern on a prairie dog shooting trip in June because I have no idea if I’ll be able to procure enough ammo to go. There’s just no way of knowing.

I can’t force myself to the reloading bench because every round I load brings me that much closer to the end of my stockpile. And that doesn’t address the question of WHAT I would reload because it’s bitter choice. For every round of .22-250 I reload, that means one less round of .243 because my primer supply is down to a couple of hundred and my powder supply isn’t even that good.

Except for coyotes/predators and home invaders, I’m now on a strict “No Centerfire Shooting Nowhow” diet.

In fact, if this goes on much longer, I’ll be switching over to a compound bow as my home defense gun. While not as effective as the .40, you can’t argue the fact that arrows are reusable after they slice and dice a perp.

When is this going to end? Am I the only one who’s getting really down about this whole buying craze?

If you want me, I’ll be out on the ledge.

Grouse

I tried finding 22-250 ammo the other day for coyote hunting with no luck. Guess you can always rely on the good ol .22 or .17 for plinking fun. Seems to be plenty of that around

Just and FYI on the 22-250 ammo. The Hornady Superperformance 55 grain Vmax is a devastating round.

Grouse, I stopped in a small gun shop on my way home last weekend. They had lots of reloading stuff, but nothing like you are looking for.

Yes, it hurts, Bad. Need. Ammo.

I NEED A FIX MAN!!!

The .22 LR upper for my AR is the greatest. Can still shoot and not use up the good stuff.

Yea but its still a 22lr.

Kooty, you’ve hit the nail on the head. The maddening thing about this whole panic buying craze is not that nothing is ever available.

It’s that getting something SPECIFIC when you want it is now impossible.

When it comes to reloading, for example, I have my go-to recipes and for efficiency I have centered both the .223 and .22-250 around Varget powder. Guess what I can’t now get for love or money?

Sure, I could go back to the drawing board and try to work up “next best” loads for those rifles, but then an evil Catch 22 comes into play: During that testing, I’d be burning up bullets, primers, and powder, all of which may not be replaceable once I do dial in a new load. Arrrrrrah!!!

More than anything, I guess I’m pissed off at the Chicken Littles and hoarders. We’ve got guys out there buying tens of thousands of bullets, dozens of pounds of powder, hundreds of thousands of rounds of finished ammo, and for what? To hide them in their basement for no reason. They aren’t going to freaking ban .223 or 9 MM ammo. And if they did, it wouldn’t do anyone any good to be sitting on top of 100,000 rounds of it because possession and/or use of it would also be illegal. Since guns make loud noises you couldn’t freaking use it, so what good does it do to horde it?

And c’mon guys. Hording shotgun shells? Really?

I guess my other frustration is the feeling that this isn’t going to blow over anytime soon. If specific proposals form up for tightening restrictions on this or that, then that’s going to set off a fresh wave of panic buying and the vicious cycle continues.

I agree, for right now at least, the .22 is where the action is at. I haven’t yet had any problems getting rimfire ammo, even specific brands. Oh, and air rifle.

Everything else is just a cluster ####.

Grouse

OK, I confess. I’m addicted to ammo and crank baits. Long before the “buying craze” ever started, I endured getting my butt kicked by my assigned non-boater. 2fow on mann’s minus ones. I had two to start the day. About a dozen casts and 2 pike had bit me off. There I stood like a deer in the headlights. Had a second occurrence come up with a last minute prairie dog. Only had about 30 rounds made up for my 22-250 and was out of Varget. Ran to Cabelas – out, Shooters Supply – out. I was screwed. Swore it would never happen again on my staple items. I buy 8# to 10#’s at a time and refill my 1# bottles for easier handling. Also keep a few hundred bullet back stock just in case they make a product change. I do a production run a few times a year for each of my calibers and load up all the brass I have and replenish the back stock as needed.

Now you have me in panic mode went online to a few sources and all the 8# jars are sold out or out of stock

I’m with you Randy, a man’s gotta be prepared.

But there are limits. Perfect example was that guy I ran into in Cabelas after Christmas who was buying up powder in case he wanted to GET INTO handloading. Come on! That’s just freaking hoarding and I’m calling it out. That @ss clown didn’t even know enough to know that powder doesn’t go bang without a primer, of which there were none in stock and probably won’t be for months. So what good is hoarding that powder going to do you?

Another case in point, guy I saw in Gander about the same time was buying 2 of those bulk boxes of Federal .223. Got a gopher problem or something? Seriously, there were two pallets of those promo loads sitting there in the Gander store. These hoarders are creating a shortage where one doesn’t exist and wouldn’t exist.

There’s absolutely no reason for these dumbasses to be hoarding common ammo and components like this and it’s just creating a problem. As I said, if all the Chicken Littles out there would take a chill pill for a couple of weeks, most of the “problem” would clear up and we’d all be a lot happier.

Grouse

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I tried finding 22-250 ammo the other day for coyote hunting with no luck. Guess you can always rely on the good ol .22 or .17 for plinking fun. Seems to be plenty of that around

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I was just at Fleet Farm in winona and they have all kinds of 22-250 ammo. Not much of anything else.

Four Seasons in Red Wing had cases of 223 (PMC FMJ)and a wide selection of other ammo. Nots tons of anything but there was definately a selection.
They posted a want for consignment AR’s and they have a couple of AR pistols.

Sometimes when you only relate to Cabelas as your benchmark as to what to buy, shoot and refer to others then you eat your own pie. This time of the year supplies are somewhat low for the norm, this year yes it’s worse.

So good luck everyone

Randy if your in need of IMR 4831, I just looked and my supplier shows three 8 lb. jugs yet. You know how to get in touch if you need the info.

Take care

It took 3 weeks but Scheels got in my 8lb container of Varget.