I have noticed the shortage. I believe it is not as much a shortage as a case of panic buying due to the current political environment. I believe you can count on the tax on ammunition doubling our trippling in the next two years.

Keep yer eyes peeled!

Its that and a combination of material shortages and manufacturing requirements for the Iraq war.

No it is called OBAMA/Nation. Everyone is buying amo as fast as it can be made.The changes are coming and alot of people realize it is soon.Gun owners are about to get hammered. I deal with the military and this is not the reason.Change is coming all right and you better prepare for it right now. Amo manufactures are running 8 months behind.What does that tell you.Have you ever seen amo selling like this before, I think not and we have been in just a couple of wars.Get it while you can and I mean fast.

Gee. that is odd.  I haven't had a bit of problem.

Every time I pull that little handle thingee, another shootable round of ammo falls into my lap.

That was what I figured.  Here in Midland, Odessa area just before the election we went to the local gun shops here and there were very few left on the shelves!  Obama and the democratic party are really fixing things up!!

Well if it is because of a shortage of materials because they are making bullets for the Iraqi.... I can deal with that. Kepp making them boys!

i try to pick up cheap ammo for target shooting everytime i go to the bigger stores and it is getting harder to find. i bought the last lb. of the powder on the shelf i use at cabela's the other day. they usually are not that low on supplies. i did get a lot of the cheap .223 ammo in san angelo the other day. it was the 1st time academy there had any on the shelf in several months.

Never said folks aren't panicking about buying ammunition, but all I can tell you on the military ammunition front is that I've talked with some of the folks who load for them and they are backed-up because of military ammo demands. Since the Vietnam war there have been a number of government-run ammunition manufacturers shut down (at least 2 that I can think of in Texas and Louisiana) and there are just not as many folks that make ammo anymore. As far as reloading is concerned I hear primers are really getting difficult to find.

SAMETHING OUT HERE IN TALLAHASSEE FL, SPORTSMAN WARHOUSE IS ALWAYS EMPTY ON AMMO, HARD TO FIND ANYTHING, AND WALMART IS THE SAME WAY!!

Just got some shells for my .308 after having waited for almost 4 months.  Never had a problem before over the course of several years, and had a great source (right down the street from the manufacturer). 

Maybe that's an exception, but I don't think so.

I am currently over here in Iraq, and I read in the Stars and Stripes, also on MSN that some states are now enforcing ammo to be registered. Texas however is not among those states. It has been rumored that the OBAMA Nation is trying to (again) make us get rid of our guns, like I said rumor. But as for the ammo, 223, 308's and any other tacticle load ie. 223,308, 7.62 (30-06) it will be gettin hard to find ammo for it. Espicially for those who like the Ballistic load.

John,

Thank you for your service to our country...you guys are greatly appreciated on these boards (and a bunch of other places) for what you do. 

What I think you may be hearing about is this bunch called ammunitionaccountability.org, who are trying to get a number of states to pass not only ammunition encoding laws, but require the destruction of all non-coded ammunition by a certain date.  Will any of them pass?  Its hard to tell...I'm still having a hard time believing this country actually elected our current president, so in my opinion just about anything is possible.

Amen to that!!!  John thanks to all of you for all that you do to keep all of us safe here at home!  God bless you all!

Some believe that because of the Supreme Court's ruling on the Second Amendment, the "o" administration figures that if they can control ammo, they can control guns.  Nothing in the Second Amendment about ammo.  I agree, some of it is panic buying and some of it is just common sense.  I like to think I am in the latter group. 

We have had problems getting practice ammo for our rifles for about 3 years now at out dept. Of course its .223, its all been going to Iraq!

"It takes 32 muscles to frown, 17 to smile, but only 3 for a proper trigger pull."

I live in asheville NC. My friends and I like to go to the local shooting range and plink off a few rounds. I can't find ammo!!!I just bought a Browning .380, great little gun. I went to the range, asked to buy some .380 ammo, and the owner very politely laughed at me. I have lots of ammo for my other guns so when I bought this one I "assumed" since this America and I do live in the south I could just buy some. My question is, why don't some of the news folks try to get to the bottom of this. There I go with silly assumptions again.

Steve,

You can get .380 ammo on Gunbroker.com, but it sure isn't cheap.

Make no mistake - the news folks have their own agenda, and perhaps with the excception of FOX all the major outlets are following him in lock step like he's the pied piper.  Add to this so many people think that Obama is going to outlaw some types of guns (like assault weapons) and require code stamping of the ammunition, which is a back door to gun registration, they're hoarding it as fast as they can buy it.

I have been at gunshows as an attendee or seller or buyer for some 32 years and have never seen what is happening with the ammo shortage we are currently experiencing. I have asked questions of dealers, reloaders, ammunition manufacturers and no one, absolutely no one, has a viable answer for the shortage. Metals are not that scarce, and there are some 47 ammuntion manufacturers in the US, most of which have according to reports, been working 24/7 for the past 2 to 4 years. There is no reason for a shortage of 22 caliber ammo and there is no reason for a shortage of primers and there is a real mystery as to the disappearance of 380 ammo. I find it hard to believe that panic buying and hoarding is outstripping the maufacturing output.

This is an interesting article from Time that came out about a month ago.  Apparently some level of ammunition shortage has been going on in the military for about 3 years.  Here's another pretty well-balanced discussion as well as another from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF).

People better wake up!  There is NO ammo shortage, just restraints on selling it to the public.  The manufacturers can keep up with the demand for 380 caliber.  What is one of the most popular guns for concealed carry?  Could it possibly be that small 380?  What is one of the most controlled states in the country on handguns?  Could it be Illinois? It really doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that there is a concerted effort to restrict ammo sales to the public.  One more question....since the 2nd Amendment is a real tough one to overthrow due to the public support, how else might we destroy it?   Could we do it by rendering handguns useless with nothing to make them work? hmmmmmm...just wondering

TS,

While I agree with your points on the second amendment and ammunition, after talking with ammunition manufacturers and folks a lot deeper into the business than I ever could be, there is no conspiracy here.  Between the war demands, raw materials shortages, increased 'hoarding' (and with our current president you can't blame anyone for that), and the inability for the government to ramp-up inactive ammunition plants in war time due to permanent closures of those plants, there just isn't enough capacity to meet current demand.  This just didn't happen in a day or two ...look at the posts and links above.  Its been around for several years now.  Some say it started after 9/11.