The current ammo shortage has dragged on for about six months now. And it’s starting to hurt. While Nick may be seeing stocked shelves in his part of Tejas, that still seems to be the exception. Things apparently got bad enough in Proctor, Minnesota that the local cop shop had to appeal to the local citizenry for gun food. And they responded with all the ammo the boys in blue needed, with promises of more. Of course, some people are better stocked than others. There are those who saw the Great Ammo Shortage of 2013 coming and a few boxes here or there barely makes a dent. And those who didn’t — and swore that, as God is their witness, they’d never be short again — are worsening the current situation by snapping up anything that comes available. If you’re well stocked, has a friend, brother-in-law, or even the local police force asked you for a handout? Would you reduce your inventory for a buddy, a Cuban cigar, a bottle of prime hooch or just a good cause?
Yes, I have given ammo to people in my circle. Whether you would term it a loan, meh. And I don’t know if this qualifies but it’s rare for me to go to the range and not let some one else shoot my weapons with my ammo.
You’re a good man, jwm.
I’m always amazed at the total strangers I meet at the various ranges around here and we hit it off and start sharing different guns and ammo for each other to try.
Last Saturday I met up with Alpha Geek and we shared guns. The saturday before it was some guy at the same range with a mosin and m1. He wanted to try my sks and I gave his m1 a whirl. It’s a rare trip to the range were I stay alone for the whole trip.
I’ve said it forever. Gun people are the best people.
Same here, I’ve never met true People of the Gun who weren’t people I’d be proud to know.
People of the Gun.
Nice.
I might share a bit at the range while swapping weapons amongst fellow patriots. But I am not in the business of handing ammo from my modest stockpile to anyone outside of family/family equivalent. Period. And even then only in the case of an acutal, stated defensive need. Not just for practice.
If I had a friend who was totally out and needed a bit to keep his defense guns loaded, I would loan them a box without hesitation. If it is to just blow at the range without me, then no. I would have to be there to ensure they are shooting the ammo correctly, or something like that.
I spotted my brother some .22, that’s it.
Loaned? Isn’t that like “loaning” chewing gum?
I have sent a 1,000 rounds to a friend to get him to train up.
Does that count?
Kirk – You are a prince among players. 😀
Gave my brother 2 boxes of. 45 hollow point, and a box of 00 buck 12 gauge. No ammo shortage on shotgun shells here, but saved him a trip to the l.g.s. ( guess no one is taking ol’ dbj’s advice )
Ewww,
Loaning chewing gum…
Yes. Ive spotted some 22 and 9mm and flat gave my neighbor some 38 for her new revolver.
She said I loaned her more than chewing gum. I said no, it was a gift, and she asked for it, anyway.
Sold 1,000 rounds of .556 for what I paid to my brother. He wouldn’t take it as a hand out/loan.
I’d give my Dad some .45 ACP (more likely- share when we went to the range together), but I can’t think of anyone to whom I’d “loan” any ammo.
Part of it is that I’m not that close to anyone who would use the ammo I have. Next to my Dad, my little brother is the closest shooter I know; I don’t have any 9mm to feed his Ruger.
I definitely wouldn’t give any to the local LEOs. They seem to hang out at my LGS; if ammo is a problem, they can buy it there just like I do.
I’ve only given ammo to my friends. I’ve probably handed out a few bricks of 22lr and about 200 rounds of 7.62×39.
If you’re in California, loan before 12/31. If they pass the ammo laws, you will be a felon for transferring ammo without an FFL. That doesn’t include exceptions for shooting with friends at the range.
1) Go to the range with your friend.
2) Give him/her a brick of ammo to shoot.
3) Oops, he/she only shot 50 rounds.
4) …
5) Profit?
1. give him a loaded gun to shoot at the range.
2. that counts as a transfer.
3. Instafelons.
4. Laugh at the state for not being able to enforce the lunacy.
“Istafelon”. I like it.
Not a loan, but a friend bought a snubnose .38 Special for defense/carry, and with it the last box of .38 Special in the gun store – so I gave him a few hundred rounds of practice ammo and a box of good defensive JHP’s. I will/would give ammo to others I care about.
I would turn loose a few cases to the local sheriff who was good enough to issue me a CA CCW if the need arose. I would give ammo on an individual basis to LEO’s in bad counties/cities who I know to be good people but the departments themselves can FOAD. They want me disarmed, and at an institutional level, I’m happy to return the favor.
I’m not saying I wouldn’t loan or give a friend some ammo but everyone has had five years of this current administration to stock up. I stocked up after the first election, as did many of my friends that own guns, so I can’t really say I know anyone that is wanting ammo that doesn’t already have it. If I knew someone who was in fear for their life and had a gun but no ammo I would probably give them some. Otherwise, I don’t know…
I haven’t given, but I have received. Our Schwan’s delivery guy has an awesome gun collection and we talk guns every now and again when he makes his weekly rounds. When he heard we were out of .22 lr (except for a little SHTF stock of 200 CCI Velocitors), he scooped up all the leftovers from years of range trips and handed my wife a bag of about 1,500-2,000 rounds a couple weeks later. Wouldn’t let us pay for it — just told us to take the kids out and have some fun. We did. And we will again.
I’m rationing it out to make sure it feeds more than just me — a couple of friends who haven’t done any shooting before are coming to visit in July and there’s a family reunion in August, and I’m planning range trips for both occasions. So it’ll be put to good use. With any luck, it might even help produce a couple of new gun enthusiasts.
Needless to say, Jason the Schwan’s guy is one awesome dude.
all of the time. Have a buddy whose wife started shooting with my wife and a bunch of other women so I spotted him and I scrounge for him. Gotta learn social networking and barter skills for when Obamacare takes effect for real
No, because I don’t have enough ammo to spare and I can’t even find or afford to replace what little I do have. And certainly not about to give it to some governmental entity, be it local or otherwise.
THR had this exact debate already. My answer is as follows…
for friends or people whom I am taking to the range on invitation, yes I’d spot a case or 2.
for the one LEO in my town who’s a straight up guy, yes.
for the rest including the chief (who is an anti up to his fancy hat)… hell no.
Recently I spotted my father some CCI .22 WMR which cost me a mint and have bought a fair amount of ammo for other family members. Short of the shelves being completely empty my family gets more ammo from me if they want it, no questions asked. But police? Haha, hell no.
I am by no means swimming in ammo (I’m sure the AI would say that I’m flat out unprepared), but if I were to meet someone who was in need, yeah I’d help em out. As long as I’ve got enough to keep all my mags loaded I don’t mind sharing. I’d rather help someone in need and feel the pinch than sit back fat and happy while they squirm.
Anyone I would rather not see catch a bullet I am willing to loan ammo. Begrudge no man a meal while you eat, a beer while you drink or bullets if you’ve got their back. But loans are one time use only unless you are in direct peril…cuz I’m not a lead pez dispensing device.
“Loan” implies a return or repayment. These days, that’s unlikely. But when I go to the range with friends, we often share.
I haven’t given any ammo to anyone. I have sold it to friends at no more than what I paid and traded with strangers for mutually good deals. However I have an open invitation to my friends to take them shooting with my guns and Ammo with only an expectation that they will take me to lunch after. I figure if they are less likely to push for civilian disarmament then it’s an excellent investment and fun as well. I also have no problem letting close friends try out my ammo in their guns if needed or letting someone I met at the range try my guns with my ammo within reason.
How do “loan” ammo? You either give it away or sell it. Although they could return the spent cartridges. Still it’s not like loaning your neighbor one of your power tools.
Or they could repay you with ammo when they get some.
Haven’t been asked to loan any, yet. By watching the net closely I’ve been able to stock up on about 1000 rounds each of 9mm and .22LR at tolerable prices. Could buy more if I had the money. Will never ever again do business with the gougers (cough*CTD*cough). My limit has been .40/round 9mm shipped, .10/round .22LR shipped.
One of the LGSs here had .22 in stock for a while. They were selling it for $90/500 round box. They still sold out. Unbelievable.
Down to the last three k rounds and that total is across 10 calibers so I’m holding on to them. In case of emergency I would of course share, not for practice though.
I thought I was hurting. Down to 5k rounds across 6 calibers/cartridges (.30-30 Win, .45 ACP, .45 Colt, .40 S&W, .223 Rem, .22LR).
Soon to be new gun owner here. I came into this game at a bad time. I’ve managed to find 150rds of 9mm locally.
It’s sad around my area NE-IA the gougers are 3x the normal price and of course have thousands upon thousands of rounds for sale.
I think its cool if you need the ammo or are using it, but when I see the hoarding gougers it’s beyond annoying.
Imaging 2k-2.5k across 17 calibers (19 technically but I am counting .44 mag/44 special and .223 and 5.56 as only a single caliber because the firearms I have for those calibers chamber both).
On the plus side there are a number of calibers I have that have been completely unaffected by the ammo shortage. (at least not yet)
As far as loaning ammo out, for friends yes I would if they needed it, or if we were going shooting together.
I would definitely share in the situation where my buddies could not even practice at least once a month. I consider it as an investment in security since we would most likely band together in a crisis. I know they would get me back as well.
No one else in my circle of friends is in to shooting as a hobby really, so it’s not an issue. 🙁
I stocked up before the last election so I’m good to go for however long this shortage lasts. My neighbor, however did not. Once I learned he had no SD ammo for his gun or his wife’s, I gave them several boxes of my best.
Friend with a porcupine problem could not find any JHP .22lr to save his freakin’ life so I spotted him a 333 box. He asked if I wanted money for it and I mentioned he should use what’s left to go shooting with his kids (2 boys, 7&9). So, no payback, but a generational pay forward…
Well played, sir!
Your such a good friend to have! If only everyone had the same ideas…
I recently sold a .22 to a friend who wanted to get more involved in the shooting sport with his son. I sold him my rifle and along with it, a slightly used 500rd box of ammo for him to enjoy with his son. He got a great deal and was able to enjoy some quality time with his boy.
I guess great minds think alike…
This might sound selfish but… HELL NO…i’ve been reloading for years and i saw what was on the horizon 5 years ago when the “Great One” was elected i warned people i shot with to stock up on all the necessities for reloading but no one took me seriously the only way I will hand out my ammo is if the zombies begin there march…. and I’m not holding my breath on that one….
So you marched two of each caliber into the ammo can.
Make sure you have one male and one female each.
I have 200 rounds of 32ACP if they need it.
Who has 200 mice that need killing?
Chuckle worthy.
My great-nephew recieved a brick of Win WB for his tenth birthday last month, wouldn’t have got that if his dad had been able to find some to go with the Cricket he bought. My brother, the grandpa, thought it was handout day and asked about his box. I told him, ‘You don’t have ammo even after I’ve been telling you…?’ I think reality finally clubbed him about its presence.
He still doesn’t have ammo, though he’s been trying to rectify the situation.
As to the police getting anything from me… be a cold day in hell. They have more money and better connections than I do. Nor am I in the habit of giving bullets to people who may turn around and use them on me.
Not yet. Partially because very few people know how much I actually have socked away and partially because what I do have is more higher-quality JHP and less FMJ target ammo. The downside is that I’m a little short on range ammo myself.
I gave to an Appleseed event and another youth rifle program.
I’ve given some to family, and received some in kind.
I have sold to a couple friends at pre-Sandy Hook prices.
A friend recently got into the gun habit. I spotted him a couple of boxes of 9mm since there is none to be had anywhere around here.
I don’t expect to get them back – I was just happy to convert another to the brotherhood.
I’m sure he appreciates it. Had been thinking about owning when I finally made a purchase on a 9mm last December. My friend who went with me to the gun show spotted me a starter 50rd box. Was able to pick up 300 more before it got really nuts. Had to go early to a gun show to find rounds to christen a .45acp I later added. Otherwise I’ve been coming up empty. Even the one time I was able to hit a local Wally’s at shipment time I still got zero.
I imagine a lot of folks are first time owners, and I’m sure that’s not helping. Hope the shortage is not discouraging too many folks, but it’s encouraging to see that I’m not the only new kid on the block. I just hope it settles down some in the not too distant future.
I’m not buying now, but I’m not shooting or giving any away, either. I’m holding on to what I have until prices come down.
I still live box to box but I have a nack for being in the right store at the right time. But I still take friends and family shooting on my ammo and I give my friends a heads up on what stores have supplies when I find it.
I made this mistake recently, I told a friend who told a friend who must have called every person in the country. Thatssupply dried up in 24 hours…
To a friend, always. To the police, never. Ask your brothers at DHS.
I just read the latest news about the various scandals. I am thinking I will hold onto my ammo supplies until our government starts acting more like a democracy. BTW, if you are in Oregon, I found ammo at NW Armory last week. The first time I ever went to that store, and unlike other gun stores in the tri-country area, their customer service is absolutely fantastic.
Yes, I let two friends share my second to last box of automatch .22lr during a weekly league event at my range.
I’ve given ammo, traded ammo, and shared ammo. Ditto for mags, even though that was not part of the original question. I would gladly give ammo from my stock to individual members of my department – particularly those who are pro-2A. Since I’ve been so generous, the thousands of dollars I’ve spent sent on ammo since the unfortunate results of the 2008 and 2012 elections – in particular the president who “wouldn’t go after our guns” has subsequently dwindled to a “negligible” supply. I’d also give ammo to friends, and will trade a buddy in WI – I’m looking for CCI .22 LR and MK 318 Mod 0 5.56.
I’d also donate to friends I have on this site.
This post got me to thinking and I went thru my stash. I have enough ammo for the near future with a little safety pad thrown in. I also discovered ammo in calibers that I no longer have guns for. A hand full of this and a handfull of that. And apparently I have 2 spare mags for a 9mm Ruger I no longer own.
Ruger P series? I have a P95, only the mags that came with it. If you want to get rid them, I am sure we could reach an agreement.
sage, these are the California compliant 10 rounders. If you live in a state that abides by the constitution you probably wouldn’t need them. Yes, they are from a p95.
Stuck in Cali, funny thing. I will buy them off ya.
I’m not very computer literate. I can post here but I’m not very good with even e mails. Figure out a way to do this without exposing us to the riff raff and you can have the mags. No charge. They’re just cluttering up my space. sagebrusher.
Sage, if I did that right you should have my info to send me what’s needed to get you the mags. And no, with gas north of 4 bucks a gallon I do not need a lincoln town car.
My very first modern sporting rifle will be a California Complaint AK-74. The sole reason for that particular purchase is so I could have somthing a little bigger then a .22lr to take new shooters out with that I could actually get food for. I have a Mosin-Nagant M38, but it is not a beginner friendly gun. Barks loud, kicks hard and the flame out the short barrel is very intimidating. Once after a few shots I offered it to a young man, he didn’t even want to try it. But he had a blast with a 12gauge shotgun, loved it. Even though I am sure it hammered him as bad or worse then the mosin would have.
Thanks be to the Soviet Union for making billions of rounds for the Ak-74, then have a lousy market to sell em off too. Everyone wants a AK-47, let em have them. I can still get bullets for mine.
My dad loans me ammo all the time…I then loan him the brass back and buy some components. Its a good cycle. His reloads are spot on and make sure that my stuff is as accurate as can be.
Yes. A local friend bought a new 9-mm pistol for home defense. He could not find ANY ammo for it. I gave him a box of Winchester Ranger SXT. I couldn’t live with myself if the SHTF and he couldn’t protect his family.
I got lunch and good conversation in exchange. Works for me!
Only to those who never called me crazy and other sarcastic comments. Otherwise, eat your words, and then go buy an air gun. My turn to be condescending.
No, I have not loaned ammo. I have traded ammo. I have sold ammo to friends at prices that were lower than I bought the ammo for. I have also sold ammo to strangers at prices more than I paid for the ammo.
This shortage is permanent.
No one I know who shoots has asked for ammo. They all were well stocked or stocked enough that they could cut back some on shooting and be ok.
I am down to 6k rounds worth of components for my IDPA gun and that is starting to worry me a little. I am lowest on bullets at 6k then primers at 15k and powder I probably have 25k worth. 5.56 is down to 3k of commercial ammo. Everything else I don’t shoot enough to worry about. So I am ok for a bit. I have backed off on the AR shooting to keep it from draining too fast.
On the positive side, Wal-Mart had 5.56 in stock last week and 40 s&w and 9mm in stock today but no 5.56. I am hoping this is a sign of things getting better.
I do not loan my friends ammo I give them ammo if they need it.
As for LEO’s being short on ammo I really do not have any use for them anyway
and their once a year trip to the gun range the week before having to re-qualify around here.
Since the shortage started, I have had a few friends purchase pistols for the first time. While hollow points seem to be fairly easy to find, range ammo has been scarce in Austin. I have gladly dipped into my small supply to take them to the range and help them at least get familiar with their guns. I have another friend that will be taking her Concealed Carry exam this weekend. She hasn’t shot in years. I’ll be spotting her the ammo for the test and taking her to the range on Wednesday to run through a practice test. We’ll be at Lone Star Range in Lockhart around 10 if anyone wants to join us.
The only thing that I have been asking in return for the ammo is for friends to keep their eyes open at places like WalMart and Academy and call me if they see something. I usually ask them to buy whatever they can and then I buy it off of them.
I have tried my best to stick with my policy of providing ammo for any first-time shooter that will go to the range with me, but it is getting harder to do.
BTW
Today walmart had .223 Tulammo for 27 cents around, looked like 5 left after my 3 box limit. Before that I accidentally ran into a 1k Federal bulk box at 50c per round.
i don’t understand; why would you give ammo to people who will only arrive in time to take a report and possibly disarm and arrest you for defending yourself?
+1! Why don’t they call Janie Nappie for some of her extra rounds?
I’ll be willing to loan ammo to the government agencies who are short on ammo as soon as I see the government loaning ammo to citizens who are short on ammo. We spend all this time and energy complaining about government gun confiscation schemes, buy backs and the DHS causing an ammo shortage with their multi-billion round ammo orders, and then we go out an loan what little ammo we have left TO THE STATE! If MAIG wants confiscation, I guess all they’ll need to do it get Sheriff Jolly and Officer Friendly to go on TV and appeal to the average Joe, and we’ll trample all over one another to be Good Citizen of the month and surrender ammo in some feeble attempt to engender good will. It’s blue nosing, simple and plain. It would be sadly hilarious if some blue noser is left defenseless against a threat and the police show up to defend him with his own ammo, but alas it was 10 minutes after he dies from lack of ammo.
I’ve helped out a few of my family & friends. But I will never borrow any demorat I know one GD round of anything! Those ignorant A-holes voted this jacka$$ & his pals into power.
I might be willing to loan, or more likely sell, on a person to person basis with an officer, at least with the sheriffs here in colorado that are supporting the 2nd amendment. With the recent money problems they are facing some of them are having to buy their own ammo so I feel they need to be able to defend themselves the same as everyone else does. I would expect to get more returned to me. The state patrol and the city cops can fend for themselves.
I’ve given defensive ammo to a couple of friends who purchased new firearms during the shortage. Around here ranges still have FMJ, but any brand of quality hollowpoints is hard to come by.
Gave 2,000 + rounds (22lr and 223/5.56) to our nephew and am holding 1,330 22lr for my brother in law. Neither took the 2008 draught as a wake up call. I did. Am good for over 5 years of shooting. Just started reloading so that will stretch it more. Buy 2 and shoot 1.
For sure share when at the range or on the ranch having some firearm fun.
I’ve also used ammo as payment for some carpentry work to pay my cousin for building me a work bench in my garage. It was a mutually beneficial exchange and both parties were happy 🙂
Whether or not to share or loan ammunition is a difficult question. Plenty of people prioritized frivolous stuff over ammunition purchases. Those people made their beds and now they get to lie in them. And I made my “bed” — I scoured several guns stores in two cities over the course of three months to purchase what I wanted to have on hand. That took considerable effort and expense on my part. I am reluctant to give it away to others who did not invest the same amount of effort.
I am willing to take new people out shooting and share some ammunition for free or at cost. However, I don’t have a stockpile so I have quite a limited ability to help out in that respect. And if things really go to hell in a hand basket, I would be willing to share a couple boxes of ammunition with close friends, neighbors, or family that I know are going to stand up for what is right. The last thing I want to do is provide ammunition to people who are going to use it to pillage and plunder.
As for law enforcement, they could well be the ones coming to confiscate our firearms or ammunition. There is no way that I am going to equip the people that could be coming to take mine away.
If someone I knew was out f ammo for self defense I would give, not loan or sell, it to them. So far no one I know is it that situation. However, I won’t be loaning, giving or selling any ammo for practice. So far I have been able to successfully manage my inventory so as not to drop below my mininum requirements. The only problem caliber I have is 9mm.
“Would you reduce your inventory for a buddy, a Cuban cigar, a bottle of prime hooch or just a good cause?”
Nope. Close family member, maybe.
• Loaned? Yes. To a trusted few. And they usually give back in spades, often with better ammo than I loaned them. Hey, I said they were a trusted few. 😀
• Mostly I’ll sell my stock (in small quantities) to friends at ‘Pre-Insanity’ prices (that is, MY COST before things went out the window last Dec). Is that smart? Maybe, maybe not. I prefer trusted armed friends with ammo over trusted armed friends with empty mags.
• Give away? Okay, if I’m taking a newby to the range in an earnest attempt to proselytize a new ‘fellow of the gun’ free ammo is ammo well spent in most cases.
• Give ammo away to my local LEs? Nyet. Nada. Not a chance. Pfffft. ROTFLMAOCBOMGGACK 😉 Maybe they should ask for some from DHS. Sounds like they have a little extra (or the social security administration…)
Yup – Tokarev is scarce hereabouts, and I recently flipped a hundred rounds to a fellow aficionado of Commie iron.
I’ve loaned a little .45 and 5.56 to some good friends, and I gave a little over a thousand rounds of .22 to a local Boy Scout Troop so they could complete a weekend shooting program they had planned.
I’m definitely on the receiving end. My current stock is ~200 .22LR , 40 .30-06 and <100 9mm. That is rds not boxes. Both the .30-06 and 9mm are reloads "loaned" to me by my father-in-law; to whom I am eternally grateful.
I don't shoot much, don't own a .22 (borrow my dads) and a brick of .22lr lasts me about 6-12 months, so I never felt the need to have more than 1-2 boxes. Needless to say, I'm feeling it now.
i’m pretty much in the same boat as you; different guns and a little bit better on ammo but not by much, definitely not comfortable with my current stock.
loaned? no, because i am pretty sure the ammo was for them to shoot. but i have given some away.
Gave best friend 75 rounds of vintage .22’s (partial boxes of 100 CCI’s marked $2.45 each from K-Mart) out of the about 400 rounds I managed to round up after some spring cleaning/consolidation and then another 11 that went through the washing machine (those damn things end up everywhere!). He needed some plinking after being laid-off.
However I called him last summer to see if he wanted to go in in on a 2-buckets for X$ deal and he said he had plenty and so neither he nor I bought any more, so he waited a long time to hint around hard enough and say – yep he should have said yes last year when I called, before I took some over… LOL
But, he’s given me a ton of lead 12-gauge shells (he like to hunt water-fowl and after a couple of close calls, he decided to dump everything that wasn’t steel/non-toxic) and if either of us were down to two bullets – we’d split them. I may take him a few more – we’ll find some eventually.
Everyone else has never been interested when I was looking to split an internet order, so they are out of luck!
I’m at about 750 rounds of 1955 Yugo surplus 8mm Mauser that I’d sell the LEO’s 1/2 of – just for the good will prospects… 😉
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