Ammo Updates Coming

I just wanted to let everyone know I updated the .223/5.56 section of my Ammo Availability page.  Its been over 3 months since my last update and I apologize for that.  I needed to take a break from the blog but I’m back now and I’ll try to post again on a semi-regular basis.

The good news is, it looks like ammo is a lot more available again.  Every single supplier had more options to choose from than 3 months ago.  The bad news is, everything appears to have settled in at a price that’s far higher than I had hoped it would be.  I hoped that once ammo was becoming available again, prices would come back down a ways and I don’t think that’s going to happen.

I plan to update the rest of the rifle calibers this evening after work, so look for that this later.  Hopefully the pistol ammo can get updated in the next day or two as well.  As always, let me know if there is another caliber that you would like me to add to the list.

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Pistol Ammo Update

Every caliber of ammunition over on my Ammo Availability page is now up to date.  It took a long time and I apologize for that, but hopefully it was worth the wait.

As I was changing the in-stock numbers I noticed that almost everything had improved.  9mm ammo in particular saw a huge increase in availability from last month.  Several websites had more than doubled their previous inventory.  Not only that but 50 Action Express is now available on at least 3 websites for a combined 8 options.  That’s significantly better that previous updates.

On another note, I want to thank all of my subscribers for their continued support.  Even while I’ve been away from the blog, moving into our apartment, I’ve continued to gain followers.  I’m up to 80 now and that’s pretty cool to me.  I never thought anything I said or wrote was worth listening to or reading, but you’ve all proven me wrong.

I know my posts aren’t always that interesting and sometimes I don’t post at all, but knowing that people like to read what I have to say motivates me to keep going and improving.  Its been a fun 7 months and I’m looking forward to many more to come.  Thanks.

Ammo Update

Hello once again!  As promised I’ve updated the rifle calibers (.223/5.56, 7mm Rem Mag, 7.62×39, 7.62×54, and 22lr) over on my Ammo Availability page to show a current list of what’s available around the web.  I was surprised to see that almost every website had an increase in stock levels.  The only caliber that has yet to see much of an increase is 22lr.

On a related note I’m moving into the apartment tomorrow; If all goes well with unpacking and furniture moving I should have the pistol calibers updated as well.  Of course that is dependent on Comcast showing up to hook up my TV and internet service . . .

To celebrate, lets all sit back and watch some of Russia’s most historic people battle it out in another Epic Rap Battle of History!

Ammo Availability Page – Update

I just wanted to let everyone know that my Ammo Availability page is coming along pretty nicely.  It now contains links for .223/5.56, 7.62×39, .50 AE, .45 ACP, and 9mm Luger.  I’m going to work on the others throughout this evening so before the day is up I’ll have a few more.  Once the basic formatting and layout is complete for each caliber, I’ll start more actively updating the “in stock” options.

Overall I’m happy with how this is going to be set up and I think it will save me a considerable amount of time.  If you have any comments or suggestions regarding the formatting of the new page, please let me know.  I would also appreciate it if anyone can find errors in the links or anchors.  I do my best to check everything before I update the page but I’m bound to miss something.

**  UPDATE – 8:08pm  **
I’ve added the links for 7mm Rem Mag ammo.

Ammo Update – New Procedure

I had a revelation on my drive home today.  The way I’ve been handling these ammo updates is not very efficient at all.  I’ve been trying to find a way to provide the updates more often while not sacrificing my soul and all my free time to do so; I may have done it.

As of this moment, I will no longer be posting new updates regarding ammunition availability.  Instead, I am working on an entirely new page for the blog that will have permanent links to every supplier I check, even if there is no ammo in stock.  The updates will come in the way of updates to the page itself.  I’ll change the information beside the links to show what is available each time I update things.

The goal of this is to ease the pressure on myself by eliminating all the redundant typing that I do each week.  In addition, it will clean things up.  I will no longer be continuously building a list of posts that become irrelevant when a new one is added.  One other benefit to this method is that I will be providing all my suppliers, even if they have nothing in stock one week.  Hopefully this will help others discover suppliers that they may not have known about before.  Since I can’t cover every caliber out there, maybe having that extra resource will be at least a little help to those who are looking for other types of ammo.

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, please let me know.  If there are any other calibers that you would like included, please leave a comment.  If you’re vocal about what you would like to see I’ll do my best to include them.  Having everything on one page will make it a lot easier for me to add other calibers.

One last thing!  As requested in a previous update, I’ve added 7mm Remington Magnum to the list.  From now on you’ll be able to find availability for that caliber on my blog as well.

Click Here To Go To The New Page

Is This The Resurgence of Cheap Ammo?

I went to Walmart today and was shocked to see some .223 ammo on the shelf.  I walk past the cabinet every time I go in there but its usually just a waste of time.  Today was different.  There wasn’t a lot of ammo on the shelf, but there was a bunch of Russian TulAmmo.

Some people might not like the stuff, especially since its steel cased, but if you’ve been following my blog for a while then you know I love the stuff.  Its cheap, reliable, and very accurate for $0.25 a round (as of last year).  So when I saw 20 boxes of .223 on the shelf, I bought my limit of 3.  Might go back tomorrow as well.

The price has gone up, I’m sure you had guessed that.  But I think I can swing an extra $0.30 a box.  That extra 1.5 pennies a round certainly isn’t going to bother me at all.

And now you’re saying, “sure, they had some .223, but tomorrow there will be none left”.  To that I say, 20 boxes isn’t a lot, but its far more than we’ve seen in the past.  And in addition to .223, TulAmmo was also available in .40 S&W and .45ACP.  Each of those sections were full as well.  There were virtually no other manufacturers present anywhere else on the shelves.

This could mean two things:

1. TulAmmo has upped production or began exporting more to match the increased demand.
2. Walmart finally received an order they placed back in December before the Great Ammo Drought of 2013 went into affect.

The reason I don’t think this is a back-ordered shipment is because my local Walmart has told me they never stopped ordering.  They continued ordering and everything they put on the shelves sold the same day.  While I never saw that with my own two eyes, I can’t call them liars either.  Local rumors spoke of lines in sporting goods every morning when the shipments were scheduled to be put on the shelf.  Most of the ammo never even made it behind the glass.

But this is all just speculation.  I’m no expert on business or firearms and I don’t claim to be.  I can only make statements based on what I see and experience first hand.

Regardless, this is a positive thing.  Local shops are still struggling to get ammo on the shelves, but cheap ammo is unheard of.  Everything I have found locally has been high dollar brass stuff, and for me that’s just not appealing.  Is this a sign that cheap (inexpensive) ammo is once again a possibility?  I don’t know.  All I know is I now have 60 more rounds of my favorite brand of rifle ammo.

Pistol Ammo Update – 4/7/13

Life has been pretty crazy lately.  Work is twice as busy as it was the past few weeks and its all I can do to stay on top of my work throughout the day.  At home, my fiance is about to graduate from college.  Stress is abundant, but I’m still going to do my best to keep up with the blog.

As far as ammo is concerned, the pattern continues and .45 ammo is still the most widely available.  Most of the places I checked have about 10 different options each.  The availability in local shops is still pretty bad but I’ve noticed that seems to be picking up again as well.  Hopefully that continues.

Here’s what was available as of 9pm on Sunday, April 7th, 2013:

.50AE
Able Ammo – 2 options

.45ACP
Able Ammo – 9 options
Ammo.net – 9 options
Ammo For Sale – 10 options
Bulk Ammo – 10 options
Cheaper Than Dirt – 12 options
GunBot – Lots of options
J&G Sales – 2 options
Lucky Gunner – 10 options
Midway USA – 2 options
Sportsmans Guide – 2 options
Surplus Ammo – 1 option
Ventura Munitions – 8 options

.40S&W
Able Ammo – 5 options
Ammo For Sale – 1 option
Bulk Ammo – 1 option
Cheaper Than Dirt – 2 options
GunBot – Lots of options
J&G Sales – 3 options
Midway USA – 1 option
Sportsmans Guide – 1 option
Surplus Ammo – 2 options
Ventura Munitions – 7 options

9mm
Able Ammo – 4 options
Cheaper Than Dirt – 4 options
GunBot – Lots of options
Surplus Ammo – 5 options
Ventura Munitions – 2 options

Thanks for everyone’s continued support and I hope that I’m able to keep on posting into the future.  If things get too busy or stressful, I’ll cut back on the blog a bit but hopefully I wont have to.

Also, sorry to anyone who has previously communicated with me at my Yahoo email address.  Or to anyone who’s page I was subscribed to using my yahoo address.  I’ve stopped using it almost completely after it was hacked a few weeks ago and because of that I’m sure I probably missed a few things.  My new email address is BackyardShooter@aol.com, so feel free to contact me there if you have any questions or comments.