No More Ammo!
by Ron Spomer
Ah, the good old days when shooters were tough and ammo abundant. Bagfuls like this aren’t a common scene these days.
You’re probably feeling the pinch, right? Ammo is not just hard to find, it’s darn near impossible to find. And if you do find any, you can’t afford it!
I’m hearing reports of 50-round boxes of 22 Long Rifle going for $20! Many standard “deer hunting” cartridges upward of $100 per box of 20?
Who’s to Blame?
Catching blame for this are everything from Covid lockdowns to 6.5 million new gun purchasers, to raw material shortages, to international tarriff wars to simple hoarding. Some have claimed ammo makers are themselves slowing production to drive up prices, but that’s unlikely. When demand for product is high, manufacturers don’t slow down production; they ramp up.
The truth is that a bit of most of the above is probably at work, exacerbated by politicians making loud and frequent noises about more firearms restrictions. The result is just what they don’t want: more citizens buying more guns and ammo. None of which has much, if anything, to do with rising crime, largely an urban problem while firearms are mainly bought and held by folks in suburbs and rural areas.
Well, we aren’t going to debate, let alone solve, messy 2nd Amendment issues here, so let’s concentrate on getting the shells and cartridges we need for practice, training, competition, and hunting. Especially hunting.
Both workers and machines are reportedly operating at maximum capacity across the industry.
Hunting Up Ammo
Honestly, I don’t know how professional shooting competitors find enough ammo, so let’s focus on hunters. How are you going to have sufficient ammo to pull off your annual deer, pronghorn, bear, elk, coyotes, etc. hunts this year? I know many hunters who keep a box of two of ammo for each rifle, buying fresh each season. That’s probably not going to happen this year. If you don’t have enough “stale” ammo from previous years, you’d better start shopping — if not scrounging — now.
First, place orders with as many brick-and-mortar retailers and online sellers as you can. If more than one comes through big time, you can likely cancel the other orders. It’s not like anyone will be left holding the bag, so to speak. But consider keeping what you might consider “too many” boxes as a hedge against any future disruptions like this.
If current prices scare you, consider what might happen in a year or two. Inflation. Continuing hoarding and demand. Additional national tensions and possible shortages of raw materials. Today’s $50 box of 270s could become tomorrows $100 or even $200 box… It’s hard to predict this and it’s harder to drop crazy money on a common product — well, used to be common — that sold for 50% to 75% less just a year ago but… With a vital commodity you can’t afford to go without, either.
A second approach is to ask friends, especially older folks who might have retired from the game, perhaps inherited ammo from a deceased friend or spouse. Put the word out and who knows what you might find.
Perhaps a friend or retired person in your neighborhood has some extra ammo for sale. Ask around.
Third, ask friends if they can spare a box or two. Just enough to get you through the fall. If nothing else you’ll discover who your REAL friends are. Or make some new ones.
So, think it through and make some moves. At the very least get enough on hand for your upcoming hunts plus as many “spares” as you can afford. Meanwhile, here are a few tips for saving what you have:
Dry Fire: Seriously, dropping the hammer on an empty chamber can be just as beneficial as live fire. Often better. Because you can concentrate on form, breathing, trigger control, calling your shots, and follow through. No fear of recoil equals no flinching!
Handling: Many hunters and even target shooters never develop a truly efficient, smooth carry-to-mounting technique. Play around with how you carry and ready your rifle/shotgun for a quick shot. You should be able to go from shouldered to shooting in less then three seconds. A shotgun should go from carry to crushing a bird in a second or less. To work on this, carry that empty/unloaded and double checked unloaded gun in the country, around the yard, even inside the house to get used to carrying it and moving it efficiently from whatever carry position to firing position. Incorporate dry firing and calling your shots at the same time.
Fake it to make it. Gear up as if really hunting, but carefully fire at a deer sized target to hone your ranging skills and field technique. Setting up quickly in various field positions and hitting a 10- or 12-inch target is perfect training for actual hunting — and doesn’t require many shots.
Live Fire Judiciously: Don’t sit at a bench and poke holes in paper. (Unless that relieves your stress.) Do something useful like engage a few targets under hunting conditions at hunting distances. One of our favorite training measures is to set a 12” cardboard box in a field, then hike toward it over various routes to engage it as if it were a deer we just spotted. In 10 seconds or less. I’ll say to my wife or son-in-law “See that deer? Shoot before it runs!” They then have 10 seconds to hit it with one shot. By using the old Maximum Point Bland Range sighting system they know they don’t have to worry about ranging unless they think the target is more than about 300 yards away. So it’s just a matter of concentrating on the shot, holding center box, and not flinching.
I’ll tell you, walking up to that box and see a hole in it really boosts confidence. Maybe not shots just nipping the outside inch or two, but anything else is a sure-fire vital zone hit on a deer’s chest. When my wife did this at distances from 80 yards to 300 yards and realized she hadn’t missed a deer sized target, her confidence soared.
Save Ammo, Gain Confidence
The cool thing about this kind of practice is it doesn’t burn a lot of ammo. You don’t need to throw 20 or even 10 rounds down range. A single hit can really improve your confidence. Do this after extensive dry fire practice and you’ll be amazed.
And your ammo supply will last.
BUY NOW
Ron Spomer is saving some of his ammo in case family and friends come crying just before deer season.