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Buying ammo for trades

Discussion in 'The Game Room' started by FatBoy85, Jun 13, 2020.

  1. FatBoy85

    FatBoy85

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    While I will caution you all that this seems slightly “Prepper” angled as a question, I ask because ammo has reached that point where it’s not staying on shelves longer than the Vienna sausages your wife may have picked up 2+ months ago. My question(s) is if there was a caliber or many to collect a bit, what would it be? Maybe you don’t have this gun but you spot a good deal, the caliber seems widespread enough? Is it worth doing it? Bear in mind I don’t want to hoard ammo like this but having some boxes around for a deal didn’t seem out of the question for a future situation.

    I had seen some calibers that were still on shelves because they hadn’t quite reached a stage where it was volatile yet in this time. I purely ask this question if ammo has reached that stage where it may be good to have on hand for bartering.
     
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  2. Chaz

    Chaz

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    Hadn't really thought about that.

    Not sure that it's worth doing.
    Most real peppers likely have 1,000 or more rounds in their preferred caliber.

    Probably reloading equipment as well.

    You could be sitting on ammo for quite some time, that you have no use for.

    $.02
     
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  3. FatBoy85

    FatBoy85

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    On the flip side, its like getting ammo that I might even get a gun for later. Unless its really popular ammo and I run into someone really needing that, I guess this is out of a whim that it may happen.
     
  4. Beetle-Kill

    Beetle-Kill

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    Ammo is in great demand and expensive, compared to say, Feb. I would only purchase what you are low on, for the firearms you own. Now is not the time to buy something "for a rainy day" if you can't use it.
     
  5. Chaz

    Chaz

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    I thought about that as well, but didn't wanna spend your money for ya.
    :rofl: :lol:
     
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  6. boettg33

    boettg33

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    Like the market, I am constantly buying. Yes, I realize it's not good to buy when the price is high. The problem is that you never know when the market will dry up. The age-old question what is enough?

    Jason from RI
     
  7. FatBoy85

    FatBoy85

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    :rofl: :lol::rootintootin:Well the stimulus went quickly, that’s for sure.
     
  8. FatBoy85

    FatBoy85

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    This is another thing. Making the buys aren’t difficult per se but cheap today is paying close to 10-13 bucks a box of 50 9mm for example. Plinker issue. I’ve not seen same caliber in home defense rounds for less than $20 and that’s usually no more than 20-25 depending on the box.

    That being said, are we at “the cheapest “we will see for fairly good enough ammo today? That prices have literally become pretty stabilized and only at a ridiculous sale would we see lower.
    This includes that we understand if we go cheaper in price, we risk ammo that supposedly fires ‘dirty’, less accurate, powder failure, bullet placement/alignment is OFF, I suppose that even ammo that is made cheap enough it doesn’t fit the gun it was supposed to fire in? If there are any other instances to cheap ammo that I’m leaving out, let me know. I have to agree that there’s a line where some cheap ammo isn’t good to fire because it’s not being given quality in the manufacturing process.
     
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  9. Buzz Benton

    Buzz Benton

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    Well hell, everybody ought to know, 12 gauge in buckshot is what you stock up on, followed by 22 Long Rifle by the brick, followed by .223/5.56 Nato. 9MM might be fourth, but I carry a 40 caliber, so it is. You asked, and now you know.
    "A man can never have too much ammunition."
     
    Last edited: Jun 13, 2020
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  10. El Luchador

    El Luchador

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    Buy reload supplies. I'm not a prepper but I am a gun enthusiast, and I'm so happy I stocked up years ago. At last count I had 17000 rounds.

    Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
     
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  11. Steve Billak

    Steve Billak

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    i always said if you can count how many rounds you have its not enough.
     
  12. lukem

    lukem

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    I wouldn't stock up on any ammo you don't have a chamber for.

    Almost any ammo you've heard of before would have some swap value if SHTF.

    Get as much ammo as you think you'd need if you could only buy it at very high prices ever again, and only used it when absolutely needed.
     
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  13. Well Seasoned

    Well Seasoned Administrator

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    Buy what you use. We're hitting a fork in the road. Which way it goes who knows. Sgammo.com gets constantly restocked daily, but it goes quick. The prices seem to be up anywhere from 5 to 10 cents a round for .223/556. Buy as much as you can if you are low, when good deals come up.
     
  14. TurboDiesel

    TurboDiesel

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    It certainly can't hurt to have a few extra boxes of ammo or some reloading supplies and equipment around, even if it doesn't work in any of your firearms.
    Never know when one of your friends or relatives might be in need...

    I keep a little extra around.:yes:
     
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  15. blacktail

    blacktail

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    . FB_IMG_1590562171309.jpg
     
  16. dgeesaman

    dgeesaman

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    Hm, I picked up hand loading a few years ago but it has nothing to do with prepping.

    I have several thousand bullets and primers plus a few jugs of powder. Compared to competitive shooters that’s not much. But you end up with some volume because it sucks to develop a really good tune and run out of the bullets or the powder, and not be able to shoot at the same level. On the plus side, it’s a lifetime supply if every shot was for harvesting purposes.

    People complain about .22 ammo before, and I agree it was bad. But I’m trying to make a trip to Lapua this summer and I will be buying 5000 or 10000 rounds at $12 per 50 if the testing goes well. So I won’t run out of .22.

    David
     
    Last edited: Jun 17, 2020
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  17. Highbeam

    Highbeam

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    To answer the question about barter, I think your biggest market will be the scared homeowner with a dusty 12 gauge, 380, 9mm, 40, or maybe even 38 SPL in his closet. I would especially horde 9mm if the intention was for barter and it's also one of the reasons I moved to 9mm in my EDC, still have a 40 in the safe. Even have to think about common calibers with cops or from military stockpiles.

    Owners of AR rifles have lots of ammo. If you're into those then you're a super gun guy.

    Go to Winco and start buying canned food that you will eat. I think it's too late to buy G&A. Elections, rona, economy.
     
  18. FatBoy85

    FatBoy85

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    Glad to know I made a stockpile of over 2000 rnds of 9mm, it’s difficult finding it anywhere and they imposed limits on the boxes in one of my go-to’s as the sales for them are “unprecedented”. Funny that .22 was in the same or similar spot in 2005. Not really much of a shortage for that but .223 and 5.56 are reaching 4-800 bucks for 300-1000 rnds. I don’t have my AR yet but I ordered this thing a month ago and maybe my getting the ammo for it was enough to gather a bit of both calibers before it really went out.

    I also managed to grab some remanufactured .45 rnds last week. Got it because it was in bulk and probably the last time I saw enough bulk (100+ rnd packs)of that caliber was about 2 months ago in decent supply. If I needed to trade for anything, I’ll settle for that being used first since most are just settling for being ‘ready’.
    Metal Ammo boxes are a boon for storage. Also makes it easy to grab what you need and go.
    Guessing it’s a toss up whether or not we’re in STHF times, headed to it or just back to some extremes.
     
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  19. FatBoy85

    FatBoy85

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    I had a conversation and a cleaning lesson with a buddy who spoke a bit about .22 and it’s nuances. .22 being Bad is probably a dependent upon what ammo it is based on ballistics, it’s quality and who makes it. Apparently.22 is very dirty so makes things less apt after a box of rounds, but my 9mm is much more forgiving. Different round I know, just pointing out that cycling 22 rounds aren’t as easy to cycle in larger ammo. But if that’s gun dependent then another thing to point out is that it cycles better with high velocity. Is Lapua putting out a higher velocity cartridge? What else is your reason for the purchase? I definitely have my fair share of .22, but its finicky so I may have issues more with my rifle needing a breaking in and likely need another mag.
     
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  20. dgeesaman

    dgeesaman

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    Sorry when I said .22 was bad, I meant the price an availability of basic .22 ammo.

    Unrelated to that, I picked up a match rifle that shoots better than most, and I’m told that maximizing the accuracy means testing various lots until you find the best lot. You can do this yourself, but you’ll have limited access to ammo lots and shooter inconsistency puts the whole exercise into question. Lapua and Eley both have indoor test tunnel facilities specifically for this. I’m doing this in two weeks. Assuming we find a great lot, I’ll probably buy one or two cases of that ammo. This is not something I’d do for any of my other rimfires.
     
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