.380 ammo . . . aka . . . hen's teeth

Pops · Oct 4, 2009

I walked into my local range last week and asked the guy behind the counter if he had any hen's teeth and he tossed a box of .380 on the counter.

Obviously I bought them, but I still can't see why they are the only round not onthe shelf - anywhere? I can buy a 20 round box of "self protection" .380, but they are $1.00 a round.

I've heard many people speculate as to why .380 are not coming back on the market, but none of it makes nay real sense. Ammo is a market driven commodity and like so many things like that ammo makers should be trying to fill those orders because so many people want to buy them. The price goes up a little and the product goes out the door.

Any ideas why the market hasn't fulfilled it's potential?

:shock:

Frost · Oct 5, 2009

I don't know if it is true but I have heard that the reason for the .380 shortage is they make it on the same machinery as 9mm.
The person who told me that was of the opinion the war was the reason for the 9mm shortage and there was just no time to turn out .380.

What other stories have y'all heard?

Midnight Raver · Oct 5, 2009

Perhaps the people who depend on the .380 for protection do not generally practice that much. That could also be a contributing factor- people with the larger and more reliable caliber weaponry tend to put in more time at the range it seems.

fordnut · Oct 9, 2009

I was at the new gun shop in Summerville today,East Coast Powersports, and they had just got a new shippment of ammo....Chuck has .380 ball ammo for $23.00 a box....

Last week I paid $20.00 for 10 -yes- 10 rounds of hollow points from ATP gun shop...So, Chuck's price is nice...

The shop is on 17-A 3rd light on the right just after the overpass on I-26..
If anyone local needs ammo.....

Steve

Frost · Oct 10, 2009

Thats a good price, I paid $25 and change last time I found some.

Pops · Oct 10, 2009

The last time I went to gunshow, they had a reasonable ammount of .380, but it was (gulp) $30 - $35 a box for winchester white box type of range rounds.

it was scary since I had just purchased a Kel-tec P3AT (pronounced Kel-tec 380)

I always look when I go into a Wal-Mart. I think Wal-Mart is trying to get out of ht eammo business. which is odd since they tend to be rather hard headed about anyone telling them what to do.

Bdbys59 · Oct 12, 2009

I feel your pain, except mine is about .45 ammo.. can't find it anywhere ,, well other than ATP,, was surprised to find .40 ammo at wal-Mart for $32 for a box of 100...

Frost · Oct 12, 2009

Wal-Mart seems to get ammo in every week.
You need to check every day or make friends with the person who is at the ammo counter the most.
For a while I checked in every day, real pain in the butt but I go in the door by the auto center and it only takes a minute to check.

Geezer · Oct 12, 2009

The local Wally World has always gotten some handgun ammo off and on since all the shortages started. I have been able to find 9mm and .45 quite frequently and they always seem to get in a lot of .40. I haven't found a lot of bulk .22 lately. Luckily, I had already stocked up on some ammo before the election. I also stocked up on Glock magazines when they were $15.

Bdbys59 · Oct 12, 2009

Yeah, the local Wally Worlds around here seem to have .38 and .40 in stock,, I don't have to worry about 9mm..

,, have about 4k rounds in the safe at work,,LOL

Frost · Oct 13, 2009

You keep ammo at work?
If you don't work for yourself then that is really kool.

Bdbys59 · Oct 13, 2009

I am the trainer here,, we carry the M-9,, started out with 20,000 rounds in the spring, down to "just" 4,000 or so...

Frost · Oct 13, 2009

Oh
The people I work for are big game hunters and are pretty kool about firearms...

Pops · Oct 15, 2009

The folks who own the company I work at are also pretty interested in firearms.
I was called into the owners office about two weeks ago so he coudl show me his new Glock 26 with an ankle holster.

very nice rig. Of course I had to show him my new Kel-Tec P3AT.

The guy does offshore fishing and some hunting. Mostly a fisherman.
He even has a spear-gun in his office. that's kind of unusual.

Hard to conceal in a WalMart though

:shock:

GZR · Oct 16, 2009

I wonder if his girlfriend ever said to him "Is that a spear gun or are you glad to see me?"
Hey it's early, that's the best I could come up with.

Pops · Oct 17, 2009

Well, he is real proud of it.

it usually hangs up in the front paws of the buck head hanging on the wall.

:lol:

Littlejon126 · Nov 2, 2009

Ammo prices are high because the retailers know that we will pay extra for it, even though there's no logical reason for the current price. Sure, right when O-Bam took office, availability went to shit and factories had to go on overtime, but sales have sloped off from that, and ammo is back on shelves. The price is still O-Bam-Ridiculous though.

Same with the AK's price thing listed above in the rifle forum - when people stop paying a buck plus a shot, the price will come back down to acceptable levels, in all calibers. We'll eventually see prices similar to pre-Obama admin prices, hopefully...

Frost · Nov 2, 2009

7.62x39 prices have come down some.
It's easy to find for .22 cent or so a round.
I bought a thousand for .20 cent and if I was willing to shoot corrosive could have gotten it for .17 cent.

The problem is when prices dip people say to themselves "I need to buy a couple thousand at this price", and that causes a sales spike so the prices go back up.

It's the same deal at Wal-Mart people see ammo on the shelf so they think they have to stock up and buy all the store will let them have.
Things won't return to normal until there is a full stock on the shelf for a couple of weeks and people calm down.
Personally I think this shortage is a sad testement to the state of manufacturing in this country.

I wasn't hit as hard as some folks because I saw this coming and ordered well before the rush started.
Where I got hit was not being able to replenish rifle ammo.

Geezer · Nov 2, 2009

Exactly, Frost. I started stocking up before the election and was/am in pretty good shape. I've even got some .380 ammo that I could have made a killing on but I couldn't replace it so why sell it?