I hope the cheaper than dirt executives get Coronavirus and drown to death in the glue like phlem it gives you.
This was their entire selection of x54r Yesterday. and is already stupidly overpriced. the Tulammo should be 6-8$, the wolf should be around 1$ a round (Russian LVE/188 plant match ammo. same as the old sniper surplus) and the PPU should be 10-15$
there's probably plenty of firearms blogs and websites already mentioning some of this, but:
most places with capacity are at capacity. Federal, Winchester/Olin, et c have increased hours, repurposed some production lines, and brought in temporary machinery (packaging mostly) to assist, however they are not increasing capacity because the ebb and flow of buying and selling changes constantly. currently they are fulfilling orders for people (myself included) that were placed last year, and what's on the shipping dock is being delayed due to shipping constraints of varying types (manpower, extra screening, route restriction, et c). because of the delay, the inventory at distributors and wholesalers/large retail outlets have been pushed up a bit to make sure that fixed costs are covered and the business can operate without a capital deficit.
some retailers (like Cheaper Than Dirt) have greatly increased their pricing. i would recommend avoiding them because the products are available for less money elsewhere. what CTD is doing is supply side economics: slowing the sales to the people that are willing to pay their price so they aren't running empty on inventory while waiting on orders to arrive at their warehouse.
currently, the "popular" calibers like .308 Win, 5.56 NATO and .223 Rem, 9mm Luger, et c are depleting very quickly. there hasn't been as much of a run on .40 S&W, 10mm Auto, .380 ACP, or .357 Mag, but it's inching up there. likewise .22LR hasn't appreciated as much, but if i were a betting men, i would suspect we're only a month or two away from .22LR starting to increase in price. magazines are also inching up. this "season" seems to be a run complete firearms, and for the AR-15 in particular - upper assemblies. some of the "entry level" stuff is also being sold out, along with a good run on used weapons like police trade in Glocks, which is starting a run on .40 S&W.
some imported ammunition is delayed significantly, so if things hold true for the summer, it's likely things like 5.45x39mm and cheap 7.62x39mm will start to get expensive as shipments and factories overseas will start restricting shipments and trade slows. 5.56 isn't helped by this either as Serbia, Italy, Israel, Czech Republic, and others are big exporters of 5.56 and 9mm ammunition. election season starts after the summer and there's usually a sales bump then too, so i doubt we won't see an "end" definitively until late this year or early next year for normalized prices.
some stuff isn't touched though, some calibers as mentioned, you can still buy parts kits readily, and there's plenty of inexpensive but good quality pump shotguns and polymer wonder-nines out there... however it's the ammunition that might get harder to get a hold of. i suspect after the summer or perhaps during it, we'll see some people start using .22LR conversion kits more often which allow inexpensive training many commonly available firearms, increasing demand for .22LR.
a "fighting load" is around 200 rounds of ammunition, usually with a few spare magazines. above that is either extra for sustained encounters, or useful for training. trying to acquire a hoard of ammunition and being a newer shooter, or someone who doesn't shoot regularly (and i mean weekly when i say that) might be expensive or difficult right now, and there's no use in being anxious about "having enough". it only takes a few shots to stop a threatening encounter if you do your part. a half dozen magazines at a target and a couple hundred rounds of ammunition with a reliable, well made handgun should see most people through typical "home invasion" scenarios.
be more worried about clean water, making sure if you depend on medical devices or medicine to have spare batteries or have a bottle or two of supply, keep a larder with a few weeks of food and get a first aid kit and try and see about some first aid training. if you can't get first aid training, at the very least, familiarize yourself with the directions of your kit (most have a pamphlet or manual) and watch some videos on the topic so you have something to fall back on. a firearm is an important survival tool, but it's not the only one you should be concerned with and have put money towards.
what's the muzzle velocity of a .308 out of a 16" barrel? I'm wondering because I want to know at what point it becomes more efficient to go to 7.62x39
I hope the cheaper than dirt executives get Coronavirus and drown to death in the glue like phlem it gives you.
This was their entire selection of x54r Yesterday. and is already stupidly overpriced. the Tulammo should be 6-8$, the wolf should be around 1$ a round (Russian LVE/188 plant match ammo. same as the old sniper surplus) and the PPU should be 10-15$
I will never buy from Cheaper than Dirt ever again. After the shit they pulled post Sandy Hook I will never support them and I personally support any and all Texas based businesses that I can. I am proud that we drove them out of Austin for their chicanery.
The MG42 is probably one of the best machine guns ever made. The fact that it is still in service and that its design is the basis for shit like the M60 and M240 tells you a lot. It's basically the best general purpose machine gun you can find. The fact it's almost 80 years old and still kicking ass tells you a lot. Just like the Browning M2, some designs are just timeless.
there's probably plenty of firearms blogs and websites already mentioning some of this, but:
most places with capacity are at capacity. Federal, Winchester/Olin, et c have increased hours, repurposed some production lines, and brought in temporary machinery (packaging mostly) to assist, however they are not increasing capacity because the ebb and flow of buying and selling changes constantly. currently they are fulfilling orders for people (myself included) that were placed last year, and what's on the shipping dock is being delayed due to shipping constraints of varying types (manpower, extra screening, route restriction, et c). because of the delay, the inventory at distributors and wholesalers/large retail outlets have been pushed up a bit to make sure that fixed costs are covered and the business can operate without a capital deficit.
some retailers (like Cheaper Than Dirt) have greatly increased their pricing. i would recommend avoiding them because the products are available for less money elsewhere. what CTD is doing is supply side economics: slowing the sales to the people that are willing to pay their price so they aren't running empty on inventory while waiting on orders to arrive at their warehouse.
currently, the "popular" calibers like .308 Win, 5.56 NATO and .223 Rem, 9mm Luger, et c are depleting very quickly. there hasn't been as much of a run on .40 S&W, 10mm Auto, .380 ACP, or .357 Mag, but it's inching up there. likewise .22LR hasn't appreciated as much, but if i were a betting men, i would suspect we're only a month or two away from .22LR starting to increase in price. magazines are also inching up. this "season" seems to be a run complete firearms, and for the AR-15 in particular - upper assemblies. some of the "entry level" stuff is also being sold out, along with a good run on used weapons like police trade in Glocks, which is starting a run on .40 S&W.
some imported ammunition is delayed significantly, so if things hold true for the summer, it's likely things like 5.45x39mm and cheap 7.62x39mm will start to get expensive as shipments and factories overseas will start restricting shipments and trade slows. 5.56 isn't helped by this either as Serbia, Italy, Israel, Czech Republic, and others are big exporters of 5.56 and 9mm ammunition. election season starts after the summer and there's usually a sales bump then too, so i doubt we won't see an "end" definitively until late this year or early next year for normalized prices.
some stuff isn't touched though, some calibers as mentioned, you can still buy parts kits readily, and there's plenty of inexpensive but good quality pump shotguns and polymer wonder-nines out there... however it's the ammunition that might get harder to get a hold of. i suspect after the summer or perhaps during it, we'll see some people start using .22LR conversion kits more often which allow inexpensive training many commonly available firearms, increasing demand for .22LR.
a "fighting load" is around 200 rounds of ammunition, usually with a few spare magazines. above that is either extra for sustained encounters, or useful for training. trying to acquire a hoard of ammunition and being a newer shooter, or someone who doesn't shoot regularly (and i mean weekly when i say that) might be expensive or difficult right now, and there's no use in being anxious about "having enough". it only takes a few shots to stop a threatening encounter if you do your part. a half dozen magazines at a target and a couple hundred rounds of ammunition with a reliable, well made handgun should see most people through typical "home invasion" scenarios.
be more worried about clean water, making sure if you depend on medical devices or medicine to have spare batteries or have a bottle or two of supply, keep a larder with a few weeks of food and get a first aid kit and try and see about some first aid training. if you can't get first aid training, at the very least, familiarize yourself with the directions of your kit (most have a pamphlet or manual) and watch some videos on the topic so you have something to fall back on. a firearm is an important survival tool, but it's not the only one you should be concerned with and have put money towards.
I have been irrationally fixated on the gun/ammo situation for a week or two and I’ll throw in my two cents.
My local gun store is clean out of 5.56/.223 and they’re getting new stock in small batches that disappear within hours. As a result, entry level AR-15’s are still available at non-sale price ($600-700) but they’ve been going out the door with the .223 as it comes in. 300 blackout is gone and clerk says it’s not being resupplied nearly as frequently.
12 Gage 00 buck is low but available, other loads are diminished but relatively plentiful.
9mm is going for 25-30 cents a round vs. 18-20 cents before this all started and they’re limiting it to 2 boxes per household. Other handgun calibers were plentiful but I suspect once the 9mm guns themselves dry up, people will pick the ammo clean for their new .380 or whatever else when they get it.
7.62x39 and 5.45x39 are there, but on their way out.
.308 was surprisingly plentiful, more so than the less common hunting and long range .308 and .223-based cartridges like 6.5 Grendle, 6.8 SPC, 6.5 Creedmore and the like.
They had the handgun counter cordoned off and had lines forming at opening and closing, with some absurdly busy peak hours. An employee was advising people to spread out 5 feet minimum. Handguns are there, but 9mm were on their way out.
First time budget buyers made up about half of the customers in line, although I saw a stone cold motherfucker who decided that now was the perfect time to get a third suppressor.
As far as online, budget AR parts are nearly completely dried up. Palmetto State Armory has 2-4 week lead times on orders and anything in 5.56 that gets listed has a high chance of being gone within 24 hours or less if it’s a good deal, exceptions being rifle length systems, premium component builds or builds with 10.5” barrels and below. They’re running out bolt carrier groups too it looks like, or otherwise they’re short on the time it takes to put them into builds. They’re marking stuff up but not gouging; honestly they had been running a little lower than normal for the better part of a year since I’ve been watching them, and this is mostly just a return to their standard pricing.
Anderson is a similar story, Aero Precision‘s main site is picked clean but Brownell’s has entry level Aero uppers (mid length and carbine) still listed, and they’re not posting a lead time on shipping. I bought one from them myself so I’ll let you know if it actually arrives in 3-5 days as advertised. If you wanted to try Brownell’s piston AR upper, it’s still in stock and on-sale.
As for completed firearms, Bud’s Guns is shipping as normal but can’t cancel orders and expect a wait at your FFL when you pick it up.
Online ammo is a crap shoot but you’re either going to have to deal with inflated prices or absurdly long lead times. I got a bulk order from Fenix Ammunition with a 2 week delay and they’re listing a 4-6 week delay currently.
As a final anecdote, I followed my GPS to an unknown pawn shop on my way home from work and their guns were picked clean as well. They had one 9mm and a half dozen shotguns, and literally zero ammunition left for any of it. The guy behind the counter was a trooper too; the 9mm gun was at a premium but he was willing to deal. Said he was more interested in it getting in to someone’s hands so they could stay safe. He was filling out background check info for a middle aged black woman when I got in.
My recommendations are to not wait on a gun purchase you were already going to make, as long as you’ve got your food, water, medical supplies and any outstanding major vehicle maintenance sorted out.
Basically we’re at the point where things are marked up but not yet absurd; people are being cautious but not desperate. If you wait much longer though you might not be able to get what you need at a reasonable price or in a hurry, if at all.
The Mr gunsngear Facebook page has been posting updates on online ammo availability, if you are looking you'll have to be fast cause it's all selling out quickly after he puts the link up.
Mrgunsngear. 216K likes. This page is dedicated to preserving American's civil rights and ensuring all Americans are treated fairly. We also share great deals and interesting stories related to our...
The Mr gunsngear Facebook page has been posting updates on online ammo availability, if you are looking you'll have to be fast cause it's all selling out quickly after he puts the link up.
Mrgunsngear. 216K likes. This page is dedicated to preserving American's civil rights and ensuring all Americans are treated fairly. We also share great deals and interesting stories related to our...
Personally, I'm into more classical looking guns such as bolt action rifles and double rifles. You can blame this primarily to me reading tons of stories about African safaris. My personal dream rifle would be a double SxS in 500 Nitro Express.
To elaborate further on my post, look at how pretty these things are. Imagine carrying these suckers in pursuit of an old dagga boy or a mighty tusker.
The Democrats are trying to use the fear and confusion of the Coronavirus pandemic to pass gun control. "Never let a crisis go to waste." They have submitted HR 5717, which is the worst piece of gun control ever put forth. It's not only an "assault weapons" ban on steroids, but would also force people to get a federal license to purchase and own firearms and ammunition, place a 30% federal tax on firearms and 50% tax on ammo purchases, red flag laws, and so much more. They're basically doing what they did with the Hughes Amendment and are trying to sneak it in when no one is looking. Make sure you write your reps and congress critters and tell them to oppose any new gun control.
In lighter news, the holster I ordered for the Dan Wesson Specialist that Mrs. Dude got me for Christmas arrived, and I'm absolutely thrilled by it. The guy who made it is friends of my favorite author Larry Correia, so the holster is themed to Larry's Monster Hunter International books.
And I'm hoping to buy a CZ BREN 2 pistol in 7.62x39mm sometime soon for an SBR build. I'll end up putting an arm brace on it until my Form 1 is completed, but I essentially want to do it up similarly to how the French GIGN have their BREN 2s done.
Big 5 Sporting Goods used to sell this shit right next door to a major university I went to in California. It was around 2016 I believe it was when I saw they had it. Also may have mistaken a Ruger 10/22 or Mini-14 for the M1 Carbine. They don't sell it anymore but for some reason still have the regular and tactical versions of the Mini-30s in stock when every online gun store has them sold out. Also found out that the only difference between mini-14 and ar-15 is the design of the stock basically. Its just one looks very scary and the other can be disguised as a regular hunting rifle.
Also found out that the only difference between mini-14 and ar-15 is the design of the stock basically. Its just one looks very scary and the other can be disguised as a regular hunting rifle.
in function, sure, they're both magazine-fed .223 or 5.56mm rifles and fairly popular. they have completely different designs and operating principles, and share no first party accessories apart from the ammunition. the Ruger Mini-14 (as the name implies) is a "miniaturized" M14 Rifle, but uses an operating system based on the M1 Carbine.
The Democrats are trying to use the fear and confusion of the Coronavirus pandemic to pass gun control. "Never let a crisis go to waste." They have submitted HR 5717, which is the worst piece of gun control ever put forth. It's not only an "assault weapons" ban on steroids, but would also force people to get a federal license to purchase and own firearms and ammunition, place a 30% federal tax on firearms and 50% tax on ammo purchases, red flag laws, and so much more. They're basically doing what they did with the Hughes Amendment and are trying to sneak it in when no one is looking. Make sure you write your reps and congress critters and tell them to oppose any new gun control.
In lighter news, the holster I ordered for the Dan Wesson Specialist that Mrs. Dude got me for Christmas arrived, and I'm absolutely thrilled by it. The guy who made it is friends of my favorite author Larry Correia, so the holster is themed to Larry's Monster Hunter International books.
And I'm hoping to buy a CZ BREN 2 pistol in 7.62x39mm sometime soon for an SBR build. I'll end up putting an arm brace on it until my Form 1 is completed, but I essentially want to do it up similarly to how the French GIGN have their BREN 2s done.
Damn man just taking out my whole bucket list LOL, but congrats on all that.
I really want to like the BREN 2 but the proprietary mags on the 7.62x39 version just rubs me the wrong way., especially for a gun that's already like $1800.
