My Recent Retail Ammo Experience (August 2020)

[TGO David]

While I am probably the last person to know about this, back in August I met a gentleman at the local range who told me that he was having decent luck finding ammo at the local Academy Sports by being there when the doors opened on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.  He said those were the days that they typically put out their stock.

As luck would have it, I was able to swing by the local Academy in Franklin, TN on a Friday morning about 20 minutes before they opened.  When I arrived, there was already a line of almost twenty people along the sidewalk.

 

At the head of this line in the doorway itself was a gathering of folding camp chairs and approximately three older guys that I would estimate to be in their mid 60's to early 70's and their wives.  As 9:00AM drew nearer, camp chairs were folded up and hauled to cars and trucks nearby.  It seemed like they had done this before. 

As I stood in line chatting with a guy who walked up at about the same time I did, something was mentioned about the group with the chairs.  The gent in the red shirt (in photo) turned to me and sort of smirked behind his face covering and said "Yeah they are the pros.  They do this every time."

"Oh, they're here weekly?", I asked.

"No, they are here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and always at the head of the line." red shirt replied.  "I think they arrive at least an hour early because I've never been able to get here before them.  They bring their wives so that they can double-up on whatever the limit is per person, and after they get done you'll usually see them set up over in that other parking lot [he nodded toward the adjacent Verizon Wireless store] with the ammo for sale at a markup.  If you're willing to pay about $20 more than what they did, you can leave here today with some ammo."

"It rained this morning.", he added.  "I hope they got soaked." 

 

I am pretty sure he smiled behind his mask, as much as you can tell from a person's eyes, and turned around to continue chatting with the guy in front of him.   It was pretty obvious that we were all there for the same reason and that the only people who were fans of the old folks up front were probably the old folks themselves.  Viva, Capitalism!

 

At precisely 9:00AM the doors opened and the employee greeting us as we entered made sure to remind us that masks were required because of COVID-10 restrictions, and that we needed to stay 6-feet apart in line.  He also reminded us that ammunition sales were back in sporting goods (I suppose for the newcomers) and that there was a limit per person which varied according to what you were buying, but that a clerk would help us as we got there.

It took a few minutes for my place in line to wind to the ammo aisle and as I did another customer was passing us on his way out and announced to us all that the pickings were very slim.  He wasn't joking.

 

When I got to the head of the line, I was faced with a 3-foot wide section of shelves which were sparsely stocked from the floor to the top.  The only calibers that seemed to be left were oddball cartridges and entirely hunting or self-defense quality in small packs.  I glanced at the clerk and asked "9mm?" to which he replied "That got cleaned out immediately.  We didn't get much of it this time.  Sorry."

 

Oh well.  I wound my way back to the front of the store empty handed and noted that the cash registers didn't seem very busy.  Whatever had been in stock had sold fairly quickly, so there wasn't much for the clerks to do except watch a bunch of us leave without opening our wallets.  It dawned on me that this has to be as hard on the retailers as it is on the consumer.

As I climbed into my truck outside, I noticed that the old folks had indeed migrated over to the Verizon parking lot and were setting a few things out on the hoods of their cars and trucks.  I wondered if anyone was going to actually go pay a steep mark-up for something that had just been purchased for significantly less mere minutes before, and then reminded myself that they probably would have no problem turning a profit that morning.  Someone would buy it.  Someone always does, whether on the spot or later at a gun show or via ads covertly placed on social media.

Like my new friend in the red shirt, I hoped it rained on them.  

 

 

A few hours later I made contact with a buddy of mine who works at a national wholesaler and asked if he could set me up with some 9mm FMJ for training.  It didn't hurt too much when he ran my card and told me that I'd have 2,000 rounds in my hands by the end of the week.  But even he cautioned me that availability was very volatile right now and that what he had today he could easily be out of tomorrow.

We live in weird times.

 

[nightrunner]

Just want to say that I absolutely despise those at the front of the line reselling. And I mean ALOT

[Grayfox54]

Yep, we've seen this before. There will always be those who take advantage of a bad situation and unfortunate people. 

I learned my lesson about two shortages ago. I'll get through this one and add more when supply and prices come back down. 

[Erik88]

I can't imagine having nothing better to do with my time, than to sit at Academy 3 days a week, just so I can make a few bucks reselling ammo. That sounds like a miserable retirement. 

[RED333]

I was going to say something mean and nasty about the front of the line gang.

[A.J. Holst]

So they make $20 box per. 

My time is and gas is worth way more than 6 hours of labor for $20 and if retired, 6 hours is worth more than $20

Poor retirement planning? Tired of eating cat food?

Jackoffs whose retirement revolves around the thrill of making $20 or taking advantage of folks?

Sad and pitiful.

[Ronald_55]

2 hours ago, Erik88 said:

I can't imagine having nothing better to do with my time, than to sit at Academy 3 days a week, just so I can make a few bucks reselling ammo. That sounds like a miserable retirement. 

It is capitalism, so it is what it is. The thing that will burn people up is to find that a lot of these "pros" that I know a bit about in my area are pulling a disability check but are fit enough to run around flipping ammo and guns. It burns me that on some of those guys, I am paying for them to sit there and get ammo to flip. 

By the way, I have also heard several accounts that are much more chaotic than David's. People running through the clothing section trying to shortcut to the ammo aisle.  Not quite Black Friday at Wal-Mart bad, but close. 

[E4 No More]

There's good and bad with most things.

[felinesNfreedom]

F them all. I still work part time at Academy and see it all the time. We had a new associate reading off the manifest to a customer who came back the next day at opening and was pissed because the truck was not unloaded and he wanted his ammo. I will admit it's nice to have a solid stash of ammo this time around so I can still shoot during the "crisis", last couple I did not have a stockpile.

[Ronald_55]

4 minutes ago, felinesNfreedom said:

F them all. I still work part time at Academy and see it all the time. We had a new associate reading off the manifest to a customer who came back the next day at opening and was pissed because the truck was not unloaded and he wanted his ammo. I will admit it's nice to have a solid stash of ammo this time around so I can still shoot during the "crisis", last couple I did not have a stockpile.

So if a few boxes fell of the truck.. wink wink. LMAO

[Quavodus]

I usually respect older people a lot but, I wish they would have to wait in a downpour and lock their keys in the car. Then every few minutes a lightning strike would hit a mile away and give them as good jolt . 

[Dirtshooter]

1 hour ago, Quavodus said:

I wish they would have to wait in a downpour and lock their keys in the car.

So David, tell us how you really feel!! Yea just because they are old, I am one, that doesn't make them wise, or honest or compassionate for sure. What someone should do is call the po po and ask them to see if they have the necessary permits to sell ammo and see what happens next sales day. LOL If nothing else but to hassle them, better yet if you have a friend that is a LEO, have him go to Academy and tell them they can't be gathering before the store opens or something to that affect.

Edited September 14, 2020 by Dirtshooter
poor grammar!!

[Quavodus]

I realize I was a little harsh but, you got  to admit it would be  funny.

[TGO David]

1 hour ago, Dirtshooter said:

So David, tell us how you really feel!!

I'm not sure if Quavodus' name is David and you knew that somehow, but I do want to point out that you quoted something he said.  Not anything I said.

[deerslayer]

I'm a big fan of capitalism and might argue (after consuming a few beers) that there is no such thing as price gouging because a fair price is whatever a buyer is willing to pay and whatever the owner is willing to accept.  But these guys are asking for it.  

[Quavodus]

1 hour ago, TGO David said:

I'm not sure if Quavodus' name is David and you knew that somehow, but I do want to point out that you quoted something he said.  Not anything I said.

I'm David too

[TGO David]

3 minutes ago, Quavodus said:

I'm David too

We're everywhere, man! 

 

[Raoul]

1 hour ago, TGO David said:

I'm not sure if Quavodus' name is David and you knew that somehow, but I do want to point out that you quoted something he said.  Not anything I said.

Plausible deniability.......

[GlockSpock]

51 minutes ago, deerslayer said:

I'm a big fan of capitalism and might argue (after consuming a few beers) that there is no such thing as price gouging because a fair price is whatever a buyer is willing to pay and whatever the owner is willing to accept.  But these guys are asking for it.  

I agree. These guys are only able to do what they do for three reasons.

Increased demand

Supply not large enough to meet demand

Buyers willing to pay higher prices due to the above two points

 

[Raoul]

2 minutes ago, GlockSpock said:

I agree. These guys are only able to do what they do for three reasons.

Increased demand

Supply not large enough to meet demand

Buyers willing to pay higher prices due to the above two points

 

You forgot one thing, shooters who are unwilling to provide for themselves a way to ensure they have ammo.

[GlockSpock]

8 minutes ago, Raoul said:

You forgot one thing, shooters who are unwilling to provide for themselves a way to ensure they have ammo.

That’s not exactly a talking point in Econ 101. 
 

[Raoul]

Just now, GlockSpock said:

That’s not exactly a talking point in Econ 101. 
 

Probably not. We hillbillies are just used to taking care of ourselves I guess.

[Will]

Think its bad here,was in Knoxville Saturday and seen RK Show Ads at Expo Center,went real early and glad did as line got huge quick. Talked to locals in line and they said no ammo in Kville since March as it is big area for guns and shooting.  Got in and lot of Glocks& AR's at decent prices but ammo nother story. Good selection and priced as if 10ct gold prices like I have never seen before but Men,Ladies&Teens lined up whipping out cash in long lines waiting a turn. Dude standing inside front door with a dock cart loaded with AK&9mm ammo,seen him coming back in with a fresh load every half hour or so. As leaving he was telling a buyer that it was his last case and had moved 20K rounds in over an hour. I left at one still lines at ammo tables. Reminds me of a couple of mid season duck hunts when the Mallards would swarm a just picked corn field,hit the ground running an scooping up corn like there was no more ever made.

 

[Tobashadow]

When the 22 shortage hit a few years ago me and my teenage son seen the exact thing happen at walmart with them being on the phone posting them for sale immediately.

So us both being night owls anyways would go there way early and spoil their fun buying the big bulk packs instead of them.

We'd get off work at midnight, play games on the PlayStation or watch TV, head out at 6am and be sitting there watching Netflix on my phone, when they arrived grabbing chairs from sporting goods. We'd bag the buy then head home to sleep.

They at first acted extremely annoyed that we were cutting into their business and tried to cut the line but the sporting goods manager knew what we were up to the first day after talking to us and shut that down hard. It became a fun game three times a week, over the next three weeks. They tried to one up us the second week and came in at 6:15 but we were already there, so we came in at 5 the next time and they came in at 6 and asked where they had been. We told them we was late due to stopping at the waffle house and was hoping they hadn't got there first.

The annoyance to them and lesson to my son was worth the time, and the entertainment of their frustration was well worth it.

It got to be more fun then watching TV etc just to screw them over.

We ended up giving a bunch of it away at the time or selling at cost to people with kids.

[TGO David]

1 hour ago, Tobashadow said:

The annoyance to them and lesson to my son was worth the time, and the entertainment of their frustration was well worth it.

It got to be more fun then watching TV etc just to screw them over.

We ended up giving a bunch of it away at the time or selling at cost to people with kids.