Ammo Hunters and Academy Sports

[Snaveba]

I have been somewhat regularly heading to my local Academy Sports (Cool Springs for me) before they open to get in line to by ammo. Before Christmas it was Mon/Wed/Fri for shipments, now it is just Mon/Fri. (Not that I can, or could go every day)

There are a number of regulars as well. That got me wondering if anyone else from the TGO was doing the same thing.  
 

Edited January 22, 2021 by Snaveba

[hipower]

1 hour ago, Snaveba said:

I have been somewhat regularly heading to my local Academy Sports (Cool Springs for me) before they open to get in line to by ammo. Before Christmas it was Mon/Wed/Fri for shipments, now it is just Mon/Fri. 

There are a number of regulars as well. That got me wondering if anyone else from the TGO was doing the same thing.  
 

No. Rivergate store is practically owned by a small group that's there almost every morning. Stopped fighting them and just stay home.

[felinesNfreedom]

I work at Academy part time and we get ammo in regularly. The problem is the guys standing in line and buying the ammo up to resale. I know it's capitalism but it still annoys the crap out of me. If those people would stop ammo would become much more available, a lot of times we are our own worst enemy.  

[Erich]

Amen brother.

I was thinking I might have to move to an air rifle if this keeps up much longer.
 

 

Edited January 22, 2021 by Erich

[Erich]

6 minutes ago, felinesNfreedom said:

I work at Academy part time and we get ammo in regularly. The problem is the guys standing in line and buying the ammo up to resale. 

Are the margins that good after tax to make it worth it? What does 1k rnds of brass 9mm go for there nowadays?

 

[Snaveba]

I am buying so I can shoot. But I am sure there are some re-sellers. Academy has kept their prices reasonable. I think I have paid between $0.24 and $0.30 per round for 9mm.

As long as folks on Gunbroker continue to pay stupid amounts for ammo (near $1.00 per round fir 9mm) people will resell.  

 

[Snaveba]

[krunchnik]

Well that's just ridiculumus-an add from Ammoguide had a seller of in stock Winchester Law Enforcement Black Talon 127gr +P+ at 50 rounds for $83.00-and in stock-kinda pricey in my estimates.

Last time I was in an Academy store here in Memphis all they had in the ammo section was 10 or 15 boxes of 22 Mag Hornady Varmint in stock and a few boxes of 12 gauge hevi shot.

[Darrell]

45 minutes ago, felinesNfreedom said:

The problem is the guys standing in line and buying the ammo up to resale. I know it's capitalism

No, that is NOT capitalism, it's profiteering. Capitalism assumes adding value. People who wait on line to buy ammo, then sell it two hours later are contributing mightily to the whole problem. At best it's unethical.

[Erich]

38 minutes ago, Snaveba said:

I am buying so I can shoot. But I am sure there are some re-sellers. Academy has kept their prices reasonable. I think I have paid between $0.24 and $0.30 per round for 9mm.

 

Ah...no wonder. I had no idea. Haven't bought ammo from a brick and mortar for many years. So its the online guys tripling down.

[Erich]

5 minutes ago, Darrell said:

No, that is NOT capitalism, it's profiteering. Capitalism assumes adding value. People who wait on line to buy ammo, then sell it two hours later are contributing mightily to the whole problem. At best it's unethical.

Do you need to add value?  I imagine they could argue they are by increasing availability from a highly localized area to a national offering as the seller does not make it available for online purchase. Exactly what Amazon does with some food stuffs.

But yes, it would be nice is someone smacked them on the pee pee.

Like the cat dude was saying, they recognize regulars, it would be nice if they put limits on them like grocery stores were. May stop some even if unenforceable.

Are these guys camping out at the stores the night before? How is that rush in the AM. They wait in the car and when the first guy exits there is a mad spring to the door? I'd almost like to see that.

[Quavodus]

I've not been to Academy looking for ammo in awhile. But, I think one time out of maybe 5 trips there, I found some ammo I was looking for. .45 ACP, because I don't have dies yet. As far as the ammo scalpers go, a good aluminum base ball bat will slow that down some. 

[Swamp ash]

4 minutes ago, Quavodus said:

I've not been to Academy looking for ammo in awhile. But, I think one time out of maybe 5 trips there, I found some ammo I was looking for. .45 ACP, because I don't have dies yet. As far as the ammo scalpers go, a good aluminum base ball bat will slow that down some. 

You can draw a lot of attention while carrying a concealed baseball bat...

[Snaveba]

So it is a known fact that Academy gets their ammo (if they get any at all, there was none today) on Monday and Friday. The first 10 or so folks start lining up at about 7:45am I suppose.  I usually get there by 8:15 after taking my daughter to school. By the time they open at 9:00 there is often a fairly good line. 

You only get three boxes. If one box is 150rnd or more, the other two have to be less than 150. You are not supposed to go back through the line. I have not seen enough ammo in stock on a given day (except right before Christmas when the got a TON of ammo) to even last the entire line of folks.  

Monday I was able to get three 50 rnd boxes of 9mm, good for a day at the range. They usually get a good bit of 9mm (both target and defense). I have not seen 45 for a while except in MS right after Christmas. They did happen to have 38 Special on Monday.  

[Erich]

Glad they have kind of system so you can get something.

Admire your passion to stick it out.

 

[Snaveba]

11 minutes ago, Erich said:

Glad they have kind of system so you can get something.

Admire your passion to stick it out.

 

I don’t want to pay 3x the price for ammo.

[papa61]

well ammo sales have now scratched one of my local stores from my visit/buy from list. Went in last night, said good evening, put my mask on and per the notice on the door proceeded to the table and "sanitized" my hands. I proceeded directly to the ammo isle and found what I wanted. One of the staff came over and asked if he could help me find anything. "No thank you, I found what I need" I made my choice between the two different bullets and picked up two boxes. As I straightened up he returned to tell me they have a limit of one box. (20 rds) in each caliber. Ok, put one box back and made a walk around the store to see what guns they had and prices. I didn't tarry as it was near closing time. I went to the counter and was told "I can't sell you that, we are closed"

I bought 60 rounds off Gun Broker this morning. I won't miss the local shop as we have two more and a sportsmans warehouse in town.

by the way, the ammo I bought was reasonably priced. Got hit with shiooing of course but the seller messaged me that if I needed anything else he would not charge extra so I could have placed a bigger order and spread the shipping charges out.

[Johnny Rotten]

I stopped by the Huntsville store this afternoon, not a single box of ammo (anything) and 2 long guns, didn't look at any hand guns

[felinesNfreedom]

On 1/22/2021 at 11:22 AM, Erich said:

Like the cat dude was saying, they recognize regulars, it would be nice if they put limits on them like grocery stores were. May stop some even if unenforceable.

Are these guys camping out at the stores the night before? How is that rush in the AM. They wait in the car and when the first guy exits there is a mad spring to the door? I'd almost like to see that.

The cat dude, I like it. There is a limit per customer but people still take advantage by bringing aunts, cousins, stepsons, brothers you know how it goes. As someone else said people get there a couple hours before we open and wait in hopes that we got a truck with ammo on it. At one point when we still had ammo in the back by the guns people would sprint to the gun counter to try and be first to buy. It's been moved up front now so I am not sure how that goes.

 

Pricing on our end has only gone up a couple dollars a box. I got 9mm for 24 cents a round a couple weeks ago. I only work four hours a week to keep my discount now so I miss out on most of the ammo shipments. I don't care how much I want ammo I'm not paying 50 cents to a dollar a round for 9mm or anything really. My neighbor picked up steel cased 9mm from the outpost over the weekend for 35 bucks a box of 50, that's insane.

[Erich]

21 hours ago, felinesNfreedom said:

. At one point when we still had ammo in the back by the guns people would sprint to the gun counter to try and be first to buy. It's been moved up front now so I am not sure how that goes.

Ah geez. That's smart, don't want anyone to break a hip falling trying to run to the back.

This has good potential for setting up a cage match! 

Seriously though, maybe they should set this up like a lottery, give numbers outside so its not biased by biggest and baddest. That would curtail the hours spent outside if there was no reason to be first. Wouldn't solve the family problem, but at least gives other a chance.

[Snaveba]

The folks who go to the Cool Springs Academy Sports are civil and stay in line. We all just calmly walk to the back and take our turn getting the ammo we want. 

[10-Ring]

Stopped by the Mt. Juliet Academy yesterday.  I probably have more ammo in my couch cushions than they have on their shelves, which could still be said even if it was just one loose round. 

[Garufa]

My understanding is if you go to Academy on an ammo day and don’t get to buy in store, there are neckbeards out in the parking lot ready to sell you what they just bought inside. 

[Dirtshooter]

On 1/27/2021 at 6:16 PM, Garufa said:

there are neckbeards out in the parking lot ready to sell you what they just bought inside

That's when you need to call the leo and tell them there are people selling in parking lot without a permit, better yet would be to have Academy prosecute them for selling on their property. I wouldn't buy a case for $1 from the bums that are resellers. I read where there was an Academy manager that was getting the ammo and having a friend who ran a pawn shop sell it and they split the profits. Stop and think about this for a moment if all the ammo manufacturers are pumping out ammo as fast as they can and so many stores say they aren't getting any, where in the pipeline is the "leak"? Somewhere all these guys on gunbroker are getting cases of ammo? I feel sorry for all the new gun owners, the rest of us should have learned the lesson from the past.

[Snaveba]

I have not seen this happen myself, but I usually am heading to the office as soon as I leave. I did have an Academy Sports employee tell me had happed in the past. He said the folks at least left the Academy Sports parking lot.