Ammo Question

[Diocoles]

I'll buy odds and ends at my LGS.
But ammo? No way. 2-3 times what I can get it for from Walmart or online.

My favorite sites for ammo are Sportsmansguide and Midway.
I see a few places now and then that are less expensive.

I will pay for my SD ammo, but my practice ammo is usually the lowest priced brass cased ammo.

I've tried the Wolf and such. My XD will eat that all day as will my AKs.

But my other pistols and precision rifles won't.

My average 1000 round purchase is from $180 out the door to as much as $225.

Last one at Walmart was $191 and some change.

[muggsy]

+1. A LGS has Kahr CM9's for over $500. At another, ammo runs 25% or so higher than mail order. I like the LGS but could not afford to buy major stuff from them but will pay more for the under $50 stuff. However, win the lotto and I'll be a very good customer.

Who will you go to if you don't buy enough from him and he goes out of business? Does Walmart offer gunsmith services? Sometimes people can be very short sighted.

[Ken_K]

I buy a few things from my LGS but not much. I bought my G19 from them, it was only $40 more otd then anyone else I could find. As far as ammo goes I load for everything I have except 12ga and .22. If you have an Academy close by you might check out their monarch brand of ammo. It's steel cased but I've never had an issue with it.

[Scoundrel]

Who will you go to if you don't buy enough from him and he goes out of business? Does Walmart offer gunsmith services? Sometimes people can be very short sighted.

I can see this perspective, but there are shades of gray to everything. My LGS does not offer gunsmith services. Well, there is a local gunsmith guy they work with. They'll take my gun, maybe get it to the gunsmith in a week or two, and then when they get it back from him, maybe remember to call me to come and pick it up, and I won't get to talk to the smith directly. But, if I use the yellow pages and find the smith myself, I choose which one to work with. I decide when to drop off and pick up, I talk to the gunsmith face to face, show him what I want, get his take on it, and things are smoother and more direct. Would you rather go with Plan A, or Plan B?

My LGS has some accessories in stock. Some. That's great, but it limits my selection to their small inventory, which is pathetic compared with what I can research and find online. I did that a few times in the "early days" - bought something that the LGS had in the store, and then found that there was something better for my purpose AND cheaper that I could have bought online.

I bought an AR-15, found out it had a defective hammer right from the factory. Called around, and not a single LGS had an AR-15 hammer. A couple of them had a complete lower kit for $90, but nobody wanted to sell me a $20 hammer. I can get one online though.

So can they order stuff for me? Sure! But they wait until they have a big batch of stuff to order to save on shipping (a savings they don't pass on to me), so I have to wait for them to place the order, and then wait for them to get around to calling me when it arrives, or risk irritating them by calling repeatedly to ask if stuff has arrived or if they've even ordered it yet.

So what does my LGS have to offer that can't be done better elsewhere? Great customer service? Perhaps, until they can't get the gun with the features I want, so they pressure me to buy one with features I don't want for $300 more, and then get pissed at me when I buy what I wanted, at the price I wanted, elsewhere.


I'm not saying all LGSs have these problem, but most do in varying degrees. I _am_ saying it's pretty near-sighted to talk down to people who choose to buy things where the price and availability is good when they are faced with the negative aspects that many LGSs present.

[MW surveyor]

Who will you go to if you don't buy enough from him and he goes out of business? Does Walmart offer gunsmith services? Sometimes people can be very short sighted.

With the exception of my Walther P22 that has a pretty limited warranty service, all my gun makers either have a good customer service and warranty (some are life time). As Scoundrel said, if I either need a part or just want to tinker with any of my guns, I can always order online. With only one exception in my area, none of the LGS around me carry any parts that I might want and that one will order a part for me and usually have it for me the next day or two. Often at the same price as the online supplier and without any shipping charges.

Since I reload the majority of my ammo (everything except 22 lr) I do not have to buy from one source for ammo. I do not think that the majority of the gun shops make the majority of their overhead in ammo sales but do like to get you to pay a premium price.

[jocko]

I buy my ammo where everit is cheape rin price. I findit very hard to beat wal mart wwb 9mm 100 pak, so that is where I shop. If I need gun service, the first thing I do is see if the factory will fix it for me or if there is warranty, then for sure the factory. I have no issues wit private smitty's. Just know ur smitty, anyone can hand a shinkle ouotside their garage and draw in business. Do ur homework befrore u send a gun anywhere to.

[wyntrout]

+1, Scoundrel. I did buy my XD45 from the shop/range that I use. The price wasn't particularly great, but it is a nice used gun and there has to be some good relations in the purchase.

I use their range ammo kind of rarely, but I've had no problem with it and it's pretty stout... the .45 from AAA... Atlanta something... 230-gr Totally Clad Bullets... was $17 a box... haven't looked recently. I've bought two cases of .45 FMJ... S&B for $14.99 a box with free shipping from Cabela's, and Blazer Aluminum-cased for $13.99 a box+$26 shipped... got that today from Palmetto State Armory.

My son's coming in tomorrow and we'll probably shoot a few hundred rounds each... all .45's, I'm sure. Wifey may even go and shoot her H&R 929... her "head-of-the-bed gun". She's more used to revolvers... 20 years in the USAF.

Wynn

[TheTman]

I buy most of my plinking ammo at Wally World, mostly WWB, Once in awhile Federal when they have it. As far as being dirty, it's kind of middle of the road, I've shot a lot dirtier, and a lot cleaner, but never had a pistol stop functioning because it fouled, but I rarely shoot more than a couple boxes of it at a time, and clean them when I get home.