Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
I wonder if this is what it felt like a week before the Russian revolution? After all, in about a week we are supposed to be getting an unprecedented ‘change’ which promises us all no solidly defined policies except ‘hope’.
The forecast is for….1978.
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Went to WalMart again the other day. No bulk .22 of any flavor. No 9mm. No .38 or .357. Some .40 and .45 ACP. As we headed down the aisle away from the gun counter I remarked to the missus that I was feeling a little smug that every time we come to WallyWorld we usually pick up two bricks of ammo. So while WallyWorld is outta .22, we’ve got a pretty healthy amount….enough to see us through any shortage. Of course, no supply of anything lasts forever so when bulk .22 is available again we will, naturally, continue to acquire it. But, its an excellent example of self-fulfilling prophecy.
We rush out to stock up on ammo because we think Obama will make it unobtainable. As a result the shelves are bare and the ammo is, ironically, unobtainable. So the concern that ammo would become scarce actually made the ammo scarce. Youre seeing the same things with Evil Black Rifles at the moment.
For the Johnny-come-lately types this is a heck of a time to try and find an AR or some ammo. But you and I, because we look past the immediate, saw this coming miles away and have been stocking up, right?
It isn’t over, by the way. As Ive been saying, this panic buying is going to come in four waves:
1) When he’s elected
2) When he’s inaugurated
3) When new anti-gun legislation is proposed
4) When that legislation is voted into law
So, yes, I think after January 20 there’ll be a slight slump in demand. That might be a window to get your last minute purchases, but once new legislation is proposed you can expect an even more intense flurry of panic buying.
I had a customer come in the other day with, I kid you not, $7000 in cash. He was looking to buy AR mags and rifles. He was prepared to pay around $1300 for any NIB AR he could find. Six months ago I could have sold him as many as he wanted for $900 ea. And still made a good profit. But because someone decided to wait until late in the game, theyre gonna be on the hook for several hundred dollars more per gun and probably about $10 more per magazine. And that’s without a ban being debated and voted upon yet…imagine what its going to be like when that political jockeying starts.
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While I was tooling around in WallyWorld I noticed that the price of canning jars went up a little. I had a little canning frenzy last week and did a couple dozen pints of soups so I needed to have a few extra jars and lids. The jars, naturally, are re-usable…the lids are not. Fortunately the lids are cheap enough that, like .22 ammo, they’ve become an item that I just automatically pick up a couple boxes of everytime Im at the store. There are some food preservation forums where people say that the lids have enough adhesive on them that they can, if you remove them carefully, be reused. Maybe. That’s definitely a last-ditch thing for me though. Why take chances with the nastiness of botulism and other food-borne baddies when I can get a dozen brand new lids for six bits?
The canning stuff, though, is starting to take up a bit more space than I’d like it to. Jars need no special storage requirements other than protecting them from breakage. I do leave the bands screwed onto the empty jars in order to protect the mouths of the jars from damage. (Any chips, nicks or damage to the mouth of the jar can preclude the lids sealing properly. Lids that don’t seal properly are Bad News.) Fortunately, I have an extra wire shelving rack that I can dedicate to the canning stuff. I need to order some spare parts for the canner and I wouldn’t mind another dozen cases of jars. For the canner, Im going to order a spare guage, extra parts for the locking matches, a couple extra safety release plugs, an extra handle or two and that should be about it. The darn thing is only made up of ten parts anyway. The particular canner I have doesn’t use a gasketed seal so I don’t need spares of that. The canner I have (An All American) was mighty expensive compared to something like a Mirro but I do believe it more than makes up for it in terms of ruggedness, quality and just plain brute construction – it looks darn near bombproof.
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Speaking of canning, I have a trip to the Mormon cannery this week. I’ll just round out some of the less-than-whole cases of stuff I have and I think I’ll be pretty much done with the things that they offer. That isn’t to say I wont go anymore, just that I’ll pretty much have hit my saturation point on wheat, rice, dried apples, potato pearls, and drink mix. However, they do have a portable canning unit that they let people check out so I may get the chance to can some items that they do not offer up there…things like dried corn, barley, certain legumes, etc, etc.
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And to continue the food storage theme, my local Sportsmans Warehouse is selling 5-gallon buckets. The buckets, unfortunately, are stamped with the SW logo on them but theyre $5 ea. And, more importantly, are of the much-preferred .090 mil thickness. Since Im trying to pinch pennies these days, I’ll wind up getting a few of these things and using them to add to the stored stuff we have. Should probably check and see if maybe they have a better deal on the 15-gallon blue barrels…I find them to be pretty much the optimum size ofr storing grains and water while still being small enough to be handled by one person. (Although 15 gallons of water cloks in at around 120#, so you’ve got your work cut out for you on that one.)
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And Mountain House, purveyor of freeze dried yummies, has now increased the size an order must be to get free shipping. Whereas a $3000 would get you free shipping the new magic number is $10,000. My contact there said this was due to fuel issues. Result? Group buys will have to be bigger to take advantage of the shipping.
Speaking of canning, thought you might like this article.
So don’t you look smart now? 🙂
I married extremely well. 🙂
It just sucks for those of us that have no money. I’ve been wanting an AR or another AK (getting rid of that was a BAD idea and I really regret it now), but I won’t have the money anytime soon, so I may be SOL. I have nothing of value that I can sell or trade at this point, the job hunt is a bust so far and my credit is less-than-stellar (although my bankruptcy should finally be off my record some time this year…that was a LONG ten years, but at least I did it when I was younger.) I feel a bit helpless, since there’s absolutely no way I can afford the few firearms that I still really want to get. I am planning on buying a CZ in the next few months though, so I’m buying hi-cap mags here and there, since I can afford to part with $20 once in a while.
I’m hoping that, if another ban is put on the table, that we fight against it even harder, having already gone through a ban once before and learned a valuable lesson from that. This especially holds true if a permanent ban is attempted to pass.
I’m starting a political/pro-RKBA blog in the coming week or so, and my first article is about the disasterous ramifications of bullet serialization. I’ll let you know when it’s up.
The going price of an AR around here is now $1600 if you can find one. Rock River seems to be the only company that makes occasional deliveries to the gun stores now, and according to the clerks, the ARs sell out in less than two hours when they do come in, and that’s with the stores no longer even keeping waiting lists for people who want ARs.
I agree with using the 15-gallon drums for water instead of the 55-gallon drums. I can, albeit with difficulty, lift the former and move it or load it into the bed of my truck. For the latter I’d need a forklift.
Further south
It’s getting scarce here even in Texas. I haven’t ever found the Wal-Mart to be out of ammo, and I do the same thing with Wal-Mart trips – but trying to purchase an AR is almost out of the question. I asked recently at the gun show about purchasing another AR upper and the guy told me he could get me one but it wouldn’t be here for 20 weeks. 20. The same thing is true for Glock 17s, my friend called the local gun store and asked if they had any and he said the clerk just laughed.
last minute panic buying
always meant dealing with insane price rises for quickie results while normal supply dries up, raising prices even more for “emergency resupply” hint # if you got the means to manufacture said future prohibited items, you can garrentee a future income in the underground econmy which will rise if obama restricts or prohibits the sales of said items.
otherwise continue suffering as usual, Wildflower 09
I like the 7 gal water jugs from Mall Wart. Stackable, has a built in spigot and vent and can carry one in each hand if you’re in a hurry. $8.