I have some stored ammo but not enough that I feel comfortable going to the range to practice at the moment.
You aren’t alone. Unless you have stacked ammo deep it’s hard to weather a 3x price increase for the better part of a year with no end in sight.
The TLDR is sign up for Ammoseek.
Right now, you can still get 9mm and 5.56 it’s just going to cost $0.60/cpr and up for range ammo and $1.00/cpr+ for defensive ammo. There really isn’t a way around it right now.
You can try directly surfing manufacturer websites like Federal, Speer, CCI, etc. They don’t do notices like “email when back in stock”, you just have to check their website. The cost is typically lower like $0.40/cpr for 9mm it’s still not as cheap as it was pre-COVID but it’s better than regular retailers (I think) because they cut out the middle man. The shipping is not quick though, I’ve heard turn-around times of a few weeks (I have not personally been able to score any this way).
Some of the smaller ammo manufacturers do have “email when back in stock” but they usually sell out quickly and their prices aren’t any lower than the big guys.
I hate the pre-orders because they may be cheaper, but you know off the bat it will be weeks or months before it shows up and I’ve already had a couple pre-orders cancelled.
IMO the best bet, is maybe just buy a little bit here and there while it’s expensive just to limit how fast you burn through your supply and when prices come back down to normal build your supply back up again. Just keep in mind that it will probably be well into 2021 before prices start to settle back down.
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