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Wowzores, what is up with ammo?

1K views 18 replies 12 participants last post by  kt4me 
#1 ·
I bought this gun, but can't find any .380 ACP or +P ammo for it. If I had known .380 was so hard to find I would have just got the 9mm that I wanted to begin with.
 
#2 ·
Hi, welcome to KTOG!

To late now but it is to bad you couldn't have insisted on ammo before closing the deal. Maybe get that nine you were interested in but still hold onto your P3AT. There is a reason why the .380 ammo is so hard to find; I suspect it is because of the growing popularity of all the .380 pocket rockets.

Take care...
 
#4 ·
Several gun shop owners in my area are claiming the manufacturers are gearing up to run a lot of .380 come the first of the year. Of course these are the shops without any. On the other side of town, .380 is rather plentiful. Kansas City is a big place.

Either way, .380 will eventually show up just like everything else did. It will just take time. I roll my own and buy factory ammo when I find it. As such I have a supply of both. The result is I've had more than enough to shoot regularly.
 
#5 ·
That first of the year rumor may have some fact behind it. I've heard the manufacturers consider .380 to be "seasonal" ammo. Not that it's any more popular at one time of the year than another but that they can normally make enough in one part of the year to keep everybody stocked year round. Between the run on guns and ammo hoarding it dries up quick.
 
G
#6 ·
doubloon said:
...I've heard the manufacturers consider .380 to be "seasonal" ammo. Not that  it's any more popular at one time of the year than another but that they can normally make enough in one part of the year  to keep everybody stocked year round. Between the run on guns and ammo hoarding it dries up quick.
That is similar to what I have heard.  Also, supposedly, (again, just what I have heard) when they do run .380, at least some manufacturers run it on a line or lines where they normally run bigger sellers like 9mm (no sense having a line dedicated to an ammo type you are only going to run for a few months or even a few weeks and let the equipment sit dormant the rest of the year) and it takes time to switch everything over.  Therefore, they would be losing time manufacturing any ammo, at all, and then losing time manufacturing the more popular caliber in order to switch over to .380 for an unscheduled run.  Don't know how much truth there is to that but it at least sounds plausible.
 
#8 ·
It's getting better in my area, I just came home from the LGS and they had FMJ and PowRball on the shelf. I have been able to find 380 hit and miss for the past couple of months.

Ammunitiontogo.com has some FMJ and JHP in stock right now if you don't mind paying shipping. I just ordered some ammo from them and the service and shipping time was very good.

http://www.ammunitiontogo.com/catalog1/index.php/cName/pistol-ammo-380-auto

CJ
 
#10 ·
JB said:
[quote author=doubloon link=1259878304/0#4 date=1259927538]...I've heard the manufacturers consider .380 to be "seasonal" ammo. Not that  it's any more popular at one time of the year than another but that they can normally make enough in one part of the year  to keep everybody stocked year round. Between the run on guns and ammo hoarding it dries up quick.
That is similar to what I have heard.  Also, supposedly, (again, just what I have heard) when they do run .380, at least some manufacturers run it on a line or lines where they normally run bigger sellers like 9mm (no sense having a line dedicated to an ammo type you are only going to run for a few months or even a few weeks and let the equipment sit dormant the rest of the year) and it takes time to switch everything over.  Therefore, they would be losing time manufacturing any ammo, at all, and then losing time manufacturing the more popular caliber in order to switch over to .380 for an unscheduled run.  Don't know how much truth there is to that but it at least sounds plausible.[/quote]
But probably only plausible enough to start rumors ... ;) ;D ;D

I still wish I could find some fact to either prove or disprove it.
 
#11 ·
billjohnso20 said:
Several gun shop owners in my area are claiming the manufacturers are gearing up to run a lot of .380 come the first of the year. Of course these are the shops without any. On the other side of town, .380 is rather plentiful. Kansas City is a big place.

Either way, .380 will eventually show up just like everything else did. It will just take time. I roll my own and buy factory ammo when I find it. As such I have a supply of both. The result is I've had more than enough to shoot regularly.
Since they run .380 on the same machines as they do 9mm Luger, I would watch the supply of 9mm to get an idea of what will happen with .380. 9mm is still not as plentiful as it was two years ago, when it does become plentiful, though, I would expect .380 to soon follow.
 
#12 ·
manofpeas said:
[quote author=billjohnso20 link=1259878304/0#3 date=1259897883]Several gun shop owners in my area are claiming the manufacturers are gearing up to run a lot of .380 come the first of the year. Of course these are the shops without any. On the other side of town, .380 is rather plentiful. Kansas City is a big place.

Either way, .380 will eventually show up just like everything else did. It will just take time. I roll my own and buy factory ammo when I find it. As such I have a supply of both. The result is I've had more than enough to shoot regularly.
Since they run .380 on the same machines as they do 9mm Luger, I would watch the supply of 9mm to get an idea of what will happen with .380.  9mm is still not as plentiful as it was two years ago, when it does become plentiful, though, I would expect .380 to soon follow.[/quote]
You can get any 9mm you want locally here in the KC area. That includes Hornady Critical Defense. It's been that way for months. Prices are either the same or close to the pre-panic levels. For that matter, I've been seeing more .380 but not enough to think the shortage of that caliber is over. I guess we'll wait and see what materializes.
 
#14 ·
jsintexas

I almost went this route earlier after I bought my P-3AT but have declined (actually resisted temptation) as the PF-9 really is not a "pocket gun" no matter what the guys on the PF-9 part of KTOG say. (I know it will fit in most pockets but not as well as the P-3AT) Also, I already have a fairly easily concealable 9mm in the Taurus PT111 Melinium Pro holding 5 more rounds.

I can accept your reasoning if you are really paying $15 more per 50 rounds of 380 ammo and you want a PF-9. I've not paid more than $20 per box of 380 and in the last month have found supply in LGS starting at $15 per box. Cheep 9mm goes for about $10 per box. PF-9 prices are all over the place here in Houston. Basic black runs $259 to about $300 or more depending on where you buy it. Some of the gun stores here continue to gouge.

So taking the least expensive PF-9 at 259 and price differiental of $5 per box, you would have to buy at least 52 boxes (2600 rounds which is a lot of shoot'in) of the least expensive 380 availble.

That's my .02.
 
#16 ·
Haven't dealt with a PF9, but i have dealt with a P11, which as far as i know is the same "outline" just in a double stack mag, and I definatly dont see it as a pocket gun. A good IWB gun yes, but not my pockets. Ammo wise, same situation here as the last poster, 9 is about everywhere but 380 still can hardly be found at any price short of some HIGH defensive rounds. Target ammo for a 380 cant be found around here at all.
 
#17 ·
In reality, the P-3AT is the solution for me because it is in my pocket and with me all of the time. If I don't get to shoot it a much as my other guns, then so be it. But I do shoot at least 10 rounds everytime I go to the range just to make sure it goes bang. I'm at the range about every 10 days if not every week.

Not going to get into the "stopping power" debate as "two in the chest and one in the head" with just about any caliber will work.

Not sure of where you guys live, but around here in the Houston area, I've been seeing more .380 available in both target and SD in the last month. More often I can find it at two LGS nearby my house. SD ammo is still quite high though.
 
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