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Shortage on ammo at your WalMart?

Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2012 11:24 pm
by 68Charger
I've been trying to find ammo around my walmart and can't find any for the life of me.

Well, let me say that I can't find the .45 winchester or federal ammo at any wally world here in San Antonio. I was wondering is this just my problem or is everyone else have ammo shortage?

Re: Shortage on ammo at your WalMart?

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 12:15 am
by Greybeard
I was looking a bit in the store in Highland Village today and did not look for any specifically handgun calibers, but those shelves appeared to be stocked fairly well. What they did not have that I was looking for was Plain Jane 7.62 x 39. The Wife got me to watching The Walking Dead on our new big screen TV and it gave me a good excuse to buy more ammo. :mrgreen:

Re: Shortage on ammo at your WalMart?

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 1:12 am
by erick619
here in corpus there has been a shortage of .223.

Re: Shortage on ammo at your WalMart?

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 1:14 am
by alexrex20
no shortages here at the Wal-Marts in NW Houston

Re: Shortage on ammo at your WalMart?

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 7:02 am
by jmra
I haven't noticed a shortage in the Ellis Co area.

Re: Shortage on ammo at your WalMart?

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 7:58 am
by Heartland Patriot
Just my 2 cents, of course...

It seems that each Wal-Mart gets a limited amount of any and all kinds of ammo. Then, each area seems to have a "favorite" ammo amongst the locals that shop at their area Wal-Mart. That "favorite" may be seasonal, or not, even. But, if you are looking for .223 and they don't have it, it seems like a shortage. They might have plenty of .38 Special in stock, but since you aren't looking for it, its NOT a shortage. I have a few calibers that I shoot and when I go to Wal-Mart, I ask the man who generally works the area what sort of FMJ/target ammo he has in stock. He'll run through what he has for me, and I pick out of what he has. If I need something particular they don't have, I go to a sporting goods place or I order it. I buy what Wal-Mart has when I can because of the low price. Just my 2 cents, like I said. YMMV.

Re: Shortage on ammo at your WalMart?

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 8:20 am
by Seabear
erick619 wrote:here in corpus there has been a shortage of .223.

I looked in the Bluff store yesterday and was suprised how low they were on WWB in general, as well as the fact that they didn't have any 100 round boxes of Federal 9mm. That store normally stays stocked. I think the big problem is that since they enlarged, they gave Automotive and SPorting goods and I believe toys to one manager. He's spread too thin. Everyone I talk to at that store says they are overwhelmed.

Re: Shortage on ammo at your WalMart?

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 8:29 am
by Scott in Houston
I've been in the .45 market and noticed it being absent at most of the Walmarts I've hit too.
The WWB 100 round box for $31.95 is the best deal on .45 target ammo going.
That particular box is no where to be found lately.

I've seen plenty of other caliber and even other .45 ammo, but not WWB.

Re: Shortage on ammo at your WalMart?

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 8:51 am
by RussW
The Walmart in Kemah seems to always have slim pickings for many calibers... I've almost given up on them for 9mm and 45. Oddly enough though, the Walmart across from The Arms Room seems to always be well stocked with everything, including the WWB 100 count in 9mm for 20.95 and .45 for 31.95.

Re: Shortage on ammo at your WalMart?

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 9:17 am
by Oldgringo
It may get sold before it hits the shelves, just sayin'....

The WM stores that sells FED 510B for $1.97/box (Jacksonville) always seem to have plenty. The store that sells the same .22LR for $1.47/box (Lufkin) never has any.

Re: Shortage on ammo at your WalMart?

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 9:26 am
by Seabear
The department manager can order extra stuff he knows will sell. They may not always get it, but they can ask for it. Like yesterday I needed a tube of grease for my grease gun. The dept. manager showed me where it was and I took the LAST tube. He said oh crap , I better order some more and shot his wand at the barcode on the empty spot. Sometimes that is how it works. When this particular manager was at the smaller store and only had to worry about sporting goods, ammo was always in stock. He's a shooter also which helps.

Re: Shortage on ammo at your WalMart?

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 10:12 am
by n5wd
No probs with ammo in the three WalMarts I look at for ammo (Lake Worth, White Settlement, Westover Hills areas of Fort Worth). I've been buying the 250 boxes of UMC 9mm pretty regularly and often take the last ones on the shelves. I talked with the manager of the Lake Worth store who said that if I was going to do that often, he'd try to order a few more boxes each month - said that there was a 50/50 chance that he'd get more, if the computer-in-the-sky determined that there was a good chance the extra would sell. Apparently, the word of a store manager isn't enough - the stocking program requires some history of increased sales before it'll let the stock level bump up.

Re: Shortage on ammo at your WalMart?

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 10:21 am
by RottenApple
n5wd wrote:No probs with ammo in the three WalMarts I look at for ammo (Lake Worth, White Settlement, Westover Hills areas of Fort Worth). I've been buying the 250 boxes of UMC 9mm pretty regularly and often take the last ones on the shelves. I talked with the manager of the Lake Worth store who said that if I was going to do that often, he'd try to order a few more boxes each month - said that there was a 50/50 chance that he'd get more, if the computer-in-the-sky determined that there was a good chance the extra would sell. Apparently, the word of a store manager isn't enough - the stocking program requires some history of increased sales before it'll let the stock level bump up.
I've been told the same thing by WallyWorld managers before. But if you stop and think about it, if they only get 12 boxes of <insert_caliber_of_choice_here> and always sell out of it, how can they "show increased sales" when they can only sell the 12 they have? The register doesn't have a button for "I woulda bought it but it ain't in stock". :banghead:

Re: Shortage on ammo at your WalMart?

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 4:52 pm
by nakedbike
RottenApple wrote:I've been told the same thing by WallyWorld managers before. But if you stop and think about it, if they only get 12 boxes of <insert_caliber_of_choice_here> and always sell out of it, how can they "show increased sales" when they can only sell the 12 they have? The register doesn't have a button for "I woulda bought it but it ain't in stock". :banghead:
If they sell all of their stock before reordering at an earlier date I think it would conclude an increasing sales trend. That is how I would have made the algorithm work.

My stores (Las Cruces, NM) have been really good at keeping lots of ammo on the shelves. :)

Re: Shortage on ammo at your WalMart?

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2012 5:29 pm
by alvins
.308 has been almost impossible for me around south houston area other then basspro