Monday, May 10, 2010

never hurts to ask

The other day, as I was mournfully gazing at the empty Walmart ammo case, the salesman came over and asked if he could help me.

"Probably not...but what's that?" I pointed to a box of 9mm NATO. I'd never seen that before.

The man explained how it was different than regular 9mm. I nodded and we talked a bit longer before he asked again, "Are you sure you're not looking for something in particular?"

I sighed dramatically. "Well, I'm always looking for .380 but I'm beginning to think it doesn't exist."

He ducked down behind the counter, unlocked a small cabinet, reached inside and pulled out the store's one and only box of .380. It might have been the only box of .380 the store has had in months. I was bouncing with excitement and might have even made a small (completely dignified) squee sound.

"Can I buy it? Can I?"

He grinned at me and handed it over. I promptly clutched it to my chest.


It's like the Holy Grail and the tooth fairy and the Fourth of July all wrapped up in one!

27 comments:

Carteach said...

Much of it available around here, although the pricing is still kind of stupid.

Jay G said...

Not only did I pick up one of those mythical boxes, I also got some Federal bulk .22LR, which I was beginning to think needed to be excreted by one of Ă˜bama's unicorns...

Eric said...

LGS has tons of PMC .380. Last time I checked, it was close to $30/box.

Laura said...

heh. you acted the way i did a few months ago when the wally world near me had TWO boxes of Winchester .380 - i was shocked, slightly amazed, and quite a bit lighter in the wallet once i left the store.

The Duck said...

Acme Ammo LLC has it http://www.acmeammollc.com/380_auto
$19.81 a box

aaronspuler said...

Saw 2 boxes of 380 at a gun show back in September. They were 50 round boxes... one was listed for $60 and the other for $75. They were just standard target ammo. If memory serves me correctly, the cheaper was Winchester and the more expensive was Remington.

Rustmeister said...

I check so often, the girls know my by sight now.

Maybe that means I spend too much time in WalMart....

Kristophr said...

And now you'll go and shoot it all up ...

The Frugal Shooter said...

I had an episode about that on my podcast at frugalshooter.blosgspot.com a few weeks ago. Check out palmettostatearmory.com too. They're here in Columbia, but they ship all across the country.

elmo iscariot said...

The _only_ advantage of being a gun owner in New Jersey: since civilians can't carry concealed and our draconian gun laws mean that in practice out-of-staters can't buy "pistol ammo", we've never run dry on .380.

It's been in stock at my local shop every time I've gone looking, the Dicks stores almost always have it, and I've never payed more than $20-25 a box for it. Not cheap, but not too bad, given the Jersey premium.

Clint said...

I wish I'd known you were still looking for ammo.

A few weeks ago I saw TWO 100 counts of .380 at the walmart near Akron. I even smiled thinking that if Akron has .380 then, surely, everywhere in NE Ohio has .380 and Breda can have some trigger time.

I should have asked, I would have scored you a box.

Crucis said...

I visited my local Cabelas last Tuesday and saw a couple of dozen boxes of .380 ammo, practice ammo and defense. The defense ammo was Winchester Black, Magtech, and Hornady(?). It was all stacked on a shelf 18" by 6". Don't remember the price however.

In fact Cabelas had bulk ammo in stock for pistols and rifles. I haven't seen that much in stock for a very long time.

PPPP said...

Breda - you really need to take up reloading.

I just checked last night, and I think I have 550 rounds loaded up. Not counting the (now) partial box of 50 we just bought a week or so ago when my wife was testing the LCP at the local gun store/range. It's also not counting a couple of hundred rounds of SD ammo.

I still had components, but I stopped loading them up because I just can't see myself shooting that much .380 in the foreseeable future.

zeeke42 said...

Wow am I glad I reload. I don't have anything in 380, but I reload 9mm for about $10-11/100. I sure don't miss driving around looking for ammo.

Chronos said...

I have 6 boxes on order due Dec. 29 2010 $20 a box!

Chronos said...

Our Wal-mart has boxes of 550rnds od .22 in 3 diffrent makers. Pea-Plinker wants to buy a box every time we go in lol.(Pea-Plinker is my gun nut daughter)

Montana said...

Local Walmarts in Montana are mostly restocked. I don't shoot .380 but I'll look to see if they have any. If I depended on .380, I'd have to reload it. Even during the worst of the scarcity last year. I had 300 rounds of SD 9mm and 800 rounds of practice. I rationed myself something fierce. No more than 100 rounds in the hole per month and I prayed that the shortage would end before I ran out.

og said...

My local guy, Precision Cartridge, usually has it. Shoot me an email, next time I come down for the blogmeet in Indy I'll bring you a thousand rounds if you want.

Bruce said...

My Walmart has plenty of Federal bulk .22 these days. But, yeah, finding .380 there is like finding a box of Bigfoot teeth.

lee n. field said...

I've been thinking, it was probably a good thing when I got out of .380 last summer. My .380, and close to 500 rounds of .380 Silvertip, sold to my buddy and plowed into the purchase of a 9mm Glock. Fodder for that, I can get.

wrm said...

Geez Breda, this stuff is dee-eee-dee dead easy to reload. Really.

Before Obama, you could pick up a complete reloading setup for less than $100. I don't know how that changed... *checks* hmmm, maybe $150 now. That's how many boxes of ammo?

The brass lasts forever, except for the ones that get lost. I shoot cast bullets, they're not expensive. And 4 grains of powder per shot means a tin lasts a long time.

Yes You Can! (hehehe)

zeeke42 said...

What kind of complete reloading setup can you possibly get for $150?

Crucis said...

Zeek, Lees has several reloading "kits" available for well under $150. It's not a progressive press but does contain all you'll need to reload, sans dies, brass, power, primer and bullets.

I would add a balance powder scale if one isn't included. It'd still be under $150. RCBS has kits too but they're more expensive.

lee n. field said...

>What kind of complete reloading setup can you possibly get for $150?

Lee Hand Press, Lee die set (includes shell holder and dipper). Pick your bullet and powder to match something on the included chart. Pick up a couple loading blocks to keep things organized, and a hand primer tool. Slow but functinoal, and should come in well under $150.

The Frugal Shooter said...

Lee n field is right. Check out midsouthshooterssupply.com. They'll have the lee press, the dies, maybe the primers, and the lead pot and moulds.

wrm said...

Yup, I was thinking Lee anniversary + a set of dies. It's all you need, but few people stop at that :-)

Mikael said...

Wouldn't 9mm NATO be good old parabellum? IE: regular 9mm.