Only at Wal-Mart – 2
It’s sort of neat how you can figure out news and trends through wild-ass speculation just by shopping. I told you guys about how I learned from the sporting goods guy at Wal-Mart that ammo sales were up. Yesterday, I learned more from the friendly neighborhood Wal-Mart sporting goods guy. Since ammo is at a such a good price at Wal-Mart, every time me and the family go, I pick up a box of something (usually 9mm or 45ACP).
Yesterday while there, I asked if they had any 5.56X45MM. He said huh? I said you know, 223? He responded by stating they had a good sale on it (100 rounds for $11!) but couldn’t keep it in stock and can’t get it in the door fast enough. I asked why that was. The sporting goods guy then says that he’s heard from the supplier that the US military has ordered 300,000,000 rounds and most manufacturers have stopped making civilian ammo to help the military out. He then said that the last time he remembered Wal-Mart having a 223 shortage was about one month before the invasion. So, he speculated that someone was next. I don’t know if there’s any truth to it.
However, the one thing I did deduce is that, if the military is ordering 300M rounds of 5.56 Nato, I tend to doubt they’ll be switching to the 6.8SPC any time soon.
July 18th, 2005 at 9:31 am
“Since ammo is at a such a good price at Wal-Mart, every time me and the family go, I pick up a box of something”
And here I was thinking I was the only one who did that… 🙂
(Well, not, not really…)
Although for me it’s .40 S&W and .38 special. Recently, though, they’ve started carrying the WWB of .380 ACP, 100 rounds for under $18. The Makarov will start making it into the rotation at that price!
July 18th, 2005 at 5:19 pm
“However, the one thing I did deduce is that, if the military is ordering 300M rounds of 5.56 Nato, I tend to doubt they’ll be switching to the 6.8SPC any time soon.”
This is the military you’re talking about. If my experience in the Air Force is any guide, stocking up on something could just as likely be a sign they’re about to obsolete it. I worked on the F111-D avionics (electronics) from 1979-87. The F111 electronics boxes were tested on large, complex, and horrendously unreliable automated testers built in 1968. Eventually the AF contracted to have them replaced; the cost must have been hundreds of millions. According to a friend who stayed in the service, the testers for the “D” model were finally delivered in 1990 – a few months before they scrapped the airplanes. Anyone want a hundred million bucks worth of brand new electronics scrap?
A few years previously to receiving the new test stations, they remodeled our building – with no regards to the requirements of the new stations.
Finally, the “D” model at Cannon AFB was part of a joint forces team that would respond rapidly to situations that might develop in the middle east. We’d run hundreds of exercises to prepare for packing up our equipment and moving from American semi-desert to a real desert on the other side of the world as fast as transport planes could be available. In other words, we practiced for the 1st Gulf War for a decade – and scrapped the airplanes just before the real thing happened.
July 18th, 2005 at 6:30 pm
Also, I bet we could go through 300MM rounds from our primary infantry weapon pretty damned quick. On a 30 day invasion, that’s 10MM a day. Figure 80K infantry taking part, that’s only 125 rounds per soldier per day. And that’s not really taking into account outfitting all the supply lines and REMF that we have learned need to have rifles in GW2.
July 18th, 2005 at 7:10 pm
I’m skeptical. .223 and 5.56×45 are different rounds. While .223 will work fine in milspec rifles, it’s difficult for me to believe that the military would use it.
July 18th, 2005 at 8:59 pm
Only the case is different, iirc. The bullets are the same.
September 26th, 2005 at 9:16 am
[…] Zoiks! That is consistent with what the Wal-Mart sporting goods guys tell me. […]
October 17th, 2005 at 11:11 am
[…] I cheat a bit because, as I’ve said before, whenever I am at Wal-Mart, I pick up a box. […]