Use Ammoseek.com To Find Instock Ammo!

For the last couple years it has been extremely frustrating trying to find ammo and reloading supplies in stock.  It seems like just recently I am starting to find common types of ammo in stock, but you may not always be in the exact loading I'm looking for.  22 Long Rifle and reloading components still seem to be difficult to track down.  While some people spend the time checking websites and waiting in line at stores, I typically don't have the time to check every website I can think of, nor do I want to go to my local Walmart at 6 a.m. just hoping to get in line in time to get some 22 LR.  

Reloading can be a great way to lower your cost per round and get out and shoot more.  Unfortunately reloading components have been hard to track down recently as well.  It can be frustrating trying to find primers and some of the more popular powders.

A great resource for finding ammo and reloading components online is www.ammoseek.com.  It allows you to search dozens of vendors at once, providing a quick list of in stock ammo, sorted by the price per round. 

Ammoseek homepage

When you first arrive at www.ammoseek.com you will notice several quick links to popular calibers, including 22 LR.  You can also use the boxes to select cartridge type (handgun, rifle, etc), then use the drop down boxes to select a cartridge from the hundreds of options.  There is a good chance that if there are factory loaded options for the cartridge you are looking for, it will be in the drop down menu.

Selecting a cartridge, in this case 6.8 SPC

In the picture above I selected 6.8 Remington SPC.  If you search like this it will show all options, from price to manufacturer.  You can choose to narrow the search to a specific bullet weight, manufacturer or price per round.  You can also use keywords to look for specific loadings.  

Search results for 300 AAC Blackout ammunition

In the photo above I selected 300 AAC Blackout and I'm showing just the first few results.  From the left to the right it displays the results starting with retailer, manufacturer, caliber, type, bullet weight in grains, when it was last updated, description, price, number of rounds and price per round.  The default sort method is least expensive price per round at the top, increasing in cost as you go down the list.  

While the majority of the retailers are updated fairly often, you always run the risk of the ammo going out of stock between the search and when you actually try to purchase the ammo, especially for fast moving items like 22 LR.  It always pays to check out a couple of the different websites, especially if they are offering the same loading for a similar price.  There may be other things to consider, such as the cost of shipping and handling.  

Search results for 260 Remington brass

Above is an example of the search results screen for 260 Remington brass.  With a similar layout to the ammo search, you can quickly locate the best prices for reloading components that are in stock.  You can search in the same way for bullets and primers.

While this website doesn't show all of the websites that I look at for ammo, it has a lot of options.  It can also give you an idea of the current price of certain loadings, helping you to know when to pass on ammo that is priced higher than it should be.

And a little more on reloading, you can almost always reload for cheaper than the cost of a similar factory cartridge.  Even though it can be just as hard to find reloading components, strategically buying larger lots of certain powders and primers can serve multiple calibers.  For example, I use Hodgdon Varget for 223, 22-250, 308, and 30-06.

Casting is another cost saving option that I have recently started experimenting with.  I melt down range lead and can cast my own .452 bullets for a fraction of the cost of buying factory jacketed bullets.  It also allows me to collect and smelt lead on my own, without worrying about what bullets are currently in stock.  I enjoy that extra freedom of relying on my needs to determine when to make additional bullets, rather than hoping my favorite bullets are in stock when I need them.  You can see my post and video about smelting range lead here:  Casting Lead Ingots From Range Scrap Lead