Ammo has been basically unavailable on retail shelves here in Kommiecticut for quite a while. At the height of the Dem-Panic there was nothing at all. It's getting better, but nothing for me. I had been wanting to replace most of my EDC ammo because it was pretty old and getting beat up from loading and unloading. I also needed to replenish my stocks of bullets for handloading for both pistol and rifle.
First up, finding my rifle bullets. I use a .311" 174 grain Sierra Matchking FMJBT for my precision loaded 7.62x54r rounds. My rifle's barrel slugged out to .311" not .308" and although .308" will easily give me M.O.M. (minute of man) they won't give me the precision I get from .311". I was buying them directly from Sierra, but they have been constantly out of stock. They have also been out of stock and unable to order at Sierra dealers... except one. Optics Planet took my order for 500 bullets for a total of $229.99 and a turn around time of 5-7 weeks. I thought I was completely out of them, but found a sealed box of 100 in my stash, and have 70 rounds loaded and ready to shoot, so no rush on those.
Next, I decided that since I have been and will continue shooting more, I should stock up on my handgun bullets. I only load Berry's copper plated bullets in 9mm, .38/.357 Magnum, .45 ACP, and 45 Long Colt. The plating prevents lead fouling and is safe to shoot in Glocks. It also spatters instead of fragmenting when shooting steel plates. They recommend not loading +P or too hot so the plating won't separate from the lead core. The boxes are marked with maximum velocity. I only load target rounds to function my guns so no problem. I ordered 250 9mm, 750 .45, and 1000 .38/.357's. The 9mm and 250 bullet box of .45 arrived yesterday, the balance should be here by Tuesday. Berry's shipped via USPS, so don't get me started on their retarded shipping notifications or tracking history.
Finally, my replacement carry ammo. I use nothing but Hornady Critical Defense. As I wrote earlier, I am unable to find any for sale locally. Because of Kommiecticut's restrictions, many places want nothing to do with selling online here. I looked around to see who would, and found Bud's Gun Shop out of Kentucky will. I have watched tons of Hickok45's videos and he gets guns and ammo from them all the time. Just scan them a copy of your Kommiecticut (or other state with similar infringements in place) pistol permit and drivers license once and you're good to go. They also have a "Qualified Purchase" program for LEO, military, and 1st Responder to get certain items at an automatic discount. Scan them a copy of your official ID once and you're set. I ordered a box of 25 .380ACP, two boxes of 25 of 9mm, and two boxes of 20 .45ACP. That is all I needed to fully load my mags and get rid of the beat up rounds. I'll shoot those at a future range outing since I never get to shoot full power factory loads.
