> TEOTWAWKI Blog: The Great Panic Subsiding Pt. 2

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2/17/13

The Great Panic Subsiding Pt. 2

Got a chance to attend a local gun show this weekend. Nearly froze to death waiting to be amongst the first few thousands through the doors. It was PACKED - they started limiting the number of people in the buildings due to fire marshal/fire code.

Lots of people selling ARs in the $1400 price range, on up, but no one was taking. I did not see a single purchaser of an AR...so lots of people hoping for a sale, but not a lot happening.

Several dealers had AR lowers; polymers were $150 to $200, and one guy had aluminum Del-Ton lowers for $200. Not great prices, but less crazy than we were seeing in early January. These seemed to be selling, but not flying off the shelves.

AR magazines were plentiful - the best price I saw was $18 for some lightly used USGI magazines in decent condition - I'm unsure of the brand, but they looked pretty decent...would have gone for maybe $11 a piece in November. One guy had PMAGs for $30 - new in baggie - and another had 20 round PMAGs for $25. Again, not a lot of buyers - I walked back by these tables an hour or two later and they still had a plentiful supply on hand. At the opening of the show, some dude walked the entire 1/4 mile line with a box of Promags, asking $50 a piece...I don't think he sold a single one.

Glock magazines were $45 - that was the best I saw. I saw one dealer who had three Ruger BX-25 magazines on sale for $129 EACH. There aren't a ton of these out there, and I think Ruger may take a while to fill the million or so back orders that are probably out there. I didn't see any of the Surefire 60 or 100 round magazines.

All kinds of Glocks, M&Ps and XDs were available, at what seemed like mostly normal prices - I almost bought a Gen 3 Glock 19 that was $515 with two mags.

Ammo was the craziest - $1 a round was common; a case for $1000. I didn't look too closely, as the ammo sellers were probably the most crowded, so I guess folks were buying some at least. The run on ammo surprises me a bit, as no one is even talking about an ammo ban. But, I guess all the people who bought up ARs at the start of the Panic probably needed a half case or case of ammo, which adds up pretty quickly.

Anyways, interesting to see how the supply chain and demand for these things has reacted. Despite high demand, AR mags are fairly easy to get a hold of - multiple manufacturers and decades of supply out there. BX-25s and Surefire mags on the other hand are only made by one company each, and they're relatively new designs, so they are quite a bit harder to get one's hands on.

I'd say that the panic is on its way out and prices will continue to fall over the next few months. We'll see how long it takes for the market to return to normal, and certainly need to keep an eye on legislation both at the national and state level. Example - Magpul may be moving out of Colorado, which would certainly mean limited production of PMAGs and Magpul stuff for several months. Stay politically active!

I ended up buying a Joe Biden approved firearm - a pump action shotgun. My humble end of the world/home defense arsenal lacked a shotgun of any variety, so I figured it was about time for me to pick up a 12-gauge. A Mossberg 590A1, to be more specific. I was looking for a plain 590, but there are zero out on the market right now, and the 590A1 is basically an improved version of the 590, so that doesn't hurt. Price was a fair market, non-Panic inflated price because, well, it's a shotgun and Joe Biden himself gives them the thumbs up for home defense. This will be a bit of a project gun for me, so you'll be seeing a bit of it in the future.