I have essentially stoped looking locally since 2020 due to price @ availability.
Prior to that, I can’t recall ever buying powder or primers anywhere except locally. Bullets OTOH and what ammo I purchased instead of loaded, have been almost totally purchased online because local stores seldom have what I want. They’ll have something, but just can’t keep a truly wide selection on hand. About the middle of 2020, when things began to get tight, I looked around online and found powder and primers that filled in the cracks for me and ordered up. Since then, I bought one brick of fairly pricey CCI 41s online, and a pound or two of powder locally. The only ammo I buy local is an occasional flat of shotshells for clays if I happen to be someplace that has them for $100, pretty much what I pay online including delivery.
I’ve bought (and sold) some bullets here, and some .22 Hornet brass from that Barsness character…
On bullets, same in the last 5 yrs. Big purchases have been online when I seen a deal.
Primers I've never ordered online. Was fortunate to be able to stock up locally at good prices before the high prices hit. Powder, made my first online order ever recently for 8 lbs because it is now cheaper than what I could buy anywhere locally.
I try to stay in the mindset that I don't need anything and wait for deals. Recently on the classifieds here for $150 shipped I bought in a lot being sold together, 2 bags of 358 Winchester brass, a RCBS 358 Win die set, a box of .358 Speer 180 FP, and a bag of 200 count 35 cal bulk bullets that I recognized as the impossible to find Remington 200gr RNCL bullets.
At a local flea market the first table I walked up to and the first guy I talked to I sold the brass and die set for $100. So now I have just $50 into 3 more boxes of 35 Rem bullets which was what I was after when I bought it.
