Episode Details

State of the Second hosts John and Kaylee sit down with Dan and Danielle, the husband-and-wife team behind Ammo Squared, to break down an ammo model that works nothing like the gun store. Ammo Squared started in their garage in 2015, right as the country was coming out of an ammo shortage. Dan, who was working in tech as a product marketer with a SaaS background, had a simple thought: what if you could put away a little ammo every month the way you put money into a 401k, then pull it when there's a shortage. The first version ran on WordPress, sold ammo in $5 increments, and vacuum-sealed small quantities like seven rounds of 45 ACP. That pivoted fast. The company has since moved through a string of warehouses, from a 1400 square foot space up to 7500, and is now looking at a 20,000 to 30,000 square foot space, probably in Texas.

The core of the conversation is how the program actually works. You set a budget, pick your calibers by percentage like a mutual fund, and the system auto-buys on the schedule you choose. Ammo accumulates in your online account down to a fraction of a round, priced just below the market median, until you have full shippable boxes. You decide when to ship with triggers like every $300, every thousand rounds, or every six months. Because you can buy without taking delivery, customers can exchange calibers, sell their inventory back at the market price, or hold ammo as what Dan and Danielle call a security blanket. They walk through 2020, when the model got its real test: customers who had been accumulating for years just hit the ship button while everyone else stood in line. New signups came in so fast the company had to start a waitlist. PMC came through with pallets when distributors ran dry, a relationship that started with an unplanned booth visit at SHOT Show.

Much of the back half is a shared war-story session about the shortages. John, who worked behind a gun counter and on the manufacturing side, recounts empty shelves, a single store order of 996 guns, a steel-case case of 9mm for $112 per thousand rounds, and people reselling 22 ammo at gun shows. Kaylee ties it back to new and rural shooters, the intimidation of the gun store, and why a clearly labeled practice-versus-defense breakdown helps people who do not know what they do not know. They cover state shipping rules like California's background-check requirement, the trouble with Alaska and Hawaii, catalog trimming from 500 variations down to about 60 common calibers, free shipping over $250, and Ammo Squared's pending-state system for handling shortages. To find it, the team points to ammosquared.com and a newsletter signup.

Questions this episode answers

What is Ammo Squared and how did the business start?

Ammo Squared is an ammunition subscription and storage service that lets people accumulate ammo over time instead of buying it all at once. Husband-and-wife co-founders Dan and Danielle started it in their garage in 2015, coming out of an ammo shortage, after Dan imagined funding ammo monthly like a 401k.

How does the auto-buy and accumulation model work for a customer?

You set a budget, pick your calibers by percentage like a mutual fund, and the system auto-buys on the schedule you choose. Ammo accumulates in your online account down to a fraction of a round until you have full shippable boxes, and you choose when to ship with triggers like every $300 or every thousand rounds.

Can you sell ammo back or exchange it for a different caliber before it ships?

Yes. Because you can buy ammo without taking delivery, customers can exchange calibers, sell their inventory back at the market price, or just hold the ammo as a security blanket. This flexibility is built into the program and is part of what sets it apart from a normal purchase.

What happens to Ammo Squared customers during a shortage like 2020?

Customers who had been accumulating for years simp