Ammo shortages

[Roadwild17]

Well a friend of mine told me that 5.56,7.62,40S&W,9mm, and 45 pluss 308 were going to be hard to find in the near future. I kinda blew him off as being full of BS until later that night i got on Ammoman.com and

http://www.ammoman.com/AMMO_SHORTAGE.htm


HUMMMM, maby he knows something I don't??

[Cosmoline]

Ammo is always nice to have around. When the real shortages or disaster hit, it functions as cash money.

But as far as the x39 shortage, it's been discussed many times here over the past year. It's real, though there's no reason to assume a .308 or any other shortage is going to take place as well.

[rchernandez]

Good time as any to get into reloading!

[Manedwolf]

I'm really not going to regard anything posted on Ammoman as credible after that whole SKS fiasco thing...

[Eat Beef]

My supplier told me that he has about 3 weeks worth of South African 308 milsurp left. After that, no more. He's not raising his prices, and he's always been straight with me before, so I have no reason to doubt him.

I don't think that there's going to be a "shortage" of ammo in general. A shortage of decent ammo at a price you can afford is another question. :eek:

[RaetherEnt]

I have noticed in the past 4 months that 185gr .45 Winchester target ammo has gone from $13 to $18.50 a box. My local shop is telling me that they think it is because the cost of lead is going up. Maybe? Either way, it sure hasn't been hard to find.

[R.H. Lee]

Theoretically, when this Iraq things ends, or winds down, there should be a GLUT of 5.56 available.

Theoretically.

As far as 7.62x39, I think the manufacturers have been watching the oil companies and are restricting supply in order to drive up prices. When it becomes available again, they'll be no problem getting 150% - 200% over the old prices and people will be happy to pay it-just like with gasoline.

[Borachon]

So when our troops leave Afghanistan, and Karzai's government falls, the Islamists are going to inherit 78 million rounds? Wow!

[Firehand]

Along with transportation costs, metals costs have gone up. Smallest Minority had a chart showing the cost of copper going from around $1/pound to currently almost $4/pound. It goes into both bullet jackets and cartridge cases, so...

From what I've heard almost all metals have had increases. Add that to transport from higher fuel costs and higher energy costs- running machinery, etc.- there are legitimate reasons for some increases.

And there are also some companies/countries screwing with supplies to boost prices.

[kirkcdl]

Ak ammo has been scarce for the past year or so anyway,at least in 7.62 and 5.45.

What's ironic is we're asking the Russians to outfit the Afghans with the same equipment the Russians used to kill many thousands of Afghans not too many years ago...:banghead:

[Mannlicher]

no shortage as Casa Mannlicher:)

[gezzer]

I see a shortage of cheap x39 but not of USA manufacture. How many cases you need? all it takes is MONEY

Buy when available and stack it deep then YOU will not have a shortage.

[LAK]

a vast amount of ordnance, including more than 78 million rounds of AK47 ammunition, 100,000 rocket-propelled grenades and 12,000 tank shells - equivalent to about 15 times the British Army's annual requirements.

"A vast amount including ...". Hmm, I wonder what the complete and total "vast amount" actually is.

The pilferage from 78 million cartridges, 100K RPGs ought to supply a few insurgencies here and there in the region as needed.
The "decade's worth" of ammunition will give the Afghan National Army a vast arsenal to deal with Taliban or drug warlords if Washington withdraws its troops
"To deal with drug warlords"?

Right ;)

---------------------------------------------------

http://ussliberty.org
http://ssunitedstates.org

[neoncowboy]

Sounds like our fedgov/military taking steps to insure that they have a job in the future. Like firemen going around to homes and creating fire hazards.

[MudPuppy]

"To deal with drug warlords"?

Right

What's so unbelievable about that? Poppy/opium trade is HUGE in afganistan. HUGE,

[the naked prophet]

Quote:
"To deal with drug warlords"?

Right


What's so unbelievable about that? Poppy/opium trade is HUGE in afganistan. HUGE.

And I'm sure they'll be doing plenty of dealing with the warlords.

[mbt2001]

errr

Most likely they will selling arms and ammo to the drug lords and then fighting them, shooting them, taking their cash and taking back the ammo that they sold to them to do it again to another group....

:evil:

[fisi]

this is why i finally got off my can and bought a press w/ all the gadgets.......

[Dave R]

Good time as any to get into reloading!Yup. AFAIK there is no shortage of powder, primers, and bullets in .308, .223, 9mm and .40.

There is even good availability for .322 rifle bullets (for 7.62X39.)

[LAK]

Thank you Naked Prophet - one cigar.

MudPuppyWhat's so unbelievable about that? Poppy/opium trade is HUGE in afganistan. HUGE
Yep; huge. And the client state regime that has been installed in Afghanistan has no intention of changing that. Neither has our gov, the UK gov, or any other involved with these people.

They prefer business as usual.

--------------------------------------------

http://ussliberty.org
http://ssunitedstates.org

[pete f]

I have 10K of empty 223, maybe 5 K of empty 7.62, and about 40K (two 55 gallon drums) of 9, 40 and 45. all once fired, all from the local PD.

components are readily availble and I try to keep 10 of primers on hand,

[Manedwolf]

Prices finally jumping here, and quite a jump. Blazer Brass 9mm at Wally World went up a dollar a box overnight. :confused:

Commodities, I know.

[Lou629]

You can still get all you want of the most common calibers here in NJ, but there have been a few 'spot' shortages at some of the big-box type stores in my area lately. If you have the money it is generally not a problem to get, but you may have to go to more than one spot to find it.

For the most part though, i think some of this has got to do with the prices which are constantly rising of late. As Manedwolf said: Commodities. Okay, i guess that's part of it, but i think some of it has to do with a little old-fashioned greed too. I have noted increases of anywhere from 10-20% in the past 2 weeks on just about everything across the board. It's kind of like the situation with gasoline. The dealers KNOW they have a captive audience. Nobody really 'needs' ammo., ( or gasoline for that matter ) BUT, if you're a shooter ( or drive a car ) then you're sure going to WANT some. Right?

If the sellers know they can get anywhere from .50 to 3.00 a box more for the same box of ammo. the day after tomorrow, then why not just hold most of it in the back room for a couple of days? They know we'll buy it anyway, and they know we'll be glad to be able to get it without a lot of inconvienence, no matter what they're asking it for.

Edit, typo., 6/14

[jeepmor]

Weren't we fighting a big "drug war" on our own soil about a decade ago. Now we're going to supply a country that supplies the world with Opium and it's derivatives....like Heroine.

Oh yeah, Afghanistan has oil, and now a pipeline is being built. My bad, to think we would be concerned about drugs when we have oil in the region....silly me.

I wonder if they'd get help if they were an oil poor country, like....say....anywhere in Africa? My thoughts lean to no.

[308win]

A large local dealer in Central Ohio had 5.56 green tip in paper for $169/1000 and all of it you wanted (within reason). I did not see any 7.62X39 at bulk prices. What they didn't have was a big selection of powders; a lot of the shelf space was empty and they weren't running a sale on powder so I paid over $18 for a pound of 748.:(

[fastbolt]

Well, every so often we've been told by one of our supplier vendors that one of the major ammunition manufacturers apologized for delays in some of the calibers we're constantly ordering (9mm, .45 ACP & .223/5.56), explaining that filling military ammunition orders took priority and delayed some L/E orders.

The rising cost of some of the components can also add to the increasing cost of ammunition, as well.

I was also told a while back that LC had contracted with Remington to produce some 5.56 ammunition to help catch up with military ammunition back orders.

I don't use any European, South African, Russian or surplus ammunition, though, so I never notice what's happening in that market venue.

The sky isn’t falling ...

[JE223]

Nope, no shortages here. In fact, I just saw a case of Wolf 5.45x39mm for $225 in FL - about twice what it was a year ago. So, there is no shortage if you have money - ala NFA weapons and the rich/politicians who can afford them.

I think the advice to buy some extra ammo is great advice - there is probably 1 out of 10 gun owners who actually does this though (myself not usually included).

[GrOuNd_ZeRo]

What I heard was that Wolf had to switch from steel supplier and that took a while so they have a few months of down time in ammo manufacturing.

At Cabella's they sell cases of x39 for around 60 bucks for 300 or so rounds of wolf.

[XDKingslayer]

When these war based shortages (or warnings) come out, that's when it really pays off to own a stupid caliber nobody likes. Kinda makes that .45 GAP investment come to light.

You 10mm guys are probably smiling too.

[v8fbird]

The word "shortage" means different things to different people.

To me, it means temporary. If the government, or private citizens, or whomever is buying a lot of ammo right now, it may be harder for me to find.

But this is still a somewhat capitalist country and, short of Janet Reno banning ammo, someone is going to step forward and enter the market, or someone else will increase production. Supplies and prices will stabilize by themselves.

To some other people, a shortage of ammo means that they have to go out and buy 100,000 rounds since, obviously, there will never be ammo for sale anywhere ever again. Those people, in all reality, in addition to not having a 7 year old's understanding of economics, actually help CAUSE the shortage in the first place.

As for me, I don't plan to "stock up" or anything, especially when prices are abnormally high. That doesn't mean that I'm not in favor of having plenty of extra around for that "disaster scenario."

P.S. And don't view ordinary increases in prices due to inflation to be a signal of a shortage.

[vanilla_gorilla]

And don't view ordinary increases in prices due to inflation to be a signal of a shortage.

Exactly. Don't mistake increasing prices for shortage. There's nothing close to a shortage of 9mm and .45. Prices are increasing all around due to rising transportation costs, as well as the prices of lead, copper and brass increasing.

5.56, 7.62NATO, and X39 ammo IS partially due to something of a shortage, since many surplusing countries are falling into step with the UN in reference to mil ammo. Prices are rising for the ammo already in country because the status of future shipments is in doubt.