Ammo Shock!

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PUNISHER56

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After being a gun enthusiast for 35 years and an
FFL for 10 of those years, I'm at a loss of whats going
on with the cost of ammo. Five major price increases
in 2007 by all the major manufactures. Two increases
in 2008 so far, and just announced today, Winchester
will increase prices from 8% to 12% , due June 1. I'm
sure the other manufactures will follow.
Raw material, the war we are involved in, these are
just some of there excuses. I don't buy it. Lead reserves
are the most plentiful they have been since WWII,
because it's not used in any other production, and our
brave troops in five years have used 1/3 less ammo than
in Viet Nam. Is this a back door anti-shooting tactic ?
 
I think it's more of a problem with China gobbling up metals, obscene fuel prices, and the falling value of the dollar.
Whatever the reasons, it stinks. Reloading is becoming more of a necessity and even those prices have gotten worse.
 
Just commodities. Look at the large vacuum in China, for a time you could not *find* scrap steel, even junk because they were buying everything. Similar things are happening with refined metals. Have you looked at osmium or rubidium?

Right now 5000 dollars worth of copper pennies is worth 10k. ;)
Zinkies (rhymes with stinkies) are worth less than a penny but were gaining.

A very cool website
http://www.coinflation.com/
 
A lot of it is people who see the price going up, and buy more ammo!

"OH wow the price is going way up, I better buy tons of it now before it goes any higher".

So some of it is simply business. If the shooting community does not want to follow basic supply and demand logic then ammo will continue to soar even more than proportional to economic logic.
Imagine it in the context of any other product. If you raised the price of a product, and it actualy increased sales, while at the same time increasing the percentage of profit per sale, why would you do anything but continue to raise the price?

So material costs, war demand etc played a role initialy. That however would have stabilized. You have many nations once 2nd or third world modernizing and increasing thier consumption of commodities.
Then you have anticipitation of anti politicians changing ammo requirements (like serialization which would increase costs) places, banning firearms, etc and people stocking up on ammo.


Another big one is the cost of diesel fuel used to transport items. Lead may be plentiful, but it is dense and heavy. Transport costs are at an all time high. At near 5-8 MPG for most semi-trucks with diesel at around $4 a gallon (over in CA), and a maximum capacity weight that is quickly met with heavy metals, it costs a lot of money to move metals around even if the metal ore and processing are not that expensive. The ore must be transported, the refined metal must be transported, and the finished product must be transported.
 
What DTD said,

It would take a LOT of shooting in Iraq to equal the effect that China is on the commodities market.

This is our desire to invest in China and bring them into the 1st world that we all cheered in the 90's coming back to us in spades.

That and fuel prices.


-- John
 
China. It hit the concrete industry last year with a shortage of portland cement. Ammo is not an exception.

Also, try getting one of the large construction cranes. 25% off all cranes world-wide are in Dubai. China has more than it's share, too.
 
Just commodities. Look at the large vacuum in China, for a time you could not *find* scrap steel, even junk because they were buying everything. Similar things are happening with refined metals. Have you looked at osmium or rubidium?
Click to expand...

Yep, metals, other than lead, are on the rise. I be shootin' my pellet gun more!
 
It is illegal to melt down US coins........ i cant find it now but there was a link to a company that used to make a large profit from smelting old pennies. i believe they now switched to canadian nickels which are worth over twice their face value.
 
Yes destruction of currency is a crime in the United States, and even covers foriegn currency.
 
Its not just ammo. My wife drags me to Wal*Mart periodically to bring home her 200lb supply of cat litter. I use this trip to stock up on bulk pack .22lr ammo too, usually get all they have.

Federal was $9.95 for 550 rounds, cat litter $1.99 for 25lbs. Last Sunday was $11.95 for 550 rounds, cat litter jumped to $2.51 for 25lbs!

--wally.
 
Zoogster said,
A lot of it is people who see the price going up, and buy more ammo!
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more. Why would they lower prices when sales are still climbing? Yet no matter how many times I say, "Lets stop buying so much at this high price" it never works.

It is simple economics.
 
I think people are really ignorant when it comes to buying ammo, and I'm not sure why.

I agree that the basic laws of economics don't really apply because of hoarding tendencies on the part of gun owners. Past that, every time I go to the places I buy ammo, some guy chooses the more expensive practice ammo without noticing the cheaper stuff.

Someone paid $17 each for two boxes of 50 Remington 9mm FMJ practice ammo! I mean, I understand maybe if WWB won't feed getting something else, but it defies all logic to pay that much. He just bought the first thing the clerk handed him, without even glancing at any of the ammo. I don't think he was well-off enough to "not care," either.

It defies logic.

If I were ammo companies, I think I'd immediately begin selling my regular practice ammo in boxes for 150% of what it normally goes for...keep the regular price in regular boxes for the usual customers...and just hook in some idiots. :neener:
 
I was told by 3 of my wholesalers (3 years ago) to watch for dramatic increases in ammo and component prices, due primarily to China (as noted above by a few guys). I tried to stock up as much as possible, but still gave my customers sticker shock each time they came in over the next couple of years. Then I got away from that part of the business. Good thing I guess because the customers blamed everything on my store chain for all the increases.

Mike
 
China is a giant raw materials vacuum cleaner.

Maybe they'll see a profit potential in it and start to produce ammo. Maybe start using the lead where it's supposed to be rather than in the paint on toys............ah what the hell.:(
 
It seems like the early 30s all over again. The stock market is shaky and a powerful Asian nation is attempting to reach beyond its borders to affect the balance of world power. We spent most of the first four decades of the last century shipping scrap metal to Japan, which they returned to us in the form of Betty bombers and Arisaka rifles.

Now we seem to be doing China one better -- we've shortened the supply line so that it ends right at the cash register at your local Megalo Mart.
 
This is why I started reloading 2 years ago, its costing me $6/box for my 40 S&W ammo.:D

Wolf Military Classic 7.62x39 is now up to $210/case at sportsmansguide. Yowza!
 
And people say I am crazy for only buying American made products.
Click to expand...

What are these "American made products" you speak of? I wasn't sure they still made stuff here. :p

I do too. However sometimes temptation of ultra cheap tools at Harbor Freight overcomes me. Speaking of cheap chinese tools, my wife and I were at Home Depot and they had a large screwdriver set for 12 bucks. Amazingly, it was even cheaper and crappier than the Harbor Freight screw driver set I bought a year ago. :what:

It's getting harder and harder to find American products. :(
 
It's getting harder and harder to find American products.
Click to expand...
Like the American made car I bought last year (assembled in Kansas) that had the passenger door put on incorrectly.

As for ammo prices:
Copper is getting expensive. Fuel is getting expensive. More people are shooting. More cops are shooting (as in more police=more qualifications). More soldiers are shooting (GWOT). More people are hoarding because of prices and the November elections. Inflation is rearing its ugly head.
 
How do the already know that by Jun another 8-12% will be needed??

For all those that reload cause it is cheap(er) better get couple years supply of bullets now--
 
Because Olin and ATK don't buy raw materials the day they need them, they're purchased in advance.

Companies that size are often using futures contracts and other instruments to purchase commodities.
 
Thanks For The Advance Information !!!!!!!

Thanks For The Heads Up Lwwolfe ! I Just Seem To Buy When I Need It. I Guess I'll Stock Up On Some Stuff Now !!


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