Ammunition

[brewer12345]

Seems like 243 and 30-30 are now the 9mm of early 2019, in terms of cost and availability. At least that's the way it is here. Strangely, the 350 legend seems to be more available. Guess it didn't catch on as anticipated. I think the same 4 boxes have been on the shelf at my wally world for a hot minute.

I think the 350 caught on in the straight wall states just fine, but apparently Walmart inked a deal to stock it nationally. I like the cartridge real well, but don't live in a straight wall state, so it is easy to find a few boxes of Winchester factory ammo locally. That said, prices have definitely gone up.

 

[daniel craig]

I personally am getting pretty disgusted with the lack of ammunition (and reloading components) on the shelves!
But what I really getting disgusted over is the fact that NO ammunition conducive to hunting is available. I mean all you can find is FMJ and then only in 223, 9mm, 45 acp.
Don’t the ammunition manufacturers realize there are some of us who still rely on readily available factory hunting ammunition to put meat on the table. Many don’t reload and do have a legitimate need for factory ammunition- farmers, ranchers, property protection from animals, etc.
What gives? Am I a dying breed?

Nope. All the manufacturers that have been making ammunition for literal scores of decades if not centuries have no idea that people need hunting ammo *rolls eyes*

Yes of COURSE they realize. Don't YOU realize that it's just as hard for them to get components as it is for you? Many of the materials needed to make the ammunition also need to be imported. The socioeconomic conditions as they are right now are making that hard.

There are also 7 MILLION new gun owners out there. Presumably at least 1/14 to 1/7th of them will be buying hunting ammo. If the manufacturerers were working at near max capacity BEFORE those people bought guns it's reasonable to assume demand is now outpacing supply.

That first even factor in the people who buy all they can find when they can find it.

Be patient. Adapt and adjust.

 

[westernrover]

Bull.

Olin, Remington, and Vista have made or overseen the making of the great majority of primers in the US for decades. Powder from the two US powder plants isn't particularly scarce, but still vastly outpopulates imported powder in US-made ammo. Scarcity in brass and bullet materials aren't holding up production. There is no import bottleneck.

Bottom line is Vista and Olin control it all as a monopoly cartel because federal, state, and local regulators in the US aren't about to allow more explosives manufacturing. That means we depend on those two to provide supply. They've failed and continue to fail and we have no one to blame except them.

Jason Vanderbrink got on Youtube last year and made a bunch of excuses and griped about Vista customers complaining. The results we're seeing more than a year later tell us exactly what his real intentions are: screw the customer.

 

[rust collector]

Is there authority for this claim? How did you develop this theory? Because they could be making a lot more money if they were making a lot more ammo. Who is paying them to slow down production?

 

[westernrover]

I didn't claim they're slowing production.

First, I disputed the claim that bottlenecks of imported materials were the cause of the shortage. US domenstic ammo production does not depend significantly on imported materials.

Second, I claimed that Vista and Olin control domestic ammo production for consumers and that competition is excluded because of import restrictions (no Chinese or Russian ammo), and due to regulatory prohibitions on anyone building new explosives plants anywhere in the US -- just try it.

Finally, I made the claim that Vista isn't committed to meeting their customer's demands or needs. Their failure for years now is all the evidence needed.

To meet the increase in demand, additional production capacity is needed. Vista, Olin, anybody else has added zero capacity and they have no plans to add capacity. They don't need to because there is no competition. They won't do it unnecessarily because it's costly and they could find themselves with surplus capacity in the next cycle. They're not just failing to invest in production capacity, they're failing to innovate elasticity in their supply chain, and they're failing to project growth -- bottom line is they believe demand for ammo will fall.

If they didn't believe demand will fall, they would build more capacity. They're convinced demand will definitely fall because they're committed to greater regulation of firearms in the US and opposed to greater firearms liberty such as 50-state constitutional carry. More and continued regulation means more profit without additional risk of capital. Deregulation and freedom would mean more competition and thinner margins. Their position is clear.

 

[rust collector]

I thought we had a few more ammunition companies. I see one just coming on line in WI. We have Federal in MN, CCI
Speer in ID, and Remington in AR under the Vista banner. But we also have Black Hills Ammunition, Barnes, Sig, Fiocchi, Cor-Bon, Hornady, Nosler, Jamison, Lake City, Olin and we are now seeing a lot of Aguila, Sellier & Bellot, PPU, Magtech, RUAG, PMC, Armscor and a slew of other offshore companies.

 

[JEBruns]

To meet the increase in demand, additional production capacity is needed. Vista, Olin, anybody else has added zero capacity and they have no plans to add capacity. They don't need to because there is no competition.

Ummm:
https://www.guns.com/news/2021/07/02/sig-sauer-expands-ammo-plant-in-pro-gun-arkansas

 

[CoalTrain49]

I think they are simply swamped with demand and cranking out the highest volume products they possibly can to minimize changeovers. That is inevitably FMJ range ammo. After all, you might crack off 200 rounds in a range session, but how many premium hunting rounds do you typically shoot in a year? 5?

This is the universe tapping you on the shoulder telling you to get a basic reloading setup together.

And laying in a few components to get you through the lean times. Most people don't realize it yet, but shortages are everywhere these days and inflation is at a 39 year high. Ammo is just one that always gets hit first.

 

[Robert]

Are we beating this dead horse again? Yup the price of ammo and components is crazy, if you can find any. Nothing really all that new. Complaining about the situation does nothing to change it. Focus on the things you can control.