primer shortage manufactured?

[packetloss]

I stumbled upon an interesting article basically stating that much of the primer shortage is manufactured. The main gist of it is that federal and winchester do have warehouses of primers and they are holding them back. One of his claims is that it was revenge for smaller ammo manufacturers bidding up the price of Remington ammo. That sounds a little far fetched. But he does state that while the manufacturers price for primers have not gone up in price (except for the price increased announced by Vista), at the wholesale level there were 9 or more price increases on them. This last point is factually true.

https://blog.thebestshootingsite.com/2021/02/19/is-the-ammunition-shortage-real-or-manufactured/


It would be easy enough for primer manufacturers to simply claim their production numbers are up and contractual obligations are the only reason they are not shipping more primers. That was where my head went until one of my sources asked a couple of thought-provoking questions. “Do you really think they could not increase capacity or release more primers to other manufacturers if the war in the Middle East was just kicking off or something just as critical to the security of the U.S. was happening?” “During the entire war with Iraq and in Afghanistan, was there a shortage of ammunition as a result?”

 

[CQB45ACP]

Information wants to be free and any such manipulation (especially by publicly traded companies) would/will come out and the SEC, FTC, and DOJ could have a field day in litigation.

 

[WeekendReloader]

Lots of whining in that article.
Remington ammunition production was purchased by Vista and primers are hard to come by.
The End.

 

[Mark_Mark]

Lots of whining in that article.
Remington ammunition production was purchased by Vista and primers are hard to come by.
The End.

Amen!

 

[LiveLife]

much of the primer shortage is manufactured.

Yup, manufactured by over 100 million guns sold in past decade with many going to new owners who needed ammunition.

federal and winchester do have warehouses of primers and they are holding them back.

Do consider that many manufacturers have contracts that must be fulfilled over time for military and civilian customers. If "X" billions/trillions of rounds were contracted, equal number of primers must be set aside in warehouses until the contracts are fulfilled (Their production plants can only manufacture so many rounds each month and could take several months/years to fulfill them ).

Lots of whining in that article.
Remington ammunition production was purchased by Vista and primers are hard to come by.
The End.

And Vista Outdoor owns CCI, Federal and a host of many companies.

 

[WeekendReloader]

I guess my post was a bit snarky.
I'm just a little frustrated that articles written in this click bait tinfoil hat style are the norm in the media today.

 

[AK Hunter]

I can see a company that is hard hit by covid shut down & the ammo panic swap out a few employees from primer lines to ammo lines. That would cut down on the amount of primers out the door. But as far as holding them back to raise prices??? I doubt that for the sake of the business it wouldn't be a good idea. The buying public can be a hateful thing when crossed.

 

[AJC1]

This shortage has nothing to do with the manufacturers. The buyers of all types are driving this. Exactly the same as every previous panic driven shortage. The ammunition industry does not have the reactive capacity to deal with the current demand. Long term demand does not justify major expansion.

 

[LiveLife]

shortage ... buyers of all types are driving this ... The ammunition industry does not have the reactive capacity to deal with the current demand.

I have a strong feeling primer production is likely at 24/7 basis or with multiple shifts working overtime to meet existing contract commitments and new consumer demands.

Yes, 100+ million guns sold consumer demand in recent decade ...

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I guess my post was a bit snarky.
I'm just a little frustrated that articles written in this click bait tinfoil hat style are the norm in the media today.

WAYYYY back in the dark ages I took a news writing class - the girls in the journalism school were HOT! and rumored to be "easy" and I needed a Gordon credit - and was "shocked" to find out "news writing" is about [gasp!] selling papers! "Truth" has been a casualty to money and politics since good Ol' Horace Greeley hired Karl Marx (in 1851) to write a weekly column explaining the joys of Communism, and calling for the representative Constitutional Republic to be replaced with a Social-Democratic oligarchy.

I wish I could say I was comforted by the Alliant rep's excellent post explaining why Alliant powders have been the slowest to return to the shelves. I wasn't, really. It seems that this time - like last time and every other time - handloading supplies are first to vanish and last to re-appear. Same as it ever was... (apologies to David).

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

This shortage has nothing to do with the manufacturers. The buyers of all types are driving this. Exactly the same as every previous panic driven shortage. The ammunition industry does not have the reactive capacity to deal with the current demand. Long term demand does not justify major expansion.

Only real difference this time is the complication of a trucking stoppages and all manner of employees being forced out of the workplace by a viral infection.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Yup, manufactured by over 100 million guns sold in past decade with many going to new owners who needed ammunition.


Do consider that many manufacturers have contracts that must be fulfilled over time for military and civilian customers. If "X" billions/trillions of rounds were contracted, equal number of primers must be set aside in warehouses until the contracts are fulfilled (Their production plants can only manufacture so many rounds each month and could take several months/years to fulfill them ).


And Vista Outdoor owns CCI, Federal and a host of many companies.

Vista added two new board members in 2020. Neither has a track record of being a proponent of the shooting sports. However... always remember that correlation and coincidence are strange bedfellows...

 

[LiveLife]

Vista added two new board members in 2020. Neither has a track record of being a proponent of the shooting sports. However... always remember that correlation and coincidence are strange bedfellows...

In 2015, Alliant Techsystems (ATK) split into Vista Outdoor and ATK Orbital. While ATK Orbital continue to focus on military defense contract work, Vista Outdoor focused on various outdoor sports and shooting companies - https://vistaoutdoor.com/brands/

Like the previous shortage of 2013, I have a feeling reloading component/ammunition production/shooting sports side of Vista Outdoor have experienced record setting revenue/profits to essentially carry Vista Outdoor.

New board members could have been added for their business expertise in guiding Vista Outdoor manage/invest their profits to better secure market share for their investors like buying Remington (VSTO went from $5 a share in 2019 to over $45 this year) and whether they came from shooting sports background may not matter (I am sure Vista Outdoor could afford to hire all sorts of shooting sports experts/consultants ).

To me, more than ever, shooting/ammunition/component side of Vista Outdoor has become the golden egg laying goose the size of Godzilla and likely will influence where Vista Outdoor is headed in regards to military contracts and civilian sporting market.

If anything, I see Vista Outdoor increasing primer production capacity. Oh they just did by buying Remington.

And keep in mind that Remington is Vista Outdoor's entry into firearm manufacturing so a lot of things could be happening for Remington.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

New board members could have been added for their business expertise in guiding Vista Outdoor manage/invest their profits to better secure market share for their investors

Most definitely WERE added for those reasons - I've read both of their CV's - and they are both very smart ladies with strong marketing and business relationship backgrounds.

That's my point. If you only consider the fact that Vista added two new board members, neither one with a background supporting the shooting sports, it would be too easy make assumptions which don't correlate but do coincide. Read their CV's and past performances and you see they're perfect fits for a corporation expanding (perhaps too?) rapidly and needing long-term business relationship and marketing know-how. On the other hand, this is precisely how anti-capitalists invade and destroy growing companies. Take your pick: known facts or historically accurate suppositions.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I stumbled upon an interesting article basically stating that much of the primer shortage is manufactured. The main gist of it is that federal and winchester do have warehouses of primers and they are holding them back. One of his claims is that it was revenge for smaller ammo manufacturers bidding up the price of Remington ammo. That sounds a little far fetched. But he does state that while the manufacturers price for primers have not gone up in price (except for the price increased announced by Vista), at the wholesale level there were 9 or more price increases on them. This last point is factually true.

https://blog.thebestshootingsite.com/2021/02/19/is-the-ammunition-shortage-real-or-manufactured/


It would be easy enough for primer manufacturers to simply claim their production numbers are up and contractual obligations are the only reason they are not shipping more primers. That was where my head went until one of my sources asked a couple of thought-provoking questions. “Do you really think they could not increase capacity or release more primers to other manufacturers if the war in the Middle East was just kicking off or something just as critical to the security of the U.S. was happening?” “During the entire war with Iraq and in Afghanistan, was there a shortage of ammunition as a result?”

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/is-alliant-still-in-business.893292/page-2
See post #46 from Alliant.

 

[9mmepiphany]

I've culled some post in this thread.

If yours is missing, ask yourself, "Did my post have anything to do with reloading component availability?"