ATK owns 100% of the primer companies in the US and now have the ability to cut that production by 1/3 of what they were making before, if they want too and charge 3 times the price and there is no one to stop them.
Man I hope you are wrong.
This is totally incorrect. ATK (Now Vista Outdoor) is independent from Olin-Winchester and Sig Sauer.
For decades, Federal (Parent company ATK, now Vista Outdoor) got US military contract to produce a lot of small arms ammunition.
That contract, mostly, recently went to Winchester who also manufactures primers -
https://winchester.com/Support/Medi...arded-145M-US-Army-Pistol-Ammunition-Contract
Winchester was awarded a contract to manufacture .38 caliber, .45 caliber and 9mm ammunition with a potential value of $145,000,000. Winchester is the largest supplier of small-caliber ammunition to the U.S. Military, and this five-year contract award upholds Winchester’s position as the leading supplier of pistol ammunition to the U.S. Military.
Winchester also got the new 6.8mm ammunition contract -
Winchester, the largest manufactures of small-caliber ammunition for the U.S. military ... will perform ammunition development, as well as analyze manufacturing facility requirements and plan production capacity for the military’s 6.8 mm Next Generation Squad Weapons (NGSW) program.
Work will be performed at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant (LCAAP) in Independence, Mo. It is the United States’ only government-owned, contractor-operated small-caliber ammunition production facility. The contracts were awarded under Winchester’s $8 billion contract to operate LCAAP.
Along with 5.56/7.62 NATO and .50 Cal -
https://www.guns.com/news/2022/05/02/winchester-grabs-51-million-army-ammo-contract
The Pentagon recently announced that Mississippi-based
Olin-Winchester was the winner of a large contract for small arms ammunition.
The U.S. Army Contracting Command at Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois, last week announced Oxford, Mississippi-based Winchester was awarded a $51,828,706 contract modification. The award includes the manufacture of 5.56 NATO, 7.62 NATO, and .50 caliber ammunition, with the funds obligated from current Army budgets to cover the entire award.
And Sig Sauer, who also manufactures primers got military contract also -
https://www.guns.com/news/2022/06/13/sig-sauer-wins-157-million-sniper-rifle-ammo-contract
New Hampshire-based Sig Sauer recently picked up a nine-figure award from the U.S. Army Contracting Command for .300 and .338 Norma Magnum ammunition.
Announced by the Pentagon on June 7, the $157.3 million firm-fixed-price contract covers production of .300 Norma Magnum 215-grain M1163 ball ammunition and .338 NM 300-grain armor-piercing M1162 cartridges for the Army. Although not a standard round for most U.S. military small arms – that's reserved for 5.56 and 7.62 NATO along with the new
6.8 NGSW Common Cartridge – the Army and Marines are both using .300 NM and .338 NM in the
MK22 Advanced Sniper Rifle program.
Personally I think the light at the end of the tunnel went out
This is also totally incorrect.
My sentiment is that US primer manufacturers are producing primers at 24/7/365 basis to meet demand from not only military/LE contracts but from historic sale of over 100 million guns sold the past decade and have been averaging 20-36 million guns sold each year in recent years. (That's A LOT of guns to feed ammunition with)
And as already demonstrated, foreign primer manufacturers are more than willing to step in to fill any void that domestic primer manufacturers can't meet.
As we are witnessing, price of ammunition has fallen with inventory improving which will propagate to primer prices falling and inventory improving.
Fact is, the light at the end of the tunnel is burning brighter and brighter.
