Why the continuing ammo shortage?

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BruM

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The shortage of ammo last year was blamed on a dramatic increase in ammo purchases. By now everyone should have stocked up but the shortage continues. Does anyone have an concrete answer for the continuing shortage of everything related to ammo?
 
I don't think the ammo shortage is near as bad as it was. I went to 2 WalMarts yesterday. One had Winchester 100 round value packs of 9mm, several 50 round boxes of Winchester 9mm, and several other handgun popular calibers. The most ammo I've seen in stock in a while. The other one had 9mm in 100 round value packs, 9mm in the 50 round Federal packages, as well as ton of other handgun calibers in both WWB as well as the Federal stuff. It used to be you didn't see it unless you got there as they were unpacking it. Seems like the only stuff that's super hard to find here now is rifle ammo since it's hunting season and that only seems sold out at WalMart.
 
The gun appetite may have subsided but people are still stocking up on ammo. Washinton is living in a vacuum but out in America people are hunkering down and stocking up on all types of things not just ammo.
I bet some would be shocked at the stocks of 22lr held in the average home. How many 380's are riding in pockets and purses?
My advise is when you see it get some more don't be stupid but get what you think you and your need.
 
I'm seeing ammo prices on the internet continue to fall, hard to call it a shortage when popular rifle ammo is approaching pre-2008 levels.
 
Shotgun and centerfire ammo is getting pretty easy to find, even at Wallyworld. .22 rimfire is next to nonexistant, I have not seen rimfire at Wallyworld in over a year.
 
The military consumes a fraction of the ammunition that the American civilian market does.

Ammunition is a disposable commodity. You use it once and it's done. There will always be a demand for ammunition. Plenty of consumers in the US with hunting, competition, recreations shooting, and law enforcement.

With the election surge in firearms sales you also had a flood of demand for ammunition. That is slowly subsiding. I expect in the next 6 months we will see more normal 2008 prices, maybe a bit higher.
 
I was at the local SW last Friday and they had all types of ammo,223,556,308,06,most handgun ammo. The stuff missing was 380 and 22lr in bulk.
I think it will still run in cycles but powder and primmers have caught up some and you don't get laughed at when you ask.
 
The ammo manufacturers may still be catching up on backorders, plus there are a lot more shooters (or at least gun owners) since the election
 
On Black Friday, the Scarborough, ME Cabelas has stacks and stacks of .223 American Eagle (Federal) 55 gr. FMJ on the shelf, priced to sell at $9 and change per box of 20.

All the ammo shelves (and there were a lot of them) were stacked full.
 
hometheaterman said:
I don't think the ammo shortage is near as bad as it was. I went to 2 WalMarts yesterday. One had Winchester 100 round value packs of 9mm, several 50 round boxes of Winchester 9mm, and several other handgun popular calibers. The most ammo I've seen in stock in a while. The other one had 9mm in 100 round value packs, 9mm in the 50 round Federal packages, as well as ton of other handgun calibers in both WWB as well as the Federal stuff. It used to be you didn't see it unless you got there as they were unpacking it. Seems like the only stuff that's super hard to find here now is rifle ammo since it's hunting season and that only seems sold out at WalMart.
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Same here. The ammo is more and more common. I could not find any for nine months, now I see ammo every other week at walfart. I only wish they carried 9mm in Federal, it is made right here in MN! They carry .45 and .40, but no 9mm :(
 
Shotgun and centerfire ammo is getting pretty easy to find, even at Wallyworld. .22 rimfire is next to nonexistant, I have not seen rimfire at Wallyworld in over a year.
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Always in stock at the wally worlds in San Antonio. Federal 550's all day long :)

JOe
 
freakshow10mm said:
The military consumes a fraction of the ammunition that the American civilian market does.
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Yeah, about 74% of it! I don't know about ATK, but Olin Brass, the largest supplier of ammunition to the various branches of the U.S. Military, law enforcement and other commercial contracts, attributes around 26% of their income from "sporting goods" retail sales.

Scott
 
ATK produces tens of billions of round each year. More than half is for civilian use. Military ammunition consumption currently is far less than half the ammunition sales in the US.
 
Bru88 said:
The shortage of ammo last year was blamed on a dramatic increase in ammo purchases. By now everyone should have stocked up but the shortage continues. Does anyone have an concrete answer for the continuing shortage of everything related to ammo?
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people shoot bullets they typically don't just buy it and store it...
 
Same here. The ammo is more and more common. I could not find any for nine months, now I see ammo every other week at walfart. I only wish they carried 9mm in Federal, it is made right here in MN! They carry .45 and .40, but no 9mm
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Yeah the one near our house doesn't carry it but the one 45 minutes away does. What I really want to find is the Federal 30-06 Power Shok ammo. I know of a couple that carry it but none of them ever have it in stock when I check.
 
Certain "shortages" are due to unexpected demand (like 380), coupled with once a year production scheduling. Certain calibers and gauges are run typically once per year based on the previous year's sales and anticipated next year demand. Since that is about as scientific as weather prediction, it is easy to see why some have been in short supply for a while
 
Phoenix8936 said:
Oh so Im not supposed to buy ammo and stockpile it for guns I dont even have? darn
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im not saying you shouldn't. im saying its like food your average joe buys food to eat not store...

just a low percentage consider the thought of even storing food for a time where it may not be as easily available...


if i misinterpreted your sarcasm i apologize i still find it difficult to see facial expressions via txt...
 
When I got my BDA folks snickerd at the little 380, everybody wanted big magnums. has the 380 suddely become popular after a 100 years??????
 
It became popular because it is now made in a very small concealable weapon.
I think its lack of popularity was due to either large clunky poorly made American models or the large expensive european models.
Kel-Tec and Ruger did a huge improvement as well as some others to a lesser degree when 380 got cut down in size but remained shootable and reliable.
 
Olin mfgr predicted in January that by Christmas time 2009 ammo will be back on shelves and most of back order demands will be satisfied.

Spot on so far. I want one of THEIR crystal balls!

Jusin
 
The idea that an ammo shortage, if it still exists, is in any way related to the wars does not make sense. As far as I can tell the one caliber that you can find anywhere is large supply is .223 and that's what the troops are using. I was at Dicks a few days ago and they had at least 6 different brands of .223. Remington has been selling for $8 a box for months.
 
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