AMMO SHORTAGE, thoughts, opinions.

T

trigger treat

New member
There is an undeniable ammunition shortage hitting this country, I live in central ohio and there seems to be a mad rush into all gun stores/ranges to buy guns or ammo. The big local store "Vances" has a number dispenser which puts me as number 40th in line on a tuesday morning. Some websites that still carry 9mm like cheaperthandirt.com have inflated prices up to $30 for a box of 50 target rounds. Does anyone believe obama will really be capable of stripping our nation of guns and raising ammo prices considering the second largest lobbying group in washington is the NRA(aarp being first as always) He still needs to keep conservative interests at hand til at least the 2010 congressional elections. if republicans manage to take back congress due to his unpopular decisions among conservatives we'll be in a lame duck standstill til 2012. I don't believe the situation in iraq/afghanistan is causing a shortage of pistol ammunition, a shortage of .223, .308, and shotgun ammo is more likely. I doubt there are more 9mm pistols in the hands of the 200,000 or so soldiers over there than there are among the few million citizens of ohio. I feel this whole ammunition shortage was due to a spark of fear and paranoia which was fabricated among ourselves and spread through the media. If every fearful person didn't feel the need to purchase a few thousand rounds just to have handy in case anything happened this would not be a problem.
 
Per the NSSF poll of manufacturers, they are all running at 100% of capacity on overtime. The demand simply exceeds the supply.

When will it change...not soon. Retail prices have been increased to reflect product costs, labor and distribution.
 
Set it out. It is a rat race. Like a rush to be the first one to own the newest video game. High cotton for speculators, crooks, and gougers. Lemming land. The ammo factories are not shutting down, they will make more. If there is a market for it. And that is not a problem. I don't want to look foolish running willy nilly all over the place hunting for ammo so I will use it carefully and conserve it till such a time as some semblance of sanity returns. You can rise above it or sink below it. Chill.
 
Personally, I'm just riding it out, getting a box here and there when I can, just so I can shoot every couple weeks. I've got a good amount of defense rounds at home, I feel. Someday it's gonna catch up.
 
i refuse to buy anymore ammo until people come to their senses..once all the panic buying is over the demand will be almost non existent (compared to the demand today) and prices will drop big time thats when im stocking up
 
Standing in line in Vance's... Good luck to you.

I just got 200 rounds of 9mm at my one of my local stores. They are keeping it hidden behind the counter for regular customers who aren't part of the shelf clearing crowd. The other stores in the area have a one box per day policy.

How long till the "ammo market bubble" bursts?
 
The ammo shortage is a classic case of panic buying motivated by rumor and speculation. It's reminiscent of the gasoline crises of the early and mid '70s, and it will run its course in time. It has to a very considerable extent been fueled by some of the gun magazines and a few web sites with commercial ties to the firearms industry.

There's no rational reason for panic buying. The likelihood of Congress passing legislation restricting access to ammunition or driving up ammunition prices is exactly zero. There are no bills pending that have even a slight possibility of passage. The Administration has stated that it has bigger fish to fry (shouldn't all of those people who ran out and bought ARs at above-market prices right after the election feel a little sheepish now that the Administration has announced that it will not pursue renewal of the assault rifle ban?).

Personally, I haven't changed my ammunition purchases at all. I still buy my ammo one box at a time, generally for range use. Of course, I find it to be irritating when my favorite retailer tells me it's out of stock and that backorders will no longer be accepted. But, there are still enough alternative sources out there to keep me from hyperventilating.
 
There seem to be a number of reasons for the shortage. Here is an article I found quite interesting. JT

www.gunsholstersandgear.com/2009/04/14/the-ongoing-ammunition-shortage

(Some excerpts from it anyway... JT)

"I traded e-mails with Ed Grasso, the majority owner of Sellier & Bellot, USA. Sellier & Bellot, USA is the exclusive importer of Sellier & Bellot (S&B) ammunition.

Grasso said that S&B decreased the allocation of .223 to the US market by 60% from the 2008 allocation. The reason? Politics. According to Grasso, the devalued US dollar and the Obama administration’s anti-gun goals caused S&B to shift the sales of .223 to other, more stable markets. With worldwide demand up, manufacturers like S&B can choose where to sell their products with little, if any, consequences on their bottom line."

"The bottom line on the import reduction of .223 ammunition from S&B? “We are meeting less than 20% of the current demand from our wholesale customers. We do not have one box of .223 in inventory, and will not have any in inventory during 2009,” said Grasso.

Sellier & Bellot is not alone. A company representative at Aguila said “We do not have this round (.223) in stock, and we will not have it until… maybe next year.”

Erik Leslie at Magtech said “…we do not have any inventory in our commercial warehouse.” Leslie said Magtech has focused all of their production on fulfilling military contracts.

Winchester Ammunition is running their ammunition production facilities 24-hours a day. Even at this pace, they are having trouble meeting demand. “We are so far behind on .223/5.56 ammunition orders,” said Paul Nowak. Other manufacturers expressed similar situations to me as well.

So, you want to know why ammunition prices are up? Supply and demand. Demand is through the roof, while supply is, at best, constant. For every Winchester increasing production, there is a S&B reducing imports. Companies like Magtech are just trying to keep up with military contracts."
 
Ammo shortage caused by panic buying / hoarding. I'm hoping the madness stops soon but I've resigned myself that it is most likely going to continue the rest of the year.
 
Check out estate sales. I have struck gold at them for reloading and ammo. I have a buddy that has a gunshop. He just wants the guns, I can usually get all the ammo and reloading equipment for next to nothing if I help him load his truck. There are some good deals out there but if you are just going to the same old Big Box store and hanging you head cause they don't have ammo; you need to hit the small ma and pa places. They have it at least here they do.
 
Walmarts and other stores are still getting ammo shipments, it is just that the ammo is being bought up as fast as they can put it out.

FWIW a WalMart near me had lots of 9mm and .40 Blazer BRASS at the regular price of $8.97 for a box of 50. Be patient and shop around and you won't get ripped off.
 
What everyone needs to do is panic !! Run all over town, but all you can find, pay 3 times normal price...... That really helps brings things back to normal... Or not.:rolleyes:
 
Ammo shortfall

I've given shooting up as a hobby because of the shortfall, mainly because its forced. I cannot find any ammunition online, or in the any local stores, and the few I do the price has been 3-4x what it cost just 6 months ago. I can't think about it without my head wanting to explode. I mean entire stores with Zero pistol cartridges, for weeks and weeks now. I've given up. *Expletive* the loonies, I'm out. I'll try to pick it up the hobby again when the other party comes back into power.

:mad: x -Infinity-
 
One day soon a lot of people are going to wake up and realize they have more ammo than they can possibly shoot in several years. The ammo companies are going to have a long dry spell while people use up the ammo they stockpiled.
 
Prices always go up and rarely do they ever go down, and thats on anything. Even if the demand goes down and the panic buying stops, unfortunately I doubt we'll ever see prices like we use to. I too am conserving what I have and am shooting less. Fortunately I always have kept well in stock and purchased my ammo months before the election, so I'll start buying it again when it becomes a regular in stock on the shelf item again.
 
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