Editorial on Ammo Shortage

Aguila Blanca said:
To me, it means reserving some of all these bullets they claim they're making to sell to their established [former] customer base. If they are truly making more bullets than ever, they could keep say one-third or one-half to sell on their own web site, and sell the rest to retailers like Midway. But they aren't doing that. I have been a direct-buy customer for more than fifteen years and, as far as I'm concerned, they have thrown me under the bus.
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How do you know they aren't selling bullets from their website? Have you asked them how many they are selling from their website versus how many they are shipping to 'dealers'? It seems you'd want this information before you make that claim.

Have you signed up to be notified directly when they have the specific bullets that you want when they are in stock?

Yeah, I'm sure they have thrown just you under the bus, but not their many other customers. :(

I'm sure they would be thrilled to know that you consider their plastic ammo boxes 'chintzy'. Maybe they'll read that email for us when they make their next video. :)
 
74A95 said:
How do you know they aren't selling bullets from their website? Have you asked them how many they are selling from their website versus how many they are shipping to 'dealers'? It seems you'd want this information before you make that claim.
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I know they aren't selling bullets from their web site because I check it regularly, and everything is always out of stock. I have e-mailed them. I have not received a response.

Have you signed up to be notified directly when they have the specific bullets that you want when they are in stock?
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Yes, I have signed up to be notified when three different bullets (two in .45 ACP and one in 9mm) are available. Crickets.
 
Aguila Blanca said:
I know they aren't selling bullets from their web site because I check it regularly, and everything is always out of stock.
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Seems like a bold statement.

Do you check for ALL their bullets? They make quite a few. Or do you only check on just the ones you're interested in?

Email them again. Be persistent. Besides, they said they want to hear from folks. :)

Ask them how many they sell from their website versus how many they sell to dealers.

Added: Just because they are out of stock when you check it does not mean they had not been in stock during the interval between your checks.
 
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Don't really need any but didn't want to pass up the opportunity so I ordered two boxes.
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Buying ammo in the middle of a shortage when one "don't really need any" doesn't really help the situation.
If a person routinely buys (make that past tense) 1,000 or 5,000 or 10,000 rounds every six months, and has done that routinely for the past 'X' years, then (even though that may sound like a lot of ammunition) that person waiting to place an order for any amount up to what he/she usually buys is not contributing to the shortage. On the other hand, if someone who normally buys 50 or 100 rounds every six months is now buying 1,000 or 5,000 or 10,000 rounds per month, then yes ... that would contribute to the shortage.
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This misses the point that the quote was making.

When people will fill their shopping cart and then wait for product to show up so they can check out, the stock never appears to make it to the website for normal people.

The issue with these shortages is that many of us don't understand just what lengths people will go to in order to buy ammo during a shortage.

It's not called a panic for nothing--people get scared and when they do, they react irrationally--and are willing to put in huge amounts of time and effort to deal with their fear. So while you wait for your email notices that items are back in stock, there are people out there constantly refreshing their view of a website until it changes and then checking out immediately. The notification emails probably get sent out once a day, automatically, but if there are people sitting there watching for the pot to boil, by the time the automatic emails are ready to go out, the balance is back to zero.

If you want to buy during a panic, you have to have the panic mindset. Go stand in line for hours every day at the store until the shipments come in. Sit for hours with your shopping cart filled and wait for the item to come in stock.

If you're trying to buy using your normal techniques during a panic, it's not going to work--you're just going to be frustrated and start making up conspiracy theories.

Please note that I'm NOT advocating that people go "full freakout" and stand in line or sit in front of their computers repeatedly hitting the refresh button, I'm just pointing out that if you are competing against a lot of freaked out people frantically trying to buy ammo, and you're using normal non-freaked out techniques, you're unlikely to make any headway.
 
I've also signed up for 100's of ammo to be back in stock (only signed up for the cheap FMJ type ammo) and have not received one email. I have received notifications for other items, such as guns, to be back in stock, at a 30%+ mark up. I might pay a 30% mark up for ammo, but I don't get a chance. I did find some ammo at a 70% mark up (from the price a year or two ago) and I bought some.

It does make you wonder. All this ammo being made is not showing up anywhere. The ammo I see for sale is the match or non-cheap/non-range ammo. I've waited in line at the big box stores and the only ammo they get in is oddball stuff. I think the manufacturers are making only specialty ammo that has a high profit margin. Where is the regular FMJ cheap stuff? I'm usually not one to make snap judgment, but this doesn't make sense. Someone needs to explain where the cheap FMJ stuff is.

If they switched to making only match / HP / oddball that is fine, but don't act like everything is normal when it is not.
 
74A95 said:
And I didn't check all their bullets.
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Neither did I.

But a day or two ago I DID check every single .380 ACP, 9mm, and .34 ACP bullet on their web site, and they were all out of stock. Makarov? Yes, I knew they had some of those -- they sent me an e-mail telling me that.

Whoopee!

How about a caliber/cartridge/chambering that people actually need?
 
Aguila Blanca said:
Neither did I.

But a day or two ago I DID check every single .380 ACP, 9mm, and .34 ACP bullet on their web site, and they were all out of stock. Makarov? Yes, I knew they had some of those -- they sent me an e-mail telling me that.

Whoopee!

How about a caliber/cartridge/chambering that people actually need?
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As I wrote earlier, just because they are out of stock when you check it does not mean they were not in stock during the interval between your checks.

This is a difficult time for handloaders with respect to components, especially popular components. You're not the only person having trouble finding what they want. Whining won't change that.

Can you find your desired product elsewhere? Midway seems to have some Berry's pistol bullets in stock. Can you find substitute products elsewhere? Adapt. Change your shooting habits. Put in an order where they take backorders. You know, just like everyone else has to do in the current situation.
 
74A95 said:
Can you find your desired product elsewhere? Midway seems to have some Berry's pistol bullets in stock. Can you find substitute products elsewhere? Adapt. Change your shooting habits. Put in an order where they take backorders. You know, just like everyone else has to do in the current situation.
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You're missing the point. I am (or was) a Berry's customer, not a Midway customer. If Berry's would rather sell bullets to Larry Potterfield than to their [formerly] loyal customers of many years standing, then they're not the company I thought they were and not a company I care to continue to do business with. The fact that I can find bullets (maybe even their bullets) elsewhere doesn't change the fact that they have abandoned their customer base.
 
Aguila Blanca said:
You're missing the point. I am (or was) a Berry's customer, not a Midway customer. If Berry's would rather sell bullets to Larry Potterfield than to their [formerly] loyal customers of many years standing, then they're not the company I thought they were and not a company I care to continue to do business with. The fact that I can find bullets (maybe even their bullets) elsewhere doesn't change the fact that they have abandoned their customer base.
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Again. you're making bold statements. They are selling bullets from their website, as shown in the links I posted. The fact that they happen to be out of stock when you happen to check for your specific bullets does not mean they aren't selling those bullets from their website or that they have abandoned their customer base. In order to claim that, you would have to show that they aren't selling bullet from their website, but, see above, or that they have a specific intent to stop sales from their website and only sell to dealers like Midway. Have they told you that is their goal, or are you just doing the conspiracy theory thing? Honestly, your response is starting to sound delusional.
 
The fact that I can find bullets (maybe even their bullets) elsewhere doesn't change the fact that they have abandoned their customer base.
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They didn't cause the panic. They aren't maintaining the panic. They are making and shipping bullets and you could even buy some if you wanted to--just maybe not exactly the way you want to.

Anyone trying to buy ammo or components right now is frustrated. Blaming the suppliers is easy because they're big targets. But they aren't the problem and they aren't the solution either.
 
Red Carts were full of ammo today at Cabelas in Louisville and Lexington Ky today, but tons of folks buying. Today was first day I saw .243 and 308 hunting ammo. 9mm was $14.99. I was able to get some 9mm and 308 today, but as mentioned above people were buying everything in sight. Only ammo I see at Walmart now is stuff like 300 Win mag. One local shop yesterday had tons of ammo, but at pretty high prices. It's going to be wild for a while longer I am afraid.

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Another thing to consider, it’s likely that the US military has contracts with various ammo companies and are also buying it by the boatload. That’s my assumption anyway. Any ideas who the military gets their ammo from?
 
Only ammo I see at Walmart now is stuff like 300 Win mag.
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A couple years ago the people running WalMart decided to show their "coporate virtue" by no longer carrying (most) pistol ammo and ammo for the carbines "most often used in mass shootings"...

What that meant was that they will keep selling those rounds, until their stocks run out, but will not be ordering any more. Traditional "sporting rounds" will still be carried, but if WalMart Corporate feels a round is used to shoot people instead of deer or bunnies or birds, they aren't going to stock it.
 
If people could stop panic buying, there would be ammo everywhere. The winter months should have helped "flatten the curve" because the weather has stopped people from hitting the range, but it hasn't. Every time a box hits the shelf it disappears into someones stash, and wont see the light of day for years.
 
There is a podcast by the head of Fiocchi USA where he states that just filling current orders will take them 9 months to catch up. They are adding another metallic facility and their production went from 102 million rounds to ~142 million and they still can't catch up. Their warehouses are empty as everything they make is already sold.
This is NOT going to be over anytime soon. Hopefully Remington coming back online under Vista well ease some of the shortages.
 
With all due respect, it is precisely this mentality that is continually contributing to this problem. If you don't really need any, as you state, then what in the world is two more boxes going to do?

I don't understand this at all.
 
Supply>Demand=Availability
Supply<Demand=Shortage

If the complaint is lack of availability, the options are to increase production or decrease demand. Even a pause in demand would allow production to catch up.

Hope that helps...
 
I have another theory, based upon a theoretical model proposed to me by a former colleague. I worked with him years ago at the Corps of Engineers. His theory was about the lack of ducks during hunting season.

In summary, he believed that previously (10 years prior) that the wetland habitat was disappearing and that migrating ducks flocked to the few wetland areas that were available and duck hunters reaped the benefits. As wetland projects expanded (along with the habitat) ducks had more options, and as a result, did not descend on the same hunting plots as in previous years. The result was a perceived lack of ducks.

My theory is this: The ammo shortage is real, but there are a lot more online retailers placing orders with manufacturers today than there were just a few years ago. These manufacturers are honoring orders with the smaller retailers in the order that they were received (an honorable business practice), and therefore diluting large-scale ammo availability. So, while I believe that there is an ammo shortage, I believe that until supply satisfies the demand for the larger retailers, smaller retailers will be free to keep the prices inflated.

Why do I subscribe to this theory? Well...I've been able to find name-brand ammo on occasion at places that I've never heard of. I've had to Google the retailer to find out (usually unsuccessfully) if the retailer was legit. After I place and receive a small order, I check back to (usually) find that they're out of stock.

Of course, this is just my theory. I could be wrong.
 
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