We don’t know where it’s going.
Let’s look at what we do know. Things that we can verify!
I called Federal, Winchester CCI and Remington about 3 months ago asking this very question. I had good conversations with all but Remington, who would not return my call.
All have toll free numbers. please take time to call them too.
All of these 3 companies representatives say they are producing ammo at the all time high in their history. The woman at Winchester told me that ammo was being produced in larger numbers than it was in either WW2 or in the Vietnam War. This is of course all calibers combined, not just military calibers.
I asked specifically about 22LR. Again I was told that in no time in their history (since the late1800s) was more 22 LR ever produced.
Now, what we also know is that Wal Mart is the largest retailer in the world. I have been told (can’t verify, but believe it’s true) that they also bought more 22 ammo than any other jobber on earth up until about 5 years ago.
Now even Wal Mart can’t get much.
I do know a few store managers, but no one at the highest levels in Wal Mart. I want to make a distinction between what I know and what I believe.
In the Riverton Wyoming store, the Carson City Nevada store and the Lincoln Nebraska Store the managers are being told that there just isn’t any more to ship to them. So it’s leaving the manufacturers in record amounts and going………where?
Now the things I am hearing from the Wally-World are not face to face, but I am getting my info from people that have no reason to lie to me and I trust what I am told by them. So I do believe them, even if I can't say I know this all to be true.
The gal in the Riverton store (now working elsewhere, so she’s not at all afraid to say what she was told) said that the Wal Mart head office can’t get the ammo shipments that they could get 7 years ago. The demand is higher, BUT THE SUPPLY IS FAR LOWER!
It’s just false that “hoarders” are to blame. Thats media BS thrown out as an excuse!
Who do you know that can “hoard" billons of rounds? If we look at the cubic feet of room necessary to store that much ammo, it would seem like a stack pretty easy to find.
TRAIN loads are being produced, but Cabellas, Gander Mountain, Sportsman’s Warehouse, Wal Mart and so on CAN’T GET IT!
Back when they could get it, they would sometimes get a bit overstocked they were forced to sell it at discounts because they could not store such large amounts. That was BEFORE the producers were doubling production.
Do you know any "hoarders" that can out store Wal mart, Cabalas, Gander Mountain, Sportsman’s Warehouse and all the rest COMBINED and not have anyone know where they are?
Come on guys………let’s use the brains we have, and answer these simple questions.
Does any small group of citizens have that much money and that much room and that much transportation capability and that much secrecy to be able to do that, ------------ FOR 5 YEARS?
I can think of only one group of people that can do ALL these things, and I bet I am not alone in thinking it. And they are not “hoarders” among the recreational shooting community.
The big jobbers can’t get anywhere near as much as they could when the ammo companies were not ramping up their production. So the manufacturers are producing about 2X what they did 7 years ago, but the biggest jobbers in the USA can get only about 10% of what they could back when they were not ramping up production. Hoarders huh?
So if I were a millionaire and had no problem paying whatever it cost, how would I buy it from those that sell it when they can’t get it to sell?
So……
Where is it?
I would love to see pressure brought on the ammo manufacturers to let the consumers know what addresses are being shipped to. WHO IS PAYING FOR ALL THIS?
Where is it REALLY GOING?
...sigh.