h/t Jim Allen
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As an FFL, I can tell you that our distributors have no ammunition available for purchase. We are told that the small amount they receive (boxes, not cases) are sent to ranges for them to stay in business.
So where is the ammunition going if it is being produced as Mr. Vanderbrink states above? And what about availability of primers and other reloading supplies?
David DeGerolamo
We all know where ‘The Ammo’ is going…anywhere but into the hands of The Citizens
no conspiracy. simple economics. supply not meeting the huge increase in demand.
has anyone searched betasam.gov formerly fedbizops and looked for ammo contracts, like in 2012 when fed gov bought billions of rounds post-sandy hook. No, no warehouses of ammo.
The US Constitution defends our RIGHT to “Keep and Bear Arms” but NOT ammunition. TPTB are using this loophole to control ammunition sales.
So, unless you’re into black powder, you may be SOL.
Don’t waste ammo practicing unless you’re new to the “sport”. Save it; You’ll certainly NEED it…
A lot of it is people flipping ammo for a profit. I spoke with a cop in another state and he was funding personal purchases by buying cheap range ammo available to him as an LEO and then selling it on GunBroker for a significant profit. I am also an FFL, a small home based outfit, and my distributors haven’t had ammo available for most of 2020.
I have hunted with Jason Vanderbrink and known him for a long time- he is a stand up guy and the real deal- ammo is bought and hoarded by every American that still salutes Old Glory. Too bad about my personal boating accident…..
I had (and still have) plenty of toilet paper back in the spring when it couldn’t be found anywhere. People got scared and bought up all that could be found. The initial shortage caused those that had enough to grab any that they saw, even though they didn’t need it fearing that more would not be available. It became a self-fulfilling prophecy -- the same with ammunition and even firearms now.
Learn from this. Start purchasing extra canned goods and non-perishable foods and other necessary supplies now while they are available. Even if it means just an extra can of soup or tuna on each trip to the store. A friend that grew up in Romania under Ceausescu told stories that if you saw a line you just got on it. After six hours you might get handed a bag of potatoes or size 6 woman’s shoes (or sometimes the truck was empty and drove off just as you got there). You took the shoes even though you didn’t know anybody that wore size 6 -- you might be able to exchange them for a pound of butter. The ‘just-in-time’ delivery system is extremely fragile. Supermarkets no longer have the big stockroom in the back like they did years ago -- for the most part, what’s on the shelves is all there is. Without the complex resupply system, those shelves could be empty in less than an hour and remain empty for days, weeks or even months.
Doc,
Whoa! You are making way too much sense for readers!
bulkammo.com and cheaperthandirt.com still have a bit… spendy, but in stock. If you don’t have enough, then buy what you need whatever the price. At this point there is no one here that should not already have enough, and have had it for at least a year. We knew what was coming.
Still have lots. Sent ‘someone’ a note. Wanted to give it away at a meat space get together as both a fund raiser and publicity draw to bring more people…was ignored. Guess being PNG is a boon to me staying well stocked in ammo.
Don’t know about your offer but you are always welcome here in NC.
David, thankfully I have read your articles for quite some time and I am prepared for just such a contingency. Thanks for the “early” warning and Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Thank you. We are not alone.
Any one have info on possibility of recycling primers?
there’s plenty of ammo, you just gotta pay out the ass for it. i have never failed to find it, only failed to need it enough to pay that much. remember, 8 MILLION guns were sold LAST MONTH. just one box is 40 MILLION rounds. Now do you get it? shame on you if you didn’t stock up, pay the piper and quit whining.
If you are a competitive shooter, or a diehard hobbyist who goes through 500 rounds a weekend at the range, I can understand why you might be perturbed and caught short by the current ammo shortage. Even then, the shortage did not occur over night. I remember saying, perhaps around April, “There’s no way in hell I am going to pay $.37/round for 5.56.” After all, two of my brothers bought a case the previous summer for $.25/round (after a $50.00 factory rebate), with free shipping.
With each passing week, the price creeped upward and a huge number of shooters reacted very much like frogs sitting in pans of water on the stove. Unless a person is a first time gun owner, why are they caught short now? Because they are losers.
People expect ammunition to always be on the shelf when they need it, just as they do with beans, bullets, and bandages. Look at how many people wait to buy plywood until the Category 5 hurricane is barreling across the Caribbean toward them.
Demand causes more demand. People are afraid of losing out. Nothing is more desirable than something they can’t have/afford. Talk all you will about the beauty of diamonds, but if the prices plummeted 90%, people would say, “More diamonds? Meh.”
After Sandy Hook, .22 LR was as scarce as hen’s teeth. It wasn’t because everybody was shooting it. Some were, of course, but most were either storing it or were profiteering by re-selling it. At my nearest Walmart, I monitored the flow each week. The counter guy told me that a fellow showed up each morning with a lawn chair and a newspaper. He sat in front on the sidewalk and waited until the store opened. He then went in and bought three boxes of ammo (the Walmart daily limit) and then re-sold it at a profit. To its credit, Walmart didn’t raise its prices, so if this bought three bricks of .22 LR at pre-Sandy Hook prices, he could re-sell them for $70.00/brick (Others were selling them for even higher. At one gun show, a vendor was asking $120/brick.)
One comment posted on a web site during this period stood out. The fellow described himself as a competitive shooter. He bemoaned the fact that he could no longer swing by a Walmart on his way to the range each Saturday and buy the .22 LR ammo he would be shooting that day. OMG! A competitive shooter buying the ammo he will shoot each Saturday on his way to the range?
For all of those who now find themselves with empty ammo cans, perhaps this shortage will serve as an object lesson about keeping sufficient quantities of ammo--as well as dozens of other commodities--on hand for bad times. The just-in-time delivery system is not your friend.
I’m an FFL too. Beside all ammo listed on RSR or G.A.S. or any other distributor is a message. It says “Allocated”. Which means the big guys bought it up and it’s back ordered. No mystery here. Every new damn pistol owner got sold a 9 mil. Don’t look for that to come back soon.
I average about 1500 rounds a month with a pistol. Had to start shooting 45 acp. The 9 mil I can find is .70 cents a round. 45 acp is selling for .46 cents a round.
I understand the supply and demand dynamic, but double or more? Wow. Seems to me that someone is seriously gouging/profiting. Is it the manufacturer, the ffl, who?
Just curious. I believe in the free enterprise system, but seriously. This is stupid money and it looks like someone is taking advantage. Glad to read wal -mart did not increase their prices.
Thank God I have been dollar cost averaging ammo for years just like an investment because it is or was!