Ammunition Shortage

[jim147]

Tulammo and other steel case brands are stil coming in weekly. It's went up but the gun store north of me has some instock every week.

[Martin Luber]

Back in WWII, police agencies cast and reloaded ammo for training and carry. That's why various manufacturers, H-G and SAECO made the gang molds.

And the Star loaders. That machine wasn't for hobby users!

A lot of bad gun laws ITAR included weren't addressed by Trump. The Democrats pander to the blacks like the Repubs do for the gun owners, with both doing nothing for either.

[uscra112]

Back in WWII, police agencies cast and reloaded ammo for training and carry. That's why various manufacturers, H-G and SAECO made the gang molds.

They were doing that at least as early as the '20s, but yeah, they surely kept it up during the war if they had the powder and primers.

[farmbif]

as far as things going back to normal. I'm afraid that ship has sailed. came to this conclusion after a trip to Hodgdon reload data center where they now sell powder directly to us. 8lb jug of h4350 is currently $273.99 last jug I got at lgs less than a year ago was less than $210 out the door and that included sales tax rate of 9.25%.
I got a feeling prices are going to be much higher if inventories ever get replenished.

[RogerDat]

My guess is primers will eventually stabilize between the $34 of pre-pandemic and $52 of post pandemic but still in stores. It is totally, 100% for sure and certain that eventually this run will end. At some point people will have enough squirreled away that the market will dry up. Prices will drop which will bring back in people who are currently priced out, their needs will get saturated and sellers will start to cut prices.

We saw it after Sandy Hook, heck I was looking at finally buying a turret press and the site went from 24 in stock to 6 month back order while I looked at another page for a minute to be sure I had the right model number. That took until around the Pulse night club shooting to get settled. I recall putting in an order for some bulk powder and primers just before that night club shooting in Florida. Supply got a little tight after that but not real bad. When the school in Florida had the shooting that mobilized people there was again a bit of panic buying but most had really stocked up by then so it wasn't as bad. Also the ADI pistol powder manufacturing facility was back on line after the fire which helped keep people from finding "empty shelves" that lead to more panic.

This time we had a pandemic, people that hardly know which end of a gun the bullet goes in or comes out of were worried about needing protection and stocking up on ammo. Funny when you think about it. On one hand some were saying no worse than the flu while others were saying TEOTWAWKI some were the same people I think. We had a presidential election which also tends to spur some uncertainty that leads to extra stockpiling. However by then there really wasn't much available to stock up on. A Democratic party win would normally lead to some folks buying more in anticipation of future regulations. Congress is debating a bill on firearms is sure to ignite a panic buying spree, has before and will again, so I figure we have that one ahead of us still.

I'm lucky I'm naturally inclined to build inventory of what I want to have available. As I approach retirement age I'm aware that it is easier for me to afford purchasing items now than it will be once income drops in retirement. This has made me tend to build up my pantry of components. What frosts my McNuggets is the way people are scarfing up so many items that I know they don't really want because they listen to the gloom and doom predictions and make flintlocks and cap & ball items out of stock, no backorder. No way the entire world is suddenly into black powder. That is 100% driven by what if the world is going to end? What if there is massive civil unrest? What if hundreds of thousands of people die and society breaks down? Oh wait they did die and society didn't fall apart, and still the BP firearms are all back ordered

Someone speculated about people hoarding 9mm thinking they were going to fight a war with their Glock. I'm figuring they might just be ahead of the folks planning to fight that war with a navy colt cap and ball revolver.

If the folks who drive these panics would just buy their supplies when there isn't a panic going on we would all be way better off. Unfortunately the smart thing for the individual in a shortage is generally to score as much as possible, the smart thing for us as a whole is to not stockpile. Guess which one has won for at least a half century that I have been paying attention? So you guys who bought my Y2K surplus ammo for almost a buck a round might want to consider buying a few thousand rounds to keep on hand ONCE THIS IS OVER and the price drops again. Just an idea. Boy howdy Y2K now that was a good panic which sold an awful lot of guns, ammo, and generators for sure. I do think the food banks got a windfall in canned goods a while after that nothing burger was over. Will be looking forward to hopefully seeing some deals on down the road.

[Winger Ed.]

Boy howdy Y2K now that was a good panic that sold an awful lot of generators for sure.

Afterwards, I think there was a lot of dogs eating MREs too.

I got bashed on constantly because I didn't think it was going to be a big deal and total collapse of
Western civilization if computers forgot what year it was.
I told people I wasn't going to stockpile water, gas, or get a bigger generator because my water bill might be a few days late.

[Catshooter]

When this panic is over, prices will go back down to where they began. We'll be lucky if this panic ever ends. Biden & Co. haven't even introduced any gun control yet. Maybe even a bit lower. This has never, ever happened, not one time. This is what happens every time. Nope. Eventually people will stop buying everything up and there will be a normal supply, even a bit of a surplus. What color is the sky in your world dude?

It'd be nice though.

[Ickisrulz]

It'd be nice though.

That has been my experience. Right before this last panic, primers could be had on sale almost anytime you wanted to buy them (I assume sellers had too much inventory on hand). 22 ammo was at the same price it was before the panic also and you could buy as much as you wanted anywhere it was sold. People swore up and done we'd never see 22 LR below 4 cents around again, but we did.

Eventually people will stop buying everything they see, stores will be stocked again and prices will go down. At that point I will stock up again.

[Wayne Smith]

Back in WWII, police agencies cast and reloaded ammo for training and carry. That's why various manufacturers, H-G and SAECO made the gang molds.

Ideal made gang molds for the 45-70 in the 1890's - both for the regular boolits and for the collar button boolit.

[M-Tecs]

From 1936 and they were using gang molds long before this. Casting starts at about 13 minutes. Interesting double gang mold.

[jakharath]

Wonder how many hands were pinched having one guy pull the handle and another guy putting bullets on.

[perotter]

Afterwards, I think there was a lot of dogs eating MREs too.

I got bashed on constantly because I didn't think it was going to be a big deal and total collapse of
Western civilization if computers forgot what year it was.
I told people I wasn't going to stockpile water, gas, or get a bigger generator because my water bill might be a few days late.

For that one I did absolutely nothing to get ready for. I started out as a computer programmer in 1984. In 1985 where I worked a standard was made that all the software, in house written or purchased, had to be able to change across that date line. As did all the other places here. We were ready by 1990.

My old man figured it this way. A the money the rich and powerful have is on computers. There was no way in heck that they were going to allow the tick of a clocks second hand let all their money and power disappear.

The strange and sad one was for my brother in law. He was the head of a city water and sewer works. But the salesmen that wanted to sell the city new backup engine/generators and all new computer control system convinced that city council they had to buy all new. My BIL couldn't convince the city council that the computers in place were setup to cross the date and the engines/generators were in like new condition and had no computer controls on them. So that city, like most, spent millions of dollars.

Oh well. Just goes to prove panic and fear is easy. Thinking is at least a little work.

[Burnt Fingers]

as far as things going back to normal. I'm afraid that ship has sailed. came to this conclusion after a trip to Hodgdon reload data center where they now sell powder directly to us. 8lb jug of h4350 is currently $273.99 last jug I got at lgs less than a year ago was less than $210 out the door and that included sales tax rate of 9.25%.
I got a feeling prices are going to be much higher if inventories ever get replenished.

Hodgdon sells at full retail. Before the panic no one sold at full retail....except Bass Pro.

[uscra112]

Of course they do. Otherwise their whole distribution network would dry up and blow away.

[10-x]

Academy Sports had lots of 12 ga #8, and some odd ball rifle ammo today on the shelf. Behind the counter they had lots of 5.56, .22 Mag, and 17. 2 box limit per person per day. GT distributors had .223 TAP, LEO and Military only.

[Winger Ed.]

Hodgdon sells at full retail. Before the panic no one sold at full retail....except Bass Pro.

When manufacturers compete with their own distributors (customers); before long, they don't have wholesale distributors any more.