No govt conspiracy needed - I’ve been to several gun shows over the last year, from Georgia to Arizona. Folks are snapping up (for just one example) federal bulk boxes (333 rounds?) for $45 - $75.
Hell, there’s even jackasses on here who will call you a liberal when you point out their jackass-ness of hogging all they can grab when there are folks behind them in line who just want one box.
No sir - no govt conspiracy needed. But don’t take my word for it. Pick most any gun show, or browse gunbroker and see for yourself. We are our own worst enemy. All we need do is stop buying at 2x - 4x normal price and be patient. Let the shelves sit fully stocked for a month and watch what happens.
Eventually the hoarders would run out of space. Not even black market sales will withstand high prices when supply is plentiful. If it was just hoarding in private sector it would have stopped by now. Opportunist undercutting competition at gun shows etc would drive the prices down if rounds were easy to obtain through their channels such as being store clerks etc.
The fact also many persons stopped buying due to price or just gave up looking should eventually correct the supply. For over five years this has been going on in many places. Not just .22 LR but other ammo especially for pistols. But hey I can go to Wally World right now and buy all the shotgun bird shot I want cheap. Why? Lower range good for self defense only close up.
The manufactures when they ship out an order write up paper work stating buyer and hand it to the truck driver. The truck driver calls his dispatcher and says I'm loaded. The dispatcher says OK now write a ticket to XXXX company in Backwoods, Wherever and deliver it to the following location instead. It's legal, it's done many times daily in many non firearm related sales. A Broker buys from a company to resell to his customer whom he doesn't want anyone to know due to price competition including the maker or initial seller. It keeps chis customer base a secret is the purpose.
The delivery destination change occurs in truck routing after the load has left the company. I once picked up barrels of scrap metal in Philly from a recycling company. My paperwork from that company stated Missouri. As soon as I pulled off and stopped at a place to & called my dispatcher he said it goes to a smelter in Tennessee and gave me the address. Now if a legitimate broker can accomplish this how much more so can Fed have ammo delivered to a bogus company warehouse?
Persons Hording AMMO is like hoarding food after a while you run out of space & money unless you have lots of storage capacity and money. I'd say gun show sales are a small percentage of ammo sales. Don't worry about me buying it at ridiculous prices. I can't afford it nor can many others.
One final note. Does a ammo company really care who is buying? Will they not protect their largest client especially one holding much larger contracts? A year of shortage? Yea sure I could see fear hoarding making ammo scarce. Five years? No something else is happening.