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Supply Chain Disruptions in the Firearms Industry
NRA Shooting Illustrated ^ | Sunday, April 5, 2020 | Ed Friedman

Posted on 04/09/2020 6:05:22 AM PDT by COBOL2Java


There’s a wonderful video of economist Milton Friedman (no relation) discussing how no single person makes a pencil. His point was to show that demand for a product causes people all over the world to perform seemingly unrelated tasks that result in a seemingly simple and inexpensive product being made. The same is true of pretty much everything relating to firearms, optics, accessories and most every product you use.

Between private conversations with firearm, ammunition and optic manufacturers over the past two weeks, along with public information disseminated by major gunmakers, I am fairly certain a major disruption in the supply chain for those products and likely many more is coming, and coming soon.

There is no gun manufacturer that makes every single part or raw material that goes into their finished products. While I can’t say for certain, I’d wager this is true of almost every consumer good on the planet. For example, no gun company makes the steel they use to make barrels or the raw polymer used to injection mold frames—they purchase those materials from third parties.

Moreover, many manufacturers use OEM sourcing to provide significant parts of their finished products, and the overwhelming majority buy at least some component parts like springs from outside sources. Therefore, while firearm manufacturing may be declared “essential” in many states currently under stay-at-home orders to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, unless every part of the supply chain is deemed essential, at some point the supply of parts will run dry and it will be impossible to finish assembly of the final product.

The same is true of ammunition, optics, holsters, slings—literally everything you might need for your guns.

(Excerpt) Read more at shootingillustrated.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Chit/Chat; Outdoors
KEYWORDS: banglist; covid19; shutdown

1 posted on 04/09/2020 6:05:22 AM PDT by COBOL2Java
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To: COBOL2Java

“unless every part of the supply chain is deemed essential, at some point the supply of parts will run dry and it will be impossible to finish assembly of the final product.”

Agreed.

Now, OPEN UP this blessed country!

Enough is enough.
Too sick? Stay home.
Too scared? Stay home.
Too rich? Stay home.

Lots of folks have cars to restore, boats to cruise, targets to hit and BBQ competitions to win.


2 posted on 04/09/2020 6:16:50 AM PDT by Macoozie (Handcuffs and Orange Jumpsuits)
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To: COBOL2Java

Ammo is still in supply in the stores, is it not?


3 posted on 04/09/2020 6:42:35 AM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin (Freedom is the freedom to discipline yourself so others don't have to do it for you.)
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To: COBOL2Java

I’ve kept a running Amazon wish list tally for parts I would need to mount a SureFire M600 Dual Fuel Scout Light on a semi-auto shotgun. I wasn’t absolutely convinced I needed it...thus the wish list. (Guys DO like to “accessorize” their toys.)

Current pricing is about 50% higher than 3 months ago.


4 posted on 04/09/2020 6:44:06 AM PDT by moovova (Shouldn't it be called "anti-social distancing"?)
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To: MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
Ammo is still in supply in the stores, is it not?

Sometimes

5 posted on 04/09/2020 6:58:56 AM PDT by COBOL2Java (Hillary Clinton: Just like Joe with only half the dementia.)
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To: COBOL2Java

Here is a ‘supply chain’ story for you all:

A small livestock yard in N Nevada sold over 600 productive dairy cows on Tuesday & they went to slaughter.....

Why?

Because the milk processing plant was OUT OF CONTAINERS TO PUT THE MILK INTO and the dairy farms couldn’t store milk. All the storage tanks at the processing plant are full. NO ONE seems to be able to find out WHY those containers suddenly were not available Did some CITY person make the decision that such a molding place was NOT ESSENTIAL?

Shades of ATLAS SHRUGGED......

Cows don’t STOP making milk. A good Holstein cow is a heavy producer. You can store eggs quite easily-—but NOT MILK.

It takes 3 years for a newborn female to be productive. Bred at age 2, calves at about age 3 & then it producing for some time.

600+++ cows times 3 years == 1800 ++ aggregate years of production of milk GONE. Now-—HOW hard will it be to find milk? Local stores are getting their milk mostly from local sources. Dairy farmers in Vermont have been dumping their milk into the ditches for the same reason.

I suspect that the dairy farms which had to sell their cows are basically now bankrupt. Most farms are multi-generational operations.

I am sick about hearing of this. Totally physically sick.

This kind of loss isn’t just a ‘tax problem’.


6 posted on 04/09/2020 8:01:15 AM PDT by ridesthemiles
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To: COBOL2Java
Well, I know that MidwayUSA is out of Berry's plated bullets (for reloading) in 45 ACP caliber. In all weights.

That's unusual.

7 posted on 04/09/2020 2:55:46 PM PDT by LouAvul ("Little by little, the look of the country changes because of the men we admire.")
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