Posted on 02/28/2009 12:35:46 PM PST by AJKauf
If you, like thousands of other Americans, have Googled to find out why we are in the middle of a nationwide ammunition shortage, you would have stumbled across this 2007 blog entry.
In it, I corrected a poorly researched Associated Press story by Estes Thompson that claimed the military’s consumption of ammunition was responsible for police ammunition shortages here in the United States. Few things could have been further from the truth, but it seems rather apparent, in retrospect, that the goal of that AP article wasn’t to find the truth as much as it was to (falsely) lay blame for the police ammunition shortages at the feet of George W. Bush.
The real fact of the matter is that the military got the bulk of its small arms (pistol, rifle, machine gun) ammunition from one contracted ammunition plant, and that plant wasn’t even running near capacity. ..
(Excerpt) Read more at pajamasmedia.com ...
I was at Cabela’s this morning and they only had 30,000 or so rounds of different .223 ammo on the shelves. I should have asked if they had any in back. Maybe they are rationing and keeping most of their stock in back for defense of the store. ;)
“Fix” .......... “Bayonets!’’
Hey - that is where I buy my guns!
Errr, used to buy. See, I flipped the canoe on the River, and they all went to the bottom...
Yeah, that’s the ticket. They all went to the bottom.
My friend in Salem, Ohio is taking her CCL class today and is having to use a 22 pistol because of the ammunition shortage.
Why is this going on and when will the manufactureres going to catch up, and will there be a glut and lower prices at some point?
***Hey, I’m unemployed. I would happily help make ammo.***
LOL!
Hey, dare you to make a sign and stand on a street corner with that message!
““Fix” .......... “Bayonets!’’”
I have loved the bayonet ever since I built my first training dummy when I was 10 or 11, to use with my German Mauser.
I would love to have my bayonet on my short barrelled AR15 but by law it has no lug.
>Hey, dare you to make a sign and stand on a street corner with that message!
LOL - That would be AWESOME....
What if we could employ all these unemployeds making ammo?
I’ve noticed that trend in Wal-Marts around town. On the conservative side of town and in the rural suburbs, the ammo cabinet is empty. On the liberal side of town, you can get anything you want.
7.62x54R we got no problem with. One local gun store has cases of Hungarian for $6.50 a 20 round, string tied pack.
7.62z39 and .223 are a different story. They have a couple thousand rounds of Wolf, black box but that’s all.
Today I went to a gun show and got another 1000 rounds of 7.62x39 and 1000 rounds of 9mm. The only bulk 7.62x39 they had was Wolf “Military Classic”, which does not perform well (understatement) in my SKS. Still tired from lugging 2000 rounds a quarter of a mile across the parking lot and up three flights of stairs.
Got two, and if I need 120 rounds of that....dang!
Hmmmmm, my Rock River does.
I stopped by a large sporting goods store in north metro Atlanta last Monday and found a fairly decent stock of centerfire rifle and handgun ammo, but only 3 boxes of off-brand foreign made .380 fmj ammo at a price higher than I am willing to pay as long as I can get reloading components.
I don't normally buy ammo from Walmart because WM makes a killing off guns and ammo sales but won't financially support the NRA and other pro-gun lobbying orgs. But under the present circumstances I would stock up on factory loaded ammo in 7.63x39 and .45 acp if WM had any in stock within reasonable driving distance. The clerks in that department all say they have no idea when WM will start getting ammo from it's suppliers again except for shotgun shells which they have in abundance. I wouldn't pass up a few boxes of buckshot and/or slug shells but WM only has # 7-1/2 and # 8 birdshot shells.
Unless you are making it for yourself, there is some licensing and insurance issues you need to handle before you get started. Even sharing your hand loads with friends at the range carries a degree of liability.
I was at a gun show last week (Berea, Ohio) and noticed that there was a lot more ammo available then the previous 3 shows.. just an unscientific observation :)
I am FAR from an accomplished expert on handloading... However, I have learned that reloading the .380 (consistently) is not easy! I use reloads for targets but stick to recognized commercial "stopping loads" to reside in the clips.
While I found .38, .357. and .45 to be easy to reload..., the .380 is quite tricky (at least at my skill level)!
I think this is just a demand surge problem. Ammo makers are like many other manufacturers, making just enough for market demand, because too much has to be expensively warehoused.
How many times did their sales go up in the “Obama surge?” And then the real problem begins, because their wholesalers and retailers are screaming at them for more inventory. How would you like to have Wal-Mart mad at you? At the same time as a dozen other major retailers?
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