Posted on 04/11/2013 1:10:34 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Try going to your neighborhood Wal-Mart to buy some .22 bullets for target shooting, or a couple of boxes of shotgun shells, and you’ll discover what hunters and gun enthusiasts have been muttering about for months now: The shelves are bare.
Manufacturers are operating flat-out but can’t keep up with demand, as consumers snap up every box of ammo as soon as it comes on the market. Wal-Mart limits buyers to three boxes when they’re available, and Cabela‘s is limiting online orders to one box per day of the popular .22 long shells increasingly used as cheap ammo for target rifles and pistols.
The buying frenzy is understandable here in Connecticut, where the General Assembly recently tightened gun regulations in response to the Newtown school massacre. The new law includes a $35 permit to buy ammo that requires a background check and is good for five years — until the legislature decides it can shorten the term and increase the fee as a new source of tax revenue.
But why the national shortage? Here’s my theory: Bullets are easy to store, non-perishable, and they hold their value or even increase in times of crisis. So they’re a lot like gold or any other commodity that has served as hard money through the ages (or even the canned mackerel fillets that serve as currency in U.S. prisons....
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
....stuff I handloaded 27 years AGO with.....
Left out a word.
Doh!
Gimme some of dem “popular .22 long shells”! I’m guessing the Forbes guy doesn’t do much shooting.
The situation is dire, an experiment by the gov’t that has proven to be most successful, next on the agenda will be food, Homeland Security at every store armed and ready enforcers.
Already we see this in the works, small independent producers regulated out of business, even personal gardens will be regulated...Monsanto will rule the world.
I ridiculed conspiracy theorist for many years...Now I am one.
The new law includes a $35 permit to buy ammo that requires a background check and is good for five years
The Second Amendment states we have the right to keep and bear arms but it does not say we have the right to keep and bear ammo.
Our forefathers never imagined that the Second Amendment would be parsed by legal experts and most of all, parsed down to the wording to differentiate between arms and ammo.
Well, it’s finally come to this.
This reminds me of the Johnny Carson Late Night show joke about a toilet paper shortage in response to Jimmah’s gasoline shortage. The next day, grocery stores across the country ran out of all toilet paper stock.
If you were the only ammo maker, then yes. But there are lots pf ammo makers in competition, so they're all going flat out.
The perception that this is a short-term bubble is stopping ammo makers from putting a lot of money into expanding facilities, buying equipment, or hiring a lot more people. If it continues much longer, we will see ammo makers buying new equipment earlier.
I think so. We have had a start up company in our area start making their own ammo. It appears they quickly gave up trying to show stock for internet orders and appear to be selling all they can make locally.
Furthermore, the jack-ass author does not understand the difference between bullets and ammunition.
DoD’s decision to stop recycling used brass is a big deal, impacting ammo availability.
They now scrap, rather than make available for reloading.
Then why the hell aren't we hearing about new ammo plants being built?? The market has grown way past what it was. They should be springing up all around like rose buds this time of year.
Sure I know there are permitting and environmental issues, but my state is building not one but 2 new refineries - it can be done.
Are the execs who manage these companies really that risk adverse?
It is a real shortage, caused by a perceived shortage.
Probably because most successful investors see this as a bubble, as I do.
Where I used to keep a few months of ammo on hand, I've bumped up my purchases to keep a few years on hand. I'm not shooting more. I've bought more in the last few months than the couple years before. But I don't plan to keep buying at this rate, and if prices stay this high, I will probable shoot less and buy less ammo in the future.
Not much call for .22 Longs. I don’t think they even make BB Caps any more. Pity, they were cheap and you could shoot them indoors.
Meanwhile the Democrats to fighting voter ID laws across the nation scream that any fee to obtain a ID is equal to a poll tax and therefore unconstitutional.
so that your competitors can continue to sell as much as they possibly can?
If they think this is a bubble that will pass, they are misreading their market. Happens quite frequently.
Unless this cold civil war goes hot... then the 'bubble' was only an indicator of rising demand.
Your information is at least 4 years old and incorrect.
http://www.ammoland.com/2009/03/dod-demil-order-on-used-brass-reversed/#axzz2QADOPr9d
It wouldn’t be the first time competitors colluded for mutual benefit.
I wasn’t being accusatory, it just seems that there should be some increased inventories by now, even if it’s a small gain.
Check local metal recyclers for range brass.
In my area, you can buy scrap range brass for $3/lb. Most of it is popular calibers, i.e., 9MM, .40S&W, .223, .45 Auto, etc. Less than 10% in calibers other than the popular ones. It comes out to less than 3 cents for a 9MM case and less than 5 cents for .223.
Reloaders already know this and buy the scrap to turn into ammo.
The nationwide shortage is starting to abate. Last week’s gun show had plenty at higher, but still reasonable, prices. They never ran out of premium, expensive stuff like CorBon.
Relax and wait for prices to stabilize. Then stock up on a regular basis.
Right now there are bargains on excellent deer rifles because people are spending their money on ARs, AKs, overpriced ammo, etc.
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