Posted on 08/31/2014 9:34:25 AM PDT by lbryce
Earlier this year, CBS News spotlighted a growing shortage of .22-caliber ammunition. "One of the most popular and common" -- and cheapest -- calibers of ammo for hunters and target shooters alike, CBS reports that .22 shells are in short supply these days. Interviewing one supplier, CBS reported that while as recently as two years ago it was still possible to buy .22-caliber ammunition "by the pallet-load... now they're putting restrictions on how much you can get and how you get that ammo."
Retailers are shooting blanks This is a problem from ammunition retailers -- and for gun owners as well. Statistically speaking, 24%-45% of Americans own guns either for self-defense or sporting purposes. But getting the ammo to load into those guns is becoming a bit of a trick.
(Excerpt) Read more at fool.com ...
No doubt!
Hoarding.
Their Russian single-shot shotguns are priced reasonably though.
I don’t know if they are correct.
I think they are saying that it is all because of human nature. When we know something isn’t available we want it even more. So bad that we look for it even harder and then we will hoard it even though we don’t need it for the moment. I think the part about human nature is correct.
I’d like to see actual statistics of product made and sold at USA retail by year back to 1990. Manufacturers could be cutting production or selling to others.
I think Remington shotguns are now made in Russia by Baikal.
Yes those are good prices and those Russian shotguns are good.
I am addressing my lack of pistol ammo by reloading. Just getting started with it and it is a whole lot of fun. Even when I buy all of the components, it is about 1/3 the cost of shelf ammo.
Now as to .22 .... well I only have the kids rifle and have a couple of blocks stored away so I’m good for now.
“The Remington stuff is crap.”
You got that right, jack! Even their “good” copper plated bulk stuff fails about 10% of the time to go boom. And the “Peterson” unplated stuff is so bad, I wouldn’t take it if it was offered to me for free.
Never had problems with Federal or Winchester as long as they were the copper plated types.
Can this retard please ask you to point them out?
Let us assume ammo is being produced at a rate of X, sufficient to keep up with demand but not exceed it greatly and thereby product a glut, as standard market economics theory would provide for any product.
Then there is a widespread perception that ammo may become less available or unavailable for political reasons, and many, many millions of gunowners respond by “stocking up.”
This results in the demand no longer being roughly equivalent to X, but instead reaching 1.2X, 1.5X or even 2X or more. ((No idea about the actual numbers.)
Any time demand for a product soars, there is a lag before production can expand to meet that demand. In theory, you can take a factory that ran 40 hours a week and run it 24/7, but there’s still a considerable lag time to train new workers, managers, etc. Building new factories or installing additional machinery has an even greater lag time.
And, of course, smart manufacturers don’t want to spend large amounts of capital to expand production, and its associated overhead, just in time to begin additional production just as demand eventually and inevitably drops back off.
This exact situation created a real problem in my line of work back about 10 years ago. 5 major hurricanes hit the US. A major building boom was already in progress. Drywall factories were already operating 24/7 in US and Canada. Demand greatly exceeded supply, so of course drywall immediately became both much more expensive and much harder to get. If I remember correctly, and I may not, drywall sold for around $8 a sheet before the hurricanes, but went to $18 and more after, when you could even get it.
So people began looking for it wherever it could be found, and began importing drywall from China. No big deal, really, except that it was eventually found some of this drywall was contaminated with sulfur and created toxic sulfur gas conditions in the home.
Anyway, I’m really unclear why gunowners seem to assume there must be a great conspiracy involved to explain what seems to be a classic case of market economics. When demand expands faster than supply can increase, price goes up and availability goes down. And one of the very best ways to drive demand up is for people to stop buying for present consumption and instead “stock up” for future presumed un availability.
Please explain why this isn’t a logical explanation for observed conditions. Thanks.
A 500 round box of CCI Stingers will cost you $200.
I believe that is what is called a self fulfilling prophecy.
?????????
Have had very, very few misfires with my Ruger Mark I, Mark II, Stoeger Luger or Remington Speed Rifle.
Like all .22s, they don't like oily magazines though.
That is a lot of words with no explanation as to what caused the original ammo shortage scare.
The drywall scare has a valid cause, the ammo scare doesn’t.
BTW, a short, concise post has a much better chance of being read by busy people than a ten paragraph screed.
Does the retard understand now?
I have troubles with it in Ruger MkII, 10/22 and Marlin 60.
Federal goes bang in all of them.
And rightly so.
You should do your own work as I might not be here tomorrow to do your thinking for you but here is a hint.
No where in the article does it explain what caused the original ammo shortage scare when there hasn't been one previously in hundreds of years.
Run with that grasshopper.
Drywall scare cause = building boom and hurricanes vastly expanding demand.
Ammo scare cause = many millions of people being frightened that their guns and ammo would be taken away or restricted, deciding to stock up in self-protection, vastly expanding demand.
Result of each scare = greatly increased demand.
In what way is millions or tens of millions of people deciding to stock up not a legitimate cause of increased prices and reduced availability?
An article yesterday interviewed some ammo plant managers. Estimated cost for a new factory is $1 billion. That astounded me as you see that sort of number for a new semiconductor fab, refinery, power plant, etc. You can see why mfgrs are reluctant to make that sort of investment if this is a panic-driven run which will subside. Of course firearm background checks doubled from 2006 to 2012 (8M to 16M) so there is obviously a lot more demand. It must be tough for mfgrs to separate “real” from “panic” demand.
Thanks. I’ve read a number of articles with the assumption that any supply difficulties must necessarily be the result of some malign conspiracy.
I don’t discount that possibility, but just don’t understand why classic market mechanisms don’t explain it equally well.
If purchases of guns doubled during this period, it’s not unreasonable to assume that ammo purchases likely went up even more.
Aren’t there industry statistics about how many rounds are purchased in a given period?
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