Posted on 12/21/2020 6:57:53 AM PST by SeekAndFind
All across the country, millions of Americans are on the hunt for ammunition, either for self-defense, target practice, shooting sports or hunting. Sporting goods stores and small mom and pop businesses have had to severely limit how many rounds of ammo a person can buy at one time. Some have even went so far as to limit ammo solely to those who are purchasing a new firearm because of the shortage.
Rumors have swirled through the Second Amendment community, particularly online, about Vista Outdoors, the parent company of Federal, Remington, CCI, and Speer Ammunition. Some have said that Vista Outdoors has ceased manufacturing ammo all together while others have insisted the company is picking and choosing who to sell ammo to.
Vista Outdoors' President of Ammunition, Jason Vanderbrink, decided to address – and squash – the rumors once and for all.
"I am tired of all the hate mail. I am tired of people showing up at our factories. I'm tired of reading the misinformation out on the Internet right now about us not trying to service the demand that we're experiencing," Vanderbrink explained. "... After a year like right now, when we've hired hundreds of employees to support American manufacturing jobs, all I hear is that we're not making ammunition."
The company president broke down the realities of the shortage, something he calls "basic economics."
"Seven million new shooters since March, times two boxes [50 rounds per box], which is a conservative estimate, is 700 million new rounds of ammunition our factories have to help produce," he explained. "That is impossible to do in nine months."
Not only does the company have to find and hire manufacturing employees, but the employees have to be trained and materials have to be sourced. On top of that, the company is dealing with the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic as well.
"So tie all of that in together and you will see we are indeed making ammunition. We, indeed, are shipping ammunition. We're not storing it in secret warehouses," Vanderbrick stated.
The company executive said all three of the plants are producing ammo as quickly as possible.
Vanderbrick stated the company has produced more hunting ammo – especially in 30-06 – this year than ever before. They are doing their best to keep up with demand. The other calibers they are seeing a high demand for are .22LR and 9mm. According to Vanderbrick, the Vista Outdoors has never seen such a high demand for .9mm than they are now
"All of this ammo is sitting here, waiting to be packed up so it can hit the retail shelves," he said.
It should not come as a surprise that there is an ammo shortage. It happens every few years, especially during presidential elections. Look at what happened during the 2012 election cycle. Second Amendment-loving Americans were concerned about the possibility of a President Hillary Clinton. What did they do? Bought guns and stocked up on ammo. The same thing happened this year, in part because of a Biden-Harris ticket, and also because of the pandemic. Americans spent more time outside, hunting, fishing and recreating. And guess what? In order to bag a buck you need ammo (assuming you are using a firearm). Every month we have seen record-breaking new numbers of gun owners. In order for those folks to feel confident in their ability to protect themselves, they are buying ammo and hitting the range. They are also keeping a stash for self-defense.
While it can often feel frustrating to not see ammunition in stock, give these guys a break. They are working hard to meet demand. They are running on all cylinders in the middle of a pandemic that frequently shuts down manufacturing plants and warehouses. This is also a great reminder to be prepared and buy extra ammo so you won't be out when things are scarce.
.9 mm? This some new needle ammo I don’t know about?
In order for those folks to feel confident in their ability to protect themselves, they are buying ammo and hitting the range.
Seems like a business opportunity.
[[[In order for those folks to feel confident in their ability to protect themselves, they are buying ammo and hitting the range.
Is this what eyes on the ground are seeing?]]]
Most new people will by a gun/pistol and park it. Some will shoot it for a while first then park it.
What you have going on is massive and I mean massive ammo hoarding.
I’ve seen it first hand to incredible levels.
“.9 mm? This some new needle ammo I don’t know about?”
Yes, it does exist. This round was developed by Pfizer that is being used as a part their Covid 19 vaccine to kill the virus.
Seven million new shooters since March
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I can attest to this.
I have sold some of them guns.
Many of my customers are first time gun buyers.
Our club placed an order for members only 6 weeks ago, about 5 pallets of ammunition. Mostly 5.56 and 9mm, but some .45 and .38 was included. It was all picked up in less than 48 hours.
A second order was placed, 6 pallets this time. Every single round is spoken for. When I was at the Practical Rifle shoot over the weekend the guy who coordinated it said it totals over $325,000 for both orders.
He’s not gouging, either. It’s the ammo and shipping costs and that’s it. 5.56 ball ammo is going for about 50 cents a round. Not bad these days. 9mm, which I don’t shoot, is I believe around 30 cents or so. Once again not bad considering.
L
Absolutely. Most of the shooters I know are buying ammo whenever it is available, regardless of whether they need it currently or not. You can't keep it on the shelves precisely because you have people dedicated to buying it as soon as it appears on the those shelves (actual or virtual).
If gun owners did NOT vote for a Democrat, we wouldn't be in this mess. Even in New York, we could make the GOP great again, but sadly they don't equate owning a gun ad Dems wanting to take it.
I made sure to have defense companies included in my mutual fund. Historically, Dem regimes love to go to war. Vista outdoors prez had to make those statements because we also have lunatics on our side as well. Not to the degree of insanity and evil that the left has but far from it. I chuckle on how many gun owners showed up at the factories as he claimed..
As a new handgun permit holder and purchaser of my very first firearm less than a month ago, I would say yes.
And I purchased 9mm Speer ammo at the same time I purchased my handgun.
Soup Nazi making “six figures” just from his personalized greeting messages on Cameo, LOL.
Sabot round - muzzle velocity is about 6000 feet per second but drops of rapidly due to air resistance.
See post 9.
Our club has had to issue a cap on new membership. While we usually get applications for 2 or 3 dozen in a given year the Board now has a couple hundred. We simply can’t accommodate them all given the size of the facility.
If they’re not sponsored by a current member they go on the waiting list. And we charge a small, $25, non refundable application fee to weed out the unserious.
L
YUp. It’s the ammo, not the firearm. That’s why obamatard tried stupid crap like introducing “non-lethal bullets’ to the army years ago. The left know they couldnt do crap to stop gun manufacturing and rights so they targetted ammo production. These 2 pukes Groper Joe and Retard will do it..
Vista is losing money, doesn’t make sense. Negative PE ratio.
Ammo is the “new T.P.” but for God’s sake don’t use it that way.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.