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How Long Will the Ammunition Shortage Last?
If you’re like me, you’re extremely frustrated about the difficulty in finding ammunition for your guns. The shortage is becoming a long-term problem, and those of us who like to keep our skills honed are finding it difficult to practice. The situation is dire and is
predicted to last through 2021:
One Scottsdale, Arizona, based ammunition manufacturer, Ammo Incorporated, is currently facing an $80.1 million backlog in orders despite working around the clock.
‘We’re working right now seven days a week, 24 hours a day in all the manufacturing plants,’ said the company’s CEO, Fred Wagenhals. Ammo Incorporated has plants in Payson, Arizona, and Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
‘We just bought $2.8 million dollars-worth of machinery and equipment last week to increase our production and increase our volume,’ Wagenhals said.
Gun sales have also shot up:
The National Shooting Sports Foundation reports that gun sales are up 95 percent in the first half of 2020 compared to the same time frame in 2019. Ammunition sales have skyrocketed even more, up an astounding 139 percent over 2019.
Since these shortages have been going on for a while, what are the reasons? Some manufacturers are reluctant to build more plants because they are costly and can’t be completed quickly. They also wonder how long this surge in sales will continue, and if they can count on the demand to continue to grow. On the other hand, customers are likely becoming increasingly impatient with the lack of opportunity to practice and build their supplies.
The government and its positions are also a threat to gun owners. The Biden-Harris team has made it clear that they intend to restrict gun ownership even further than the laws already on the books. Prior to the election, the NRA called them the “most anti-gun presidential ticket in history.” The Democrats are still discussing a national registry, stricter purchasing requirements, and even a program for citizens to turn in their guns.
And there is the question about whether we can count on law enforcement to protect us. Will officers continue to be attacked by government agencies for simply doing their job, causing them to hesitate in potential shooting situations? Will civil unrest break out again as it did last summer? Will citizens be endangered not only by criminals but by naïve and novice gun owners—assuming they can find ammo?
Steps must be taken soon for us to be able to protect ourselves. Do you see resolutions for the lack of resources and the government’s determination to limit our rights?
Published in Guns
The first one I remember was after the CT school shooting so that was in 2012. Ammunition dried up very quickly and about two months later reloading supplies followed. That shortage was demand driven; people would queue up at local Walmart and Academy stores and buy up every ammunition delivery the same day. Oddly, 22LR became one of the hardest calibers to find, as serious preppers regarded a brick of 22 ammunition as sort of a post apocalyptic gold bar. After a couple of years it settled down although an awful lot of people continued to stockpile ammunition, meaning demand never dropped all the way to previous levels. This time, the BLM/Antifa rioting brought many more people into the market, followed by the election. This is like the post-Sandy Hook shortage on steroids.
My fairly stout inventory of AR and AK mags are all full, I have a few hundred rounds of my most used pistol calibers, and I have about 5000 rounds of 22 so I’m ready for when Antifa leaves the cities. I’m fortunate in that I don’t feel the pressure to purchase now when the prices are so high. I don’t think they will ever get back to pre shortfall levels.
Here is something interesting. Immediately after I posted above I went on line to purchase some 45 brass. 45 ACP is manufactured with both large and small primers; the small primer brass is generally much less popular with reloaders. A couple of months ago the small primer brass was available from multiple sources. This morning I could only find it in stock at one supplier, meaning that even the most obscure, low demand inventories are drying up now.
Back before the insanity, I bought 5k .22LR for $0.07/round. I’ve seen it for $0.40/round recently. Nothing special, just standard ammo.
Your fears are not justified. Reloads are safe, unless the person reloading doesn’t follow the tables. What you are really saying is you don’t trust your friend.
For years these boxes of Remington 22 sold for around ten dollars at the local KMart.
I recommend you get one of the laser systems that fit inside your gun and trigger the laser when the firing pin drops. These are great for developing and maintaining skills. You can then shoot hundreds of times a day at no expense, and you don’t even have to leave your living room. (If your neighbors can see into you living room you might want to draw the curtains just to keep them from assuming there is a problem.)
Its amazing how fast you can develop “point and shot” proficiency by doing things like drawing and shooting the switch plate on the wall, or the product label on your sound bar. It truly becomes instinctive.
Another bonus is the laser stays on for a short period of time, thus you get immediate feedback on whether, or not, you are holding steady through the trigger pull. If you are, you see a dot appear on your target, if not you see a line.
Air guns are another alternative. They are some large calibers with very impressive capabilities. Plus, pellets are relatively cheap.
So the manufacturers should increase supply. Clearly, they have no interest in that, because if demand is up from where it was before CT is there any reason to think it will return? More guns have been bought, That would seem to me to show a permanent increase.
I think they are being careful in that there is some lag time to increase production no matter what, and there is the real probability of a leftie .gov shutting down or curtailing manufacturing. Imagine spending millions and then being put out of business.
Actually I think they are not making the investments because they are expecting the government to shut them down. Why would anybody invest in an activity where the current government has pretty much stated they were going to restrict / shut it down and have the authority to do so? While I understand there is a 2nd amendment who really thinks the Dems will not restrict it to a degree as to make it useless.
Excuse me? That is not at all what I said, @ponyconvertible. I said the opposite. In fact, he offered to make more reloads for us and I was delighted.
Then they should honestly say that
I just checked and I also have way more 5.56, 7.62×39, and .308 than I realized. Ready for the rioters and/or zombies.
What you will need is insurance because the government legal way to shut you down and punish you is lawfare….breaking your bank proving your innocence. If they want to do it to companies, they will want to do it to you.
We need to be careful to use different creeks and lakes for our canoeing, otherwise the level of firearms might rise above the water and create navigation hazards!
I too, lost the 9mm I just got and the .22 rifle I ordered that hasn’t even got here yet. You’d think they would make those canoes more stable.
Though, to be fair, with my beginner shooting skills, I’d probably hit my target better if I threw them at the water than use them for shooting.
Avoid reloads from a reloader with too high of an alcohol content.
Not to be a Globalist about it, but perhaps it would be helpful to loft a bill that would encourage the importation of more foreign-made rounds, if only to signal to our manufacturers that they should reevaluate the risks of stepping up production.
As long as we didn’t buy them from China.
Susan, you are 40 years too late. The Chinese cornered the market on all metals back in the 1980’s. That’s why they are colonizing South/Central America and Africa. Once we are scooted out of Afghanistan, they will own that and Pakistan. Wait until the Mujahedeen has to deal with the Chinese looking to mine rare earth metals to build batteries for Western leftist Greenies. The road goes on forever and the party never ends https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJRWtKePKuY
Sonny sort of got the short end of the stick.
And making your own pellets would be a real simple process.
In order to invest, you need access to capital. With “Operation Chokepoint” I bet they are having trouble finding any bank to make them loans for expansion….
The “ammo shortage” has had highs and lows. Most ammo was rather pricey from the middle of Obama’s tenure to the end and got progressively less expensive. I stocked up on the calibers I own and shoot (45 ACP was down to $28 a box, 22 Long rifle was 4 cents a round, and there was plenty of 38, 357, 12 guage as recently as Jan of 20). For reference, I recently (last weekend) saw 45 ACP ON SALE for $78 a box…nothing special, just 230 grain, round nose, FMJ… There has been a BUNCH of new firearm owners added since 2010 (several million) so there is increased need. Additionally, the firearms community tends to stock up when ammunition is available and lastly, internet sales has made buying in bulk easier and cheaper…as a for instance, I used to buy 22 Long Rifle by the box (50 rounds) or occasionally by the brick (10 boxes or 500 rounds) but the last time I bough 22 I bought a case (5000 rounds) because that brought the price per round down and shipping for a case wasn’t that much more than shipping for a brick. So long story short, ammo was relatively inexpensive a recently as 14 months ago – even here in GA although there are older shooters who think that anything over 2 cents a round for 22 is expensive because that is what they could buy it for 20 years ago…:)
Two shortages ago I ordered brass directly from Starline, which had just started selling retail. I had emailed them an inquiry, and a few months later they called me to tell me they had done a short run of 9mm Largo, which I need for some of my strange old Spanish pistols. I took the opportunity to order new .380 and 9mm Luger brass from them at the same time and I’m still using it.
Last shortage I stocked up on primers. Boy, that was smarter than I usually am.
This shortage feels different to me. Copper and other basic materials are getting dear. Add to that the dramatic increase in handgun ownership, and we pistoleros are likely to face shortages for quite a while. I’m in permanent hunker mode, and if I see any loose small pistol primers I will probably buy them. Air guns and lasers are starting to fascinate me. I acquired a very nice Beretta 92 air gun that is weighted to act like the real thing, and except for the lack of recoil, it performs very well in that role. Umarex also has a Model 84 Beretta that is very nice for training and plinking. There are a couple of blue plastic pseudo-Glocks with lasers that I am checking out.
One of the few people who goes diving behind the couch cushions looking, not for change, but for components.
I have quit buying guns…don’t want to shoot up the ammo I have breaking it in.
States would be wise to have recall laws so the Governor and AG can initiate a recall of any elected Congressman who votes to violate the rights of the states and people. Recall laws and special elections would go a long way to helping defend our rights. Even if he is supporting his district, no districts wishes supplants the rights of the states and the state’s people. Congress critters need to fear their state government more than they fear Pelosi and Schumer.
That is a good point. How good is the second amendment when the government does everything possible to restrict access to gun and their manufacture. I would be interested in how much of the recent tariffs to china were restrictions to gun components.
I prefer tar and feathers but I suppose recall is the more accepted approach.
Amen. If it was up to me, there would be no taxes on weapons and ammunition which clearly infringe on a poor person’s right to keep and bear arms.