The real question is will it return to "normal" or is this the new normal?
I'm sufficiently stocked up. But I'm hesitant to use any of it-because replacing it may cost me a fortune.
I have enough to hunt and stay practiced enough to hunt. But can't just go shoot recreationally like before.
-Jake
I'm pretty confident we'll never get back to even close to the normal we knew several years ago. In our business we are trying to forecast our component needs out for at least a year so we can assure we are still in business. That represents around 50 million rounds of ammo for our little operation. It's a big risk for us because availability is fickle, plus the stroke of a politicians pen could put us out of business in this current political climate.
The OEM component sources are gambling also. You can bet it's seriously discussed at every staff meeting if it will pay off to expand manufacturing facilities or not. The most obvious safe path is to run current equipment around the clock and do the best you can with what you have.
The changing from the Trump administration to the Biden fiasco has put the fear of God into ammo manufacturers for facility expansion and who can blame them? Every day we agonize over questions of expanding our business and if we will even be able to stay in business due to politics. Because of this we have increased our profit margins a little bit to cushion us from the increased risk we have now days. This contributes a bit to increased ammo price points among our peers, but I wouldn't call it gouging.
It might be a good time to go into business making innovative dry fire equipment.
