Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Is the ammunition shortage real?

I'm sure demand is way up, but I don't understand how production still seems to lag so enormously. Midsouth shooters don't even allow back orders on much ammunition. What? Does this mean the manufacturers just said you will never get any ammo.

Is it possible to see ammunition production numbers and the distribution of this ammo across the country.

Is ammunition artificially minimized. A box here a box there. I'm very, very skeptical.

In my part of the world, ammo is extremely hard to find, and when word gets out that a store has some, it is usually gone within a couple of hours. There are still shotgun shells on the shelves, but rifle and pistol ammo is just not to be found. I have heard of some deer hunters who waited too late about buying some, and have had to sit out the season as a result. That is what I call extremely poor planning.

I agree it's real. There is no denying it. I'm just very skeptical of the cause. Why are the supply shipments so small they sell out in a couple of hours. Why can you not even back order most of what's listed on Midsouth.

I think alot of it is being warehoused for the past 4 or 5 months,
at major disttibutors for premium pricing when and if Ja crispy Biden swears in as POTUS.

Schitloads of a availability at premium pricing based on this years run up panic buying. When the antigun administration comes on board I would not be surprised to see it happen.
Hedging their bets on huge profits is what I'm thinking.
But of course that is just my way of thinking.
When it comes to big benjamins and companies.
I tend not to look at the sunnyside of things.
Kinda like I look at my fellow man on this planet for the most part.
Benjamins will bring out the worst or best in people depending on how you look at things.
Kinda like money, bussiness, and religous folks whatever affects the bank account rules out other things.
Praise the lord......




Midsouth is 3 miles down the road from me.
They aint had jackschit for months and they get their ammo from major distribution ware house,s.
The manufacturers say they are running 24/7 and production has increased for em in some cases.
The amount hitting the shelves at academy and rural king and 2 Lgs I hit at a regular pricing, seems just enough to wet the appetite for more and then their are the limits per customer.
But to get any you have to get out at least 3 times a week or more and be at places when they open and make it a habit.

So where is the bottle neck???

And also without primers ( which is another issue ) centerfires dont go bang. So their is a component bottleneck their also, whether real months ago or being staged for pricing in the months ahead.


JMO......

Acquitance at hornady says raw materials such as lead and copper are imported.. those supplies dried up due to COVID effect on countries that mine these materials

Oh, ya, I agree. Money will make people connive for sure.


Exactly! It does not add up.

But .. Companies don't like to set on inventory. They spent money to make the stuff and then warehousing it places that spent money in escrow with no interest. They tend to want to move inventory.

That's plausible. Pretty sure raw materials are in short supply in all industries. Did he say if this was limiting production. The story you usually hear is that production lines are running full steam 24/7. These two lines seem to be inconsistent.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_copper_production
https://www.statista.com/statistics/264632/lead-mine-production-by-country/

It's hard to verify though if these raw material are indeed in short supply.

It’s real. Lots of info on why is available, but simply put, all the factors that caused this crap before are in play again, and you can add the supply, transport, and personnel issues from the Plague to the heap of woes.

If mega-buyers like Whatamart and Midway can’t get stuff, you can bet small outfits can’t either. That’s why I think the scalpers will run out pretty quickly too.

If you can find anything that can be back-ordered, get in line. Usually, there’s no money required up front, so what have you got to lose?

Ammo's been real hard to find here in Minnesota. I'm glad I had enough to get me through. Any time I'm in a store I check and see if I hit the lottery and they just put some out. That's about the only way you luck into it up here. I haven't resorted to ordering it in from the net. Prices are up and shipping adds to the bill. I'll be good for the forseeable future, and I hope it loosens up a bit in the meantime.

Release just enough onto a market to meet overheads with profit at the current run up pricing.
And sit on a schittload for even more run up pricing when the conditions are prime, then dump it on the market.
And once that supply has shot its wad.
Another lag is created.

At a run up pricing scale again.
Milking it for all it can be.



JMO.

An uncle couldn’t find anything in 270 and 30-06 on the east coast. At our Midwest hunt he brought an almost 50 year old box of federal 30-06 loads that still had the $4 price tag on them. They still work quite well.

I reload at least for hunting I have enough components for a while.

Add in online sales tax in states that are gleeful that untapped source of revenue happened for em.
Under the pretext of we did it for mom and pop shops....

Like Old Mother Hubbard's cupboard. I think about pictures, but we all see the same bare shelves.

Said this exact thing to a friend yesterday. Keep hearing claims that manufacturers are running flat out so if that’s true, supply onto store shelves is obviously being throttled.

I don’t believe the manufacturers or distributors could be sitting on the stock levels they claim to be manufacturing just based on cash flow considerations. Someone or something more nefarious? Draw your own conclusions.

I have no doubt and am convinced local sporting goods store shelves are bare. The question is, is it just because hunters are hoarding. I mean 24/7 production lines and all they can do is dribble ammo to sporting goods stores.

There was an estate sale in south-central Kentucky about a month ago, and twenty-five boxes of 30 to 40 year old 30-06 ammo averaged about $35 a box. It wasn't for any "collector" value either.

I think there are a lot of people who are genuinely afraid of what will happen under a Biden administration, and others who have jumped on the bandwagon of being scared and buying ammo.

Because maybe their next shipment will be double the price. Why lock yourself into losing money?

I think suppliers broadcast price increases in advance. I don't think middle men will allow a back order unless the supplier is communicating to them future product at a certain price. Maybe I'm wrong.

Cheaper Than Dirt has a good bit of rifle ammo for sale unless you need .243, .270, or .30-06.