Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Brass Shortage??

can buy this and sell off the excess.

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.c...ngton-Mag-Unprimed-Brass-1000-Count-Bulk

Six-cents/rd is the new going, non-scalper rate for non-match 22lr.

I'd wager that there is a "conspiracy" of sorts at play. Loans are increasing difficult to get, and the Justice Dept's bias against the firearms industry is well documented and extends to the banking sector.

That coupled with the economic wet-blanket known as the Affordable Care Act surely play a role in the ammo makers decision not to expand production.

GeoW,

Are you saying that if the shortages are due to new shooters, then they can't be due to people buying more than usual?

I don't think anybody knows how much of each contributes to the problem. How would you track the differences? Are some new shooters buying more than old shooters? Are old shooters giving up on finding stuff, or dying? WHO KNOWS?

What we do know is lots of shooters started buying lots of stuff when Obama was reelected, and really started heating up their credit cards a month or so later after the Connecticut school shooting started and liberal politicians talking about new gun laws again. Thus we had a double whammy, when previous buying binges were started by single events, the 1994 assault rifle ban and Obama's first election.

Evidently few remember the severe primer shortage after the assault rifle ban, but there were even rumors flying around that "the feds" were mandating all new primers had to go dead within six months, so people couldn't hoard them. Many people were burying tens of thousands of primers in their yards, just in case "the feds" came around to confiscate them. Yet in less than a year, primers started showing up on shelves again, and for some reason nobody I've run into or heard from ever ended up with any of those 6-month dud primers.

Right now we keep hearing doubts that any of the manufacturers are actually running their factories as much as they claim. This isn't from people who actually live near the factories, or work there, because we've heard from some of them and they all say exactly what the factories claim is true. Others have also seen the morning line-up at Wal-Marts, and have overheard people in the line-up phoning other people when there's .22 ammo to buy, so the shelves can be cleaned out even though the store has a 3-box or 1-brick limit.

And we've all seen the posts on the Campfire when somebody announces that X Store or Y website has .22 Long Rifles, or powder, or .22 Hornet brass. And if we pay attention to the same thread, we often hear about how the store or website already ran out, a few hours later.

Yet all the conspiracy theorists can present for "evidence" is they can't find any of the rimfire ammo or the components they want when checking stores or Internet sites.

I'm convinced, based on all this, that the 1994 assault-rifle shortage would have been much longer if cell phones and the Internet had been widespread back then. They not only fuel the conspiracy theories, but allow people to buy up all of any "scarce" ammo or components that show up anywhere, often within hours. Yet somebody who checks the same store or website a day later and doesn't find anything is convinced nothing was ever there.

And no, I'm not going to tell you where I've been buying stuff on the Internet. Because this buying frenzy has gone on so long, I finally had to start restocking some stuff myself after 1-1/2 years, because my business is shooting and I have to have it. I figured out where to check for ammo and components, and work at it, and now it's become part of my job. Yet you want me to hand that to you, just because you profess doubt about whether I've really been buying .22 ammo or components?

Tell you what, I've got some .22 ammo, and a bunch of different kinds of brass, powders and primers. Send me a list of what you want and if I have enough to spare I might sell you some, because it costs me time and effort to find it.

Mule Deer

Have you found any cycles when brass is more available. For example, more available during the "low" season, spring, early summer vis a vis "high" season late, summer fall?

Lapua brass seems to be in steady supply, and it is now less expensive than Win brand brass for the 308 which seems incredible.

Actually Lapua is on sale right now at Midway. Bought some for the 6.5X55. I don't really believe in the conspiracy theories, but normal supply and demand cycles even out. Not really seeing that right now. I have no answers, but like most folks find the whole issue a headache. The new reality I guess. I will not pay scalpers prices, but have had to adjust to the new pricing. The last pound of IMR-4350 I just finished up was $9.95 per the price tag, the new pounds were $29.95 each. It is what it is unfortunately.

tag

You said that, not me..

Sorry, I have more than enough to get me by.. Had no intention of sniffing out your sellers.. I have my ideas though

Not interested in a pissing contest either. What I do know is there are not enough hoarders, preppers, scalpers or shooters in the state of Georgia to buy every single round of 22LR coming into the state if it was put on the shelves. Where it is going I do not know.

What I do know is I have not seen one round in what, four years now, on the shelf. And why just 22LR? Shelves are running over with other stuff.

My opinion is that there is more to the ammo shortage, especially 22LR, than meets the eye. That is my opinion and not for the purpose of an argument.

"What I do know is there are not enough hoarders, preppers, scalpers or shooters in the state of Georgia to buy every single round of 22LR coming into the state if it was put on the shelves."


Not true, Sir.


10,000,000 folks in your state.
If only 10% or 1,000,000 would buy 100 rounds if they could find it today, that would be 10,000,000 rounds........today.
Some would buy 5000 each, if they found it....
and there may be more than 10% 22 ammo buyers in your state.
Now add in the same 10% buyers for the U.S. as a whole......
The numbers are staggering.....
and they only bought 100 rounds.

$1.84 per piece seems a tad high. Maybe I just haven't bought brass in a while. If this is the going rate for rifle brass I guess it is time to start annealing everything.

Ernie

According to your arithmetic, after ten days, and on day eleven, the state should/would start being flooded with ammunition.. Everyone, not just 10% but 100%, having stocked up on the previous ten days

Prwlr,

The major companies do tend to produce certain kinds of brass (and ammo) more during different times of year. Most summers they're busy making big game stuff in preparation for the fall seasons. In late fall, winter and early spring they often make the "seasonal runs" of stuff that's not so popular.

Last year I bought a good supply of Winchester .25-35 brass for my two firearms in that chambering, as I recall in spring. It was available for less than a month. and then it was gone again. In late fall I bought a few boxes of new Hornady .17 Hornet brass, and then after a month or so it became available again for a short period and I bought a little more.

But other than those generalities, I haven't talked to any of the major companies about exactly what their timing is on making various cases. No doubt they tend to produce some depending on how many orders they receive.

Every company I've talked to, whether they make bullets, brass or powder, has said that one of the biggest problems right now is all the machinery's so busy that the only rational way to TRY to fill demand is to produce the most popular stuff as much as possible, because switching to different bullets, brass or powders means considerable down time. That's the big reason they're not making much (or any) less-popular stuff.

I believe it's a combination of factors. You have the preppers/hoarders that go into a buying frenzy whenever there is a liberal elected to the presidency, or a school shooting, or... Then you have a host of new shooters. They need ammo and see it's hard to get so buy what they can when they can. Then you have more normal shooters/hunters/reloader's who have never stockpiled before, as shortages would work themselves out eventually in a year or so, but it's been going on years so when they see ammo or components available they buy more than they normally would.

The ammo and component companies can't keep up, and hence the buying frenzy will continue until people see that components they regularly buy being stocked on the shelves, or until they go broke in the process.

I pretty much agree with Mule Deer and that it's the hoarders and peppers that see themselves holding off the seven armies of ork or whatever. I don't agree however with the premise of not buying capacity unless you have a brand new factory. In reality the time to invest in equipment is when you can pay it off pretty quickly then when the demand slows you pull your oldest less efficient worn equipment off line and hopefully continue to realize efficiency as a result of better tolerances and capability. Of course you can't necessairly make this as a blanket statement anymore than saying it makes no sense to buy equipment as you will end up eating it when the demand slows but if in fact they are running as hard as claimed over the past 5-6 years then they are more than likely putting a lot of wear and tear on their equipment.

There are a number of reasons for the shortages. The most refreshing of which is new firearms owners.in our small towns we have had four new mom and pop gunshops open in the last year along with two new ranges.

Was in my LGS this morning. Two pallets of 22LR in boxes, bricks and cases both Rem and CCI. Didn't buy any, most customers were walking past it. Also seen 15 boxes and another 10 bags of 7mm brass. Some brass bins were empty, but the common stuff was available. Bullets, primers and powder seemed to be available. Normal gun store BS going on.

Mathman, is that you?

Thanks MD.

Went to a store this weekend, they had case upon case of Norma Tac 22 Target $6.99 per 50 rds and had the stated Norma Guaranteed them they would never be allowed to run out.

At $75/brick I guess not!

Mike

Times a comming when you will be thrilled to $69.90 per brick.