Here’s What the Ammo Shortage Revealed About the Industry

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Here’s What the Ammo Shortage Revealed About the Industry


Between erratic availability of components, wildly swinging prices, and limited production capacity, the ammunition industry is scrambling to serve shooters

BY ANDREW MCKEAN | PUBLISHED FEB 17, 2023 2:13 PM EST

In his four decades of running D&G Sports and Western in Glasgow, Montana, Darrell Morehouse has never seen ammunition pricing and availability as unpredictable as it’s been in the past three years. That’s telling, considering the several ammo shortages he’s seen through the decades.

Sure, some of what Morehouse calls “crazy-ass” dynamics stem from supply-chain uncertainties and binge buying fueled by the Covid-19 pandemic. But his view from the gun counter at an independent sporting goods store in eastern Montana isn’t that different from the business manager of a bullet manufacturer in Utah.

“We’re in reaction mode, just trying to keep up with changing situations almost on a daily basis,” says Michael Painter, director of marketing and product management for Barnes Bullets. “We’re probably better off than a lot of our competitors because we’ve brought so much of our manufacturing processes in-house, but I can tell you that every day is some kind of a new challenge.”
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https://www.outdoorlife.com/guns/ammo-shortage-2023/


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Re: Here’s What the Ammo Shortage Revealed About the Industry

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Great article.

I used to spend more time than I should on a forum called "The Oil Drum" which was mainly about oil and nuclear energy-- a place where, if they wanted to, a citizen scientist could argue the hidden risks of the Westinghouse AP1000 with a Swedish legislator... but there was also a lot of lively chatter about scarcity, not just of fossil fuels and rare earth, but other commodities.

The smart money always kept saying seemed to b: "What you will see before collapse is an extended period of wild price swings and alternating glut and scarcity. And it may last for years, or even decades." So very interesting about copper prices. And about primers.

The the LGS, it seemed like I was being very gently discouraged from hoarding, but they had no problem with "hedging" -- just buying a bit more than you need every time you go in, which is what I've always seemed to do.

Re: Here’s What the Ammo Shortage Revealed About the Industry

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In Henderson, Nevada, gun-store owner Greg Veire deals mainly in bulk ammunition for recreational shooting. He thinks the days of hoarding are over.

“In the past year, we’re seeing more customers come in and grab what they need for a day of shooting,” says Veire, owner of Bear Arms. “That’s definitely not what we were seeing a couple years ago, when people would come in and clean us out and didn’t have any intention of shooting it soon. If ever. We still have customers who come in and buy three boxes instead of one, but I think that’s just because they don’t know when they’ll be able to get a certain caliber or load. But I wouldn’t call that hoarding. I call it hedging.”
Course I am not a hoarder, I am not a hoarder, I am not a hoarder.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,”

Re: Here’s What the Ammo Shortage Revealed About the Industry

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tonguengroover wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 4:33 pm
In Henderson, Nevada, gun-store owner Greg Veire deals mainly in bulk ammunition for recreational shooting. He thinks the days of hoarding are over.

“In the past year, we’re seeing more customers come in and grab what they need for a day of shooting,” says Veire, owner of Bear Arms. “That’s definitely not what we were seeing a couple years ago, when people would come in and clean us out and didn’t have any intention of shooting it soon. If ever. We still have customers who come in and buy three boxes instead of one, but I think that’s just because they don’t know when they’ll be able to get a certain caliber or load. But I wouldn’t call that hoarding. I call it hedging.”
Course I am not a hoarder, I am not a hoarder, I am not a hoarder.
Yeah, I grab what I need for "a day's shooting," and use about half that and put the rest in the pile for next time. After a few trips like that, I have a couple days' worth in reserve at home.
Eventually I'll figure out this signature thing and decide what I want to put here.

Re: Here’s What the Ammo Shortage Revealed About the Industry

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I’m not sure what the definition of “hoarding” is, but I like to have enough on hand to get me through a couple year shortage. Usually a minimum of 1000 rounds each of 9mm, 45 ACP, 12 gauge & 5k or so 22LR. I have enough primers on hand to keep me in business for .38/.357; & .45 colt. I also like to have a decent amount of .32 as that can be really hard to find even in normal times.

When 9mm is relatively inexpensive for factory (like it is now at 12.99/ 50) I shoot mostly 9mm.


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Re: Here’s What the Ammo Shortage Revealed About the Industry

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SunRiseWest wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 8:22 pm
tonguengroover wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 7:12 pm Ok looky here.
Federal Punch Flatnose 22lr !
Nickel plated lead.
Love me flat nose ammo.
At 16 cent gimmie 10.
https://www.budsgunshop.com/product_inf ... e+50rd+box
Great. For $25, I can import a bunch of it legally to California. I have been hoping to find this somewhere in California, but so far, no luck.
I've never shot it before, have you? Hope it works well in my Ruger MKII.
Never seen any nickel plated either so this will be fun.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,”

Re: Here’s What the Ammo Shortage Revealed About the Industry

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tonguengroover wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 8:29 pm
SunRiseWest wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 8:22 pm
tonguengroover wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 7:12 pm Ok looky here.
Federal Punch Flatnose 22lr !
Nickel plated lead.
Love me flat nose ammo.
At 16 cent gimmie 10.
https://www.budsgunshop.com/product_inf ... e+50rd+box
Great. For $25, I can import a bunch of it legally to California. I have been hoping to find this somewhere in California, but so far, no luck.
I've never shot it before, have you? Hope it works well in my Ruger MKII.
Never seen any nickel plated either so this will be fun.
No, I've never tried it, just read the rave reviews. If I can get a hold of some, I will try it in my MKII, and we can compare notes!

I read somewhere that some guys were nervous shooting it through some rifles because it's a hotter load? Doesn't make sense to me-- the MKII should certainly be okay with it. I figure so would the 942 and Rough Rider, because both of those are available in .22 mag. Would like to see a comparison of .22 mag vs. .22 LR Federal Punch in a variety of barrel lengths.

Re: Here’s What the Ammo Shortage Revealed About the Industry

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Punch is slightly lighter and faster than Stingers, but shares the same extended case. It may have problems with extraction in some target style bottom-feeders. I wouldn't dream of trying it in a S&W 41, for instance. The wide flat nose may also present problems in loading, but that will depend on your gun. I've found that super-light hyper-velocity all-copper bullets may not provide sufficient recoil to operate the bolt on my Mark IV, but Punch seems to have found the sweet spot - I've had zero problems.

It's marketed as a defensive load for short-barreled .22s, reaching a standard speed out of snubbies. OTOH, as a flat-nose round, it avoids the overexpansion Stingers face as a round originally designed for varminting. If you ever ran Stingers for self defense, I think Punch is better suited. I don't carry it myself.

What I have found shooting Punch - in my Ruger, YMMV - is that it loads fine, extracts fine, is dead-nuts reliable for rimfire, more accurate than most, and like most semiwadcutters leaves a nice circular hole for scoring purposes. I far prefer it to most target ammo I've tried.

Re: Here’s What the Ammo Shortage Revealed About the Industry

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Good article. Added to all that the war in Ukraine happened last year, it stressed an already stressed ammo supply. And some US ammo manufacturers have contracts around the world. Speer (Speer Gold Dot) provides ammo to NYPD, CA Highway Patrol, DHS (Secret Service, ICE...) and many other US law enforcement agencies. They also supply ammo to European police agencies like the French National Police, National Gendarmerie, French customs and border patrol and the single national police agencies of Sweden and Norway. Military and law enforcement have priority.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Here’s What the Ammo Shortage Revealed About the Industry

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SunRiseWest wrote: Tue Feb 21, 2023 1:18 am
tonguengroover wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 8:29 pm
SunRiseWest wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 8:22 pm
tonguengroover wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 7:12 pm Ok looky here.
Federal Punch Flatnose 22lr !
Nickel plated lead.
Love me flat nose ammo.
At 16 cent gimmie 10.
https://www.budsgunshop.com/product_inf ... e+50rd+box
Great. For $25, I can import a bunch of it legally to California. I have been hoping to find this somewhere in California, but so far, no luck.
I've never shot it before, have you? Hope it works well in my Ruger MKII.
Never seen any nickel plated either so this will be fun.
No, I've never tried it, just read the rave reviews. If I can get a hold of some, I will try it in my MKII, and we can compare notes!

I read somewhere that some guys were nervous shooting it through some rifles because it's a hotter load? Doesn't make sense to me-- the MKII should certainly be okay with it. I figure so would the 942 and Rough Rider, because both of those are available in .22 mag. Would like to see a comparison of .22 mag vs. .22 LR Federal Punch in a variety of barrel lengths.
Search the YT channel, 'Tools and Targets'..I think he has.

As for ammo...I think in a 'stressful' situation, what I may 'need' is 9mm, 223/556 and SG ammo..so have quite a lot of that. A much smaller amount of 38special and .380 cuz that is really only for the range. So, when I trundle off to Cabelas or Murdocs...I grab 100r or so of each...9mm, 223/556...Just cuz. Not worried about a shortage, worried that with these daffy times, I may 'need' it.

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