Let's face it. The arms and ammunition industry is tiny compared to the economy at large. Market forces and movements blow the arms industry around like a dry leaf. The difference for the arms industry is the passionate and visceral possessive and protective instincts that enthusiasts have. These traits turn to fear and panic buying when one of the periodic shortages hit us.

I heard a promising development today at a LGS. Many ammunition and component manufacturers have been impacted by copper and other semi-precious metal prices. It seems that many metal importers have been waiting for tariff quotas to reset, creating more supply at old prices. There might be something to it. I bought two boxes of brass case .223 Tula ammunition at Academy yesterday. They had a fair bit of it, limited to two boxes per purchase. Maybe the scalpers have gotten saturated.