I'm thinking things are begining to return to normal

[walnutred]

I stopped by two gunshops Saturday and the ammo and reloading shelves were almost fully stocked. Prices were a little higher than I remember but that seems normal. 748, Varget, and H332 were all in stock by the case. Primers were still short, all they had were Small Rifle Magnums.

I bought 3 lbs of 748 @ $23.95 a lbs YIKES!. But it balanced out at the range. I was shooting a 223 Handi Rifle and noticed the guy next to me with the AR was getting increasingly frustrated. As we were leaving I asked what the problem was and he said the Silver Bear ammo he bought would jam every 3rd shot. Now he was stuck with several hundred rounds of stuff he could not return and could not use. I asked him what he wanted for it, he thought for a moment and said: $15 a hundred. I took all he had. It's the 62gn HP in a zinc plated steel case. Works fine in my single shot.

 

[Jebus35745]

I've also noticed the supply of ammo is easier to find and .380 can be found. A friend had some Wolf .223 ammo and didn't want to use it in his AR15. I have a Ruger #1 in .223 and it shoots OK in it at 2.00 a box.

 

[Skip Sackett]

AR15 problems

I have had terrible results with Wolf .223 ammo in my AR-15.

Granted my rifle isn't one of the top line ones, a DPMS "kit" gun, but it is extremely accurate with my 69gr HPBT Varget loads. MOA accuracy from that platform is very good, I suppose. That's what I have been achieving with that load.

Red, what is accuracy like with the Handi? I had one in 44Mag and wasn't too impressed. Yours has a 1 in 12" twist, right? My AR has a 1 in 9" which is great for the 69gr bullets. It shoots 55gr well too. I load those for range and "just in case" ammo, if you catch my drift.

 

[Rule3]

Almost normal. My local shop now has all calibers of ammo in stock BUT at a price. $19 or so for Rem FMJ 9MM They even got some .380 I think it is $25.

 

[walnutred]

My Handi has the 1-9" rifling, heavy barrel. I wish I could say it shoots MOA but at 100 yds the best I can consistently do is 1.25" to 1.5" groups. I bought this used looking for cheap. left hand, 150 yd ground hog and coyote rifle, so that accuracy is acceptable. Though I hope to improve it through proper bedding and trigger smoothing. Half the problem is probably me,

My "serious" load is 26.7 gns Varget, Hornady 60gn V-Max. Remington brass and 7 1/5 BR primer. Neck sized only. The store I mentioned had Varget and I bought a can, though I hated paying $25 for it. Hopefully by the time I use that up prices will be back to normal, or maybe this IS the new normal.

 

[4inch357]

I'm still having trouble finding Varget - good to hear someone is seeing it out there.

 

[acl864]

I got an email notification from Midway on Fed Magnum SP Primers. Followed the link and THEY WERE ACTUALLY IN STOCK this time. I put a few bricks in my cart just to make sure they weren't fooling. Didn't check out though- I've got plenty on the shelf. Hopefully whoever got them needed them and isn't one of the folks buying them up to resale at a huge profit.

 

[Frank237]

You would think that by now many of the "hoarders" VISA cards are maxed out.

My Buddies Shop in Helena got in a mess of CCI and Win primers last week. Despite a big run on them over the weekend....they are still in stock.

And the local Wal-Mart has a pallet of RP bulk pack .22 LR on the floor. So maybe things are finally looking up?

FN in MT

 

[VonFatman]

Around here...normal remains another setting on the dryer. Still pretty dry...primers too!

Bob

 

[Duskykiller]

Eugene Oregon nothing available. We have not had primers or powder for about 4 months. There has been a trickle of bullets for reloading but that is it.

 

[Gatofeo]

Salt Lake City and Tooele, Utah -- drier than Brigham Young's bones.
No primers to be found, except for shotgun. Seem to be plenty of shotgun primers around.
Almost no pistol powder. The most popular rifle powders are long gone.
Pistol bullets of all calibers are gone, except for the high-end jacketed Super Turbo ZX Wundercavity Belted SlugDot stuff that costs $30 or $40 per 100.
Trickle of ARs and handguns coming back to the shelves.
As far as I know, there is not ONE store in Salt Lake City (a major metropolis) that sells black powder. Last I heard, only one store in Ogden (40 miles north) stocked it.
A man recently told me that the recent gun show had a sucker price of $30 per 1-pound can of Goex FFG black powder.
A year ago it was $12, if I recall correctly.
No .22 Long Rifle cartridges to be found anywhere. Lots of shotgun shells, though.
This keeps up, we'll be paying for nice, little round rocks for our slingshots!

 

[bnewc75]

what's normal? a functioning economy? but we are starting to see more ammo and supplies here in the NW this past month

 

[Spotteddog]

Yeah 75!
The reason there "appears" to be more here now, is because of the first two things you mentioned. Folks are now running out of dough.

 

[sjmjax]

I don't know exactly when it will happen but I believe the ammo and component shortage will end very suddenly.

Manufacturers are running flat out producing product and dealers and wholesalers are ordering staggering quantities due to current demand levels. Eventually, some people will simply run out of money to spend on ammo and components, others will run out of storage space, some will finally be satisfied with what they've stockpiled. Then those who purchase on impulse will finally notice ammo is available and stop buying everything on the shelf.

Then it happens. Huge quantities of back ordered ammo and reloading supplies start hitting the warehouses and dealers shelves and overnight there will be a gult of product to move and few buyers. Unless of course, suitably discounted!

Then again, a single act of congress could make that all just a pleasant dream.

 

[huthike]

The last gunshow in Houston, ammo seemed more readily available. They had primers, too, albeit for 50/1000. I think, too, that things are settling down some.

 

[shovelwrench]

I picked up 2k small pistol primers today, usual price. I asked the gun store guy if he had an problems getting primers. All he said was they were tricklin in, he seemed to have anything you could want, not brand, but any type you could want.

 

[tgwillard]

As SJMJAX correctly notes, we have a classic example of a demand situation which will shortly result in rapidly increasing inventories as supply catches up and then quickly surpasses demand. The question of course is exactly when this will happen. Once buyers see ample stocks back on the shelves, the knee jerk need to "stock up" will die down. Up until now when my local Walmart had either 9mm or .223 Remington on hand I would purchase my limit. I have reached a point where I have enough of both calibers. I suspect many others are in the same situation as I am.

 

[Emerson]

I saw ammunition on the shelves at WalMart yesterday for the first time in 4 or 5 months. Not a lot, but they had some.

 

[Texasflyboy]

Manufacturers are running flat out producing product and dealers and wholesalers are ordering staggering quantities due to current demand levels. (snip)
Then it happens. Huge quantities of back ordered ammo and reloading supplies start hitting the warehouses and dealers shelves and overnight there will be a gult of product to move and few buyers.

You can exclude Alliant Technologies (ATK) owner of Federal Ammunition and CCI from that scenario.

Specifically, your quote on "running flat out". They are not. Demand is elastic for ammunition. Supply is inelastic. ATK (Federal and CCI) know very well the year in and year out demand for commercial ammunition and reloading supplies and plan their manufacturing on an *annual* basis that is relatively immune to rapid changes in demand. Annual production is planned on an.....get this...an annual schedule. Which is based on the contracted raw material costs.

My company has a current contract with ATK, although not in small arms ammunition. I have spoken with staff members who have repeatedly educated me on this business strategy, which is very simple. They cannot respond to surges in demand. There is insufficient return on investment (ROI) for them in responding to *temporary* surges in demand.

In this sort of manufacturing, they cannot, and will not respond to dramatic swings in demand. They simply continue production as planned, on an annual basis, and let the demand and supply curves naturally meet, as they have done, for the last 50 years.

Those in the industry well know the futility of chasing the tail of the demand cat.

 

[NFrameFred]

This is true. The only time one of these outfits "ramps up" production is for a huge police/military long-range contract with delivery deadlines. Guaranteed sales, planned production.

I found small pistol primers on line last night, albeit magnum designation. Supply will eventually catch up if nothing happens to "shake the trees" again anytime soon, but there is a palpable sense of foreboding out there by a lot of folks who have watched this for years and know they trust politicians about as far as they can toss their cars with their bare hands.