Decent Commentary on the Present Ammo Shartage

[Guest semiautots]

Here is a nice, short commentary on the present ammo shortage.  Doesn't address .22, but does lay out a pretty grim scenario for the rest of the year.

 

http://bearingarms.com/think-the-ammo-market-is-about-to-get-better-think-again/

[musicman]

I don't have time to read the actual post right now. I just wanted to say I literally spewed water when I read the typo "shartage" in the title of this thread. Guess this really IS threadcrapping! Haha!

[TNSean]

Only going to get worse until new manufacturing capacity is built. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[gregintenn]

Only going to get worse until new manufacturing capacity is built. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You'd think this was on the horizon based on current as well as recent events, but I've heard little mention of new companies, or existing companies expanding. There is definitely money to be made in the ammunition industry.

[et45]

Short term it will continue for the next 2 years,if a Dem. is elected to the White House in 2016 it will be a long time,possibly never before it gets much better.

[DaveTN]

Manufacturers won’t invest in new equipment unless they think the demand will stay where it is; and apparently they don't think it will.  But if you go by that article it doesn’t matter; he is saying there is a powder shortage. I don’t know if that is true or not, but it doesn’t matter how many presses you have to run if you don’t have the materials to feed them.

[Grunt67]

Personally, I've had less trouble finding powder than any other component, or equipment.

From every report i've read from Mfg., is they don't see this as long term & unwilling to expand.

Who's right is anybodys' guess. Regardless, not going away anytime soon. Panic buyers, hoarders,

resellers are still the main issue. IMO

[Guest TankerHC]

One good thing coming out of this. A lot of smaller ammo companies popping up like LAX. They don't seem to be having a problem getting anything except. 22. I'll start worrying about it when the manufacturers begin asking American women to save their urine.

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[quickbiscuit]

Manufacturers won’t invest in new equipment unless they think the demand will stay where it is; and apparently they don't think it will.  But if you go by that article it doesn’t matter; he is saying there is a powder shortage. I don’t know if that is true or not, but it doesn’t matter how many presses you have to run if you don’t have the materials to feed them.

I think this nails it. The ammo manufacturers would have to see several years of this kind if demand to invest in new facilities. Here lately we're seeing an spike in demand every 2-4 years due to elections, but all this mainly started after the Connecticut shooting. Let's face it, ammo wasn't this hard to come by in November 2008, which marked the first big threat to gun rights in 8 years. Fortunately things are improving slightly with the ammo supply.

Powder is another story. What Dave mentions above about a shortage echoes what suppliers have been saying for several months. The supply is drying up. Because the quantity demanded by reloaders has increased, this is perpetuating the problem. Where reloaders might have bought powder a pound or two at a time before, now they're buying all they can get their hands on and spending much more in one transaction than they ever have. I don't know how powder is made or what "ingredients" are used. Maybe if someone could explain the manufacturing process we could better understand this shortage.

[quickbiscuit]

Something else I have often wondered: what kind of powder do ammunition manufacturers use? For instance, Winchester white box in 45 Auto - does Winchester use a certain powder? Something common like 231 or Bullseye? What does Remington or any of the rest use? Is it the same common pistol powders that we are trying to buy? Edited March 17, 2014 by quickbiscuit

[173rdABN]

Yes, it is the same stuff you are getting off the shelf.