ammo shortage

deerhunter 25-06

been trying to buy remington ammo for the last few months keep been told the same story off nearly all the dealers that they are waiting on a shipment to arrive,they said only a few shipments a year come into the country.is this because of the dollar and sterling or just the way the supplies come in.i have also been told the prices are goin to be a good deal higher than before,anyone know more on this.

FISMA.

deerhunter 25-06 wrote: »

i have also been told the prices are goin to be a good deal higher than before,anyone know more on this.

I would agree. Not long ago, a euro bought you $1.35. Now, the euro buys $1.10. That's about a 20% difference that has to come from somewhere.

Ammo is becoming much more available in the States. Supply side in the States should be fine, not sure about exports though.

I think the main issue it is the exchange rate and the general consensus that the euro is not yet done testing its low.

If the euro and dollar reach parity, which many believe it will, there's almost another 10% to go.

I suppose when shipments are only coming a few times a year, it pays to play the exchange rates.

tac foley

Having just gotten back from the USA and Canada, I can tell you that while centrefire ammunition might be getting easier to find, the same does not apply to home-grown .22 rimfire in either country.

The inexplicable shortage is getting many people less than happy, and this is not entering the third year of it. In Oregon, major dealers, including Cabelas and Sportsman's Warehouse are limiting sales, as are most Walmart and BiMarts. And by limiting, I mean ONE sale per person per day and so on. In Canada, BassPro in Tronna had almost empty shelves of most popular centrefire ammuntion, but out in the wilds, where we live, there seemed to be plenty of the stuff, even in 6.5 Creedmore [!]

Our local Walmart in Eugene WAS allowing customers to buy a brick, but at inflated prices, but nowhere near that of the smaller retailers, one of whom was selling a brick of CCI Min-Mags for 'only' $87.50.

There are some serious questions being asked on most fora in the US as to why the world's largest civilian ammunition manufactury is failing to keep up with demand.

So far, we are getting no answers...

tac

Grizzly 45

Simply put...Uncle Sams military needs come first! There is more money in making 5.56 and 7.62[ in some cases ]to flog it to the war machine with a graunteed paycheck at the end of the day with a govt contract,than supplying .22 ammo to Wally mart.Not helped either by the world market prices for lead and brass being high and both the Chinese and Indians sucking up supplies in no time at all.

IRLConor

tac foley wrote: »

one of whom was selling a brick of CCI Min-Mags for 'only' $87.50

At the current exchange rates you can get Eley Sport for $60.97/brick from my usual supplier. No limit on volume either and a 5% discount if you buy 5,000 or more. That's a crazy difference in pricing.

If I were Eley, Lapua/SK or RWS I'd be shipping my cheapest ammo to the US as fast as I could crate it up. Maybe they're already doing that.

At the higher end of the .22lr price/quality spectrum the US folks seem to be getting screwed too. I pay roughly $16/box for Eley Tenex and I've seen it listed for north of $20/box. I think the supply and demand story in that niche market is a little happier though. I don't think there are any shortages there.

BattleCorp

Looking at some of the ammo factories on youtube, they don't seem to involve any world beating technology.

I'm surprised that with such an ammo shortage that nobody has invested in a new ammo factory.

Grizzly 45

Its feeding it with raw materials to keep it going BC.Thats the problem.You are not buying your lead and copper at out of the ground prices.You are buying a refined product at maybe 12 thousand tonsplus PA
This is being sold and traded on the stock market,so there are plenty of others after the same product as you who can possibly bid higher than you..Then your chemicals for powder,your R&D of said powder to make sure you arent stealing somoenie elses secret recpie.So your ammo plant is possibly already running well in the red figures within a week of opening the factory gates.

Now,suppose you get a friendly call from mr US Govt agent who offers you a deal...Gov t controlled price for the materials you need .A contract for ten years for a couple of million a year or a Fed secured loan to get you out of the red numbers,and all you got to do is switch the dies on the production line to 5.56,and Uncle Sam will pay for that too.Sure you can produce .22 ammo or whatever else you want,with whats left over so long as Uncle Sugar is looked after first.....As a smart busisness bear what are you going to take??
Doesnt matter where your plant is.US,Germany ,Russia,Ireland even.Its down to what you are paying for raw materials on the open market and who is going to offer you an offer that you cant refuse?

tac foley

IRLConor wrote: »

At the current exchange rates you can get Eley Sport for $60.97/brick from my usual supplier. No limit on volume either and a 5% discount if you buy 5,000 or more. That's a crazy difference in pricing.

If I were Eley, Lapua/SK or RWS I'd be shipping my cheapest ammo to the US as fast as I could crate it up. Maybe they're already doing that.

At the higher end of the .22lr price/quality spectrum the US folks seem to be getting screwed too. I pay roughly $16/box for Eley Tenex and I've seen it listed for north of $20/box. I think the supply and demand story in that niche market is a little happier though. I don't think there are any shortages there.

Americans like to spend their dollars on American-made ammunition, rather than the high-falutin' furrin stuff.

I would hesitate to ask how much Mandell's or other dedicated target shooting companies are asking for any of the European-made ammunition you noted.

Nobody I know could afford to shoot that anyhow.

tac

IRLConor

tac foley wrote: »

Americans like to spend their dollars on American-made ammunition, rather than the high-falutin' furrin stuff.

And for good reason too. Unless you're competing, there's absolutely no point in spending money on .22lr. The cheap stuff will get you very far as it is.