Interesting Case Study In The Volatility Of Ammunition Supply In America
BY Herschel Smith
4 years, 4 months ago
As an interesting case study, I watched and refreshed a screen for a couple of weeks at the 2aWarehouse on a sale of run-of-the-mill Winchester range ammunition in 45 ACP. The sale was 200 rounds for $85.80. For those who shoot .45 ACP, this is a fairly standard price, and excepting the shipping fees, it’s actually a fairly good deal any time at 43 cents per round.
The screen began at 1000 boxes of 200, and tonight it was at 150.
This means that for this one distributor located via Ammoseek.com, for one caliber, for one brand, 200,000 more pistol rounds are in the hands of ordinary Americans within about two weeks.
Range ammo or PD, it makes no difference. That tells you something about what’s happening in America, more than you can learn from any MSM outlet even on a good day.
On July 22, 2020 at 7:04 am, Arthur Sido said:
The lack of supply is also leading to extraordinary price increases. Last week I saw advertised CCI Blazer 9mm, just cheap FMJ range ammo for $16.99 for a 50 round box. As recently as last winter I bought the same ammunition at a local sporting goods chain for $8.99 and they had the boxes stacked floor to ceiling. I watch ammoseek throughout the day for fun and it is amazing how quickly ammo prices have skyrocketed.
On July 22, 2020 at 7:46 am, Name (required) said:
I’m guessing that supply is relatively steady, while demand is very volatile indeed. It would be nice if supply and distribution could ramp up and down as quickly as demand.
On July 22, 2020 at 7:56 am, luckyforward said:
Last week I checked PSA for 5.56, and they had ZERO in stock. None of any description at any price. This morning they have a thousand round case of M855 for $599. A hundred bucks more than a couple of weeks ago. Other suppliers are no better. A local sporting goods store gets an ammo truck in every week, but the amount they receive each week is getting smaller and smaller. I bought 9MM and some Federal .223 last week. They were sold out of what they had received within about 3 hours.
In some cases prices have more than doubled over what they were in early February.
On July 22, 2020 at 8:41 am, jack said:
It’s not only ammo. It’s reloading supplies as well… None of the local reloaders for the competition folks can get primers. They say they’re out 8+ weeks to fill any orders.
Last week I was buying for others attending a class next week. Best deal I found was $250/case CCI Blazer 9mm FMJ but most students are paying $300 – $400 per case.
I found some retailers have plenty in stock – at $750+/case
On July 22, 2020 at 9:30 am, billrla said:
You would think that this is good news for owners of shares of Olin Corporation, makers of Winchester ammo, but the stock has been in the dumps. Not because of the ammo business, which is doing well, but because of weakness across all of Olin’s larger businesses (chlor alkali, epoxy, in particular.)
On July 22, 2020 at 12:35 pm, Bad_Brad said:
I’m still of the opinion ammo availability is being manipulated. Here’s why. All major reloaders that have military contracts need to supply the military first. Their orders go to the front of the line. The Obamanation created a shortage of ammo during his reign by totally overloading reloaders with orders. To the degree the military is still flush with ammo. That’s a lot of capacity. I just don’t see the recent ammo consumption eating into that capacity.
On July 22, 2020 at 2:30 pm, AZM said:
http://darkcanyon.net/loadsperpound.html
For those of you with the reloading desire… here’s a table of the number of loads, per pound, based on the powder charge in Grains.
On July 22, 2020 at 2:37 pm, J J said:
Thanks for posting this…right now the count is 101 left.
Not only did I buy a box of the .45, but they also had some 9mm in stock today that I was able to purchase.
On July 22, 2020 at 4:45 pm, Luwanee said:
Should have listened and bought last fall, 9mm FMJ 1000 rounds 139.00.
On July 22, 2020 at 5:16 pm, PBAR said:
Can’t seem to find 5.45mm any where. Bought AK-74 about 15-17 years ago specifically because the ammo was so cheap.
On July 22, 2020 at 5:52 pm, Ewin said:
Q: Sir, why did you have 10,000 rounds of ammunition in your garage?
A: What kind of question is that? Haven’t you ever gone to Costco and saw something on sale? Where if you bought more, the price was a lot lower?
On July 22, 2020 at 6:00 pm, William White said:
Re Bad Brad: Obama was 4 years ago and more. If the government is indeed still hogging up all the 4+ year ago level of production capacity, shame on the ammo manufacturers management for not increasing their production capacity to sop up all the ongoing government orders AND civilian demand. They have missed a huge opportunity.
On July 22, 2020 at 6:22 pm, Haz said:
@Ewin,
#1) If anyone knows about your ammo, how much you have, and where it’s stored, you need to check your OPSEC and maybe put duct tape over your mouth.
#2) Only 10K rounds? Must be a newbie. :)
On July 22, 2020 at 6:28 pm, Bad_Brad said:
William White
That’s not what I said or my point. Please re read. And the military has not ordered any ammo in a long time.
On July 22, 2020 at 6:29 pm, SteveP said:
Q: Sir, why did you have 10,000 rounds of ammunition in your garage?
A: Yeah, I know I’m getting low. I need to restock.
On July 22, 2020 at 7:05 pm, Isab said:
Ouch. 43 cents a round. I can reload this for 20 cents a round max and for competition, lead semi wadcutters hollow points at 14 cents per, including primers and powder.
45 auto is a very stable case and can be reloaded indefinitely until it cracks.
On July 22, 2020 at 10:44 pm, James said:
I might just maybe have some of those .45acp Winchester range packs you were watching. I also sadly lost them in a boating accident.
On July 23, 2020 at 7:57 am, Longbow said:
I load ammo commercially. It is getting VERY difficult to source components.
Pricing is going up, depending on what I have to pay for bullets and primers.
By the way, I have nothing available to order. The back orders I have now will keep me busy for the near future… that is IF I can source materials.
On July 23, 2020 at 3:46 pm, Yeah, not worried. said:
Well, I tell ya what. I panicked way, way early. Like Sandy Hook early if not sooner. We knew this was coming since Ozero got in. I look at it this way, if I can go through what I have both for practice and SD then I’ve probably got bigger issues or I’m dead.
Yeah, some days you can’t have enough, others it doesn’t make sense. Glad I bought when I did, now my dollars can chase more food, different methods of hunting on other things.
Hope you got what you need, gonna be a real b*tch in six months. I follow SGAmmo, checked the other night. Scary. 100% S C A R Y.
And no, reloading won’t save you. No components, no reloads, unless, like me, you panicked early. I didn’t on reloads, still cheaper to buy OTC. I have a bunch of barely used great reloading equipment for sale, cheap. Ha!
On July 23, 2020 at 4:45 pm, oughtsix said:
I “pancked” 20 Years ago………………
HeH!
On July 23, 2020 at 8:40 pm, Darrell Cloud said:
Is this stuff any good? https://sharpshooter-22lr-reloader.myshopify.com/products/prime-all-repriming-compound
On July 25, 2020 at 3:52 pm, Ned2 said:
https://blog.ammoseek.com/posts/ammo-delays-backorders
Also hearing about component shortages from reloaders. Hope you’re all stocked up and have enough for practice too.