Thoughts on the Current Ammo Shortage

Richard Pearson, Executive Director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, VSSA's sister organization, shared the below information on the current state of ammunition availability with ISRA members yesterday.  VSSA thought you might be interested in this information:

The constant question everyone is asking is where all the ammunition is. There are all kinds of conspiracy theories out there but I don’t buy any of them at this time. The production of ammunition is more complicated than one might assume.

In the fourth quarter of each year, ammunition companies estimate what is going to happen in the following year. In 2019, ammunition manufacturers estimated how much raw material would be needed in 2020. Handgun and rifle ammunition requires lead, antimony, copper, zinc, aluminum, bismuth, bronze, rubber, steel, tin, tungsten, and several varieties of plastic. Additional waxes, types of oils, waxes, and other lubricants have to be purchased. In short, they have to buy a lot of stuff before they begin manufacturing.

The other factor is the ammunition companies run a full year’s production on one caliber and then reset the machine to run another caliber. There are not 9mm, 38 special, 380 ACP, 45 ACP or other calibers in ammo loading machines just sitting around waiting to be turned on. There is no order that says, “Hey Charlie, run over to the plant and run a couple million 9 mm’s.” It doesn’t work that way.

Think back to the Fall of 2019. The Election was a year away and things were relatively peaceful. In January, COVID-19 hit us, and later, George Floyd was killed. That is when things started to fall apart, at least as we know it. Ammunition sales went up and are now averaging 139% more than in 2019. There are 7,000,000 more gun owners in the United States than last year.

Ammunition companies are getting ready for the process to begin for 2021. They have to rebuy all the components that I mentioned earlier. Let’s guess they are buying 50% more than last year. That means the cost of materials may go up if supply is short. Remember, many other industries are using the same materials. That’s my take on the ammunition problem.

Is This the Answer to Your .22LR Woes?

The great thing about the NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits is the opportunity to see and speak to so many vendors, not only firearm distributors but entrepreneurs that have interesting products.  One such vendor was Sharp Shooter 22 LR Reloading.  Reload rim fire ammo you ask?  The answer is yes.  According to Brian Nixon and Dennis Shultz, while a new brick of .22LR can cost around $60, with this product, with this product you can reload a brick for around $8 and have ammo whenever you want it.  Cam Edwards of NRANews.com had the opportunity to speak to the Sharpshooter 22LR Reloader Team to find out more about their product.
You can see the process from start to finish below
Hat tip to NRANews.com.

Walmart Limits Ammo Purchases After Runs on Sales

VSSA has heard from some members that buying ammunition at Walmart has been difficult of late.  Some attributed that to the fact that the administration was trying to put pressure on retailers to enact policies that the administration favors, including limiting access to ammunition.  The Washington Times reports that Walmart is restricting purchases to three boxes per customer per day.  Walmart says this is because of the increased demand and the inability to keep supplies to meet that demand.

Walmart in the past has cooperated with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on firearm sales schemes like installing video cameras to record sales.  So, it's no suprised some are skeptical of this new policy.  However, in this case, it is probably true that the policy is driven by increased demand.  One of the local gun shops in the Richmond area announced a similar policy on their Facebook page and that was driven by the increased demand for certain ammunition of certain calibers.

Update: Colonial Shooting Academy is also limiting ammo purchases to 2 boxes per person for use on the range due to recent market demand.