BiMart in Beaverton, rep tried to tell me they're still short on ammo when...

[roguebowhunter]

That's why he works at bi-mart.

I stopped in there a couple weeks ago and they had a couple UMC bulk packs (250) of 45acp for $92. I grabbed one without hesitation. Otherwise, I can't even remember the last time I've seen any 50 round boxes... not even blazer, or anything.

Meanwhile, it's hard not to trip over the piles of 40 and 38sp. I'm curious too, what's the deal?


honestly ya think everyone that works for BI MART are morons or you just jealous??
all stupidity aside from what i've been told by CERTAIN employees is they make the ammo in batches and not all year around and w/ the scare and hoarding that has went on the last year + not all ammo has been replenished ... i can buy almost any ammo i need @ my local BIMART.. Don

 

[Dan-Dee Sales Inc]

There are tons of reasons why some calibers are available and some are not. All calibers have been hard to get at one time or another. Right now it is .380 and 45acp. We are seeing the same thing with primers and some powders again. Maybe your bi-mart has tons of back orders that are finally coming in or a good rep that looks for items for them. We have a rep that calls us when he finds stuff. Tomorrow we should be getting 100 boxes of 380 and 45. It may be another few weeks or month before any shows up again.

 

[Gunner3456]

It is true that it's run in batches. I takes a lot of time and therefore money to change calibers on those automated machines, including calibrating everything and changing powders, etc.

It's also true that the military is using a lot of the resources, and they do have priority.

I don't know if it's true that a manufacturer has to set up to run for the military. I do know that the military can force any manufacturer to make things for them in time of war. Look at WWII when no cars were built in Detroit. Some of those plants were making airplanes, even.

I'd also bet that there's money in making mil spec ammo. The government usually over-specs things which are then expensive. Most government contractors make good money at it.

I've read repeatedly that ammo manufacturers are running 24/7 and making money. I've read that they won't invest in expansion because they don't expect this recent burst in demand to last.

Who knows for sure? I haven't had any problem getting supplies lately if I just look around.

 

[phathom]

Different Bi-marts stock different stuff and different supply levels. I find the ones in Beaverton tend to have next to nothing, the ones further out, even down to woodburn tend to be well stocked most of the time unless there was a good sale. I am glad to see that 9mm dropped in price there recently and is mostly stocked. I'm sad they still limit you on boxes of 20rd .223 to 4 boxes even though they almost always have full shelves, but they will let you buy 4 boxes of the 200 if you want just because it's in a different box.

 

[Gunner3456]

Different Bi-marts stock different stuff and different supply levels. I find the ones in Beaverton tend to have next to nothing, the ones further out, even down to woodburn tend to be well stocked most of the time unless there was a good sale. I am glad to see that 9mm dropped in price there recently and is mostly stocked. I'm sad they still limit you on boxes of 20rd .223 to 4 boxes even though they almost always have full shelves, but they will let you buy 4 boxes of the 200 if you want just because it's in a different box.

I bought some Remington 00 buck at Medford Bear Creek Center Bi-Mart the other day. Limit was 4 but the guy said I could have more if I wanted. He let me have 8. That's a first in a long, long time.

BTW it was $3.99 a box. I was thinking it was $4.99 last time. Am I wrong about that?

 

[phathom]

00 Buck in 3" is $4.99 and in 2 3/4" it's $3.99 last time I checked at bi-mart. Slugs are a little cheaper I think $3.50 and $3.99 respectively for 2 3/4 and 3".

 

[spengo]

I haven't noticed any shortages in ammunition lately, everywhere I've been seems to have mostly what I want. Earlier, the shortages were due to manufacturers not sure if the high demand was going to continue. Are you going to hire a bunch more people and buy a bunch more equipment for a short-lived spike in demand? That's just not how you run a business. Anyway, as far as I can tell the shortage is mostly over. I see plenty of 9mm and .223 on the shelves (what I shoot mostly).

 

[AMProducts]

I've heard most of the right answers on this thread, but not all at once so here they are:

History:

Back in 1992 when clinton came into office, there was a huge panic about an impending gun ban, everyone went nuts and bought up everything, ammo, primers, gunpowder, bullets, EVERYTHING! at the time all of the manufacturers increased production capacity. Eventually as the paranoia waned the manufacturers were left with excess capacity and a sudden drop off in demand, which means they had to mothball production lines, lay people off, and never recouped the investments they made. Also, it took years for demand to pick back up because people were shooting out of their larder rather than buying more stuff.

In 2005 when the commodity market heated up lots of manufacturers were increasing prices, and still losing their shirts as they couldn't sell product for what it cost to buy more raw materials. So ammo started to fall into short supply. I'm sure lots of people remember Berry's charging a surcharge on cast and swaged bullets that at times would change almost daily.

The current situation:

The problems in the commodity market wiped out a number of the smaller manufacturers, TTI armory, PMC/El Dorado cartridge, to name a few. So now with huge demand, and not as much production capacity, the few companies out there that actually make thier own brass (many companies buy from a place like starline, I know black hills does this) are the bottleneck in the supply chain. Unfortunately they are not interested in adding capacity because the memories of 1992/93 are fresh in thier minds.

However, they way they operate the machinery is as much a problem as demand. Most companies don't have a dedicated drawing line for each cartridge, they just change the dies in the drawing and bumping machines for different cartridges and run huge batches. But with demand being what it is, they are just servicing the largest orders (.45, .40, 9mm, .308, .223) first. This is why .380 has been non existent since this whole thing started. Even .38SPL has been hard to come by recently.

There's more going on with this, but that's basically what's happening.