"Newer" Ammo Companies?

[Jasonanddeonna]

I was at an indoor range yesterday and a couple of Bi Marts today and all three had plenty of pistol caliber ammunition, but were from companies I had never heard of:

1. Ammunition Inc. - Arizon? About $17/50. Materials?
2. Belom - Made in Serbia. About $15/50. Brass FMJ
3. Sergeant Major Munitions - Russia/Tula subsidiary About $16/50. Nickel coated steel and Copper coated bullet
4. MKE/ZQI (If I remember correctly?) - Turkey. $21/50. FMJ, Casing?

It seems like a lot more smaller and/or foreign ammo companies are trying to fill the ammo void even if prices aren't great.. Has anybody heard or used these?

While at the range yesterday, a buddy let me use 10 rounds of #3 in 9mm he got at Bi Mart (no limit on purchase). I was using a rental Ruger American 9mm to try it and compare to the Fiocchi I usually shoot. My son and I noticed a larger fireball with some "sparks" and he noticed a heavier recoil than the Fiocchi, but otherwise seemed good. I have limited knowledge on ammo loads, but we surmised the sparks were unburnt powder? Maybe a hotter load?

I did buy 200 rounds of the #3 to try in my pistol. Not a fan of steel cased ammo, but given this is Nickel coated, will see how it does.

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[Jay Walk]

Ammo Inc is good stuff.

 

[Jasonanddeonna]

Ammo Inc is good stuff.

Is it brass, steel, or ??? Bullet. Materials? Dirty or clean? Any info is greatly appreciated. I typically stick with known brands, but willing to expand if decent. Fiocchi is my newest favorite: accurate, consistent, easy to clean afterwards, and until the Second Great American Ammo Shortage, fairly inexpensive. Case of 1000 was around $250.

With the relative low prices of these companies, it makes me wonder.

 

[Gunbuggy]

I've used a lot of belom, my group and I used to go in on Bulk packs of belom x39 brass cased before our AK classes back before Covid hit and prices went through the roof. As @Jay Walk said ammo inc is good stuff too. I've heard of all of those companies you mentioned other than sergeant major. Not one I've ever seen or used

 

[Koda]

Ive noticed a lot of new ammo companies and find it really odd they are hitting the stores but not older familiar trusted brands like Remington, Winchester, Blazer etc.
Why is this?

 

[Gunbuggy]

Ive noticed a lot of new ammo companies and find it really odd they are hitting the stores but not older familiar trusted brands like Remington, Winchester, Blazer etc.
Why is this?

Maybe because the trusted brands can't keep it on their shelves. They'll make more money selling it all online without distribution cost. The buyer will pay them to ship it to their front door as opposed to shipping it to retailers. They make more money selling direct. I think the reason you see the new guys on the shelves is because they don't have a big following and people willing to buy them out before they can fill orders to local shops. So they probably reach out to ffls and places that sell ammo and offer them discounts on bulk orders. Imagine selling to bimart. They have over 80 locations in the northwest between Or Wa and Id. That's a lot of demand for ammo. If you're the new guy and you get in good with a distribution rep at bi mart that could realistically take up all your stock in one big order (that will be spread out and distributed to many different stores).

Now imagine they get in big with Walmart, sportsman's, cabelas, etc etc (enter any big box store and fill in the blank). Those new small companies can barely produce enough to fill the supply chain. So why not try and dump it all at once to a big retailer instead of try and sell it all online to people like us who've never heard of them and are reluctant to purchase from a new shop.

They don't care if it doesn't sell off the shelves of bi-mart / sportsman's / cabelas / Walmart. They already made their sale. If they hold onto it they need to rely on the market and the people in the industry to buy it from them

 

[OutwardHound]

I saw Ammo Inc @ Sportsman Warehouse the other day in 9mm. Seemed kind of expensive ( I know what doesn't?), for 20 round 'personal protection'. That kind of marketing.

 

[Koda]

Maybe because the trusted brands can't keep it on their shelves. They'll make more money selling it all online without distribution cost. The buyer will pay them to ship it to their front door as opposed to shipping it to retailers. They make more money selling direct.

Ive never been able to buy trusted brands like Remington direct from Remington. Ive only been able to buy it at the LGS or webstore retailers like Midwayusa.

I'm seeing some Remington 9mm and 556 on Midway right now though, and I heard that locally Sportsmans got a shipment in and their shelves are full so maybe I should stop by to check if they have established brands. Hoping things are turning around.
I just found it odd these new brands showed up first. Ive learned not to trust new ammo makers...

 

[Gunbuggy]

Ive never been able to buy trusted brands like Remington direct from Remington. Ive only been able to buy it at the LGS or webstore retailers like Midwayusa.

I'm seeing some Remington 9mm and 556 on Midway right now though, and I heard that locally Sportsmans got a shipment in and their shelves are full so maybe I should stop by to check if they have established brands. Hoping things are turning around.
I just found it odd these new brands showed up first. Ive learned not to trust new ammo makers...

I guess I was being a little vague. I meant that it's a lot easier to sell online through online distributors than it is it sell in big box stores. The online sales is the way to go these days for most companies. A study last year or two years ago showed that online sales was 77 percent of a companies gross.

Also, keep in mind when you order from "ammo in stock now dot com" or wherever you buy ammo, these websites often (or most likely in my experience) don't even have the ammo on hand. A company like Remington (or others, just saying Remington cause that's who you mentioned) will designate them a set amount of "stock" that they can sell based on arrangements they've made. Not to get off the beaten path but I can't just open an online ammo store right now and get 50k rounds of ammo from Remington without proving I can move it. Often times what happens is "ammo in stock now dot com" will contact a company (like Remington or other big name) and say "we can sell 2m rounds of ammo within the next 3 days if you can allot that to us" and the office geeks at Remington will of course need to prove that they can do so, and if the risk is low they'll allot that much ammo to them. "Ammo in stock now" will probably never even put their hands on the ammo but they'll sell it. Making themselves money by upcharging on non bulk and semi bulk orders and making Remington money by making a large bulk sale.


This is basically how many things work in America and all across the world. The big guy has the stuff. He can't be bothered to sell the stuff. A smaller guy comes in and proves he can move the stuff, and they make an arrangement to be allotted a certain amount of the stuff if they can prove they can move it. Sometimes the stuff doesn't even touch the hands if the smaller guy. It ends up going straight from the bigger guy (or whatever company or entity the bigger guy pays Or uses for distribution) straight to the consumer.

 

[Koda]

This is basically how many things work in America and all across the world. The big guy has the stuff. He can't be bothered to sell the stuff. A smaller guy comes in and proves he can move the stuff, and they make an arrangement to be allotted a certain amount of the stuff if they can prove they can move it.

I think I get the supply chain better now but still a little lost that these small new startups are getting materials to crank out ammo in the wake of a major ammo crunch and show up on the store shelves before the big brands do. An not just a couple but several small startups.

 

[Gunbuggy]

I think I get the supply chain better now but still a little lost that these small new startups are getting materials to crank out ammo in the wake of a major ammo crunch and show up on the store shelves before the big brands do. An not just a couple but several small startups.

I agree and that I can't comment on. I'm no economist I just know what I've learned through experience. Other than what I said before as far as people are reverting to online and they use their known status in the industry to sell on line which ends up being cheaper for them. I think the new guys that keep showing up might be using the lack of ammo to get in with big box retailers and be able to tell them they have X amount of ammo at X price because the big box retailers can't even get a shipment of ammo to save their lives. That's just mt opinion on the matter honestly

 

[Gunbuggy]

I guess the only way I can describe this is like… so hypothetically I'm selling a gun on the forum for 100 bucks. I have 100+ positive feedback and you or someone you know has done deals with me before. A member that joined yesterday is selling the same gun for the same price. He has zero feedback. Who you going to message first?

Companies and online retailers that are known well for what they do and have thousands of transactions per day can move some serious weight in ammo online. A new online shop nobody has heard of pops up and is offering 1k rounds of 556 for 400, but the shop that everyone knows and trusts their "in stock" status is selling it for 425. Majority of ppl are going to pay the extra 25 to buy from a source they trust to ship it since they've done business with them and so has half of the country.

I think the reason we see these new ammo mfg's pop up in stores is because 1- they can't compete online so they offer big bulk deals to chains and conglomerates and 2- because big chains and conglomerates can't get ammo from the big mfg's cause they're all pumping it out online and ppl are paying

 

[Bam]

Ammo Inc is good stuff, never had any problems and I have been shooting it exclusively since NWA has kept it in stock.

Good to see Bimart is selling it for cheaper than NWA, BUT stores on the westside seem to still get cleaned out as soon as they are stocked.

 

[arakboss]

Ive noticed a lot of new ammo companies and find it really odd they are hitting the stores but not older familiar trusted brands like Remington, Winchester, Blazer etc.
Why is this?

Sportsmans on 82nd had a ton of Federal 9mm today. Prices on ammo has been high there but they had lots of full ammo shelves.

 

[Lennie]

I had an email on Saturday from an ammo source I often use. CCI 9MM in brass cases, 1000 for 325.00. Ammo seems to be dropping in price, however I doubt we will ever see the ammo prices of three years ago.

 

[Gunbuggy]

I had an email on Saturday from an ammo source I often use. CCI 9MM in brass cases, 1000 for 325.00. Ammo seems to be dropping in price, however I doubt we will ever see the ammo prices of three years ago.

Me, the optimist who's lived through a few ammo spikes, thinks otherwise. I hope you're wrong but hey you may be right. Either way, this is why I buy it cheap and stack it deep. I haven't bought ammo at all since the pandemic pricing because I hasn't needed to. Wait I take that back. I bought 200 rounds of le223t3 bonded 556 but that's it.

 

[Lennie]

Me, the optimist who's lived through a few ammo spikes, thinks otherwise. I hope you're wrong but hey you may be right. Either way, this is why I buy it cheap and stack it deep. I haven't bought ammo at all since the pandemic pricing because I hasn't needed to. Wait I take that back. I bought 200 rounds of le223t3 bonded 556 but that's it.

I am just like you. I have been relying on my pre pandemic stock. I base my opinion of future ammo prices on where copper pricing has gone, the current and future inflation rates. Also, we have yet to see how the 800 million rounds of Russian ammunition, we were importing each year, will be replaced. The next presidential election will have a major bearing on future ammo prices.

 

[Gunbuggy]

I am just like you. I have been relying on my pre pandemic stock. I base my opinion of future ammo prices on where copper pricing has gone, the current and future inflation rates. Also, we have yet to see how the 800 million rounds of Russian ammunition, we were importing each year, will be replaced. The next presidential election will have a major bearing on future ammo prices.

You're correct. 100% I agree. Thank god I have more x39 than I'll ever use in a lifetime

 

[arakboss]

I had an email on Saturday from an ammo source I often use. CCI 9MM in brass cases, 1000 for 325.00. Ammo seems to be dropping in price, however I doubt we will ever see the ammo prices of three years ago.

If the antis lose control of either House or Senate in Nov, I can see close to Trump era pricing coming back. If the economy begins to slip, the chances of that happening will be even greater.