Who thinks the ammo situation will never get better?

[deen_ad]

A little self-regulation and rationing by the stores can help a lot with this. Have a limit of 2 or 3 boxes of ammo per customer, and don't put it all out at the same time. Manufacturers are producing in record amounts, it's a simple case of too many people buying more than they need and socking it away out of fear.

Every store that I've been in for months has a limit, even Wal*Mart.



Deen
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"Having a gun is like a parachute, if you need one and don't have it you may never need it again"

 

[300zxtt]

it wont get better. end of summer it will all be gone again. stock up now.

 

[U201491]

Temporary Solution

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[roknHS]

A couple days ago at Sportsmans warehouse they had packs of 325 rounds of .22 for $25. I was glad to get it but I began to think, why would ammo makers come down in their prices at some future at some unspecified point? Most folks think theres a crisis regarding ammo but at some point its going to all get better, I think this is probably as good as its going to get and if the Dem's take both houses then you could call these the good old days.
What do you guys think?

I've had better luck finding some of what I'm looking for recently. Lots of ammo and components are still non-existant. The situation is far from perfect and nothing like it was 3 or 4 years ago. This is the new normal. If you are waiting for a return to the "good old days", I'm afraid you are destined to be severely disappointed......................won't happen...................ever.

 

[Certaindeaf]

If people would just throw their smart phones/laptops and $70+/month provider plans into the creek mud they'd have plenty of ammo money.. and the flippers would dry up and die. win win! do it! lol

 

[Bacchus]

With a conservative Senate and Congress it will get back to what it was before obunga.
Get to work making that happen.

This is the best answer.

 

[Nwcid]

Yeah, .22 ammo will be $10/brick again when fuel is under $2/gal.

I understand why at the store it seems like 3 customers buying 16k round is a lot, but it really isn't. Last time I ordered .22 I bought 2 cases which is 10k rounds. That is not a big sale............

 

[Blitzkrieg]

With a conservative Senate and Congress it will get back to what it was before obunga.
Get to work making that happen.

Trouble is the RINO leadership is busy selling out conservative principles and the posterity of the Founders as I type this.. if this does not stop then conservatives will sit on their hands in the next several elections.. Pat Buchanan and the blog comments on his site nailed it recently..

How the GOP lost Middle America

 

[CLT65]

This is the new normal. If you are waiting for a return to the "good old days", I'm afraid you are destined to be severely disappointed......................won't happen...................ever.

That's a pretty bold prediction to make. With a crystal ball like that, you should be able to make a killing on the stock market.

No offense intended, it's just that I hear statements like that pretty regular, and there seems to be a general lack of understanding of economic principals. The current state of the market for some types of ammo and components is seriously unstable, and by definition simply cannot be "the new normal". The cost of production has not risen, yet the cost to the consumer is through the roof, leaving plenty of room in between for profits. Supply will increase to meet those profits..I mean that demand.

I grew up on a dairy and watched the price of milk fluctuate wildly for years. As more people would drink milk, the price would go up as demand was greater than supply. The farmers would start milking more cows because the price was high and they could make more money by shipping more milk.

I don't know how many times I heard "The price of milk is at an all time high. Demand is strong and profits are great. This is the new normal!". Every time, those higher profits enticed higher production. Supply outpaced demand and prices dropped. Those farmers who overextended themselves in the good times went bankrupt. As they went out of production and supply declined, prices started to rise again. It's just economics 101.

It's not that big of a deal to milk a few more cows or expand the dairy barn, and the ammo manufacturers have done basically that. To dramatically expand production to meet the current excessive demand, they would have to spend serious capital on new facilities. If demand has dropped by the time those new facilities are on line, they are out millions with no sales to pay for it. It's easy to see why they aren't doing that. I wouldn't either.

Now if there is some weird political stuff going on, like banning or severely taxing .22lr ammo or crazy stuff like that, then all bets are off and who knows what could happen. Honestly, I just can't see even the craziest politician banning .22 ammo, but I don't have a crystal ball and have been wrong before.

One last thought; I've heard a lot of people comparing the price of ammo to the price of gas. That is a seriously flawed analogy and is comparing apples to watermelon. For one thing, the global oil market is about a billion times larger than the piddly U.S. civilian ammunition marker. The world runs on oil and practically everyone uses it every single day. Ammunition is a consumer product used by a relatively small percentage of the population.

 

[Nwcid]

I agree with most of what you said.

But just like dairy there are other prices that influence it. Fuel being a huge one. Just like dairy with fuel increases it costs more to put your hay up, in ammo it cost more to get the comments/raw material to the plants. Once you have a finished product it also cost more to get it delivered to the end user. Those costs have to be paid for somewhere. That is just one example of how fuel effects things.

I will not say what we are seeing is the "new normal" and I completely agree with that but few things ever fall back to a "previous" level or below. To many on these boards paying $15-20/brick of .22 is what they are considering what is normal. For me $15 and under is what I would consider "pre-panic" or normal. It is highly unlikely that we will ever see that again. But getting $20 bricks once things catch up is a readable expectation.

 

[2ndtimer]

I believe that demand will remain very strong as more people purchase more firearms. The producers have successfully geared up to meet the demand for some products notably .223 /5.56 ammo where prices have stabilized at a level only slightly higher than pre-Newtown panic levels. I don't believe we will ever see $15 bricks of 500 .22lr again. I will be happy to see bricks on retailers shelves in the $20 to $25 range, but suspect that $30 bricks more likely. The market has amply demonstrated a willingness to pay that, so what incentive is there for producers to provide it for less?

 

[OLDNEWBIE]

I think if the mid-term elections go RIGHT and barring another Sandy Hook, people who are hoarding will get their fill and things will be back to normal. If lawmakers start floating Ideas about background checks for ammo or a safety tax for ammo then I'm gonna start hoarding myself!

 

[U201491]

Supply and demand will dictate price. The more you buy now, the higher the price will stay. Stop buying and once the shelves are full the prices will fall and fall. But that wont happen because everyone will still buy every round they can get their hands on whether they need it or not.
Not the brightest of consumers that cut off their own hands.
Oh well, I dont need any now so the ridiculous prices wont affect me for a long time. Its kind of like watching a snake devour itself tail first.

 

[roknHS]

The folks that figure supply and demand will always rule the market place are missing the 3rd leg of the stool in this instance. ...........They aren't figuring in the emotion of fear into their neat little 1 plus 1 = 2 economic equation.
The fear factor is the variable they cannot account for. Panic, fear, foreboding and in general a distrust of what state and federal regulations are or may be levied against the purchase of firearms and ammunition isn't all of a sudden going to evaporate away. So, folks are purchasing now what they fear won't be available or affordable later............I guess you can define that as hording.
It's a crazy world out there. Another Aurora or Sandyhook tragedy will happen in the future and the drum beat for more stringent control of weapons and ammo (not crazy people) will continue. It is the "new normal". As much as we would like to go back 20 or 30 years to a calmer, more rational time, Skype, Facebook, Twitter and the myriad other forms of mass media (hysteria vectors) won't allow us to. Couple that with the big money, big power eliteists that are never going to stop beating the drum for a gun free society and you've got the "new normal". We've been riding this wave for a very long time. Remember when you had to log your personal info to buy a box of .22 ammo?
I suppose that was 45 years ago or something like that.
You have to realize the difference between the anti-gun faction and the 2nd ammendment folks. When the 2nd A folks win a political battle, they go back to their way of life and try to enjoy their freedom. The fight is over when the battle is won.
The anti-gun faction never stops whether they win or lose. The battle is never really over till they get a gun free society. They just keep coming back. They never rest. They will never give up.
So, the element of fear is now always going to be a part of the supply and demand equation for firearms and ammo.

If you want something, you better buy it today if you can find it. Tomorrow, it may not be availble or you may not be able to afford it..................or it may be illegal.

The "new normal"..............in my opinion.........

 

[simon99]

If all the hoarders, panic buyers and flippers would chill out and quit buying for a month we'd be back to normal levels.....I mean seriously, who needs to buy 2K rounds of 22LR at a time just because they have it in stock? Stupid....

 

[2ndtimer]

If all the hoarders, panic buyers and flippers would chill out and quit buying for a month we'd be back to normal levels.....I mean seriously, who needs to buy 2K rounds of 22LR at a time just because they have it in stock? Stupid....

So I guess I was "stupid" when I ordered a case (5000 rounds) of Winchester Power Point 40 gr Hollow Point ammunition 3 or 4 years ago. I still have 7 bricks left because I continue to buy whenever I found ammo at a decent price. ( Haven't bought a lot in the last 12 months ) And I have not sold any, although I have given a couple of bricks of CCI Blazer ammo to my sister in law's family since they bought her husband a new Ruger SR22 pistol and they haven't been able to find any ammo for him or their 4 boys to shoot. He would love to have the opportunity to buy 2K rounds of 22 LR IF he could find it in stock at a decent price. I guess I am a "hoarder", even though I believe I was just someone who planned ahead once the current president got elected. Just don't ask me how much powder or primers I have, lest you think I am really a moron.

 

[1990Turbo]

So I guess I was "stupid" when I ordered a case (5000 rounds) of Winchester Power Point 40 gr Hollow Point ammunition 3 or 4 years ago. I still have 7 bricks left because I continue to buy whenever I found ammo at a decent price. ( Haven't bought a lot in the last 12 months ) And I have not sold any, although I have given a couple of bricks of CCI Blazer ammo to my sister in law's family since they bought her husband a new Ruger SR22 pistol and they haven't been able to find any ammo for him or their 4 boys to shoot. He would love to have the opportunity to buy 2K rounds of 22 LR IF he could find it in stock at a decent price. I guess I am a "hoarder", even though I believe I was just someone who planned ahead once the current president got elected. Just don't ask me how much powder or primers I have, lest you think I am really a moron.

I think he was more talking about the guys who are buying 2k+ weekly.

 

[jluck]

Is there any way we can combined all 700 of these ammo, flipper, hoarder, supply and demand threads in to one or would that crash the site?

 

[FAST ED]

In 1992 a box of 50 9mm cost me $10.00, in Nov. 2012 a box of 9mm cost me $10.00. Last week a box of 50 9mm cost me $13.99. In 1990 a brick of .22 cost me $7.99, last month at bi-mart a brick of .22 cost me $18.99. In 1991 target grade 12ga. cost 3-4 bucks a box and now are 5-7 bucks. The people hoarding SUCK. Inflation is not that bad over 20+ years . The vulchers will allways circle!

 

[Certaindeaf]

Circle vurch!