16ga.com Forum Index
Author Message
<  16ga. General Discussion  ~  OT - Hunting Rifle Ammunition Shortage
Brewster11
PostPosted: Sun Nov 14, 2021 11:00 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 08 Feb 2009
Posts: 1301
Location: Western WA

We’re not quite finished up here with various big game seasons, but one of the boys is down to his last four 7mm-08 rounds. I managed to scare up a couple boxes through ammoseek @ $50 box, but that’s merely an order, not a delivery. Shelves at Wallys and LGSs are totally bare.

What is going on?

I’m not buying into the excuses: Supply chain, new shooter demand, hoarding, etc. The manufactures are claiming they are pumping it out as fast as they ever did.

So where is all the ammo going?

I’m going to throw out my theory: It’s all at the bottom of the ocean, dumped there by people who want it there. And I’ll leave it at that.

B.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
nj gsp
PostPosted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 5:39 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 09 Aug 2007
Posts: 437
Location: WI

Well, you have to get it where you find it. I picked up a bunch of 243, 30-06, and 270 ammo over the summer. Prices were not inflated either.

Really, if you wait until just before big game season to look for ammo during an ammo shortage, that is a little short sighted.

The big shortage now appears to be primers, and I'm not sure why that is, but people are still buying whatever they can find and stockpiling it. Although, I've noticed the handgun calibers seem to be less in demand and there's 223/5.56 everywhere. Prices will start dropping soon on that stuff.

I doubt it's any kind of evil plot. Just supply chain issues and economics.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Swampy16
PostPosted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 6:33 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 17 Oct 2019
Posts: 453
Location: New Jersey

The biggest buyers will get theirs first.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
df
PostPosted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 6:48 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 01 Oct 2007
Posts: 962
Location: Minnesota

You ask “What’s going on?” seriously.
[/u]
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
16gaDavis
PostPosted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 7:41 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 24 Jun 2013
Posts: 2062
Location: canandaigua - western n.y. (formerly deerhunter)

we "LUCK" out around here as there are several scavengers like me that have components . We trade , barter etc and keep going .Hessneys has had many odd lots and we horse trade what we don't need in the lots of more inexpensive gatherings.... My brother called a couple mos ago and said W_T_F happened to shells , every ones shelves were empty . Got him 85 38specs for nothing out of old , accumulated comps . Same with shotgun stuff . The main holdup is primers like posted , however , BP has had them fairly regularly . Powder coming in but slowly , and no problem with shot . I've got enough 308 , 7-08 , 30-40 , 30cal , 7mm , 243 ,etc to tilt the house over - all collected in past yrs that were just handed to me .

_________________
Molly sez AArrrooooooah !
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Brewster11
PostPosted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 11:24 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 08 Feb 2009
Posts: 1301
Location: Western WA

Waiting until hunting season to buy ammo used to be smart, because that’s when Wallys, Cabelas, et al would stock their shelves and offer sales promotions. Not any more.

And I’ll hear no more about lack of primers being the problem. How does that explain why 7mm bullets have entirely vanished from online suppliers? We have primers, cases, and powder at hand. WHERE ARE THE BULLETS?? Speer, Sierra, Hornady, Nosler etc make their own bullets from nothing more than a little lead and copper. Nothing is stopping them from producing trainloads of them. But why are none are to be found anywhere? Where did they all go? That’s what I want to know.

B.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
AmericanMeet
PostPosted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 2:30 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 26 Apr 2010
Posts: 3172
Location: NCWa

With regard to bullets, I have been unable to find any Speer .475" bullets, so I internet chatted with a fellow at Speer customer service and he was actually rude. All I wanted to know was some idea of when the .475" bullets would be available- a ballpark figure: a week, month, year, never? all that I got was a lecture on how they were working as hard as they can and I should just watch the various stores to monitor when they are available. Refused to answer the question. So I don't know what the problem with Speer is.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
nj gsp
PostPosted: Mon Nov 15, 2021 4:27 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 09 Aug 2007
Posts: 437
Location: WI

Copper and aluminum prices are higher than they’ve been for over 20 years.

A guy at work was saying today that he bought a 6.5 Creedmore rifle earlier this year, because that’s the only thing he saw ammo n the shelves for last year. Well, he bought the rifle but didn’t buy any more ammo after he sighted it in, expecting there to be plenty before hunting season and guess what?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Sporting Days
PostPosted: Tue Nov 16, 2021 10:26 am  Reply with quote
Member
Member


Joined: 03 Aug 2009
Posts: 203
Location: Northern California

Brewster11 wrote:
Waiting until hunting season to buy ammo used to be smart, because that’s when Wallys, Cabelas, et al would stock their shelves and offer sales promotions. Not any more.


This exactly. These days, you need to buy your hunting ammo in the off-season when it's available and buy it when you see it -- because it won't be there when you come back. Bought most of my big-game loads in the winter of last year as it was getting restocked following big-game seasons. Bought my upland and waterfowl ammo in the spring when folks were thinking about turkey and big game.

This has been a tough transition for procrastinators like me but it's the only way to have enough ammo on hand to practice and hunt with -- in the caliber or gauge or brand or configuration you are looking for.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Riflemeister
PostPosted: Tue Nov 16, 2021 12:07 pm  Reply with quote
Member
Member


Joined: 27 Jun 2012
Posts: 1111

I handload all my hunting ammo using premium bullets in loads tailored to that particular rifle. So far, I'm in good shape for components, but attempts to got the Nosler Accubond bullets in any of the calibers and weights I use have proven futile. I'm on the "notify me" list with all the usual suspects, but nothing happening. I really hope that things will start to become available again after hunting season is over, but I was thinking that after all the lockdowns and business restrictions ended that component supply would recover rapidly, but that hasn't happened. What a mess.

_________________
An elderly gentleman, his faithful dogs, and a 16 ga SXS. All is right with the world.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
UncleDanFan
PostPosted: Tue Nov 16, 2021 2:28 pm  Reply with quote
Member
Member


Joined: 06 Apr 2007
Posts: 3370
Location: The Great Northwet

This all started with the pandemic, and it will end when the pandemic ends. Record demand and labor shortages in both transportation and manufacturing due to the pandemic have created this mess, along with rising prices due to the limited supply and increased transportation costs. It's economics 101.

_________________
Gun art: www.marklarsongunart.com
Gallery art: www.marklarsonart.com

The man's prayer from the Red Green Show: "I'm a man, but I can change, if I have to. I guess."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Brewster11
PostPosted: Tue Nov 16, 2021 4:17 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 08 Feb 2009
Posts: 1301
Location: Western WA

Quote:
This all started with the pandemic, and it will end when the pandemic ends

Mark that is a very plausible explanation but it doesn’t hold together with circumstances today. I have no trouble obtaining everything I want or need today albeit at sometimes elevated prices: Hunting and fishing gear, golf balls, auto parts, household items and supplies, clothing, food, fuel, appliances, tools, hardware, construction supplies, and everything else. It’s all out there for purchase. Including, curiously, guns, new and used, of all types and purpose.

Except for one thing: Ammunition. For all intents and purposes, ammunition has completely vanished.

I was at the gun store/indoor range yesterday. Shelves full of pistols, rifles, shotguns, and other assorted arms and accoutrements. But no ammunition, other than a few token boxes of 9mm. What a strange, bizarre scene.

Why should ammunition be different than everything else? Where is it all going? It’s not sitting in container ships anchored off Long Beach harbor. It’s not in stores. And from our formerly reliable ammunition manufacturers, a deafening silence.

Is it not reasonable to ask for a credible explanation? So far, the only explanation that agrees with the facts is my original statement: It’s at the bottom of the ocean. Surely someone can do better than that.

B.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
nj gsp
PostPosted: Tue Nov 16, 2021 4:49 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 09 Aug 2007
Posts: 437
Location: WI

It’s supply and demand, plain and simple. I stopped at a Fleet Farm on my way north Friday night, and they had a bunch of ammo on the shelves. I bought a case of Federal Top Gun trap loads, it was under $8 a box. The limit on shotgun ammo is 20 boxes, but I only bought 10. There were probably 10 cases on the shelf of trap loads.

I stopped again on my way home Sunday night, and they were all gone.

You can’t find any ammo because demand is still outstripping supply.

I saw they had 45 long colt in stock for $55 a box. First time I’ve seen it in over a year. Last time I bought a box of 45 LC it was $45 a box. I have enough of it, so I didn’t buy any.

If people stop buying as much as they can every time it hits the shelves, the ammo shortage would be over pretty quick. It’s finally slowing down with 223 and 9x19, and we should start seeing prices for that dropping soon.

Supply and demand.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Emtymag
PostPosted: Tue Nov 16, 2021 5:40 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 05 Oct 2017
Posts: 284
Location: Central MN

Lots of ammo and even some reloading components showing up by me in central mn lately. Scheels has the most ammo by far. Most of the ammo I’m seeing is rifle and pistol not much if any shotgun other than buckshot for some reason. I bought a pound of powder today for $44, not cheap but better than not having any. Ive been buying ammo in bulk and reloading components also. I should be good for 10+ years of hunting ducks and upland game and honestly probably a lifetime worth of big game rifle reloads. Now prairie dog ammo is a different story, maybe 1000 rounds of 223 left is all.

_________________
What's behind what your shooting at?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Emtymag
PostPosted: Tue Nov 16, 2021 5:43 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 05 Oct 2017
Posts: 284
Location: Central MN

I should add almost all the reloading components I’m seeing are from hornady. I couldn’t tell you the last time I saw a box of Sierra, Speer or nosler bullets on the shelf.

_________________
What's behind what your shooting at?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
All times are GMT - 7 Hours

View next topic
View previous topic
Page 1 of 2
Goto page 1, 2  Next
16ga.com Forum Index  ~  16ga. General Discussion

Post new topic   Reply to topic


 
Jump to:  

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum




Powered by phpBB and NoseBleed v1.09