G. The ammunition shortage of 2020 is staggering but manufacturers are putting out more ammo than ever before. Morehouse says he has increased his margins slightly on ammunition sales, but he says its wrong to blame retailers for price-gouging. Winchesters military contract brings up an important point for larger ammunition manufacturers like Federal, Remington, and Hornady amid the ammo shortage: their production is split between civilian consumers like you and me, and government contracts like the military and law enforcement agencies. But building a much wider variety of bullets and covering all our product lines is a big priority for us this year. There are a number of reasons for the ammo shortage. Even those not in the market for a Hornady safe or vault can find a practical and useable product for just about any gun safe owner. Amidst the continuing ammo shortage, companies neednt do much other than ramp up production. Taurus Marketing Manager Caleb Giddings highlights the features of the new Taurus Raging Hunter 460 Magnum, a purpose-built revolver with a 10.5-inch barrel and an effective recoil-taming brake, with Guns & Ammo Executive Editor Joe Kurtenbach. Reports suggest there are at least 7 million new gun owners! Even illegal bullets from unregistered dealers, such as hoarders and black-market sellers, the price of ammo is still higher than in previous years. The .327 Federal Magnum. With a growing focus on non-lead hunting options, the CX is born. Ammo will come back. I can either produce .30-caliber 180-grain Triple Shocks for one hundred customers or I can produce .325-caliber 200-grain bullets for one or two customers. Who can forget the 6.5 Creedmoor craze, followed by all manner of 6mm and 6.5mm variants. Headquartered in Shreveport, Sports South is Americas largest sporting goods distributor, handling a large percentage of all ammunition sold. With all the other COVID-19-related stuff that's going around, a scarcity of ammunition has been well-documented and much-bemoaned by gun owners and shooters everywhere. Your best bet is to constantly, I mean CONSTANTLY, search online. MAP isnt as common with ammo, but the same principle applies: Outlets will be penalized if they sell at too low a margin. Custom offers a different selection, with 6.8 Remington SPC and .300 Blackout. Alex Robinson Winchester's military contract brings up an important point for larger ammunition manufacturers like Federal, Remington, and Hornady amid the ammo shortage: their production is split between civilian consumers like you and me . Receive email updates regarding upcoming sales, trade-shows, BANISH Suppressors and industry news. The 2008 election of President Barack Obama triggered increased . As firearm sales continue to set new records, and show little to no sign of . As store shelves lie barren and prices for the most popular ammunition hover at two, three, or even five times their pre-pandemic levels, manufacturers said they are still scrambling to bring . The new 9mm suppressor can mount easily to any pistol barrel threaded x28 inches and doesn't compromise on sound suppression, gas blowback or recoil. Note. And it's not like it's only grendel. To get started, click the link below to visit mymagnow.com and learn how to access your digital magazine. Must be a grand plan, right? Rumors abound along with the many complaints, and some ammo companies have responded to all the criticism and rumors by . Gun owners were already keyed up with the current political climate, but buying intensified when COVID-19 reached American shores. The Coronavirus outbreak isn't just affecting sanitary and medical suppliesmany Americans are discovering that ammunition is now hard to find. There is no factory that doesnt want to make as much as it can. The correct name for the cartridge, as listed by the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI), is 270 WSM, without a decimal point. Thats just not manageable for most small retailers. The press release announcing the plants establishment noted that there are only five other primer manufacturing operations in the U.S. At least one other large manufacturer is looking at establishing a primer production operation in order to satisfy demand, but a principal for the company noted that groundbreaking for the new facility is at least a year away. But the shortage isn't only caused by high demand. Subscribe to OL+ for our best feature stories and photography. The ammo shortage has been so dramatic with empty shelves and online stores that some people believe the manufacturers are holding back supply to increase prices and take advantage of people. That might be so, but Fiocchi, the Italian ammunition manufacturer, announced in November that it is building a $41 million primer manufacturing facility in Little Rock, Arkansas. It wasn't that long ago that you could walk into virtually any retailer that sells firearms and find shelves that were jam-packed with a variety of ammunition options. Even a box of 30-06 was nearly impossible to find. All Rights Reserved. Everybody here is working as hard as they can to make sure we ship as much as we can. These are uncertain times for nearly every manufacturer that built its business on reliable suppliers, intact supply chains, and predictable markets. I didnt know the answer, so I went directly to the source. As the pioneering producer of TSS, or tungsten super shot, APEXs business is predicated on obtaining tungsten. models. Current Ammo Situation. Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. 9mm - These will be hit or miss, at the stores usually a miss. Also the manufacturers are producing pistols with shorter trigger reaches such as the Sig 365 that better fit them to smaller hands. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. You see, most of us buy these things not for fear that we'll run out, but for fear that they won't be available . 4) of people beyond concerned about further erosion of their constitutional right to own and bear arms. COVID was only a catalyst. Also, you might want to skip hunting trips until ammo supplies return to normal. Some ammo is made in batches by manufacturers during the year. For a couple weeks, the range limited . Were in reaction mode, just trying to keep up with changing situations almost on a daily basis, says Michael Painter, director of marketing and product management for Barnes Bullets. You cant blame them, he added. .327 Federal Magnum Instead of .357 Magnum. In his four decades of running D&G Sports and Western in Glasgow, Montana, Darrell Morehouse has never seen ammunition pricing and availability as unpredictable as its been in the past three years. I asked to interview Hornady because every story I write about record gun sales leads to readers asking why there is no ammunition anywhere. I've got a good supply of foriegn ammo. So, heres a taste of whats new at Hornady in 2022. Recall in the early days of the Covid-19 lockdowns how crazy we all were for toilet paper? But I wouldnt call that hoarding. You might see some extremely minor variation, but it was no more than the standard deviations you might see from lot to lot in just about any factory ammunition.. Some manufacturers have all the gunpowder they need for their own use. Primers, powder, and bullets are all common with other calibers. Keep shooting, Hornady said. Our new gun owners are a factor, but hoarding may be a bigger concern. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Brandon Maddox, CEO and owner of Silencer Central, is recognized as a national thought leader on Class 3 firearms. are about to be inadvertently suffocated in the next few months due to primer shortages. Fake news hit high tide when cartridges and components vanished from store shelves and website inventories. I asked Hornady what the customer can do about price gouging by some sellers. There will come a time when supply catches up with demand. There are an estimated 7 million new gun owners in the past 18 months. Published Feb 17, 2023 2:13 PM EST. This round is marketed as the most advanced monolithic hunting bullet on the market. The goal is longer-range performance, increased accuracy, high weight retention, and penetration. Fearing long-term scarcity, many gun enthusiasts started panic-buying and hoarding firearms and ammo. He is not rattled by threats and anger from customers. "It is . Also, like other factories, gun manufacturers stopped production during the height of the pandemic. I have to do what is going to satisfy the most people and is best for our business. Loads like the .300 Savage or even the .30/30 Win. Substitute rifle loads or shotgun shells for toilet paper, and you have a good idea of how the pandemic affected ammunition sales and availability. It includes 12 popular standby and newer calibers, including 6mm ARC, 6.5 PRC, 6.8 SPC, and .300 PRC. 2. The tsunami of misinformation drowned out common . We have two years on order today. However, due to COVID-19 and other factors, American ammo manufacturers are experiencing a copper shortage. If material shortages, supply-chain disruptions, and unpredictable demand are all evidence of an industry in flux, its also true that infrastructure investments in primer production and in sourcing raw materials for components are examples of free enterprise at work. Winchester .17 WSM ammo is a great choice for taking care of varmints and pests. Its frustrating for us, too. We fit [legacy loads] in where we can, but its hard to stop a .223 line in order to make a bunch of .30/30.. They and other companies are making all they can and the new Remington owners are adding at least one plant to meet the demand. Just $1 per month , Between erratic availability of components, wildly swinging prices, and limited production capacity, the ammunition industry is scrambling to serve shooters, By Everybody has a subliminal low-level paranoia that they will have to fight for food and guns and gas, he said about the COVID lockdowns and restrictions. Thats an increase of demand measured in hundreds of millions of cartridges, and maybe more than a billion. In this video, Hornady will explain what their plans are to beat the ammo shortage. First, came the Australia. USA --(AmmoLand.com)- Jason Hornady, vice president of Hornady Ammunition Manufacturing has a message for ammunition buyers about the shortage of ammunition on retail shelves. "A round of ammunition must have a bullet. A few distributors and manufacturers are giving in to these requests; some distributors gouge just like dealers do. If you think its an exorbitant price, don't buy it at that price, wait, he responded. Answer (1 of 22): I was at a large gun store just north of Richmond, VA last Saturday and they had almost none of the common pistol caliber ammunition left. And why wouldnt they? (Image: Screenshot from Hornady ammo shortage video). Weve made one-third more than we did last year. The current ammunition shortage has made specific ammo harder to find than others. Before his work with Silencer Central, Maddox practiced pharmacy and served as a marketing executive in the pharmaceutical industry. Weve got X number of people, we are certainly trying to add as much capacity as we can. Hornady also addresses some of the rumors around the ammunition shortage; assuring customers that there isn't a government conspiracy to buy up ammo and keep it off the civilian market. Each of these new gun owners of course purchased ammunition to feed their new purchase. Im a consumer, but I talk to folks at all levels up the chain. Get Guns.com offers and news!! Otherwise, they could end up with zero ammo and no way to replenish their stock. Now that you know why the ammo shortage persists, you might be wondering when it will end. And so people got accustomed to paying north of $50sometimes way northfor premium loads.. More gun owners meant more demand for ammunition. I asked him about the conspiracy theory that the federal government was buying all the ammo to keep it from people. Others are dependent on global supply chains that have been stressed with Covid-related closures, spiking transportation prices, and unexpected events like the war in Ukraine that has consumed a shocking percentage of the worlds munitions and components. Heres a look at the various dynamics that are affecting Americas ammunition industry. I could spend all day every day sourcing components, says John Lonsberry, CEO of APEX Ammunition, Mississippi-based maker of small-batch, super-premium shotshells. The fact that we can physically get out 40, 50, 60 percent more than the year prior is a miracle., Still, cranking out rounds is not the only part of the equation. Caleb Giddings, Marketing Manager at Taurus, introduces the all-new TaurusTX 22 Compact. We are Currently experiencing issues with text notifications. Ammunition manufacturers, including Hornady, were deemed essential services through the pandemic. They buy cases. Wolf Performance - 9mm - 115 Grain FMJ - 1000/500/50 Rounds - Best 9mm Ammo for Range Practice. Pending when that happens, you should avoid spraying and praying. Everyone thinks it's a conspiracy not to ship more. A 2021 Gallup survey showed that 88% of Americans own a gun for personal protection or safety. Gordon noted, Consumers never complain when a manufacturer, dealer, or distributor is forced to sell product below cost and lose money!, Jason Hornady of Hornady Manufacturing explained, In the past year weve had a half-dozen events that have driven sales of firearms. Gun . I know I am forgetting some. The shortage in ammo should not be a mystery to anyone. Raw materials and manufacturing have also been limited. What the hell? With COVID challenges, costs have gone up and prices have increased, but, at the manufacturer level that is maybe 10-15 percent. Tyler Freel. Joe Kurtenbach, Executive Editor of Gun & Ammo, and John Myles from Smith & Wesson discuss features of the Equalizer 9mm micro-compact pistol and new-for-2023 M&P 5.7. The industry has done a pretty good job; estimates are that every manufacturer is up 30 to 50 percent. No industry can be prepared for a sudden, unprecedented, exponential increase in demand. In the meantime, save whatever ammunition you have left and explore alternative weapons to use for self-defense. Requests continue to hit Hornady from every direction on an unprecedented scale. They think, I'm going to stockpile.. For price-gouging ammunition sales, but he says its wrong to blame retailers price-gouging. Ammo harder to find than others Creedmoor craze, followed by all of..., he responded, powder, and some ammo companies have responded to all the criticism and rumors.! 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