No relief in sight for rising ammo prices
If you are a shooter, the skyrocketing price of ammunition is hitting home every bit as hard as the gasoline pumps.
It's nothing new. The price increases began after 9/11, then were compounded by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - which pushed up overall demand - and growing industrial powers such as China and India, which either gobbled up or bid up the cost of raw materials.
Chinese and Indian rampant construction not only ate up prodigious amounts of raw materials, but also resulted in added manufacturing capacity, which calls for even more materials.
The worldwide result has been skyrocketing costs of raw materials such as lead, steel, copper, brass, nickel, tungsten, even plastics components (which are petroleum based).
How bad is it? In 2005, Remington sold out its entire production of ammunition and lost money due to the enormous leap in raw materials costs.
Industry figures show that military spending on small-caliber ammunition increased from $242 million in 2001 to $688 million in 2006. Federal Cartridge is a division of ATK, which has the contract to provide military small arms ammunition. Despite the booming sales, ATK has had to trim personnel and manufacturing techniques to be able to afford the manufacture.
Other manufacturers were similarly stressed, but all resisted raising retail prices until their colleagues did. Then, when retail prices started to rise, gun owners stockpiled all they could get, sending prices even higher.
Wholesalers have been raising their prices from 3 percent to 10 percent each quarter and we can expect another round of retail price increases on Sept. 1, with upward of a 20 percent increase before the first of the year.
Handloading isn't the answer, either, since the same components that go into commercial ammunition are also needed for handloading.
Trap, skeet and sporting clays clubs are feeling the pinch since the price of gasoline and ammunition are keeping more people home, and even when they come, they aren't shooting as much.
It's an ugly cycle and it isn't going to get any better.
It's nothing new. The price increases began after 9/11, then were compounded by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - which pushed up overall demand - and growing industrial powers such as China and India, which either gobbled up or bid up the cost of raw materials.
Chinese and Indian rampant construction not only ate up prodigious amounts of raw materials, but also resulted in added manufacturing capacity, which calls for even more materials.
The worldwide result has been skyrocketing costs of raw materials such as lead, steel, copper, brass, nickel, tungsten, even plastics components (which are petroleum based).
How bad is it? In 2005, Remington sold out its entire production of ammunition and lost money due to the enormous leap in raw materials costs.
Industry figures show that military spending on small-caliber ammunition increased from $242 million in 2001 to $688 million in 2006. Federal Cartridge is a division of ATK, which has the contract to provide military small arms ammunition. Despite the booming sales, ATK has had to trim personnel and manufacturing techniques to be able to afford the manufacture.
Other manufacturers were similarly stressed, but all resisted raising retail prices until their colleagues did. Then, when retail prices started to rise, gun owners stockpiled all they could get, sending prices even higher.
Wholesalers have been raising their prices from 3 percent to 10 percent each quarter and we can expect another round of retail price increases on Sept. 1, with upward of a 20 percent increase before the first of the year.
Handloading isn't the answer, either, since the same components that go into commercial ammunition are also needed for handloading.
Trap, skeet and sporting clays clubs are feeling the pinch since the price of gasoline and ammunition are keeping more people home, and even when they come, they aren't shooting as much.
It's an ugly cycle and it isn't going to get any better.
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i heard on the radio this morning that here in ohio, police departments are rationing their practice ammo. officers are only give 50 rds per month for practice. i dunno how valid that story is, but geez...i would think that a leo would get more than that being since they have to be able to take out someone more often than most of us ever would. then again, if they can't hit what they are aiming at with 50 rds to use, what's it gonna mean if they only carry twenty rds? 0 -
Some LEO Offices are considering using paint ball guns for practice.[:0]
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - Local police departments could be sweating bullets soon over a nationwide ammunition shortage caused by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Lancaster County's five largest police departments and the countywide SWAT team say they have not had to cut back on firing range training or outfitting officers in the field.
But with stockpiles dwindling and order delays of up to nine months, supply officers say training could be scaled back after the first of the year if the situation doesn't improve.
"We still have plenty of bullets to do our job. We hope to soon catch up," says Lt. James Zahm, commander of the 40-officer Lancaster County Special Emergency SWAT Team.
"Hopefully, I won't have a problem - I will find out if the order comes in in the next few weeks. If it doesn't, we would call around and borrow," says Sgt. Randy Sensenig of the East Lampeter Township police department.
A shortage could result in training without firing ammunition, he says.
Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and soldiers in training in the United States are firing more than 1 billion bullets a year, according to one national report, and supplies of ammunition for handguns and rifles have not kept pace with the demand.
Also contributing to the shortage is increased police department firearms training in the wake of the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
Spiraling demand for copper and lead - two main ingredients in bullets and their casings - in China and other countries also is a factor in the shortage.
Harder-to-buy handgun and rifle supplies have hit many police departments hard, and gun shop employees elsewhere in the nation predict price increases soon for ammunition for hunters.
The military is not in a predicament because it is supplied by a dedicated plant outside Kansas City. Production at the factory has more than tripled since 2002, to 1.4 billion rounds in 2006, according to the Joint Munitions Command at the Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois.
A survey by the Associated Press found police departments in all parts of the country facing delays in receiving ammunition supplies and reducing training.
In Indianapolis, the police department is considering using paintball guns to train new recruits to save on ammunition.
In Phoenix, an order for .38-caliber bullets for revolvers placed a year ago has yet to arrive. No new officer can qualify to carry the .38 Special on patrol, according to the AP story.
In Trenton, N.J., a shortage of ammunition forced the city to abandon for now its conversion to .45-caliber handguns. Across the state, in Bergen County, the police department had to borrow 26,000 rounds of .40-caliber bullets for training, the AP story reported.
In Lancaster County, police departments are scrambling to place multiple and bigger orders.
"The bottom line is we need to plan better for it," says Sgt. Chris Laser, training and personnel sergeant for city police. He used to place a small order and get it within 60 days. With a delivery window now slipping to nine months, Laser orders handgun and rifle ammunition for an entire year.
The Ephrata Borough police department has gone outside the state to find multiple suppliers for ammunition and has begun stockpiling rounds, says Lt. Thomas Shumaker, acting chief.
Manheim Township and East Hempfield Township police departments say that even with delayed orders, they have enough ammunition on hand to equip officers in the field and at the firing range for practice.
The county's SERT team has marksmen from 14 police departments shooting once a month.
"These guys have to be very, very accurate," says Zahm.
For now, he has enough rounds in stock that officers can continue to shoot their customary 250 to 500 rounds with handguns, machine guns and rifles during each session.
But he's concerned about dwindling supplies and delays in big orders he's placed. If supplies fall short at the beginning of the year, range practice may have to be shortened to 200 rounds a session.
"I have a little bit of a concern, but we're not changing any of our training right now," he says.0 -
I recently turned down a free 1200 pound lead counterweight off of a forklift we cut up at work.I had no way to unload it out of my truck and move it into my backyard.
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I can only speak for myself. And I've always been a bargin shopper.
But with the exception of 7.62X39, which I had a rare (for me) insight to stock up on before the shortage began. I haven't experienced any shortage or rise in cost of ammo.
My guess is that it depends largely on what type of ammo you're using. If you're looking for foddder that is the same as being used (by both sides) in the war. Yes, I'd expect there is a shortage.
But in my area, shotgun shells are ON SALE at prices that rival what I bought them for 30 years ago. .22 ammo prices, while double what they were 20 years, are the same as they've been for the BULK Federal that I use. And I can still find cheap ammo for my other guns. Mostly at gunshows. For example, I use mostly HSM ammo in my .357 Blackhawk. $8.00 a box at the last gunshow.
As for my other milsurps, such as my Arisaka's. There have been new ammo vendors go into business that are offering ammo at 1/2 what I used to pay for Norma.
I've been slowly stocking up. Buying a box or two here and there, even if I don't actually NEED the ammo at the present. Because I believe the anti-gunners will attempt to dry up the ammo availability via legislation as part of their agenda. If you can't get rid of guns, making them useless is the next best thing.
But aside from current use military calibers, I haven't seen any real rise in ammo costs.0 -
...Our angencies here could take a lesson from Mexico on saving ammo.
...Awhile back the Mexican Govt. got pizzed at the cops in one town, took away their guns and issued them sling-shots. "PUT THE GUN DOWN! Are Ill plug you with a marble...[;)]
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Sticker shock for sure...yesterday I was looking at some items for whitetail season and found Remington Sabot Slugs for 20.95 a box at Dick's. Thats 8.00 a box more than last year. [xx(] 0 -
...I have a shop that I have bought a lot of things from over the years, a LOT of their reloads. Their family have been reloading for a lifetime, only reloads I will shoot.
If there is a load that I want, if it is possible to make, they build it up for me at no extra charge...and great people to boot.
After a few thousand of their rounds Ive never had an FTF or FTE with any of their re-loads.
I plan on using some of their 150grn 06 this year to deer hunt with.
The only rifle rounds to date Ive bought from them before were .223.
I pay less than $13 including tax for 50 rounds of any grn 10mm or .45, hot or not.
...Surely they're are similar shops fairly close to everyone?
This year their ammo prices MAY have gone up 6-8% is all. I was talking to owner 3 days ago and he said they had no plans on raising thier price the remainder of the year...[;)]0
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