Little chance that Obama will ban imported Russian ammo?

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Ignition Override

New member
This question occured to me days ago, but nobody seemed to be discussing it on gun forums until today.
It appears that if Obama were to do so, in response to events in Ukraine, the Russians might react by blocking imports of certain US products, or increasing prices on their petroleum exports to dependent neighboring countries.

I had decided to look for an Unconverted Saiga 5.45 last week, and even if they don't dry up in the next week, there are always ammo concerns.
Plenty of 7.62x39 is stored (produced in Russia and Ukraine...), but also plan to buy a Saiga, then order 2,000-3,000 rds. of 5.45 this spring, and really don't want to buy it After prices could go up.

What are your views?
 
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UtahHunting

New member
I am also surprised nobody is talking about this on any of the forums. I have heard talk on the news of possible sanctions against Russia if they don't back off. I can only imagine imported ammo would be the first to go, and since pretty much all 7.62x39 is coming out of Russia this concerns me. I was ready to pull the trigger on another Saiga this week, however I think I am going to order 2-3 cases of ammo instead in the next 24 hours just in case. If they cut those imports we will be paying through the nose for American made ammo.
 
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carguychris

New member
UtahHunting said:
...since pretty much all 7.62x39 is coming out of Russia this concerns me.
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FWIW the "Red Army Standard" brand marketed by Century Int'l is from Romania.

I'm probably not the first to note the irony. ;)
 
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Rifleman1776

New member
I use for practice only because it is available and is low price. However, I recently discovered we have a new company in my area that is manufacturing ammo and retailing for about the same as Russian. My preference is to buy American and I will be going to them next time I need some.
 
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mboylan

New member
Tula has factories in several countries. 7.62x39 would not dry up. Lots of ammo comes from Ukraine, Romania and several ex- Soviet republics.
 
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Tom Servo

Staff
Lostintheozone, the Examiner article you linked to uses a friend (and fellow gun blogger) of his as his "source." We haven't seen or heard anything remotely official, so all we can do is speculate.

Could the President ban import with an EO? Possibly.

In that case, we'd probably see domestic manufacturers step in to fill the gap. There are two problems with that:

  • the domestic stuff is going to be more expensive, and
  • availability is going to be really thin for the next year, since they're still digging their way out of the 2013 shortage.

That said, I doubt Putin will do anything to choke exports. Russia may look askance at us, but they need our money.
 
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armoredman

New member
Learn to cast and reload - I buy 7.62x39mm ammo for "emergency purposes" only.



Seriously, snark aside, (sorry), this could be another "BUY IT NOW panic", not likely to be a real shortage as there are other suppliers around the world and the US who could step in to fill any "production gaps".
 
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carguychris

New member
lostintheozone said:
If this Russian/Ukraine showdown goes on for more than a week, which it probably will, communist bloc ammo will go up.
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Repeat after me: There is no Communist Bloc. This is 2014, not 1989. :rolleyes: Companies from numerous Eastern European countries are competing for the American ammo business on a largely level playing field.
mboylan said:
Lots of ammo comes from Ukraine, Romania and several ex- Soviet republics.
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+1. During the past several years, I've bought ammo from Russia, Serbia, Romania, and Bosnia i Herzegovina. This crisis may affect ammo from the first one, but it won't affect the others.

Which brand is Ukrainian?
Tom Servo said:
That said, I doubt Putin will do anything to choke exports. Russia may look askance at us, but they need our money.
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Another +1. In fact, I dare suggest that Putin is probably smart enough to realize that an ammo ban is likely to be politically advantageous for him, because most Americans who buy lots of ammo are political opponents of the current administration; it's easy for his intelligence services to verify this, all they have to do is pick up any given issue of American Rifleman from the last 6 years. ;)

In fact, it makes one wonder about the underlying source of the rumors that Russian ammo may be banned... GRU? SVR? :eek:

IMHO if this crisis triggers another run on ammo, we have only ourselves to blame.
 
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lostintheozone

New member
Repeat after me: There is no Communist Bloc. This is 2014, not 1989. Companies from numerous Eastern European countries are competing for the American ammo business on a largely level playing field.
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Duly noted. Should have said Eastern Bloc.
 
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Fishing_Cabin

New member
carguychris said:
...Which brand is Ukrainian?...
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Wolf is the main brand I see imported to the USA which has some lines made in Ukraine.

http://www.luckygunner.com/7-62x39-123-gr-hp-wolf-wpa-ukraine-1000-rounds

luckygunner.com said:
Manufactured in Wolf's Ukrainian ammunition facility. This product is steel-cased and Berdan-primed. It's also non-corrosive and non-reloadable
Click to expand...

http://www.lcw.lg.ua/index.php/en/

The above site is a link to the Lugansk Cartridge Works, which makes ammo and also equipment to manufacture it. Its in the eastern part of Ukraine, about an hour from the Russian border, and I'd guess 500km north of Crimea.

I cant think of any other factories in the Ukraine right now. Most of the ones in Russia are already known.

As far as any surplus ammo in large amounts from Ukraine showing up after this blows over, I would be surprised... Mid 2000's they sent a good number of various small arms and ammo to be destroyed after a visit by some U.S. politicians.

As far as banning any ammo from either side, I don't see it, except from the U.S. in a rare chance. Basically (trying to avoid taking a political side) if either Russia, or the U.S. tries to restrict trade at some level, the other country will return the favor, and so on for supporting countries, and it goes downhill for all to some degree. Neither side honestly wants that in my opinion.

ETA:

I am unsure who Sporting Supplies International is, but it seems they are importing 7.62x39 from Lugansk. Just another source of import.

http://importgenius.com/suppliers/jsc-lugansk-cartridge-works
 
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