So ... about those ammo prices

[Aguila Blanca]

I correspond regularly with a couple of shooters in Europe. For years they have been moaning about the prices they pay for ammunition, and telling me how lucky we Americans are for the cost of ammunition in the United States.

I found that I need to get up to speed on Microsoft Teams, which I have never used. Today I installed the free version on my computer. One of the friends in Europe has it because his wife uses it for red Cross meetings (she's some kind of a RC volunteer coordinator, or something). He had never used it, so he fired up a test meeting so we could both kick the tires a bit.

We were on for an hour and forty-five minutes, just playing with features and getting caught up on "stuff" in between. At one point the discussion turned to ammunition. I looked up some "sale" prices from the web site of an ammo dealer I regularly get e-mails from. The prices ***ON SALE*** for bulk 9mm pistol ammo -- not great ammo, either, stuff like Blazer Brass and PMC -- were about 30 to 40 percent higher than the prices he pays in Europe.

I'm not sure which of us was more amazed.

 

[Mannlicher]

I don't understand much these days. It's possible that 'market forces' are no longer calling the shots. So to speak

 

[KyJim]

I think it may be a combination of things. Ammo has gradually became more available the last three months or so. For range fodder, prices have come down but are still much higher than they were before Covid and civil unrest.

I saw a headline today saying some companies are recruiting truck drivers from out of country due to a shortage of drivers. Ttranslated, that means higher transportation costs that have to be passed along. And all of the borrowing to provide Covid relief money and other increased expenditures inevitably means inflation now or in the near future.

And, it's not just ammo. My wife and I have noticed grocery prices going up 20 percent or more on a number of items in the last couple of weeks. We've also seen recent increases in utility bills and cable TV.

 

[Carl the Floor Walker]

Something smells for sure. I thought it has been interesting that I bought have bought boxes of Federal 22 cal 325 rds from Walmart for $18.99, actually up to 8 boxes now.
And I get emails advertising the same ammo for $39.99. Same exact box.
I understand that Walmart has purchasing power and can buy at a discounted rate, but come on man! Even Walmart makes a profit.

But then again, there are a whole lot of strange things going on in the past 6 months that just stink to high heaven besides ammo. And to be frank, I am more concerned about them then I am ammo. The train has has been headed down hill fast, right into hell.

 

[FITASC]

Europe never had the ammo panic like we did. Folks in the UK were still paying the same rices for their shotgun ammo as we were before our shortages. Many US ammo makers also sell a LOT to Europe and I doubt they want to risk losing that market share

 

[ChasHam]

I'm suspicious of the reason(s) behind the huge ammo/component price increases too.

Kinda' like gas prices which jumped far up overnight when the Colonial Pipeline shut down due to hackers. But the hack was taken care of in a few days and within a week or so, the pipeline was restarted and gas flow and supplies returned to normal.

Have you noticed though that there's been a full supply of gas for quite some time-- but prices have stayed way elevated? Inquiring minds are curious!

 

[Tom Servo]

Guys, I've deleted several posts for general political stuff. Just a reminder that we don't do that in this forum. Posts need to be gun-related.

As for ammo prices, there are all sorts of factors. Copper prices play a part, but the main thing is simple supply.

Manufacturers aren't going to invest in massive amounts of new equipment, employees, and shipping infrastructure for what they see as a temporary situation. They're going to step up production some, but the supply chain is going to be disrupted for a while.

We saw this during the 2008 panic and during the 2013 panic. This one is longer and more acute, but they still see it as temporary.