One of the hardest parts about writing about ammo shortage, and selling ammo at the same time is always being labeled as fear-mongering. On the flip side of that, when the shortages hit, and as a store our prices HAVE to go up to cover costs, you are then accused of profiting at a “Time Of Hardship”. It’s an inaccurate way of looking at the situation, but as often as I have led a horse to water, I still can’t make it drink. So one more time for the hard of hearing, the AMMO ECONOMY IS CHANGING, and here are the hard truths.
All signs point toward a looming ammo shortage in the U.S. and world at large. Now is a good time to think about stockpiles and economical rimfire training.
During the “Great .22 LR Shortage” cheap bulk pack rimfire ammunition was being sold at sky-high scalper’s prices. Prices jumped during COVID, and today, rifle ammunition is still substantially more expensive than it was just a few years ago. Checking my notes, I noticed 1,000 rounds of Wolf 7.62x39mm only cost $200 in 2018. Wolf .223 Rem was about the same. Now, they are over double that. In the not so distant past, a shooter could choose from not only new domestic production ammunition but also economical Russian steel case and inexpensive military surplus. You could save a bit of money shooting either Russian steel case or military surplus. Unfortunately, like the Chinese ammunition before it, Russian commercial ammunition has been banned from import. The ban removed a staggering amount of economical ammunition from the American commercial market. It’s not just sold out, it’s gone for good.
What about military surplus?
The vast warehouses filled with popular and not-so-popular obsolete military calibers are gone. Surplus 7N6 5.45x39mm is banned from import. Various wars around the world, like the one in Ukraine, are consuming surplus ammunition which might have found its way onto the US market. While some will trickle in, the glory days are over. So, that leaves just new production ammunition, either imported or produced domestically, for American shooters to pick from. With the demise of military surplus and Russian ammunition banned from the US market, the ammunition supply for American shooters was already in a precarious position. Basically, you have more gun owners in the US than there has ever been before. But, you have less ammunition available than in years past, a lot less.
Unlike the false Lake City Army Ammunition Plant rumors of 2023 though, the powder shortage is verified by multiple major US ammunition manufacturers. It is not limited to the US either, and is a global shortage. Brett Nelson, the Vice President Sales, Sporting Products at Vista Outdoors stated, “Due to world events our suppliers have notified us of unprecedented demand for and an anticipated global shortage of gunpowder, and thus has increased our prices substantially, we must therefore raise our pricing to help offset those increases.” Reasons for the shortage? These include the war in Ukraine and Chinese companies not selling Nitrocellulose to the US.