Surplus Ammo & Arms

[mountainman]

Just got back from Cabela's North. Shelves bare, no primers, few bullets, no gunpowder. It's this way all over. Wal-Mart has been out its .22 LR bricks for months now. I asked the guy at Cabela's what's going on; "We can't find the stuff anywhere." I called HSM on Friday. Three shifts, 24 hours a day production. When the largest outfitter in the world can't buy ammo you know something is crazy. This is a forum, we ask questions and get answers. What the heck is going on? Somebody is buying a lot of ammunition.

Far from slowing down yet...

[huntnphool]

My dad and brother went in there today and picked up some ammo, my brother called to let me know that they had 5.7 ammo in stock, I got excited until he told me the price. $75/box.

[mountainman]

ouch! Saw $2.50 per round at one point on G.B. Was aluminum core, but wow!

[actionshooter]

I've seen some starting to show up here and there but its still $1 a round.

[gasman]

My dad and brother went in there today and picked up some ammo, my brother called to let me know that they had 5.7 ammo in stock, I got excited until he told me the price. $75/box.

And people say they are not price gouging 



Oh.............. wait.................. there being capitalistic 

[h2ofowlr]

My dad and brother went in there today and picked up some ammo, my brother called to let me know that they had 5.7 ammo in stock, I got excited until he told me the price. $75/box.

And people say they are not price gouging 



Oh.............. wait.................. there being capitalistic 

Just early preperation for what's to come.  Ammo prices of the future.  You will save all year to go shooting over a weekend.

[Jekemi]

My advice to fellow shooters and hunters. Purchase a swaging press from Corbin or one of the other companies. Cast or swage your own bullets - lead isn't the only option if you have a swager. Ask your range to sell us back the brass, not to send it to the metal recyclers. Volunteer to collect and sort the brass at your favorite range; put it in sealed bags and price it for them. Hunt for lead EVERYWHERE and let's make it available to our reloading community. I would be happy and I know many of my hunting and reloading colleagues would be happy to make lead ingots and sell them at very low prices to fellow reloaders. Primers and gunpowder will continue to be the pinch point.

[SGTDuffman]

This pic was originally posted up in this thread:  http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,120032.0.html

$85 for a box of .22 and they aren't gouging people? Remington Golden is probably THE worst .22 ammo made too. If you can stumble across it at Cabelas, it's $24.

[dscubame]

I just got notice from Brownells that my two DPMS lower receivers are being shipped.  Just have to be patient.

[Bean Counter]

This pic was originally posted up in this thread:  ...

$85 for a box of .22 and they aren't gouging people? Remington Golden is probably THE worst .22 ammo made too. If you can stumble across it at Cabelas, it's $24.

There is enough crude supply, high technology, and a supply of qualified workers that gasoline shouldn't cost more than $1.50 a gallon. Maybe we should be little children and bitch at Exxon Mobil for charging $4.00+ for a gallon of gas. 

[sirmissalot]

This pic was originally posted up in this thread:  ...

$85 for a box of .22 and they aren't gouging people? Remington Golden is probably THE worst .22 ammo made too. If you can stumble across it at Cabelas, it's $24.

There is enough crude supply, high technology, and a supply of qualified workers that gasoline shouldn't cost more than $1.50 a gallon. Maybe we should be little children and bitch at Exxon Mobil for charging $4.00+ for a gallon of gas.

I see your point, but it would be different if we were bitching at Chevron for $4 gas, while we could still get it at costco for $1.50, only we had to wait in line for hours and still usually didn't get to fill up because the supply doesn't last. Not sure there would be any money made at $1.50 a gallon, haven't seen what a barrel of crude is at right now but guessing upper 80's, you'd be losing money right off the get go... raw materials for firearms and ammunition has been rising but not by 2 or 300%

I still agree with the basic principles of supply and demand but I will just choose to not support the places that are making these outrageous markups, just because they can. Its the idiots that are paying these stupid prices that are really gouging us, not so much the retailers. If they are selling 22 ammo by the brick for $90, obviously too many stupid people were paying the $50 a box they were asking before.

[arees]

I still agree with the basic principles of supply and demand but I will just choose to not support the places that are making these outrageous markups, just because they can. Its the idiots that are paying these stupid prices that are really gouging us, not so much the retailers. If they are selling 22 ammo by the brick for $90, obviously too many stupid people were paying the $50 a box they were asking before.

I think this is the definition of supply and demand.  They have raised the price and reduced the demand (at least by you).  If you can have your needs met by a supply at a lower price everything works out well for you.  If they sell out to others at the higher price it also works out well for them.

[Bean Counter]

I see your point, but it would be different if we were bitching at Chevron for $4 gas, while we could still get it at costco for $1.50, only we had to wait in line for hours and still usually didn't get to fill up because the supply doesn't last. Not sure there would be any money made at $1.50 a gallon, haven't seen what a barrel of crude is at right now but guessing upper 80's, you'd be losing money right off the get go... raw materials for firearms and ammunition has been rising but not by 2 or 300%

With all due respect, some of the ammunition components have risen a lot more than 200-300%. http://ewweb.com/current_copper_prices/electric_red_metal_raging/ 
http://www.adn.com/2008/06/01/422941/biting-the-bullet-ammo-prices.html

I'm actually quite impressed that I used to buy gasoline in the late 1990s for about $1.00 a gallon when the price of crude oil--the primary raw material, was $10-15 a barrel. When oil jumped to $150 a barrel, we were only paying $4.50 a gallon tops. That's a ten to fifteen fold increase in the raw material and a only a four fold increase in the price at the pump. I find that quite impressive. Regardless: I couldn't refine gasoline myself for a cost of less than $4.00 a gallon, I wouldn't want to even if I knew how, and I could easily adjust my behaviors accordingly to make ends meet. Bitching at Exxon Mobil for posting $38 billion in profit in 2005 while making a quality product and not cutting corners on quality doesn't make my life any better. If you don't like the price of something, don't buy it. Find a substitute, make it yourself, or adjust behaviors.

I still agree with the basic principles of supply and demand but I will just choose to not support the places that are making these outrageous markups, just because they can. Its the idiots that are paying these stupid prices that are really gouging us, not so much the retailers. If they are selling 22 ammo by the brick for $90, obviously too many stupid people were paying the $50 a box they were asking before.

"idiots paying stupid prices"... Wow, now we're attacking other gun owners, in addition to merchants. I don't think any of this helps us. I have no problem with a merchant selling his .22lr ammo for $90 a brick if he has customers willing to pay that much for it. The antis would like to put all gun shops, manufacturers, and distributors out of business. Us being a house divided doesn't really help. 

[sirmissalot]

Those articles say nothing about cost of raw materials rising 2-300% since November, I think we all know and agree the cost of everything has been steadily rising for some time. One event caused this price increase, and its not in all places, just the guys who feel the need. I'm not attacking those retailers, just saying, again, that I won't support them 

Its just my opinion that people paying these stupid prices are just not smart people. I have seen you comment several times that people were dumb for not seeing this coming and stocking up... how are we different bean? I am one of these stupid people that didn't stock up like you think I should have, honestly never paid any attention to it, all my life I've been able to go to the store and buy ammo or reloading supplies, just never thought it was needed to stock up on something that seemed readily available. Lesson learned, but I'm still not paying these inflated prices, regular prices are around, just got to be patient. I've got a good supply now 

[Bean Counter]

Those articles say nothing about cost of raw materials rising 2-300% since November, I think we all know and agree the cost of everything has been steadily rising for some time.

Agreed. But what is not being appreciated, which I alluded to with the gas companies, is that they've either found more efficient manners of bringing product to market, or they've given up some profit margin % to help keep prices fairly low. Prices for both products have risen a lot less than the price of the direct raw materials that go into making them. The gun and gas companies didn't make the price of raw materials go up.

One event caused this price increase, and its not in all places, just the guys who feel the need. I'm not attacking those retailers, just saying, again, that I won't support them 

Fair enough.

Its just my opinion that people paying these stupid prices are just not smart people. I have seen you comment several times that people were dumb for not seeing this coming and stocking up... how are we different bean? I am one of these stupid people that didn't stock up like you think I should have, honestly never paid any attention to it, all my life I've been able to go to the store and buy ammo or reloading supplies, just never thought it was needed to stock up on something that seemed readily available. Lesson learned, but I'm still not paying these inflated prices, regular prices are around, just got to be patient. I've got a good supply now 

Again, fair enough. I'd be here all day listing the lessons I've learned from the University of Hard Knocks.