Coming out of the NRA Convention in Houston, we had the opportunity to talk with all the major manufacturers and many of mid-size ammo and component manufacturers about the current ammunition shortage. We couldn't find one that bought into the government buyout conspiracy.
Now we're not saying the government isn't buying huge amounts of ammo...They are and always have. The Armed Forces operate no less than six ammunition plants but only one, Lake City, produces ammo for the small arms with which most of us are concerned. Lake City has been running at or near capacity since at least 2004, producing about 1.5 billion rounds of 9mm, 5.56mmNATO, 7.62mmNATO, and .50BMG annually. As most know, the rest of the government (including the Dept of Homeland Security, Dept. of Justice, and Dept. of Energy) gets its ammunition from the same commercial manufacturers that supply the rest of us. How much production goes to the government depends on the manufacturer. Hornady and Corbon for example, sell almost exclusively to distributors who in turn, supply us civilians. Both report that as much as 95% of their production is going to civilian consumers. Olin Corp (aka Winchester), Remington, and ATK (Federal, Speer, and CCI) aren't quite at the other end of the spectrum but, a great deal more of their ammunition goes to federal, state, and local LE agencies but, none would tell us exactly how much of their production goes to those agencies. What we do know right now is that service calibers like 9mm, .40S&W, .45ACP, .223 Remington, .308 Winchester is all that some manufacturers are making right now. In other words, if you don't already own all the 7mm-08 you need/want for a while, you are out of luck with some manufacturers.
The amount of ammunition the government buys for federal agencies varies from one fiscal year to the next but, as a rule totals have always ratcheted up to match the number of personnel on staff. The federal agencies do indeed shoot more than the military per person mainly because of the liabilities that come from having armed personnel that routinely interface with the public.the government discovered long ago that it was cheaper to spend money training people than it was to spend money on the liability that comes with poor shooting. Federal agents qualify quarterly and have more ongoing training than most military combat units. In fact, federal agents generally qualify and train more than nearly all state and local agencies. One could say it's your tax dollars at work.
So where is all the ammo going? The consensus among manufacturers is that it's us. We are buying the ammo. Between an estimated 4 million new shooters, our high volume shooters who have always consumed thousands of rounds annually, and of course, the guys who went from buying 1,000 rounds annually to over 20,000. When will it end? No one really knows. Freedom Munitions brought a million rounds of 9mm to there Houston store on Thursday. It was all gone by yesterday and all of the buyers were local shooters. If the government was involved in taking all that ammo, they are stealing it from those guys' garages, closets, and storage units.
We wanted to post a poll but ran into technical difficulties. So here's the question again, what kind of ammo buyer are you?
High volume shooter, 5000+ rounds annually?
Hoarder, buying all you can while you can?
New shooter, just need some ammo?
Wise guy, saw this shortage coming years ago?
Now we're not saying the government isn't buying huge amounts of ammo...They are and always have. The Armed Forces operate no less than six ammunition plants but only one, Lake City, produces ammo for the small arms with which most of us are concerned. Lake City has been running at or near capacity since at least 2004, producing about 1.5 billion rounds of 9mm, 5.56mmNATO, 7.62mmNATO, and .50BMG annually. As most know, the rest of the government (including the Dept of Homeland Security, Dept. of Justice, and Dept. of Energy) gets its ammunition from the same commercial manufacturers that supply the rest of us. How much production goes to the government depends on the manufacturer. Hornady and Corbon for example, sell almost exclusively to distributors who in turn, supply us civilians. Both report that as much as 95% of their production is going to civilian consumers. Olin Corp (aka Winchester), Remington, and ATK (Federal, Speer, and CCI) aren't quite at the other end of the spectrum but, a great deal more of their ammunition goes to federal, state, and local LE agencies but, none would tell us exactly how much of their production goes to those agencies. What we do know right now is that service calibers like 9mm, .40S&W, .45ACP, .223 Remington, .308 Winchester is all that some manufacturers are making right now. In other words, if you don't already own all the 7mm-08 you need/want for a while, you are out of luck with some manufacturers.
The amount of ammunition the government buys for federal agencies varies from one fiscal year to the next but, as a rule totals have always ratcheted up to match the number of personnel on staff. The federal agencies do indeed shoot more than the military per person mainly because of the liabilities that come from having armed personnel that routinely interface with the public.the government discovered long ago that it was cheaper to spend money training people than it was to spend money on the liability that comes with poor shooting. Federal agents qualify quarterly and have more ongoing training than most military combat units. In fact, federal agents generally qualify and train more than nearly all state and local agencies. One could say it's your tax dollars at work.
So where is all the ammo going? The consensus among manufacturers is that it's us. We are buying the ammo. Between an estimated 4 million new shooters, our high volume shooters who have always consumed thousands of rounds annually, and of course, the guys who went from buying 1,000 rounds annually to over 20,000. When will it end? No one really knows. Freedom Munitions brought a million rounds of 9mm to there Houston store on Thursday. It was all gone by yesterday and all of the buyers were local shooters. If the government was involved in taking all that ammo, they are stealing it from those guys' garages, closets, and storage units.
We wanted to post a poll but ran into technical difficulties. So here's the question again, what kind of ammo buyer are you?
High volume shooter, 5000+ rounds annually?
Hoarder, buying all you can while you can?
New shooter, just need some ammo?
Wise guy, saw this shortage coming years ago?
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