Availability?

[Questor]

I was at the world's best reloading shop yesterday and the owner was telling me that he was having a hard time getting a lot of the common things he likes to stock. Not exotic stuff, but things like 50 grain 22 caliber Vmax bullets, for example.

He has been in the business for a long time and says he has not seen it like this before. One possibility we discussed is that there are so many products competing for limited production capacity now that the manufacturers can't meet demand. For example, if a brass factory is making three of four new kinds of brass, like 30 T/C, this year, that cuts into their ability to make other kinds of brass.

The bottom line is that he says we now can't just "snap our fingers" and get what we want. We sometimes have to be patient.

What do you think about this? Have you encountered this problem?

 

[Sir Charles deMoutonBlack]

It's the war!

[Questor]

I assumed it was too, but now I don't think it is. If it were driven by supply problems, then there would be a prioritization to make the most popular items available. That's not happening now. The symptoms are more consistent with production capacity problems. 

[Old Syko]

There is a "prioritization to make the most popular items available" as we speak and those priorities are to supply the military's needs rather than the needs of hunters and sportsmen.  When things cool down in the desert there will again be an abundance of product available but you can bet the prices will never come back down as precedence has already be set that we will pay the higher prices.

[Questor]

I'm still not convinced. Do small companies with small capacity for bullet and ammunition manuafacture, like Hornady, ever get contracts for producing small arms ammo for the military? Does Leupold supply lots of military scopes? For ammo, I expect the military ammo plants to make all of the ammo. Is that true? I'm sure that some specialty ammo is made by small companies for, perhaps, snipers, but it doesn't seem like a high volume proposition.

If we're relying on the sporting ammo makers to make military ammo in quantity, I think we're in a lot of trouble.

The man at the reloading store is very well connected and he does not believe that it has to do with military needs.

[beemanbeme]

Quester, the answer is yes and somewhat.  Often say Remington will take a contract to supply 40 gazillion cartridges to Uncle Sugar.  They will then sub contract with Hornady to supply 10 gazillon of them and Federal to supply 10 gazillion. And they will supply the rest.  Uncle Sugar will put out orders for various needs in various amounts and any vendor can bid on them.  If Leupold feels they can meet the specs and the numbers, they can bid on them just like everybody else.  Some folks bid on government contracts that own nothing.  They are strictly middlemen and take a contract and break it into parts and sub contract it all.  With a fat profit for themselves. 
Sometimes (the marines are good at this) the specs at so strictly drawn that only one vendor can provide the item.  Like a Leupold scope or a Remington sniper rifle. 
As far as copper is concerned, don't forget all the TV sets, computers and other stuff that needs copper.  If you think Barnes magic bullets are high now, wait until some loonie sez you can't shoot no mo' lead in bullets and see what happens. 

[Wynn]

It has little to do with military supply.(except certain calibers) It has everything to do with the value of the dollar versus the euro and other currencies. Foreign companies and countries, especially China, are buying up metals such as copper, lead and brass for top dollar as fast as they can. Their economies are growing at a fast rate and demand for raw materials is increasing. In the meantime, the value of the dollar is decreasing. Thus higher and higher prices and a diminishing supply of raw materials in this country. Simple economics of supply and demand.