Bitter clingers
The ammo shortage shows no sign of abating. From Central California's Inland Valley
Daily Bulletin.
(Ontario, CA is about 40 miles due East of Los Angeles)
Lines for ammo long at Crossroads of the West Gun Show in Ontario
Ammunition was the hot item Saturday as gun enthusiasts from around Southern California converged on the Ontario Convention Center for the first day of the two-day Crossroads of the West Gun Show.
The Ontario Convention Center was busy with some people arriving and others leaving with such purchases as walking sticks to firearms cases. But of all the items available, ammo was at the top of many shopping lists.
At one point, a line to purchase ammunition was snaking around the exhibit hall, said Bob Templeton, the owner of the gun show. It was taking about three hours for shoppers to make their way to the head of the line, he said.
Of course, it's all the manufacturer's fault -- from the
Hornady website:
A Word on Availability
The current political climate has caused extremely high demand on all shooting industry products, including ours. Empty retail shelves, long backorders, and exaggerated price increases on online auction sites � all fueled by rumors and conjecture � have amplified concerns about the availability of ammunition and firearms-related items.
If the information you hear doesn�t originate from Hornady Manufacturing, don�t believe it.
Here are some of rumors we�ve heard, and questions we�ve received:- Have you stopped production, or has the government forced you to stop? -- Not at all.
- Did you stop selling bullets so you could only make loaded ammunition? -- Absolutely not.
- Since we can�t find your product you must be selling it all to the government. -- Nope, less than 5% of our sales are to government entities.
- Why can�t you make more? Ramp up production? Turn on all the machines? -- We�ve been steadily growing our production for a long time, especially the last five years. We�ve added presses, lathes, CNC equipment, people and space. Many popular items are produced 24 hours a day. Several hundred Hornady employees work overtime every week to produce as much as safely possible. If there is any question about that � please take a tour of the factory. You�ll be amazed at what you see.
We are producing as much as we can; much more than last year, which was a lot more than the year before, etc. No one wants to ship more during this time than we do.
We appreciate everyone�s understanding and patience. We don�t know when the situation will improve, so please bear with us a little longer. And remember, when it comes to Hornady Manufacturing, if you don�t hear it from us, please don�t believe it.
From
CNS News:
Jeff Hoffman, president of Black Hills Ammunition told GunsandAmmo:"We have a little bit of the hunting calibers on hand, like .270, but everything else is gone. It's only skipping once on its way out the door."
Keith Enlow, senior vice president and ammunition manager at Freedom Group, said:"Even though we're in the middle of panic buying, we don't see the demand for ammunition going away any time soon."
And, according to Guns&Ammo, Remington's official statement on ammo production is:"Remington is at full capacity at this time in a majority of categories of ammunition. We are continuing to look at how to increase capacity and supply our ammunition products to the various channels of distribution/sales that we support."
Just picked up a CO2 powered BB Gun that is about the same size and heft as one of my pistols. Not the same but nice for target training -- a lot cheaper to run.
Posted by DaveH at April 7, 2013 4:09 PM