Friends, Carteach generally keeps some ammunition on hand. To some, it might seem a lot. To others, I'm a piker hobbyist with a pitiful stock. That said, I've been known to repack a case or two into surplus ammo cans for storage. What looks like a big mound-o-ammo suddenly doesn't seem so big when one is in the middle of rifle match season and burning a few hundred a week in practice.
So, is it any wonder that when a brand new well used AR15 A2 match rifle came into the household... Carteach went looking for a case or two of 5.56x45mm? Nothing wild; Just a few thousand rounds to practice with and shoot over the coming summer.
Gentle readers.... what I found today was not what I found last week. Today, most of the decent brand name brass case .223/5.56 ammunition is suddenly marked 'Out of stock' or 'Sold out' on any one of my handful of regular ammo haunts.
So what is a fat old shooter to do? Just what he should...... he orders a few thousand SS109 bullets and a few thousand small rifle primers.... and then loads his polisher with freshly sized Lake City brass. I'll have my supply of 5.56mm ammo in a few weeks, although it will cost me a little time.
So why is it all suddenly sold out? To listen to the 'Man Behind The Counter' down at the local we-be-guns is to hear a repeat of the line handed out before the last presidential election. Folks are just as ready to believe it now as they did then, and respond accordingly.
Look.... the ammunition industry is built around certain demand levels. It only takes one shooter in a dozen who suddenly decides to buy a little extra, and supplies in the pipeline dry up fast. The manufacturers cannot simply crank up the assembly lines, as they already run at efficient levels. They also can't build another plant overnight.... nor should they, as today's demands can vanish tomorrow.
Is there an Ammunition Shortage looming? Perhaps there is.... or perhaps it's just a short term fluctuation in the market. We shall see.
As for Carteach... Rolling ones own is perfectly acceptable here, and doing it 500 at a time is not a problem.
That might bear some thought just about now, hmm?
10 comments:
I agree completely Sir! Good council.
I just ordered another 3k rounds... Just sayin...
Just ordered some more, myself.
I've been stocking up since last summer when the prices kinda came back to normal (whatever that is....PRE-0bama?), but it's always good to get some while you can.
Any advice for someone who wants to learn to reload their own ammo?
mmasse,
I think I will do a post on the topic in the near future.
I feel ya. My issue is .308 and it's much worse than 5.56, which is still getting bad all of a sudden.
Same thing they say about gas. Or Wilson 1911's. Sorry not drinking the kool-aid.
Hmm - I haven't seen any shortage around here - or online, tho the cheaper stuff does seem to have dried up a bit. My local Ace Hardware still has a half-pallet of M855 in cans at the same price it's been for the last couple of months..:-)
slickguns will get you the latest deals- great price on 62 gr. 5.56 right now-
I'm curious to know what bullets/powder/primer you're using for your 5.56 rounds.
I'm still fairly new to reloading so I only do a small batch of each round to find my happy place, and then I start doing larger runs. I just got my AR a couple of months ago and just started reloading for it. I'm still testing my loads, but right now I'm loading Berger 80 gr bullets with CCI primers and H4895 powder. My first run was last week with only 10 rounds. My next run will be fired this weekend with 30 rounds, but I had to order a custom seating plug from Lee because the one I got from them won't seat it deep enough. Because of what I had to do to get the depth, some of the rounds got slightly deformed at the tip (those few will be fired "rapid fire" after I check the others for performance)
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