UPDATED: The Great Ammunition Shortage...
Yes, ammo is going to cost more for the foreseeable future. So is everything else. Do I like the higher cost of ammo? Nope. Not at all, but it is a free market.
My speculative opinion is that is entirely unreasonable (and smacks of collectivism) to expect a producer of any particular commodity to not charge what the market will bear for a given product. When you find it cheap, great!
It is puzzling to me why people think that a company must charge as little as possible for property that the company owns when offering it for sale. The property (product) belongs to the company, therefore, they can charge what they wish. If the buyer doesn't want to pay, then either go somewhere else, or do without.
To be very clear, this practice is NOT 'price gouging.' Price gouging is a socialist construct to ensure prices stay artificially low so that the first to get to the product can buy all of it, leaving none, or very little for others. The correct term is 'market rationing' when prices are raised during exigencies. That way, everyone gets a chance to buy what they need.
Want the price of ammo to go down to pre-Covid levels? Stop buying ammo for a time across the board, say 6 to 9 months, and watch how fast the price goes down. Guaranteed. Why? Because it costs money to have product sitting in warehouses. The producers cannot afford to have a warehous full of product that isn't moving out for purchase. This is due to BJIT inventory economics, ie, the producers using money from pre-orders to buy the material to produce the product to be sold at retail sites. This and this alone, is why during the so-called, 'ammo glut' that one could buy 1K rounds of Federal HST for $399, sometimes including shipping, depending on the seller or amount purchased. You can get 1K of FMJ in the same caliber now for $399....HST? Not so miuch.
During the glut, some, including yours truly, were shouting from the roof tops, "BUY IT CHEAP AND STACK IT DEEP!" to whoever would listen, mostly to deaf ears. Until Covid and the last shortage that has turned into the current high priced market. Even so, as of Jan 8, 2021, prices on some ammo have come down. Not as much as one might hope, but it's coming down, nevertheless. Might not be a permanent drop, but it might be.
Also factor in that the current administration doesn't want ammo available. Having trillions of rounds available to the general public challenges the monopoly of force that government always chase like a crack addict does his or her dealer. That's why there's an active move to stop the public from buying certain firearms and accessories. Scares the hell out of the PTB.
So you only have so much money for ammo. There are ways to stretch your ammo dollars by increasing dry fire sessions and decreasing wet fire and still maintain or increase one's skill level.
One way is to get a laser training bullet to use in your pistol or defensive carbine. These things are great training aids. So long as the user is safe, and ensures no ammo or loaded mags of any kind are around, the shooter can get immediate feedback as to where the 'round' (laser dot) hits on the target. There are also apps that let the shooter use his/her smart phone to record the shots, and when done, see a group pattern.
Another way is to sell things you don't really need and use that money to buy the more expensive ammo while it's available.
Creativity counts.
There are ammo producers that are independent of Vista, but they keep their offerings (while much higher quality) at a bout the going rate of the conglomerates. So, you've got choices.
Ok, rant over, on to the article - Do read the whole thing.
What are your thoughts on the pricing kerfuffle?
All of the manufacturers financial plans are dependent on the consumer continuing to buy. It has been my personal experience lately that consumers are stocked up and can wait (and are) for prices to decline further. The manufacturers can stretch the good times a bit but they can't reduce output to zero. In the end the customer will win if he shows a bit of discipline.
ReplyDeleteprice control is a quick way to insure that supply dries up. the complainers are just showing their own lack of foresight and/or lack of priorities. i gave up the boat (a hole in the water you pour your money) in favor of preparing for the inevitable. even so i have steadily increased my inventory during the "shortage", i just had to hunt for a deal and pay a little more. excluding 9mm and 556, i'm seeing prices in the 1980/1990's normal range. the cheap ammo days were the anomaly, not the expensive days.
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