Where Has All The Ammo Gone?

Where Has All The Ammo Gone?

from: http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/8797

by Gary Evans

I've often said that there is no such thing as bringing too much ammunition to a gun fight. These days you might be lucky to have any ammo for that gunfight. It seems that it is virtually impossible to find some of the most popular calibers on dealers' shelves these days. I went out the other day in search of 9mm Luger ammo — I need about 400 more rounds for an upcoming class I will be taking this coming Spring. Yet it seems there is none to be had. Where one of my local gun shops used to have pallets consisting of thousands of rounds of 9mm ammo, now they are lucky to have just a few boxes, if that. One of the gun shops in my area will only sell you 9mm ammunition if you are also buying a handgun chambered for it at the same time, and then they limit you to just two boxes. Most other dealers have also instituted a "two box limit" when they do have ammunition in stock.

My informal survey of four local gun stores — including a Gander Mountain store — showed that 9mm and bulk .22 Long Rifle ammunition have virtually disappeared from their shelves. I also noted a lack of .223/5.56 and .308 caliber rifle ammunition. Stocks of .380 ACP and .45 ACP are down considerably. Just about any common semi-automatic pistol caliber ammunition, except surprisingly .40 S&W, are rare finds indeed, at least where I looked. Ammunition for use in revolvers appears to still be available. When you can find ammunition, it has gone up considerably in price unless it is one of the less common calibers. For instance, .45 ACP seems to now be going for $0.50 to $1.00 per round. I was able to get some .38 Super +P for just a couple bucks more than I was paying before this latest ammo shortage began.

Even reloading components are in short supply. Once again, primers seem to have disappeared. Stocks of bullets are also down considerably. Gun powder is still available, but cartridge cases in the popular calibers are getting hard to find.

So what has caused this dramatic decline in the availability of ammunition?