What Caused the Ammo Shortage? When Will Things Get Better?
In a recent Federal Season Podcast, Federal Ammunition’s President Jason Vanderbrink discusses the shortages of loaded ammunition we have experienced for many months now. And it’s not just loaded ammo — powder and primers are very hard to find and prices are crazy, with 1000 primers selling for $300 or more in recent Gunbroker auctions.
This Federal Podcast episode attempts to answer key questions about the unprecedented demand for ammunition. Ammo buyers want to know what caused the shortage, when supplies will become normal again, and what Federal and its sister brands are doing to meet consumer needs.
Click Green Arrow to Start Podcast Audio:
Fast forward to 00:45 to skip intro.
We applaud Federal for addressing the issue. Many shooters think there is some kind of conspiracy — suggesting that the Federal Government is buying all the ammunition, or that companies such as Federal or Hornady have halted production. That’s nonsense. In fact Federal, Hornady, and Olin (Winchester) are all running at full capacity.
However, consumer demand has increased dramatically. This is because of political developments, with tens of millions of gun owners fearful that the new Democratic administration will impose new taxes or restrictions on ammo. In addition, demand has been driven by new gun owners. The NSSF tells us that over 7,000,000 Americans purchased their first firearm in 2020. If each new gun buyer purchased just two, 50-round boxes of ammo, that equates to 700,000,000 rounds of ammo. Think about that… the gun industry would have to produce an additional 1.91 million rounds of ammo EVERY DAY just to fill the demands from new gun owners.
In the podcast Federal’s President Vanderbrink emphasized that Federal is running at full capacity. Vanderbrink also discusses the shortages of components, particularly primers, which are produced by both Federal and sister company CCI.
Vanderbrink pointed out that Federal had been at less than full capacity in 2017-2019, but Federal had also invested in new capacity over the last five years and that investment is now paying off: “We are investing where we need to invest… we have hired hundreds of new workers.”
Primers Are in Short Supply Because They Are Being Used in Loaded Ammunition
Vanderbrink explains why primers are not getting to retail outlets. The answer is that Federal is using a larger percentage of its own primer production for loaded ammunition. “We are making a lot more ammunition today. Our internal primer needs have gone up exponentially as we are shipping more ammunition. [Previously] we’d sell excess [primer] capacity to the reloading market. As the ammunition business picked up in March 2020, it came at the expense of the reloading primers. We are taking a bigger share just to make our ammunition” (Podcast 08:30 – 09:50)
Remington Bankruptcy DID Affect Ammo and Primer Supplies
Remington’s business problems HAVE reduced ammo supply said Vanderbrink: “When we acquired Remington, that factory wasn’t making hardly any ammunition, so that just starved that market already that was constrained. As we’re getting Remington up and going right now, we’re going to make more ammunition, so the market WILL have more ammunition[.] Along with the social unrest, along with the Pandemic fears that people had… you had Remington not making much ammunition, so that just added to the backlog.” Vanderbrink noted that Federal acquired the Remington factory in October and it plans to increase Remington ammo production significantly over previous levels.
(Podcast 10:20 -11:20)
Ammunition Shortage is NOT Caused by Federal Government Buying Everything
Vanderbrink also said flat out that the shortage has NOT been caused by huge new government ammo buys or Federal redirecting production to the government. The allocation to the commercial sector is actually higher than in recent years.
Vanderbrink asked for patience. While conceding that the pandemic has created challenges, Vanderbrink declares that the ammo plants are running at full capacity: “We know, ammo seems hard to come by right now. But rest assured, we are building and shipping more and more every day[.]”
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Tags: Ammo Shortage, CCI, CCI Primers, Federal, Jason Vanderbrink, Remington
How can they be running at full capacity and maintain Social Distancing????
Its not the Feds buying ammo. This is a situation of people for yielding to temptation, especially when the opportunity to make a gigantic amount of money. This is the Mt Everest of opportunity to keep prices high and guarantee sales at any price. People are going to buy ammo at any price especially given this white house we have. The temptation to capitalize on that fear is enormous. I don’t blame ammo makers for being human. I cant say Id be able to pass up all that money. Hopefully, they will soon decide to return to sanity and resume normal production and distribution. May take a year; we will just have to be patient.
Don’t think it’s the ammo MAKERS – I think it’s the resellers and the people on various trader sites causing the uptick in pricing.
Need a database of reseller on such forums as GunBroker to identify the price gougers. Many are employees of gun stores and purchase company stock that should be posted for sale – then putting in on internet sites at insane prices.
Ammo (and component) is flying off the shelves the same reason toilet paper did last year — panic buying. Once people take a deep breath and stop paying outrageous prices, stockage levels will go up and prices will come down. I stocked up on ammo three years ago when it was cheap — I went through this back in 2012 and 13. Once the panic buying stopped the manufacturers ended up with a glut of production that no one was buying, so they had to lay people off and start shutting down plants in 2017. The cycle continues…..
As a Local dealer, they can say they are at full capacity, what we are seeing as smaller dealers is the the wholesalers are telling us that they are not getting much quantity at all. Now that could be a lie and they are only selling to the online(discounters)?!? and Box stores. But the reality is that most local shops are paying low retail if they have stock at all …maybe, a fe boxes(not cases) from the wholesalers ever now and then when you buy enough accessories. But even that is drying up.
I know people are saying that not that much ammo comes in…bet there at a Cabela’s, Academy, or Sportsman’s. They will get a shipment capable of more than half their shelves in that one shipment. In about a day that will be all gone.
They are still selling ammo at reasonable prices. All the places that are selling at non hoarding prices are bare. The places selling at hoarding prices have ammo. Don’t forget your friends who might pay $20 for a box 9mm then selling it for $60 at a gun show.
I call hogwash the stores have been empty of ammo for nearly a year where is all the ammo they are making going?
Editor: Estimated 8 MILLION new, first-time gun owners in last year (acc. to NSSF). If they each buy just two (2) boxes of ammo — that is 800,000,000 rounds.