Almost a year since NRA scared us with Obama and ammo shot sky high.

Great link via Survivalblog today that hits this exact topic:
http://www.sierrabullets.com/why_cant_I_find_Sierra_Bullets.html
Why Can't I Find Sierra Bullets?

As most Sierra customers have noticed, finding Sierra Bullets on shelves has become a little more difficult in the last 4-6 months. There are a lot of varying stories floating around as to the cause of this including:

· Sierra is slowing production to drive up prices.

· Sierra has too much military / law enforcement business and is focusing on fulfilling it instead of making bullets for the individual reloaders.

· The government is passing laws that effect how many bullets can be made and/or slowing raw materials to the shooting industry which we need to make bullets.

The real reason is demand. Sierra has been making more bullets per week recently than we have in our rich 62 year history, but we simply can not get ahead of the demand. After the 2008 elections, orders began increasing overnight and have only continued to increase thus far.

The bullets we sell to distributors that ultimately get sold to the individual reloaders (business we affectionately call our “Green Box” - business for obvious reasons) come off the same presses and out of the same lots as bullets we make for the military and law enforcement. While Sierra does prioritize the military orders to make sure our service men & women get what they need, the demand from the military is factored into our yearly planning and normally does not affect our green box production capacity.

For 2009 our military and law enforcement business, is only slightly higher than what we had predicted, and is not causing these shortages. The shortages are being caused by the huge increase in demand from the individual reloaders themselves and also by the OEM ammunition reloaders who are reacting to the same increase in demand.

We are seeing a lot of customers who decide (for whatever reason) that they need to have a few extra bullets tucked away for a rainy day. When they start looking for their favorite Sierra Bullets and do not find them, they grow concerned and look harder. Once they do find them in stock, they choose to buy double what they had planned, since they were so hard to find. This just compounds the problem for the next person trying to find those same bullets.

Rest assured – Sierra is working as hard as they can to increase capacity (without sacrificing our world renowned quality) and we are making more bullets now than ever. This demand will not last forever and you should see the bullets you have come to count on back on the shelves as we start making headway into our backlog.

We are very sorry for the shortages you are experiencing, but rest assured, we are working hard to correct them so you will again be able to find those familiar green plastic boxes on your dealer's shelves again.

Thank You,
The Sierra Bullets Team
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If you think Obama isn't a threat to our gun rights you're out of your mind. He's only 1 year in and the country is already a mess. He has 3 more years to tear up the Constitution.
 
CalsDad, I do the best I can (buy in bulk, choose where I purchase, etc.). I'm a person that believes you should make a reasonable profit. Now, that doesn't mean I'm talking about regulation here. Just bitching at the prices and the markup.
 
There is no "gouging", only supply and demand. If every dealer charges twice as much for a rifle, even if it is an artificial price, that is the current going price. One dealer might decide to lower it; he will be more successful. Then the others will come down. I hate it when people talk about free market and capitalism as if it is a dirty thing.
 
klegrow said:
BTW.....I was hearing during the summer that by early fall the manufacturers would be caught up and prices would fall. Did anyone else hear that???
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I don't think anyone really knows. After all, Afghanistan is picking up speed now... that could effect ammo too.
 
klegrow said:
BTW.....I was hearing during the summer that by early fall the manufacturers would be caught up and prices would fall. Did anyone else hear that???
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The prices have been falling. I am seeing case prices for .223 below $400 now in some places. That is a drop.

The price of .308 has dropped too.
 
klegrow said:
CalsDad, I do the best I can (buy in bulk, choose where I purchase, etc.). I'm a person that believes you should make a reasonable profit. Now, that doesn't mean I'm talking about regulation here. Just bitching at the prices and the markup.
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A true entepreneur who thought that the prices were outrageous would see it as an opportunity to go into business and undercut the competition.

There have been a few people here on NES over the last few years who thought they could go into business making ammo components for a cheaper price. Haven't heard anything from them lately.

I know a reloader who does a lot of business with NES'ers - he isn't making a fortune. His prices are good (better in most cases than what you get off the store shelves) - but not spectacularly so.

Some things cost what they cost. The best way to change something if you don't like it is not to complain but to take measures to prove that "thing" whatever it is - wrong.

In business you do this by making a better product or a better priced product and sending the other that you didn't like - out of business.

That is called fair competition.

One of the major problems with this country right now is that there are FAR too many businesses that rely on the government sending their competition out of business - or enacting rules to keep the competition out. This is aided and abetted by the millions of whining voters who want the govt. to protect them from everything and anything - and still make sure they get a decent paycheck so they can afford a big screen tv set.

Guns were specifically laid out as a proteced civil right in the 2nd amendment so that INDIVIDUALS could have a method of protecting themselves against a run-away govt.

By giving up your individual right to make decisions - by whining about "overpricing" and "gouging" and "markup" - you are in essence asking for somebody to fix the problem for you.

Why do babies cry? Either because they are in pain - or because they want their mommies to come and do something for them.

An individual who is self reliant would not be bitching about the prices of ammunition - he would be stripping the lead flashing off the roof of his house and stealing the wheel weights off his neighbors cars and take them down into the basement and start casting bullets.

His whining neighbors would sit around bitching about the price of ammo and hoping for their mommies to come by and make it all better. Then when they piled into the Eddie Bauer Edition SUV to head down to the gun store to see if they can find ammo - they would be wondering why their truck shook so much on the highway.

So instead of checking out the wheels themselves - they would take it to a mechanic.

There is world of difference between those two outlooks on life.

The guy down in the basement melting down his neighbors wheel weights was the type of person the founding fathers intended to have the right to defend himself.
 
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Calsdad....I'll use your avatar and say "why so serious!"....people aren't happy about the prices and sometimes they need to bitch to get things off their chest. In the end you suck it up and do whatever you can. For me, I just refuse to buy those high prices for ammo and stick with the shops that I know can give me a decent deal. Generally I find the best thing is to buy a case when it is at a reasonable price, then replenish missing boxes when you see a dip. My problem is that I shoot a lot of .45 ACP and that shit is expensive.
 
Titan said:
Just wait until Health Care passes and you're told that your premiums will skyrocket OR you have to get rid of your guns.

Government sponsored health care simply won't subisidize the risk (in their view) of you keeping deadly weapons in your home (and around your children).

The government won't be impinging on your rights, they'll simply tell you that it will cost you a fortune to retain them.


Think this can't happen?
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You guys in Mass where every firearm transaction is recorded and all of you are known on a list are screwed. Those who live in states where such lists do not exist, not so much.
 
klegrow said:
Calsdad....I'll use your avatar and say "why so serious!"....people aren't happy about the prices and sometimes they need to bitch to get things off their chest. In the end you suck it up and do whatever you can. For me, I just refuse to buy those high prices for ammo and stick with the shops that I know can give me a decent deal. Generally I find the best thing is to buy a case when it is at a reasonable price, then replenish missing boxes when you see a dip. My problem is that I shoot a lot of .45 ACP and that shit is expensive.
Click to expand...

I used to shoot a lot of .308. That shit got real expensive. So I built an AR and started shooting .223. Then that got expensive. So now I am looking to buy a Daewoo in 7.62x39, I bought an AK and an SKS in 7.62x39 - and I want to build an AR upper in 5.45x39. I bought a Garand from CMP and stocked up on Greek 30.06 for those times when I need something .30 caliber that will dislocate my shoulder. The Greek 30.06 was cheaper than .308.

Complaining about it isn't going to change it.
 
Well now I'm also into 5.56mm and .223....got a great deal on a Sig 556....$1000 brand new in the box....so I guess I'll have to suck it up

Complaining doesn't change it, but sometimes people just need to vent
 
kzilla said:
I was told a few days ago that ammo prices are so high because Ammunition manufacturers pay for their raw materials at a set price in bulk. Which is ridiculously expensive because of the demand for ammo. Once they use up their stockpiles and they purchase more as the demand for ammo goes down, so will the prices of their raw materials. Supply and demand, buddy. (I also enjoy being talked to like I'm an idiot because I asked why ammo is so expensive.) It sounds about right, but what he didn't mention was that I'd be shooting twice as much if the NRA didn't scare everyone that Obama was going to take our guns away. It's been a year and no black guy has been to my house to take my weapons. (No black guy who's ears look like a car driving down the road with the doors open.) So when does it end, and what will the next scare be. NRA says: That Kittens are delicious! Then their a run on cooking Kittens. Enough, my handgun purchase shouldn't be dictated by the price of ammo. Oh, and I have a new litter of Kittens if anyone's interested.
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i don't buy this simply because they (just like with gas) don't wait till their "supply" is gone before raising prices. if they use the excuse of having to wait till their higher priced stock is gone before lowering prices then they should not raise prices till their lower priced stock is sold at the normal prices. they already made a killing on the lower priced stock at the beginning so they should consider that when demand starts to drop - yah i know, fat chance on that [sad2]
 
Well I say we support our local small dealers. I always get the best prices from them. The big houses that buy in huge bulk (Cabelas, Dick's, etc.) pay less money, but are still charging way more. Make your voice heard with your greenbacks!!!
 
Just wait until the health care bill passes. Then they (the dem/socialist libtards) will begin anew on gun bans. My guess is there will be another spike this spring/summer.
 
cekim said:
Can anyone explain why so many Americans lack a basic understanding of Economics? [sad2]
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Because Americans need simple answers:

"Why did ammo prices go up?"

"Because of Obama." or "Because of the war."

These are simple, easy, bold print headline answers that people can accept and move on without any additional thinking required. That's what Americans demand.

Unfortunately with economic issues (as with most serious issues) answers are never simple or easy. It harkens back to Roosevelt's demand for a one-handed economist (so he'd stop being told 'on the one hand, but on the other hand').

There are dozens of complex issues as to why ammo prices went through the roof. The price of raw materials (copper and brass) skyrocketed, driven by fast-paced industrialization in China and India. After decades of consistently lowering manufacturing capacity, the American military suddenly increased demand for small arms munitions. Increases in transportation costs, born by higher oil prices, have been passed along to the consumer via price hikes. Civilian demand certainly increased, due primarily to political pressures. I'm sure that plenty of businesses along the supply chain, from manufacturers to distributors to dealers, have taken advantage of the situation and increased their profit margins (although I'll bet everyone claims to be hurting just as much as we are). And inflation has, of course, has played a factor across the board.

But if ya'll just want to blame it on Obama, I'm cool with that.
 
To me this all way more simple than what people are saying in this thread. I buy lots of ammo is simply because I like to shoot...a lot. I don't think about why everyone is buying ammo and guns like crazy. Maybe it is because of Obama's history of being anti-2A or if the NRA is using scare tacitcs or a combo of both. However, there is no question that ammo prices have gone up but I really don't care about the reason. All I know is nobody has taken my guns away (yet) and I like to shoot a lot and I just buy all the ammo I can when I can because I know there are a lot of people scared they will not get any for what ever reason, I just want to beat them to the punch so I can enjoy the sport.
 
Sbh87 said:
I like to shoot a lot and I just buy all the ammo I can when I can because I know there are a lot of people scared they will not get any for what ever reason, I just want to beat them to the punch so I can enjoy the sport.
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And your stalwart consumption in the face of rising prices (i.e. you keep buying even as the price goes up) pushes demand up even further as other players and demographic enter the market and add to your steady demand with their new and increased demand...

If you "like to shoot a lot", you might want to pay more attention to some of the "why" or that "yet" will become a "when" in short order...
 
I think, at least to some degree, all of the focus on guns and ammo made a statement to the government that people take tyranny seriously. Because of the immediate heat that he faced coming into his office, that it slowed him down a little up front. He is hellaciously anti-gun, and they now have to resort to back door regulation in the absence of the ability to legislate guns out of people's hands. It is showing that he knows he is powerless in this argument.
 
Sbh87 said:
To me this all way more simple than what people are saying in this thread. I buy lots of ammo is simply because I like to shoot...a lot. I don't think about why everyone is buying ammo and guns like crazy. Maybe it is because of Obama's history of being anti-2A or if the NRA is using scare tacitcs or a combo of both. However, there is no question that ammo prices have gone up but I really don't care about the reason. All I know is nobody has taken my guns away (yet) and I like to shoot a lot and I just buy all the ammo I can when I can because I know there are a lot of people scared they will not get any for what ever reason, I just want to beat them to the punch so I can enjoy the sport.
Click to expand...

and there is one reason prices are so high.

EDIT: Cekim beat me too it
 
It doesn't help the situation when there are a couple of million free newspapers floating around the city of Boston with this cover (today's):

ofbm8z.jpg
 
if the NRA didn't scare everyone that Obama was going to take our guns away.
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The NRA never said that Obama would take away our guns.

Only anti-NRA types and Obama supporters said that the NRA said that. (Sorry for that annoying wording).

Obama supporters used a straw-man argument. They adamatly insisted that Obama would not take away guns as the "NRA was saying."

What the NRA did say was that Obama would be the most anti-gun president ever elected. I think that the NRA is correct. We have been lucky so far that he hasn't been able to act on his inclinations in this area. Clinton [spit] has the worst record, but Obama's record before election was not as anti-gun as Clinton's was.

And we all know that it'll be a long time before any administration tries to take guns. So it was a double strawman argument. As the most anti-gun president, Obama would support and sign any bill that makes it harder for law abiding citizens to get (more) guns. so people bought stuff that they thought they could have bought at their leisure. It remains to be seen whether the resulting rise is prices will have been worth it.
 
Barry hussein is pro 2nd amendment...what are you guys worried about? That frickin NRA...bunch of extremists driving up ammo prices if you ask me...
 

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