Target Sports USA explains ammo shortage

Mr. B · Oct 5, 2020

Hi all - just got a "Back in stock" e-mail alert from Target Sports USA which has some industry information I thought may be of interest.

"As I am sure you have noticed by now, inventory levels are not what they used to be - this is due to the nationwide ammo shortage. We are thankful to be in a unique position where we are able to purchase the elephant share directly from the manufacturers, but there still just isn't enough to go around! So why is this happening? It's a perfect storm:

HUGE increase in NEW shooters (Welcome to our community!)
Panic buying, similar to the toilet paper shortage
Manufacturers just can't produce enough due to component shortages
Election Year Boost, there is always an increase of buying in an election year but this is by far the largest spike.

So what does this mean for you?
Day in and day out our main priority is sourcing ammo at the lowest prices possible for our loyal customers. We receive shipments daily, but the inventory sells out very quickly!"

craftsman_69 · Oct 5, 2020

Just got the same email, I don't see the situation improving for at least a year. Which is what it took after Sandy Hook to calm down.

davsco · Oct 5, 2020

yep going to be a while, and perhaps a super long time if trump loses.

freedomtothepeople · Oct 17, 2020

if trump loses every gun and every ammo will be gone for the foreseeable future. THe mark up on boxes of ammo will be astronomical

Allen65 · Oct 19, 2020

freedomtothepeople said:
if trump loses every gun and every ammo will be gone for the foreseeable future. THe mark up on boxes of ammo will be astronomical

If that becomes a long term problem, the free market will likely solve it by convincing companies to invest in additional capacity all down the supply chain. You're not seeing big investments in, say, primer manufacturing capacity right now because what"s happenning on the demand side now is viewed as a temporary surge. No CEO wants to explain why the company invested in capacity and ended up creating a glut that depressed profit when demand failed to meet expectations long term. Look at how many firearms manufacturers who wntered the market or expanded capacity during the O years went bankrupt when demand dried up post 2016.

1time · Oct 19, 2020

Allen65 said:
If that becomes a long term problem, the free market will likely solve it by convincing companies to invest in additional capacity all down the supply chain. You're not seeing big investments in, say, primer manufacturing capacity right now because what"s happenning on the demand side now is viewed as a temporary surge. No CEO wants to explain why the company invested in capacity and ended up creating a glut that depressed profit when demand failed to meet expectations long term. Look at how many firearms manufacturers who wntered the market or expanded capacity during the O years went bankrupt when demand dried up post 2016.

The problem there is that you are unlikely to see companies invest when they could/will be legislated out of existence.

Allen65 · Oct 19, 2020

1time said:
The problem there is that you are unlikely to see companies invest when they could/will be legislated out of existence.

A lot of that investment occurs overseas, outside US jurisdiction. Most of the powder we use now is actually manufactured in either Australia or Canada, and those factories sell a lot more to GOV customers worldwide than they do via retail channels in the US. Even if the US abolished the 2A in its entirety tomorrow, those plants would still be in business for other customers.

tallen702 · Oct 19, 2020

Mr. B said:
Manufacturers just can't produce enough due to component shortages

This is one of the biggest issues. G&A had an article on it recently: https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/great-primer-shortage-2020/383204

Many of the countries hardest hit by SARS-Cov-2 are some of the biggest primer manufacturers. So work stoppages and shift restrictions are cutting into the supply and the new lockdowns happening in Europe are going to prolong the shortage.

I think there's ONE active lead mine in the US now, and much of our copper and brass comes from S. America now. If we were making our own primers, mining our own lead, and smelting our own copper and brass like times past, we'd be much more ready to handle shortages like this, but we're not because 50 years of liberalization has either closed plants and mines, or encouraged offshoring.

TheOriginalMexicanBob · Oct 19, 2020

What I find as a remote possibility...but still believable...is the anti-gun forces unite financially...Soros money...Bloomberg money...Tom Steyr money...and start buying up stock of gun and ammunition companies. They could do so surreptitiously and after a time gain majority control of these companies. Once that's done they could literally get the companies out of the firearms and ammunition business...at least American owned companies.

Not saying it's a probability...but the prospect is scary and it wouldn't surprise me if it's attempted.

Skipjacks · Oct 19, 2020

TheOriginalMexicanBob said:
What I find as a remote possibility...but still believable...is the anti-gun forces unite financially...Soros money...Bloomberg money...Tom Steyr money...and start buying up stock of gun and ammunition companies. They could do so surreptitiously and after a time gain majority control of these companies. Once that's done they could literally get the companies out of the firearms and ammunition business...at least American owned companies.

Not saying it's a probability...but the prospect is scary and it wouldn't surprise me if it's attempted.

Many of them are publicly traded companies

You can't buy a publicly traded company that does X profitably then stop selling it's main products and purposely cause the stock to tank

The one thing our useless federal government actually investigates and prosecutes is financial crimes (funny how that works....kill a bunch of people...and meh.....lose a few hundred million dollars and the feds are on you like flies on garbage)

govwontletmebuycoolguns · Oct 19, 2020

Skipjacks said:
Many of them are publicly traded companies

You can't buy a publicly traded company that does X profitably then stop selling it's main products and purposely cause the stock to tank

The one thing our useless federal government actually investigates and prosecutes is financial crimes (funny how that works....kill a bunch of people...and meh.....lose a few hundred million dollars and the feds are on you like flies on garbage)

You just make a larger holding company, buy up the minors, and kill them off one by one in the name of progress (the same way Microsoft killed off Jet database competitors).

sailskidrive · Oct 22, 2020

Not to mention that this is a global economy, any production made domestically here in the USA/CAN/MEX will be sold on the international market just like other products. Petroleum is a good example.

Retail sales are most likely a very small percentage of the ammo market so even if domestic production was increased we would still be in line behind the DoD, DHS, Canadian Mil contracts, Aussy MOD, NZ, Chilean Federales etc.

Target Sports USA explains ammo shortage

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