And primers before that. “We talk to a big database of users on a monthly basis, and one thing we’re noting is that what we call ‘heavy shooters,’ those who shoot 10,000 rounds or more per year, a lot of them haven’t been purchasing. COVID Update Feb. 6, 2021 ... and the COVID restrictions on manufacturing and shipping created an ammunition shortage. We’re doing as much, making as much as we can,’ said Hornady. That’s what industry experts tell us: “With [ammunition] demand far outstripping supply and inventory levels in the channel at all-time lows, we see strong demand continuing[. I have about 8000 primers on hand, but for me that is stocks getting low. Twenty or thirty people in on a group buy could eat up 500,000 primers with ease. In fact, for my deer hunting the last 3 months, I had to rummage my ammo stash and dig out a box of 20-year-old-plus Federal Premium .30-06 w/165-grain Trophy Bonded bullet. ... Reynolds said it is hard to find primer … “And it couldn’t have come at a better time from a capacity standpoint. Gun owners across America are asking when ammunition will be available again. General » General Discussion. I lived through two other primer shortages and learned a long time ago not to let it happen again. More than many will ever use. I asked ‘how many guns?’ and he said, ‘I have 12, so 2,400 rounds. There’s no factory of any kind that doesn’t want to make as much as they possibly can. A buddy emailed me a picture of 15K small pistol primers and asked what I thought he could get for them. “For 2020, we’ve shipped 30 percent more than we did a year ago. Well, not “all”, but I might as well say all – just to make a point. An ammo shortage is being witnessed nationwide as Americans react to civil unrest by buying up firearms and the ammunition needed to use them for self-defense. If this was simply a Christmas-season run, we could insert a Grinch joke here and assume things would return to normal after the holidays. So stock up when ammo prices are low. Primer shortage incoming . They may have projectiles, brass, and powder on hand but no primers,” Felde explained. A reader from Arizona, Brent Stuart, tried to purchase two cases of pistol primers last week from Sportsman’s Warehouse in Phoenix, AZ, this afternoon and was told he could only purchase one case. Now, we have the additional demand creating by the rioting. My posterity will look at how I have been spending my money (on gut feelings) since Y2K; and smile. by John Zent - Like they did with .22 rimfire a few years ago. We are adding capacity, but according to an existing plan.“I’ve seen shortages six times in my career,” said Hornady, “but the difference this time is the string of events—Walmart, Virginia [anti-gun legislature], coronavirus, riots, an influx of [6-7 million] new gun owners, a bad election. Primers and .22 LR is the cheapest to buy and many buy extreme quantities of it. A local gun store owner cited the lack of primer, the chemical or device responsible for making the bullet combust, as being a major factor in the ammunition shortage. The Great Ammo Shortage of 2020: When Will It End? And not just copper and lead, it’s also packaging, staples and other supplies. It’s even more widespread and more pervasive in terms of unattainable calibers—nearly all of them, from what we’re hearing. Marlin Model 1895: Top-Selling Lever-Action Rifle of 2020, I Have This Old Gun: British Pattern 1856 Cavalry Carbine. Last week I met a guy on a deer hunt who was shooting Hornady .33-378 loads. ]” We talked to a few key executives who spoke about the inquiries and criticism coming their way—so much of it that, at times, it threatens to impede normal operations—and who shared anecdotal requests that would be comical if the shortage weren’t so serious. Time to find some more, I think. Since then, the sales increase is back to 15 percent a month because that’s all we can manage. SKapl/iStock/Getty Images Plus. People tend to buy up what is cheapest for hoarding. ... Primer shortage: possible … Well, we all know what's going to happen when they work through their stockpiles and at some point, come back to the market. THAT WILL PROBABLY NOT HAPPEN THIS TIME. E-mail your comments/questions about this site to:EmediaRifleman@nrahq.org For questions/comments about American Rifleman magazine, please e-mail:Publications@nrahq.org You can contact the NRA via phone at: NRA Member Programs1-800-672-3888, To advertise on American Rifleman, visit nramediakit.com for more information. I told him he was basically sitting on gold bricks. It’s no secret that the demand for firearms and ammunition has reached record levels due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the civil unrest in cities around the United States, and the prospect of an anti-gun president on the horizon. Like that other lingering current event on everyone’s mind, we’re left wondering: When it will end?That question is landing in record numbers, too, in the inboxes, customer-help lines and direct attention of nearly everyone working for America’s ammunition manufacturers. In case you hadn’t noticed, the great ammo shortage we are experiencing has extended well into 2021. Right then, hunting season comes along, and you know what consumer is the maddest? Manufacturing source of ammunition shortage. Ammunition purchasers across America—or make that would-be purchasers in record numbers—are finding shelves bare, and unfortunately that’s hardly breaking news. SIG Sauer, for one, is operating an ultra-modern plant in Jacksonville, Ark., and its loads have gained traction with several gun-owner segments.Sierra Bullets began selling its own branded cartridge a few years back, primarily hunting rifle cartridges, but the company made a strong growth statement when it acquired Barnes Bullets during the Remington Outdoor Corp asset sell-off in late September. They’ve seen the frenzied activity and are holding back in hopes it’ll subside. We’re grateful that we did, but when you have a six months’ worth of material, you also have a space problem. I have blogged multiple times about the incredible ammo shortage of 2020 and now running into 2021. I have had many emails from Americans begging me to ship to the USA or sell to them if they can make it up here. UPDATE: It’s now the end of 2020. That’s us. Thursday, December 17, 2020. A lack of primers makes it more difficult for ammo makers to keep up. All hands in the ammunition industry are waging a daily battle to meet the unprecedented demand. A Closer Look at the Primer Shortage A Convergence of Contributing Factors Depending on your market, it may be normal for primers to go missing from the shelves the instant they come in. AR-15 AK-47 Handgun Precision Rifles Armory Training Competitive Shooting General Outdoors Archery Hometown Industry. There’s a big ammo shortage out there right now. Ammo and Primer Shortage Will Continue into 2021. It is amazing. They were also frank in answering the question about when relief will come, and while there are bits of good news, the outlook for returning to normal supply-and-demand in 2021 remains murky.Let’s start with Jason Hornady, vice president of Hornady Manufacturing, who flatly stated that when it comes to hoarding-induced shortages, “Ammunition is the new toilet paper. Though there are a few reasons to expect supply to increase, those who know this market best are forecasting continued shortfalls. If a local gun store doesn’t have what you need, there are websites like Gunbuyer.com, luckygunner.com, Ammoman.com, and many others to buy from. USA –-(AmmoLand.com)- Jason Hornady, vice president of Hornady Ammunition Manufacturing has a message for ammunition buyers about the shortage … So it will take about 90 days to fill the one big US gov. Of all the components needed to reload ammo, it seems primers are the toughest to find, prompting many reloaders to refer to the current crisis as “The Great Primer Shortage of … Here are some of the realities and expectations straight from the nation's top ammo makers. If Trump does not win, the shortage will at best be long lasting. AmericanRifleman.org will keep you posted as developments occur. After deftly dodging the last booby trap, Rifleman Q&A: When Did M1 Carbines Get Bayonet Lugs? order. It’s also limiting the … We saw a pretty good lift [in sales] in December 2019, were up 18 percent in January, and 18 percent in February. Consumer frustration is rampant, and there’s a real concern about personal- and home-defense shooters not being able to get ammo they need to be prepared.Anyone who’s been a gun owner and at least a semi-active shooter going back a decade can remember earlier shortages, and while those were truly galling and nationwide, this one’s different. Lucky Gunner’s Felde said a lack of primers has had the greatest impact on small ammo makers and reloaders. I originally posted this during July. Did you know there’s a shortage on the DOT-approved cardboard required for shipping our loaded ammunition? Privacy Policy   •   Contact Us   •   Warnings   •   FAQs   •  © 2021 National Rifle Association of America, Women On Target® Instructional Shooting Clinics, Volunteer At The Great American Outdoor Show, Marion P. Hammer Women Of Distinction Award, Women's Wildlife Management / Conservation Scholarship, National Youth Shooting Sports Ambassadors, NRA Outstanding Achievement Youth Award Presented by Brownells, National Youth Shooting Sports Cooperative Program. A Looming Ammunition Shortage, Firearms Too. Expect to see an expansion in domestic-made Fiocchi product lines, which produces top-quality rifle, pistol and shotshell products. IF THAT IS … My usual primer purchases in the past were 25,000 at a time of each SR, LR, LP and sometimes SP but usually substituted SR in their place. “If an employee has to quarantine, even if they’re not sick, we can’t just send a loading press home with them. August 12, 2020 By Guns & Ammo Staff. Just received an update from Vista Outdoors, that even with their current maxed out production that they finally admitted a shortage of primers due to demand. About AR15.COM. Gun store shelves in Arizona, long covered with box upon box of ammunition for sale, now host but a smattering of ammunition, and at a much higher price because of the product’s scarcity. Safety Recall Notice: M&P Shield EZ Pistol, Kevin Costlow Shooting ,Video and More Info, Rubio Reintroduces Legislation to Prevent Suspected Terrorists From Purchasing Firearms, Remington Arms Returns, Factory Reopening. As with previous surges in ammunition sales, primers are the current weak link in the supply chain. Market data provided by Factset.Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Feedback from the primer distributors – the 4 US manufacturers of primers have a daily capacity of 4.6 million. The ones who normally buy two boxes of deer ammo a year. Ammo Shortage Expected to Last into 2021. by James Murphy October 5, 2020. He said he’d managed to buy 20 boxes of it—expensive stuff, by the way—and in fact had bought 20 boxes for each of his guns. Ok - update from this morning. Crazy!“At the same time, COVID is a reality for us, too,” said Hornady. Also, remember that … We’ve had to spread out and guard against super-spreader events so that it won’t shut down a big part of the factory.”Both industry leaders cited shortage of raw materials as a concern, too. This time around, the 1st indication that we have a problem, was the absence of small pistol primers…. tl;dr version:1) Massive amount of new shooters2) Many first-time buyers getting into reloading.3) Primer production affected more by Covid than bullets/brass/powder4) Remington bankruptcy didn’t help.5) Vista buying Remington will divert Remington’s meager primer supply away from the market to build more ammo for CCI/Speer.5) In 2008-2012, we had a large influx from foreign sources (Wolf, S&B, etc.). Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. You have entered an incorrect email address! And that’s the cause of this shortage.Hornady continued, “In fact we saw [demand indicators] in the fall of 2019. Literally, we make it one day and ship it the next.”Vista Outdoor CEO Chris Metz also weighed in on the scope of the shortage. All the ammo is gone! “After seeing big sales spikes as a result of COVID, civil unrest and then so many more people getting out this year going hunting—license sales are up like crazy—with all that, we never did see the customary general-election increase.“But ever since Joe Biden was named the presumed presidential-election winner, we have seen a reaction in the marketplace, and it hasn’t subsided at all. I am hoping on the primers that companies will source Fiocchi, RWS, S&B, Norma, and other overseas sources. It’s everything; $60.00 markup on 10 OZ … “Supplies of Remington ammunition should be coming back on the market in early January. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. “Our workforce has pushed hard through this but is fatigued. We have an issue finding people to keep the machines running, and trust me, everyone is working a lot of hours,” he said.“I was in a camp back in September where someone commented that such-and-such gun company was ‘shipping only 20 percent more than last year’ and that ‘they just don’t care about making more.’ Please. “Both the workers at Remington and those of us from Vista see this as a marriage made in heaven,” said Metz. Many gun owners feel that the only way to ensure they have ammo when they need it is to buy in bigger-than-normal quantities, and the result is hoarding.As detailed in a recent “Keefe Report,” nearly any caliber that’ll go bang in whatever quantity is up for grabs is snapped up almost immediately. We’re now having to ship in white boxes instead of brown ones because we can get more of that.”Chris Metz echoed that, saying it’s been challenging for his ammunition brands—Federal, Speer and CCI to keep enough brass and primers on hand, despite the fact that Federal and CCI are two of the world’s biggest primer manufacturers.The same has been true for Vista’s newest brand, Remington Ammunition, which the outdoor conglomerate acquired in September. Personally, I have tried to make it a regular habit of buying either one case (1000 primers) or a couple of trays any time I happen by a store that has them. We are continuing to manufacture and ship our high-quality products on a daily basis.” Those final words really tell the tale. I say that because it went from partial shortage to complete shortage. This is from today). Hornady said his firm laid in a “… six-month supply at the first signs of how serious COVID might be. It all adds up. “That shortage is sidelining a lot of smaller boutique manufacturers. There’s no let up in site for this ammo shortage… When the Covid ammo shortage started, I expected it to be over in a couple of months- the virus would be under control or not, and people would soon be needing their money for food instead of ammunition. Our local gun-store owner called to tell me about two guys who came into his place looking for hunting ammunition, and then they told him that Hornady has been shut down since June. “It’s the 2013 shortage all over again,” said Brian Rafn, a gun industry analyst who recently retired from Morgan Dempsey, referring to the run on ammo during the Obama administration. Firearm Companies Provide Gifts to Ailing Youth, © 2021 National Rifle Association of America. No complaints, I shot 5 bucks with 5 shots and the old ammo performed beautifully. By Bob Hallmark | September 20, 2020 at 5:56 PM CDT - Updated September 20 at 10:27 PM . Get the American Rifleman Insider newsletter for at-a-glance access to industry news, gear, gun reviews, videos and more—delivered directly to your Inbox. As I understand it this is the fourth major shortage going back to Obamas first term as president. First of all, we have to realize that some people will always get caught short-handed in a crisis; that’s because while most of us hope for the best, far fewer even consider preparing for the worst. First when Walmart stopped selling high-consumable ammo, and later when protests to Virginia’s incoming anti-gun legislature made the news. They go into their local gun shops and can’t believe [the shelves are bare]. Gander Outdoors in Kenosha, WI — reader-submitted photo on GMToday.com. We literally emptied our building. It cost me over $3,000.’ The big problem here—we’ve seen it before, but not like this—is folks panic thinking they won’t be able to get any more and so buy more than normal. So, through all that, we’ve been producing ammunition flat-out, and yet our retailers are not able to maintain any inventory to speak of.“Demand has been strong across the board—any type or caliber of handgun ammo; small rifle, big rifle, hunting rifle; even rimfire—all of it really picked up.“And we’re not seeing an end,” said Metz. Intrepid adventurer “Bullets” McAdams finally reaches the inner sanctum of a dark, dank, dangerous cavern hidden deep in the rain forest of Oklahoma. So, no, we don’t foresee any slowdown in the demand in 2021.”Jason Hornady vowed his company is doing everything it can to meet that demand but not without concerns. Federal/CCI President Update on Ammo/Primer Shortage. I’m gold though, I had many, many, many thousands of primers. That factory wasn’t working, which contributed to the shortages.” The high-production facility in Lonoke, Ark., which for decades has produced the familiar green-and-yellow-boxed ammunition, is ramping up this month, offering one glimmer of hope that the supply side will be buoyed.“We’ve been working to rehire 400 to 600 furloughed workers, have been retraining them and getting the manufacturing processes back in place,” reported Metz. You’ve felt it and so have I. The Barnes installation in Mona, Utah, while not as large as the legacy brands’ plants, has a history of producing a full range of highly regarded rifle and pistol ammo, and now that it’s out from under the Remington corporate umbrella, is expected to again contribute more to the national supply chain.A third maker that bears watching is Fiocchi USA, which announced in July that it will be expanding its stateside manufacturing by adding a facility in Little Rock, Ark., to supplement an existing plant in Missouri. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Whatsapp Parler Email Print. Furthermore, Fiocchi announced it has acquired Baschieri & Pellagri, whose high-end shotshells are the gold standard for many European clays competitors and hunters, and they too will be produced in the United States.When contacted, a spokesman for the Winchester and Browning ammunition brands simply commented: “Like many manufacturers in the shooting-sports industry, we are experiencing extremely high demand for our products. Before that you have to go back to WW-2 and that was the last major shortage. We all grew up with the brand, we love it, and we know we’re not alone.”It will also be interesting to see if some of the other names in U.S. ammunition manufacturing are able to step up production on the heels of developments in this pivotal industry segment. Prepping is essential. That came a few months after the ‘bearded one’ [Jason’s dad, company president Steve Hornady] had been yelling at me about having too much inventory on hand.“In March, we were up 86 percent and that did it—the inventory was gone. But, in fact, this shortage, as many readers can attest, traces back at least to spring when COVID mania shocked the country and has since intensified under an unprecedented chain of cultural phenomena. ... “We have a place that makes their own ammo and they can’t get the bullets and primer and stuff like that in order to make the ammo and ship it out. Note: this CCI video about the ammunition and primer supply was just posted this AM to YouTube (there was a different, but similar-looking video, posted a few weeks back. 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