Big Ammo Price Increase, 1 September!

[badkarma56]

Just thank GOD we live in America where we can gripe about how good we have it.

I DO thank the Good Lord for that, every day of the week, my fellow citizen!

[badkarma56]

I just find it hard to believe that another two or three dollars a box on ammo is going to hurt you. If it does, them maby you need to seek out a higher paying job. Just my opinion...................

I'm blessed to make a good living already, so truthfully speaking this 15% price increase is affordable for me. My concern pertains to the long-term agenda at work here, not the short-term price increase. Perhaps there is no bad faith on the part of these ammo companies; I don't regularly buy copper or brass, so I'm willing to accept the rationale of rising costs of production...up to a point, that is.

That said, when and where does it stop, dude? "Don't worry, it's just a couple of bucks more here...a buck or two more there...a gun law here...a gun restriction there, et cetera, et cetera." Do you see where I'm going with this analysis? Think about the precedent that is being set with these sweeping, industry-wide policies.

You'll have to forgive me, I'm a bit of a cynic, and I am always suspicious when several corporations band together and jointly announce identical policies...historically, this signals monopolism and is ultimately bad for consumers. Plus, I think we all know what the real intent of that recently-proposed OSHA regulation was, don't we? You know, "they" (whomever "they" are) won't have to take our guns from us if we can't afford to purchase ammo any longer.

[hoss4570]

Yeah I get your point but MY point is stuff goes up. Shells cost a heck of a lot more now than when I was a kid, or when my dad was a kid. Don't do no good to get in a twist about it. Heck, when I started dipping Copenhagen it was .45 cents a can. Now it's nearly six bux. Things go up. A new Chevy used to cost three thousand dollars, now that won't buy a good used Chevy.

[badkarma56]

Yeah I get your point but MY point is stuff goes up. Shells cost a heck of a lot more now than when I was a kid, or when my dad was a kid. Don't do no good to get in a twist about it. Heck, when I started dipping Copenhagen it was .45 cents a can. Now it's nearly six bux. Things go up. A new Chevy used to cost three thousand dollars, now that won't buy a good used Chevy.

I hear ya', dude. I think we're on the same team here.

[hoss4570]

I'm glad to know it.

[Texas Armadillo]

In the copper wire business, there are distributers that buy product from manufacturers months in advance to keep their supply chains full. This is a tight rope walk, if too much is in the supply chain you can't sell it all fast enough. Too little in the chain and you run out of product.

It is usually purchased using "blanket" orders that can cover a period of time as long as a year in advance. The reason a blanket order is placed is to secure pricing. The distibuter commits to buy x-number of pounds over the course of the contract at x-dollars a pound. The manufacturer in turn will have committed to buy x-number of tons of material to meet this demand at x-dollars a ton from the mines and smelters.

Wire orders are placed and released from the blanket until the blanket is near it's end. The buyer for a distributer will have been watching Comex (copper futures) so he knows what the price of raw copper is going to be to the manufacturers that he buys from. When it's time to place another blanket, he can guess pretty well what his new prices should be. He then starts shopping manufacturers to see who wants to do another blanket.

The length of the next blanket is determined on how volitile the market is at the time. If copper futures are steady and have been for months and no mines have shut down or opened then a short term blanket will do. If the market is going up and mines are closing (or demand by China has increased) it's time to buy big so you can hold your prices lower than your competitors for a longer time. Or (if you are confident in your sales) you make a killing by raising your prices when your competitors do even though you still have cheaper product in your supply chain.

I'm sure the ammo gig is probably similar. The manufacturers are watching the futures too. And right now they are at a 2 month high and I don't see much reason to expect it to fall. China and India are still buying metals heavily, and the war is using up a lot of material.

I have no way of knowing what kind of blankets or contracts the ammo makers have right now. But it's been a year since the last big increase (July 06) so an increase now is no surprise. It's also not a surprise to have the other manufacturers follow suit after the first one announces a price increase. They are in business to make money not to supply us with cheap ammo. As long as demand stays high and metal futures are high prices will high. It's the American way. And in this environment... 12% isn't really price gouging.

I would expect another one next year too. Just my 2 cents.

TA

[bauerdj]

Thanks, Armadillo for the excellant description of how the metals market operates. Many moons ago I was employed by a ship propeller manufacturer and that was exactly how we purchased our metal ingots (manganese bronze, zinc, etc.)

I really think this increase has much more to do with the profit motive rather then as a means for the anti's to infringe on the 2nd ammendment.

Dave B.

[ForbidInjustice]

15% isn't too much more to pay. I guess it will just significantly increase the reloaders around here. I don't go out to the range much, so I won't shed a tear over this.

Raise the price of ammunition if you will.. but please, please keep my Budweiser affordable.

[propellerhead]

This big ammo price increase in September that has been talked about on every message board hasn't happened at my Wal-Mart in southwest Fort Worth. CCI Blazer Brass .40S&W is still $7.57 for a box of 50, .45ACP is still $9.49 and 9mm is still $7.67. The 9mm was never really a bargain. I got my 9mm from Academy Sports. Their CCI Blazer Aluminum was just under $7.00.

[seamusTX]

I agree about CCI Blazer aluminum. Shot shells have gone up a lot, about 25%, though Academy had a last-gasp sale on 1-ounce Federal for $2.99 a box.

- Jim