This is part 2 of my series on the current shortages-

So everyone is producing ammo and supplies and a rate that is basically as fast as they can produce it. But now demand for the products has far outstripped supply, and we continue to add new shooters everyday. Oh and not the least of which is the biggest ammo companies don't sell to the public....Grumman and General Dynamics etc. also get a big piece of the supply pie and a good deal of new military ammunition has called for components that you used to be able to get on store shelves. We used to get overruns from the really big companies when they didn't need excess over in the Middle and Southwest Asia regions.

And just about last is pure old capitalism. Tons of people saw the doom and gloom coming and began to horde, acquire, collect, etc. These folks that used to only keep a few hundred rounds for each gun now keep a few thousand for each. Also capitalists began to buy up any surplus ammo on shelves as a tradable stock or commodity. Unfortunately they aren't shooting the ammo up, the circle of life, where they fire the ammo and then the brass and raw materials are reclaimed. They are keeping it and hedging on the fact that ammo will continue to get more scarce, which it is, and ammo will get more costly, which it will. They will eventually unload their position in the commodity once the value begins to drop. That unfortunately will not be any time soon. A quick check on armslist or gun broker will tell you: The secondary market is booming. Primers (A rare commodity needed by all OEMs outside the big 4) are selling for upwards of $300 for a box of 1000. To put this in perspective, non resale primers (OEM's) go for about $20 per thousand or $33 per thousand to consumers. Thats only a 900% increase on the secondary market. So primers, a necessary component for all ammunition, has just doubled the cost of each round of ammo, in one evolution. Good JHP ammo that used to cost $35 for a box of 50 now goes for $100 for that same box. So when you look at the next box of ammo, you will have to decide if it is legitimate cost issues (as some retailers and manufacturers alike are paying significantly inflated rates for cost of goods just to get you that next box of ammo) or is it just capitalism in full effect. 

So when you ask where is everything at? It's not a simple answer. The worse unfortunate question is: When will it all return to normal? The answer unfortunately is never. Well at least to what everyone perceives as normal. Things should return, to some normalcy within 12-24 months from now (barring no political intervention). Every time this has happened in the past (Primer, powder, ammo, bullet shortages) it has always resulted in overall increases of cost of goods across the board. It has been a given. To reiterate this, all the component manufacturers have announced price increases for 2021 equal to 4% to 15% increases in some areas. Even equipment manufacturers are seeing demand far outstrip supply and costs going up.  You haven't seen the increases reflected yet, because of the markets current inflated prices. So don't expect ammo to go back to the "good old days". 9mm ammo went from $6 bucks a box back in the mid 90's to $12 bucks in the early 2k's, then $16-17 dollars in the Obama era, then pre-pandemic it was going up again but then everything broke loose. So expect $20+ a box to be norm when things get back to normal and supply is back with demand. This is assuming no craziness like a proposed 50% excise tax on ammo.

Hope everyone hung in there. And don't pay $450 for a box of primers. You will never be able to recoup that in making ammo. At that rate you might as well get scalped ammo for $75-$100 for a box of 50 rounds as it comes out to be the same.