Good morning, bikers, friends and Patriots! I am pleased that today is March 26th and Spring is finally here to stay! I have been doing lots of riding lately even in the inevitable spring rains. And riding this time of year means the scents of spring are in the air. Montgomery County did away with their mask mandate last week and things seem well on their way back to the “OLD NORMAL!” And best of all, my cherry tree is in full bloom! Life is good!
But I digress…. Back to the subject at hand!
New firearms, factory ammunition and reloading components are scarce! And this is an understatement of epic proportions. Over the past decade we have seen this happen several times. If you recall, after the Sandy Hook shooting, the nObama administration threatened all kinds of gun grabbing proposals. Fortunately, at that time, the National Rifle Association was still relevant, and their lobbying arm, NRA-ILA, was able to thwart their plans to take our guns. But, since the #Leftists never let a tragedy go to waste, their rhetoric inflamed Second Amendment supporters and there was a run on firearms, ammunition and even reloading components. At that time, when I could not locate anything but primers, I vowed to never be caught flatfooted again.
I slowly stockpiled reloading components: powder, primers, bullets and new brass (Hand rolled personal protection JHP ammunition is only loaded with new brass!). Over the past five years, I had built up a large supply of everything I needed to stay well supplied. And I also built up over 5,000 rounds of FMJ practice ammo.
Fast forward to March 2021. We are nearly a year into the unprecedented anarchy our country witnessed starting with the #BLM and #Antifa riots. Prompted by the death of George Floyd – and well timed to impact the General Election in November – these anarchists caused a serious run on all things firearms from guns, to ammunition and even reloading components. To exasperate matters even more, after the Atlanta and Boulder shootings, the #Leftist politicians are demanding more “commonsense” gun reforms. In my opinion things are only going to get worse with firearms and ammunition shortages.
After a year of these shortages, and normal firearm drills, I am now beginning to run low on reloading components. Living in Middle Tennessee, I am fortunate to live near one of the largest distributors of ammunition and shooting supplies in the country: Midsouth Shooters. I have been watching their inventory every morning – and for the most part they have nearly nothing in stock. The largest shortages are in primers and powder. Yesterday’s search for powder returned ZERO powders in stock. Absolutely none! Crazy, right?
What is driving this shortage?
The first thing driving shortages, especially on new firearms and factory ammunition, are the huge increases in new gun owners. Since the BLM/Antifa riots started, new gun owners have increased at unprecedented levels. According to the FBI, a record 39.7 million NICS background checks were run in 2020. And while some of these may not have resulted in an actual purchase – many individual checks would inevitably have included the purchase of multiple firearms.
But this does not explain the drought on reloading components. Reloaders, who purchase individual components, are a very small segment of Second Amendment supporters. In my humble opinion, these shortages are being driven by opportunistic assholes trying to take advantage of the political environment to make huge profits. They are simply hoarding supplies. A quick search on GunBroker.com highlights the problem:
There are over 500 pages of reloading components on GunBroker and all the items are WAY overpriced! Unfortunately, those people who are willing to bid these items up – due inevitably to desperation – are causing this problem. It is supply and demand. These unsavory sellers are actually not the problem. Price is driven by demand. Until people stop driving these selling prices up, they will continue to stay inflated. The value of any item is directly related to what people are willing to pay for said item.
Conclusion
While I would like to replenish some of my supplies, I am not going to add to the problem by paying ridiculous prices for reloading components. I was fortunate enough to be able to slowly stock up on supplies over the past six years or so. I also have 5,000+ rounds loaded in my ammo safe. If you are patient, you can find the same reloading components at Midsouth Shooters or Midway USA for normal retail. The manufacturers of these components are not inflating their prices and are manufacturing them as quickly as possible. So stop paying inflated prices from unsavory sellers on Gunbroker and other sites. The prices will drop and the hoarding by people taking advantage of low supplies will evaporate.
Until next time, friends – ride often, shoot often and hug and kiss your loved ones often. You know I will be kissing my sweet, beautiful, sexy and highly intelligent Racy Sicilian all the time!
The Grey Beard Biker™
gbb@TheGreyBeardBiker.com
@Biker4Life on Gab
