No relief in sight for rising ammo prices

[jsxtreme]

August 31, 2007
Dave Henderson
The Ithaca Journal

If you are a shooter, the skyrocketing price of ammunition is hitting home every bit as hard as the gasoline pumps.

It's nothing new. The price increases began after 9/11, then were compounded by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — which pushed up overall demand — and growing industrial powers such as China and India, which either gobbled up or bid up the cost of raw materials.

Chinese and Indian rampant construction not only ate up prodigious amounts of raw materials, but also resulted in added manufacturing capacity, which calls for even more materials.

The worldwide result has been skyrocketing costs of raw materials such as lead, steel, copper, brass, nickel, tungsten, even plastics components (which are petroleum based).

How bad is it? In 2005, Remington sold out its entire production of ammunition and lost money due to the enormous leap in raw materials costs.

Industry figures show that military spending on small-caliber ammunition increased from $242 million in 2001 to $688 million in 2006. Federal Cartridge is a division of ATK, which has the contract to provide military small arms ammunition. Despite the booming sales, ATK has had to trim personnel and manufacturing techniques to be able to afford the manufacture.

Other manufacturers were similarly stressed, but all resisted raising retail prices until their colleagues did. Then, when retail prices started to rise, gun owners stockpiled all they could get, sending prices even higher.

Wholesalers have been raising their prices from 3 percent to 10 percent each quarter and we can expect another round of retail price increases on Sept. 1, with upward of a 20 percent increase before the first of the year.

Handloading isn't the answer, either, since the same components that go into commercial ammunition are also needed for handloading.

Trap, skeet and sporting clays clubs are feeling the pinch since the price of gasoline and ammunition are keeping more people home, and even when they come, they aren't shooting as much.

It's an ugly cycle and it isn't going to get any better.

So much for firearms being an inexpensive hobby during college while I cant afford a race car.

[fivepoint-0]

look around online, i find good prices on Natches.com