AMMO: Every caliber is now Allocated! We are looking at a nation wide shortage of all calibers over the next 9 months. All plants are producing as much ammo as possible w/ of 1 BILLION rounds produced weekly. Most is military followed by L.E. and civilians are third in line.Bob Owens' observation last month is scarily worrisome:
It wasn’t just the AR-15s, the AK-pattern rifles, the M1As, and the FALs that were sold out. It really hit me when I realized that the World War-era M1 Garands, M1 carbines, and Enfield .303s were gone, along with every last shell. Ubiquitous Mosin-Nagants—of which every gun store always seems to have 10-20—were gone. So was their ammo. Only a dust free space marked their passing. I’ve never seen anything like it.Owens compares it to the Powder Alarm, in the weeks before the American Revolution broke out, when gunpowder became extraordinarily scarce, and American gun makers were working as fast as they could. Of course, that was because the British government had prohibited the export of guns and ammo to America. (My book Armed America discusses this in more detail.) And like what happened at Lexington, a revolution could break out largely by accident or a failure of the Obama Administration to realize how little in touch they are with much of America.
Every weapon of military utility designed within the past 100+ years was gone. This isn’t a society stocking up on certain guns because they fear they may be banned. This is a society preparing for war.
Revolutions are bloody, messy, destructive events. The First American Revolution worked out well, all things considered, but it is pretty exceptional in that respect. I have little confidence that the next one is going to end as well.
Almost certainly 1 billion a month; I've been very roughly tracking the figure for a few years, it was about 9 billion a year not long before the first Obama ammo shortage, and the last figure I remember was either 11 or 12 billion.
ReplyDeleteThe Powder Alarm is a good comparison. I think it is more than "pretty exceptional." I think it is unique in human history.
ReplyDeleteIf I am wrong I would be delighted to be shown exactly how, but I cannot think of any other example where a revolution as bloody and prolonged as the American Revolution turned out as well. The American Civil War doesn't count, it is practically the same society. I'm willing to discuss the Swiss example.
Every weapon of military utility designed within the past 100+ years was gone
ReplyDeleteMaybe that's true of wherever he looked.
But (e.g., as my go-to check) Impact Guns still has $299 Yugo Mausers in stock.
AR-15s and AKs? In stock, just not the cheap ones.
This isn't prep for a revolution - it's panic buying combined with people thinking they can sell at a profit later if there's a new AWB.
Signs are already appearing that the worst of that is over, and prices of AR lowers might be starting to drop.
After all, demand is finite and they're making them as fast as possible.
(And it's only LWRC that "can't get enough steel" for barrels, according to that link - and that's whatever grade they prefer; you don't actually need very special steel to make a barrel, and there are lots of viable options.
There appears to be no general shortage of eg. 4150 steel stock...
Checking on their website, Impact Guns has absolutely nothing AR-15 in stock except for a Mossberg .22LR (click on the "Show Available Items Only" checkbox; many items with prices, like standard Colts, only show they're out of stock if you click to the particular page). There are a few very expensive ($1,500 or more) AK pattern models of rifles available.
ReplyDeleteYugo Mausers. yes, Mosins, no.