16 June 13
I spent last Friday with the CEO of a major domestic ammunition manufacturer. While there, I was able to get a small quantity of high-performance 40S&W and 45ACP ammunition, as well as some 9mm hardball. He also had some 40S&W practice ammunition and several boxes of high-performance 308.
No high-performance 9mm, and no 223/5.56×45 of any kind. I would surely have acquired some had it been there!
He indicated his current in-hand orders will consume his entire manufacturing capacity for at least the next twenty-four months, and that is assuming no major change in world events.
He also indicted the real choke-point is brass casings. Propellant powder, bullets, even primers are currently in at least adequate supply. Conversely, brass is chronically hard to get, and generalized shortages are holding-up production, industry-wide.
Overall, the ammunition situation seems to be loosening-up, albeit slowly. However, the next big āeventā will instantly reverse even the small progress that has been made over the past few months. And of course, we donāt get to know when the next āeventā will happen, nor what form it will take.
For most of us down here at the peon-level, all this means that we need to acquire small quantities of ammunition at every opportunity. Large quantities will continue to be difficult to get all at once, as, for the foreseeable future, retailers will continue to be reluctant to sell large amounts to a single individual in a single transaction.
Of course, ammunition is continuously consumed during regular training (lest our skills deteriorate), so our individual supply is always draining. And, we need to maintain an adequate reserve against the day of general societal breakdown. So, we need to get what we can, when we can.
Like all trainers, Iāve had to moderate consumption during our training Courses, but we still consume some, and it has to be made-up.
Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. We have aggressively spin our Loop. Weāre living through exciting times!
ā’History does not entrust the care of Freedom to the weak, nor timidā
Dwight D Eisenhower
/John
