While I'm not an expert in the small arms ammunition industry, I think there are four major factors to the shortages we're seeing in the USA.

First, there are a lot more first-time firearms owners in the USA than in any usually 6+ month term that I can think of.

Second (and closely related to the first), many firearms owners have more concern about public safety than they've had in the past.

Third, there are concerns about potential future legal restrictions.

Fourth, I'm told that there are shortages regarding specific components, especially primers, related to the pandemic. I don't have any data to support that, but it seems plausible.



As for me, I've been training more this year than in any other year, as I had planned long before any of the above factors came to light.

The two calibers I train with are in short supply everywhere, and when available they're priced much higher than a year ago. But they are possible to find, with some effort.

I hesitate to post at all, but I must respectfully say that I'm worried about you guys. A shortage of ammunition suggests a shortage of confidence in the future, and an abundance of fear.

Americans are very prone to tribalism and are very prone to panic buying. I'm 51 years old and I've seen this at least four times with minor panics in between. This shortage is maybe not as bad at 2014, at least not yet. Fear drives it and without getting into the politics it's the practice here to use fear to control people and keep them in line. Maybe I'm just an optimist but I think we'll be just fine once we get into next year.

if you are a shooter in the US, and compete in a couple of USPSA practical shooting matches and a couple of Steel Challenge matches a month...

typical USPSA match around here is 125 rounds x 2 a month x 12 months is 3000 rounds a year... for me this is hand loaded 9mm
and small pistol primers are not available

a Steel Challenge match is 5 separate runs on 5 targets per stage x 6 stages per match x 2 matches per month x 12 months is 3600 rounds... for me this is .22lr...prices have jumped from 3.6 cents to 11 cents per round

and that does not include any practice sessions

competitive shooters are not necessarily hoarding components or ammunition, many have stocked deep so they can enjoy their freedom

We have sanitizers and paper towels, but signs limiting customers to 1 or 2.

Up here, it seems the current issues are paper towels, pressure treated lumber and firewood. And Tums.

The "why" on paper towels is obscure to me. We go through a pack every year, mostly to regulate moisture in stored garden vegetables. Others apparently can't imagine a day without them.

Pressure treated lumber is hard to get (or spendy) and so is other stay-at-home-improvement stuff. I had a hard time getting the caulking I needed. The store guys say everyone is stuck at home so they are upgrading decks etc.

Firewood is the new thing. And chimney sweep/inspection services. Demand has doubled or more. People are stuck at home anyway, so they want the spice of indoor/outdoor fires, even though basically everybody uses natural gas for primary heat in the winter.

Walked through a WalMart for laughs (time to kill) and they had ammo in the calibres/gauges I use. Didn't buy though; I don't have much need.

Latest:
Target is limiting purchases of certain items ( masks, paper towels, etc.) Most everything in stock.

Primers are selling locally by private parties from 10 to 25 cents EACH. People buying them on the local trading web site are new gun owners that can't find ammo and are learning to reload. The other components are unavailable at stores too, but are not bringing the price hikes like the primers. Lots of trading going on, people buying components they can't use so they can trade for stuff they can.

TP is available but stores are limiting per customer.

Haven't noticed any other shortages other than furnace filters that disappeared from shelves during the wildfire smoke.

A few months a go , there were shortages of face masks and some other items. These are available in the market now. The twist is not availability but my OCD-infected brain. LOL.

During the pandemic lockdowns, I managed to buy a few boxes of face masks at higher price than I would like. I was relieved to have masks, but was sore because of what I paid. The price came down gradually, and I bought more.

My INTJ psychology ordered me to put the numbers and cost in an Excel sheet. LOL, some of you may guess where this is going. Yeah, a few weeks ago, I bought a few more boxes, not for prepping sake, but to lower the overall average price !!!

If you are an INTJ, try to change to something else.
LOL.