According to my friendly neighborhood FFL there's a bit of a supply problem. Across the entire industry. & worse; it seems to be a raw material problem rather than a labor shortage. He's been telling me that availability is down & delivery times are slower in addition to shipping charges being higher. & (again according to the FFL) it's not just one or a few makers, but every manufacturer that he deals with. He even said that one maker that he knows of had to halt production because they were having serious trouble getting the raw materials to build their firearms. I've mentioned before about ammo price & availability being less than great for consumers.
& in a not totally but kinda related vein, the CMP has upped its price on Garands (from a few months back) & there's a shortage of ready to sell Garands in most grades. Last I heard they have enough Garands to last at least a few more years, just not enough manpower to sort them all into the different grades as fast as they can sell them. Still they're a bargain compared to what you'd pay retail. They won't run out in the next year or two but they probably will increase the price yet again before the end of the year. If you're thinking of a CMP Garand sooner would be much more economical than later methinks.
For anything else - well have any of y'all had your friendly neighborhood FFL complain of slow supply, undersupply or increased prices?
Posted by Publicola at May 25, 2006 05:16 AM | TrackBackAs a machinist, I can tell you that the price of steel is WAY up - we had to requote many of our jobs. The price of wood has nearly doubled according to contractors. And everyone knows what's been happening to the price of oil (required for plastics).
I've been told that China is on a building spree, but have no way to confirm that.
Yup. I work in the oil industry, manufacturing long steel pipes. The price of steel is going nuts right now. Our jobs are quoted 6 months out and we're getting hammered on some of our secondary goods because of the price increases. Good thing we charge so much for the primary product that we can absorb the loss.
Posted by: T at May 25, 2006 06:43 AMany of y'all had your friendly neighborhood FFL complain of slow supply, undersupply or increased prices?
Yep, and as a consumer, I've experienced it as well in recent months, trying to get a Springfield Mil-Spec 1911 and a Kimber Tactical Ultra II...no problem getting just about any kind of Ruger, though, I don't know if that's due to Rugers not selling as well as the Springfields or Kimbers, Ruger just making more of their guns, or what...
Posted by: the pistolero at May 25, 2006 08:15 AMYep, a few weeks back my local FFL was calling his suppliers about the AO M1 Carbine and no one had any or knew when they would get any. He commented that he had a supply problem with all makes.
Posted by: David Avera at May 25, 2006 08:25 AMNot from my FFL, just things I've noticed:
- I can't seem to find Fiocchi ceterfire ammunition. I've got an order pending with someone that'll ship in another 30 days (it's already been 30 days).
- I was looking for a control lever for an HK USP. Couldn't find anyone that had it in stock. HK USA was quoted me 30-60 days until it was in stock. I eventually found it from someone who ordered a bunch a while back.
I work in the electrical industry. I can tell you that our raw materials are sky rocketing. Our steel costs are probably going to double the first of the year. Our supplier informs us that it is more profitable to sell to the Asian-Indian (China) market. Copper prices are going ballistic. Check out the Comex history on Copper for the last 2-3 years. The current pricing trend is almost exponential. It has been above $4.00 per pound and has not slowed significantly yet. Think bullet and brass cost. Again it is due to the massive electrification projects in India-Asia (China). All in all, the price of our toys (rifles,pistols, revolvers, shotguns, etc.) are going to go up and the food (ammo) to feed them will as well. Might be time to start stocking up ahead of the price curve.
Posted by: Scott at June 1, 2006 06:42 PM