[Black Blade]

Not Illogical At All

I noticed that some vendors are already warning of higher prices and depleting inventories. Not sure if it's the start of the election-year feeding frenzy or if it's just the bad economy or some combination. Still plenty of steel-cased around including Russian commercial. I bought more Yugo M67 and see that the price has gone up $20 a case in the last week. The milsurp 7.72x51 MEN and Radway Green seems to have vanished although Portuguese and Malaysian are still around as is some Belgian M60 linked ammo. The Federal 5.56 has been flying out the doors at brick and morter shops (Walmart and Sportsmans Warehouse) but most Walmarts I have been to lately have sold out and are not sure when they are getting more or at what price.

When we see news articles in the MSM that talk of gun and ammo shortages we might want to take notice and get what we need for the next few months until the situation cools down. Prices may recover and they may not - it just may depend on a number of factors. Commodity Inflation stands out as the biggest culprit followed by perceptions of the coming elections in November. On the otherhand, as the wars in the Middle East and conflicts around the world wind down there will probably be a lot of cheap ammo looking for a market.

That said, in the short to intermediate term we may see problems finding decent priced milsurp as we head into summer and some vendors already are warning of price increases and limited availability. Some "preorders" are filled quickly now at some vendors. It just may be best to have some variety in calibres for some rifles. I have stocked up on my "orphan calibres" like 6.55x55 Swede and Argentine 7.65 (as well as 9mm Largo). If you are concerned about more common calibres for hunting we should be okay with commercial 30.06 for example.

I have been filling in some gaps in my long term storage. I recently bought a few cases of Federal 5.56, Yugo M67, a couple cases of Yugo M75, and a few cases of Portuguese 7.62x51. I will add as supply and pricing allows. But I am not about to chase higher prices because I have run low on certain calibres. If you have some less common calibre then that may be the way to go as the masses tend to flock to more common calibres. Actually I see plenty of Russian 5.45x39 around and prices have not changed much and this could be a decent alternative (even tho it's virtually all steel-cased). Who knows how all this will play out this year. We may just "dodge a bullet" (sorry for the pun). The economy is bad enough and real unemployment is high that there may not be as much of a feeding frenzy this time. Keep you fingers crossed.