Ammunition Manufacturing

[California44]

How big of a deal is it to make brass casings, lead bullets, gun powder and primers? I can't imagine its a capital intensive business. Possibly the powder and primer side is heavily regulated. With recent demand being as elevated as its been, I would imagine someone with a bit of tooling knowledge would be able to figure out how to make cartridges and bullets. Anyone know of any new ammo component producers popping up lately? Anyone know how much capital it takes to start up such an operation?

[warthog1984]

pure lead bullets are easy to cast & molds are readily available.

brass is high temp & more involved.

I'm pretty sure powder and primer would require explosives-safety measures /isolation.

[sfbay]

+1 warthog

[WWDHD?]

Probably crazy high insurance costs. Both for explosions/fires and for product liability. Could be all worth it if the Gov is buying 1.6 trillion rounds at a time.

[Kukuforguns]

I watched a YouTube video on manufacturing .22 LR by CCI last night. For the brass casing, the manufacturer buys a ribbon of brass, and then uses a punch to create brass "test tube." Further procedures turn into a .22 casing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvK9QlQtrKI

How much longer do you think the ammo shortage is going to last? How long do you think it would take you to start manufacturing?

[Beelzy]

You know what they say about the road to Hell.....it's paved with good intentions.

[Laythor]

ammo shortage is already ending. All the signs are there if you look

1. The sales on gunbroker are sitting for a very long time with more and more timing out going unsold. You're also seeing people put up ammo at .01 cent opening bids hoping to build up interest

2. LGS are starting to see weekly ammo inventory. 2 months ago you'd hear "we don't know when we'll get more in" and now you're hearing "our next shipment is this date".

3. Online ammo stores are showing stock multiple days per week for many popular calibers. I've had no problems in the last 30 days finding ammo, at reasonable prices, with just a small amount of leg work.

4. 22LR is still hard to find and will be for a while longer. 22LR is cheap, even marked up, allowing horders to stockpile a ton of it without putting much cash out. 22LR has a low margin of profit so why would any manufacturer put as much effort into pumping out a 22 when they can make more profit on 9mm, 45acp, 40sw, etc.

I have no doubt 22 will come back in a big way, but not until the other calibers start to fill the inventory channel.

5. Credit card bills are coming due. There are people who panic purchased ammo and firearms and now the time has come to pay the piper. Suddenly the 5000 rounds they purchased might be better used to pay down their CC bill. That shiny black rifle might be put to better use as cash to keep the lights on. Or they got a good tongue lashing from their better half and will look over their current stock and say "that'll do pig, that'll do"


Keep your chins up. Don't knee-jerk purchase anything. We'll get through this.

[CaliforniaLiberal]

ammo shortage is already ending. All the signs are there if you look

1. The sales on gunbroker are sitting for a very long time with more and more timing out going unsold. You're also seeing people put up ammo at .01 cent opening bids hoping to build up interest

2. LGS are starting to see weekly ammo inventory. 2 months ago you'd hear "we don't know when we'll get more in" and now you're hearing "our next shipment is this date".

3. Online ammo stores are showing stock multiple days per week for many popular calibers. I've had no problems in the last 30 days finding ammo, at reasonable prices, with just a small amount of leg work.

4. 22LR is still hard to find and will be for a while longer. 22LR is cheap, even marked up, allowing horders to stockpile a ton of it without putting much cash out. 22LR has a low margin of profit so why would any manufacturer put as much effort into pumping out a 22 when they can make more profit on 9mm, 45acp, 40sw, etc.

I have no doubt 22 will come back in a big way, but not until the other calibers start to fill the inventory channel.

5. Credit card bills are coming due. There are people who panic purchased ammo and firearms and now the time has come to pay the piper. Suddenly the 5000 rounds they purchased might be better used to pay down their CC bill. That shiny black rifle might be put to better use as cash to keep the lights on. Or they got a good tongue lashing from their better half and will look over their current stock and say "that'll do pig, that'll do"


Keep your chins up. Don't knee-jerk purchase anything. We'll get through this.

Might be a second wave of Gun and Ammo Buying Frenzy when States and US Congress start passing anti-gun laws later this year.

Maybe you've seen the mountain of proposed anti-gun legislation in the CA Assembly and Senate?

http://www.firearmspolicy.org/the-issues/california/2013-2014/

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ammo+manufacturing&oq=ammo+manuf&gs_l=youtube.1.0.0j0i5l3.4209.6062.0.8651.10.10.0.0.0.0.112.876.9j1.10.0...0.0...1ac.1.O-j0PopKfz8