Last year when you couldn’t find firearms in stock for any reasonable amount of money, lots of people without a shred of experience in business were screeching “Just add more machines and hire more people!”, as if hiring people with the skill level to manufacture firearms is as simple as grabbing some migrants off a street corner and you could buy milling machines from Craigslist for $20. Ramping up production of something like firearms or ammunition takes time and enormous investment.
Meanwhile as the year winds down firearms sales are in the toilet almost like someone flipped a switch. Stuff that would have sold within hours is now sitting for weeks or months. Manufacturers are desperate to unload product. One place I buy from was offering a special discount on top of distributor prices plus an extra discount so I snagged a couple of AR rifles for well under $400. The machines keep running and the workers can’t stand around idle so they have too much inventory and not enough demand.
Smart businesses don’t make kneejerk responses to transitory changes to the marketplace.
We are at a weird place. Retailers are selling guns for my wholesale cost and sometimes firearms and parts are even lower. Last night Mrgunsngear posted a deal on a Geissele Automatics SSA-E drop in 2 stage AR trigger for a couple of bucks less than I can get it from one of my distributors. Pretty hard to be competitive when big sellers are undercutting what you can sell things for but that same trigger would have been Unobtanium last year. This morning I saw an online seller listing Springfield Hellcats for $399.99 (now sold out), and those things were retailing for close to $600 easy last year and that $399 price is well below my dealer cost, by a lot. Same website has the Smith & Wesson Shield EZ in 9mm for $349, which is $50 below dealer cost. WTF?
Ammunition is still way too high, you are hard pressed to get 5.56mm for less than $.50/round shipped. People seem to be holding off on new firearms but are still loading up on ammo. It makes sense, I doubt many people who are serious about an impeding calamity don’t already have ample firearms but always could use more ammo. If you already have enough AR-15s for everyone in the family to have two with some to spare, you probably don’t need another one especially if you have been smart and stocking up on spare parts.
But as I keep saying, that can change overnight. In fact I am counting on it changing overnight. When it does, prices are going to spike and availability is going to disappear. I figured it would have happened already but it certainly is coming at some point, sooner rather than later. If someone with control over their bowel movements was in the Oval Office it would have happened already.
Take advantage of this situation to fill in the gaps in your own supply. Make smart, strategic purchases, in other words don’t buy gimmicks or “safe queen” guns unless you have an awful lot of disposable income. Time is short.
What’s your thoughts on that Shield EZ? I have a Springfield XDM that I’ve been using for EDC. It runs agreeably, but it’s striker-fired, and the slide-racking effort is not congenial to my declining geezer grip strength. On the other hand, 19+1. I’ve handled that Shield at the gun-store counter, and I think your average 8-year-old is strong enough to operate it. But, 8+1 … you’d need to carry one, or more like two, spare magazines. I’m mulling it over.
I am not a fan of the Shield series in general, I don't like the trigger but you can always replace that. Honestly you likely aren't going to need more than 9 and if you do, a spare mag is easy to carry along with the pistol.
HAPPENIESS is a full ammo load and then some, ask any grunt. and you NEVER HAVE ENOUGH SPARE OR EXTRA MAGS. every pistol I own I have at least 6 mags for it. every day carry weapons have 10-12 mags.
I keep them in 2 groups which I swap out every month. I do need a few more 1911 mags but, I get them here soon. I like to shop sales. while back gun mag warehouse had a ton of police turn in sig 226 mags at like 15 bucks or so each. got them and them replaced all the springs with new ones from wolf
springs (very nice people, call them. I got them the next day ! )
I hate top say this but when the new springfield sa 35 is around, I have to get one and a half a dozen mags for it as well. had 2 hi-powers in my life, lost the first one to my ex. second one to pay
medical bills. still like the old gun. has a good grip, easy to shoot well, and not that bad to carry. more weapons are not really needed at this point, ammo . you never have enough of it.
but your right, now is the time to grab the other things needed or wanted for your weapons.
but always carry extra ammo. I keep at least one box in the truck all the time.
Maybe its time that I got that Taurus .357 revolver I've been wanting.
We had one in stock not too long ago, I really liked it
Sadly Canada still seems to have stupid gun prices and lack of supply. We do have ammo though.
I suspect political / regulatory rinkering not actual supply chain issues.
Exile1981
The Taurus 357 is highly under rated. I have one for years and it is a tank. Very similar but cheaper than the Ruger SP100.
I'm looking at the short barrel 692, 7 shot. I plan on bikepacking from Oklahoma City to Idaho next year and I need something more than my Smith & Wesson .40 for the critters up there.