British Motorcycle Gear

Categories: GearGuns

Shortages, Gougers, and Trolls

Gougers.  People who overcharge simply because they can when supplies are low.  Someone who takes advantage of a bad situation. There’s a lot of that going on in the ammo and reloading components business today.  What’s driving it is extreme demand induced by the pandemic, the breakdown in law and order in some urban areas, a change of administrations, and the resulting ammunition and components shortages.  People are buying guns and ammo in unprecedented numbers because they are afraid.  It’s being fueled by uninformed and malicious folks on the Internet.

Me?  I’m not worried.  We’ve been through this before.  The pendulum swings both ways, and it always returns to center.  It may take a while, but common sense always prevails.

Before all this shortage business began, primers sold for about $34 or $35 per thousand.  Gougers have kicked that up to around $100 per thousand, and even at that price, they are difficult to find.  Thanks, but I’ll take a pass.  I’ll wait it out.  It’s that pendulum thing I mentioned above.

I imagine it’s tough being in the ammo business these days.  For the most part, the folks who make ammo are the same folks who make reloading components, and with the unprecedented demand for ammo, their components are necessarily being consumed by their own factories.  I get that, too.

This video from the CEO of an ammo and components company popped up in my feed yesterday, and I think it’s a good one.  You might want to watch it.

I get it, Mr. Vanderbrink. The trolls who start rumors, spread rumors, and post stupid stuff on the Internet are as despicable as the gougers, and I give Vanderbrink a lot of credit for calling it like it is.  I’d call the trolls morons, but that would be an insult to morons everywhere.  You folks in the ammo business keep doing what you’re doing.  We’ll be here as loyal customers when the shortages end, as they always do.


Guns, ammo, reloading, motorcycles, product reviews, trip reports, and more!  Never miss an ExNotes blog:

Joe Berk

Recent Posts

India 2025: Amritsar and the Golden Temple

By Mike Huber India Part XI As we arrived back in Amritsar my friend’s eyes…

3 hours ago

A Custom Bowie Knife

By Joe Berk It's good to have friends, and it's even better to have friends…

3 days ago

India 2025: Amritsar and the Pakistani Border

By Mike Huber India Part X Shaking off the continual feeling of being around rats,…

1 week ago

Ruger No. 3 .45 70 Loads

By Joe Berk We recently published a blog on my de-Bubba'd .45 70 Ruger No.…

1 week ago

India 2025: Karni Mata Temple (the Rat Temple)

By Mike Huber India Part IX After ensuring we didn’t have any tails on us…

2 weeks ago

Undoing Bubba

By Joe Berk Back in the mid 1970s, I was in the Army at Fort…

2 weeks ago