Want to know why 22lr is hard to find?

[Dave_L]

Why would you want to overstock the supply and eliminate the constant demand?

[merl]

I totally understand there are many other factors in play, but it's been long over a year since .22lr has been hard to get. I'm not totally sure what is all involved with producing .22 ammo, but I'd think adding another production line would be a wise choice.

http://www.cci-ammunition.com/education/faqs.aspx

Looks like CCI agrees with you, there is enough demand to warrant more machinery.

Q: Why can't you just make more ammunition?
A: Our facilities operate 24-hours a day. We are continually making process improvements to increase our efficiency and investing in capital and personnel where we have sustained demand. We are bringing additional capacity online again this year.

[RCCrawler]

Why would you want to overstock the supply and eliminate the constant demand?

It doesn't matter if you're selling ammo or cheeseburgers if you have customers standing at the door with money in hand waiting to buy and you can't give them what they need you are leaving money on the table. I'd rather get to the point where some retailers are able to keep some ammo in stock, that way you know everyone's needs are being met.

[two shoes]

I have kids that LOVE to shoot. We have cut back a lot of the "blasting" sessions and focused on making good shots. I hate to admit it, but I was not prepared for .22 ammo to be difficult or expensive to find. I am not going to pay 2-3x prices for it, but I have spent 1.5x more than it was going for.

The grab and resell is the nature of supply and demand. My pocket book does not like it, but I understand the how and why. I like free markets, even when I am on the wrong side of it. I consider every penny above $0.07 a round my "stoopid tax" for not having enough to begin with. Some lessons in life are free, you can pay for them 2-3 cents more at a time...

[Dave_L]

It doesn't matter if you're selling ammo or cheeseburgers if you have customers standing at the door with money in hand waiting to buy and you can't give them what they need you are leaving money on the table. I'd rather get to the point where some retailers are able to keep some ammo in stock, that way you know everyone's needs are being met.

Except you're not losing customers like you do in the cheeseburger scenario. With cheeseburgers, they can walk down the street and you risk them finding a new place they prefer. I haven't seen someone pass up ammo yet because they had to wait last time.

Profits are maxed out for these companies. Could they make more? Probably. But that "probably" comes with a risk of things slowing down in X months and then what? Dumped a million dollars in (I have no clue what the cost would be) to make another 300K? Now, if it would only take 6 months of production to pay back the investment cost, I would probably do it at this point. But things are cyclical and business's were probably just making sure things would be sustained before jumping head first into the pool.

[Colorado_Outback]

Hello? Yeah, could I get another one of those million dollar ammo making machines? It will be here Tuesday!? Awesome.

Not.

It takes a lot of time and money to setup a line like that. Not to mention the additional employees to run it etc.

We have been over this in another thread not that long ago..

[TheWeeze]

I could see it right now, they put in their capital investment, ramp up production, and get everybody all the ammo their little hearts desire, then when everybody has thousands and thousands of rounds of ammo the bottom falls out and they have to shut that line down because they've over stocked the shelves and can't sell the stuff for pennies on the dollar. All the money they invested in increasing production is now sitting on a line that won't be used again for 4 years.

[Bailey Guns]

It doesn't matter if you're selling ammo or cheeseburgers if you have customers...

Yes, it does. The infrastructure, supplies, personnel expertise, raw materials and space to manufacture ammo is far more expensive than cheeseburgers. I doubt another grill and a person to operate it costs anywhere near what a new ammo manufacturing facility costs.

[Great-Kazoo]

Hello? Yeah, could I get another one of those million dollar ammo making machines? It will be here Tuesday!? Awesome.

Not.

It takes a lot of time and money to setup a line like that. Not to mention the additional employees to run it etc.

We have been over this in another thread not that long ago..

reply #61 as well as that other thread.
I doubt most, if not all mfg have the actual space, power, let alone skilled employees to "just buy another machine"

[Colorado_Outback]

reply #61 as well as that other thread.
I doubt most, if not all mfg have the actual space, power, let alone skilled employees to "just buy another machine"

Congratulations?