It’s been about a month since the last update from the world of firearms retail. There honestly been little new to report.
Ammo supply still remains tight. There are signs that it is starting to improve, however slow the recovery is. It’s still going to be a while before you see that box of your favorite oddball cartridge on the shelf, but the more popular loadings are starting to be more available. I’d also note that online prices seem to be coming back down. I don’t know if that’s due people balking at paying $1 a round for 9mm fmj or if there is more in the warehouses.
A recent check of inventory at my place of employ showed we had around 400 guns in stock. That’s more than have been in the store for more than a year. And it is more than just cheap, turkish import home defense shotguns, which had been the majority of the stock last year. Our latest shipment included a wide variety of firearms, from .22’s to 12 gauge over/unders.
NICS background checks have slowed some. June was the first month in almost three years that did not have a year-over-year increase in the number of checks. You have to go back to December of 2018 to find the last month that didnt show an increase over the previous year. All that said, there were still 3,054,726 checks performed in June. Keep in mind, last June was the start of the BLM/AntiFA riots across the country.
Through the first six months of the year there have been more than 22 million checks run. If the trend continues, there will be well north of 40 million checks run for the year.
It’s important to keep in mind the number of checks can’t be used as a one to one correlation for guns sold. A large percentage are run for purposes other than gun sales. The NSSF estimates that number to be around 40%.
There were a couple of big decisions out of the Texas Supreme court the past couple of days.
First up is a case involving Facebook and sex trafficking. The Court ruled that section 320 of the communications decency act did not provide Facebook immunity from being sued by victims of sex trafficking when the abusers use that site.
The majority wrote, “We do not understand Section 230 to ‘create a lawless no-man’s-land on the Internet’ in which states are powerless to impose liability on websites that knowingly or intentionally participate in the evil of online human trafficking. . . Holding internet platforms accountable for the words or actions of their users is one thing, and the federal precedent uniformly dictates that Section 230 does not allow it,” the opinion said. “Holding internet platforms accountable for their own misdeeds is quite another thing. This is particularly the case for human trafficking.”
This ruling allows several civil suits from victims to go forward. Annie McAdams, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, said it was a groundbreaking decision. This is the first case to beat Facebook on its argument that it had immunity under Section 230, she said. “While we have a long road ahead, we are grateful that the Texas Supreme Court will allow these courageous trafficking survivors to have their day in court against Facebook,” McAdams said. She said with the help of an anti-trafficking provision under the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code called Chapter 98, “We believe trafficking survivors in Texas can expose and hold accountable businesses such as Facebook that benefit from these crimes of exploitation.”
The other big case out of Texas is in regards to firearms retailers responsibility in selling firearms that are later used in crimes. The case in question involved Academy Sports and the families of those killed in the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs shooting. The families sued believing the retailer was responsible for the gunman aquiring the weapon used in the shooting. Despite getting a bad conduct discharge from the USAF for spousal abuse, the shooter passed a federally mandated and administered background check.
“Although federal law disqualified Kelley from purchasing a firearm at the time of the sale — based in part on his conviction in a 2012 court-martial for assaulting his wife and stepson and his dishonorable discharge from the United States Air Force — that disqualifying information was not in the system, which authorized Academy to ‘Proceed’ with the sale,” the court found.
This one hits close to home for this editor, as he works in the firearms industry. While we can refuse a sale for any reason, and this Editor has on several occasions, most gun salespeople rely on the results of the NICS background check. In the case out of Texas, the Air Force, who is being sued for it, failed to forward the information that would have disqualified the shooter. Had he presented normally, and not set off any alarm bells, this editor would have allowed the sale to proceed as normal, and barring a delay or deny from NICS, sold the firearm.
It’s been exactly two months since I last shared my insights into the gun and ammo situation as I see it as someone who works at the retail end of the industry.
Let’s start with the raw FBI background check numbers. NICS background checks have slowed some. There were 3,222,105 checks run in May. That’s down about 300,000 from April and around 1.5 million from the all time record month of March. It is important to note that those checks are not a one to one when it comes to gun sales. A large number, some estimates put it at half, are run for other purposes than firearms transactions. Many states, mine included, require a federal background check as part of initial pistol licensure and as part of the recertification process. Additionally, many buyers purchase more than one firearm per transaction.
The gun situtation seems to be resolving. At my store we have a wider variety of guns than we’ve had for close to a year. We are also getting multiples of the same gun in. Some brands are still scarce, but overall, the supply of guns seems to be loosening.
We’re still at the mercy of our distributors, and aren’t allowed to special order guns. Our gun buyers say that has to do with the lead times and overall availability of specific guns.
There is mixed news on the ammo front. The president of Hornady said recently that his company is back-ordered 3 years. The president of Vista Outdoors, the parent company of CCI, Speer, Federal and Remington ammo, said his company was back-ordered 2 years. Additionally, he said that he didn’t expect primers to be commercially available for at least a year. There’s more bad news, deer slug manufacturer Lightfield announced that they were not restarting production. I don’t know the specifics of why, but they announced two years ago that they were moving, and as far as I know, they haven’t produced a shell since that date.
All that said, it seems the ammo supply is starting to come back. I don’t expect to see some of the less popular calibers and loadings to be widely available for a year, but that has more to do with the manufacturing schedule than any shortage or the like.
I’m going to digress for a moment here and explain the manufacturing scheduling process for ammo, and why I think its going to be a while before you see that box of .257 Roberts or 7-30 Waters on the shelf. Under normal circumstances, ammo manufacturers have a fairly rigid production schedule due to capacity restraints, maintenance scheduling, tooling changeover, etc. The schedule will typically have a single run of certain calibers, generally the less popular rounds, while more popular calibers will be produced in either a continuous run or in multiple runs. Once the scheduled amount of a particular caliber/loading is reached, that particular combination isn’t run again till the next year. With the onset of covid last march, and all the attendant knock-on effects, that schedule got blown up.
Now, with things normalizing, the production schedule is back in place. It will take a full year to cycle through and for ammo to be back to the point it was in the before.
Honestly, if I stopped seeing the same two dozen or so faces every day I think we’d have a decent supply in stock. Except for a few weeks in January, we got regular shipments of ammo. They weren’t huge, but we did have a regular supply.
I’m also going to take aim (SWIDT) at everyone that’s price gouging right now. It isn’t just the small shops that are doing it now. Big retailers like Bass Pro have marked up their ammo 50% or more. How do I know? I know exactly what a box, flat, case and sleeve of all that stuff costs because I have access to our distributors sites. Our prices have gone up, but only because the distributors and manufacturers prices have gone up. I saw a box of 9mm the other day at Gander for $30+. The same box of ammo, same bullet weight, brand and all, is $20 where I work. I have to ask why? I don’t know about you, but I refuse to shop somewhere I know they’re gouging. People will remember this in the future.
A little while ago, I wrote about my observations on the gun and ammo issue from my perspective as someone who sells them for a living. This post is a continuation with updated information.
Ammo supply seems to be loosening up some. And there’s some very good news on the ammo production front, but first some history.
Last June, Big Green declared bankruptcy. This came on the heels of several months of WuFlu related closures. Just before the bankruptcy filing, the company fired all the employees at the Lonoke Arkansas ammo plant. All of Remington’s ammo had been produced there since the closure of the Bridgeport CT plant in the mid 1980’s.
Vista Outdoors Group, the parent company of Federal, Speer, CCI and a couple of other smaller ammo producers, bought the Remington ammo name and facility during the bankruptcy auction. About 2 months ago, Vista restarted production at the Lonoke facility. They have already started shipping new production ammunition.
Why .35 Rem? Beats me, but I’m glad to see any new Remington ammo. They produced 15% to 20% of the domestic ammo in this country.
The new owners of the firearms part of Remington had announced they were reopening the Ilion NY factory, the historic home of Remington since Eliphalet Remington, on 1 March. That did not happen. The United Mine Workers took umbrage at the new owner’s reopening plans. I will keep an eye on that situation, seeing as Ilion is only about an hour from me.
While we’re on the subject of the Remington bankruptcy and subsequent parting-out, Marlin had been aquired by Remington in 2017. As part of the asset sale, Sturm, Ruger inc. bought Marlin. I don’t have any word about whether they have restarted production at the Madison NC plant, but anecdotally, I haven’t seen a new Marlin of any kind since last spring.
NICS checks havent slowed much. February was down from the 4.3 million checks in January, with 3.4 million background checks run. That is up about 600,000 from the previous year. March however set yet another new record at 4.69 million checks. That’s just shy of a million more checks than March 2020.
We are three months into 2021 and there have been more checks run than there were in each of the first 10 years of NICS checks.
Before you get carried away, there isn’t a one to one correlation between checks and firearms sold. A good percentage are run for other purposes than firearms purchases like pistol permit applications and recertifications, some people change their minds, and then there are the delay/denies. The NSSF figures a bit more than half are for actual purchases. Even that half is somewhat misleading, as you can put multiple firearms on a single 4473.
No, this isn’t the first chapter of my memoirs. Instead it’s a commentary about the gun and ammo issue from my perspective as someone who sells guns for a living.
If you haven’t seen it yet, I wrote about the number of NICS checks and the records that were set last year. You can check it out here. Those numbers will come into play later, so take a look.
First, I’m going to address ammo and firearms availability. There are/were several factors that led us to the apparent shortage that we’re seeing today. Starting with the WuFlu closures this time last year to the riots last summer to thousands of people rediscovering hunting and the shooting sports. Then there was the bankruptcy of Big Green. The previous ownership group ended production at all Remington facilities when they entered receivership. There hasn’t been a new box of ammo or gun with that name on it produced for nearly a year.
Let’s take a look at the issues the closures and lockdowns caused the firearms and ammo industries for a second. It wasn’t just lost production time, the closures also impacted supply chains, importation of raw materials and production scheduling. The effects of those are still being felt today. Think about it for a second, mines closed, smelters closed, foundries closed. With modern manufacturing keyed to what are called Just in time supply chains, any disruption is going to cause outsized knock-on effects. At this point, the manufacturers are concentrating on the most popular rounds, just to meet demand. It may be a year or more before you see that .32 win special on the shelves.
Jason Vanderbrink, the president of ammo for Vista Outdoors, the group that owns CCI, Speer and Federal ammo, says his production facilities are running at 100% plus capacity. That capacity will increase some over the next few months as the newly reopened Remington ammo facility in Lonoke Arkansas starts shipping. That plant had been aquired by Vista in the Remington arms bankruptcy sale last fall. With any luck the ammo market will start to loosen up once that facility starts to ship.
Now, on to my personal observations. Working behind the gun counter 40 plus hours a week gives me a slightly different perspective than I think most of you have. I don’t see a shortage of guns. What I see are a bunch of people grabbing up anything they can. While looking over the A&D book a few weeks ago I noticed something. The location that I work at has gotten nearly the same number of guns as it did over the same time period the past few years. What has changed is the assortment of firearms we’re seeing. We don’t have the variety we used to have. We’re seeing the same guns over and over again. I’m not sure if that’s due to our buyers or the manufacturers. That said, the latest shipment of guns we got had a wider variety than I’ve seen since last summer.
Ammo however is a different story. I do see a shortage there. Used to be, we’d get pallets of ammo. Now, we get random boxes of ammo and an occasional case or two. Why? Well, as I see it there are several factors. Individual hoarders are a part. I see the same guys every day. I know for a fact that most of those guys are sitting on thousands of rounds, I sold at least some of it to them. You know they aren’t just stopping at my place. It got so bad, one guy bought 10 cases of 9mm, all we got in one day, the management instituted a two box limit per day.
The next factor I see are online retailers. Your local gunshop can’t compete with the big online dealers. A small, low volume dealer doesn’t have the buying power of some huge online place. Those online places go to the top of the list when an order comes in. Joe’s Guns n Bait in east bumf*ck gets whats left. And while we’re on the subject, I’ve noticed a big price spike at most of the online dealers. One online place is even being sued for price gouging. While the prices at my employer have gone up, its been a modest increase due to an increase from the suppliers.
The next time you venture into your local gun shop keep the number above, and those that follow in mind. There’s a reason shelves and racks are empty, and it’s not some grand conspiracy.
The headline number is the total of FBI NICS background checks performed in January. The 4,317,804 checks are the most since 1998 and the first time checks have exceeded 4 million.
4,317,804 firearm background checks were initiated with the FBI in January 2021, making it the highest monthly number on record and the first over 4 million. https://t.co/TCBxgDZ1Kbpic.twitter.com/6k4t9NjRuv
According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, 2 million plus were performed solely for gun purchases. That’s a 75% increase over the 1.17 million checks in January of last year. The NSSF adjusts the raw NICS numbers to exclude checks run for permitting and other non-purchase reasons. This provides a more accurate accounting of the numbers of guns purchased.
What’s more, the year over year numbers for most of 2020 show big increases according to the NSSF.
No, I’m not talking about a truck. I mean the weapons system you use to take game. With the caveat that most of what I’m going to describe here is based on my mostly east coast hunting experiences, down the rabbit hole we go. . . .
Why didn’t I say gun instead of weapons system? Well, that’s less complex than it seems. The gun is only part of the overall system you’ll be using. The entire system includes the gun, any optics you may use, the ammunition and any other accessories you might choose.
When I say hunting, I’m primarily referring to big game hunting; deer, bear, antelope, elk and the like. That said, a lot of the information to follow can be applied to small game and even bird hunting.
Let’s start with the gun. The first thing to think about is whether or not a particular type of firearm is legal in the area you plan on hunting. Some states, especially on the east coast, are shotgun only for deer. Others only allow straight walled cartridges. Some states don’t allow semi auto firearms. Most states have caliber restrictions, ie: .22 caliber or larger here in NY.
Once you’ve determined what’s appropriate legally, it’s time to pick out a suitable gun. You may have a preference for turnbolts, lever guns, pumps or autoloaders. The action, as long as it’s acceptable legally doesn’t make much difference. Bolt guns have a reputation for being more accurate, and that’s true to a point. But the fact is, any rifle produced since WWII is more than capable of shooting minute of meat.
The next thing to look into is caliber. I’m not going to make any recommendations about that other than to say be sure the round you choose is appropriate for the game you’re hunting. While the .243 win is a fine round for eastern whitetails, it’s wholly inappropriate for elk, moose or any of the bears in north america.
While we’re on the subject of caliber, there are a couple of other things to keep in mind. If you’re generally taking shots at less than 300 yards, there’s little need for any of the magnums. The only thing you’ll get from shooting a .300 winmag at a 150 pound deer at 150 yards is a sore shoulder. I promise you, it won’t kill a deer any more dead than a lighter recoiling round.
You also need to keep ammo availability in mind. I mean if things ever get back to normal. My local suppliers don’t have much in the way of common rounds, never mind the more obscure loadings. As it is the manufacturers can’t keep up with the common stuff, and a limited run of .300 loudenboomen just isn’t in the cards.
As far as sighting systems go, I could write an entire book. However, here I’m just going say a couple of things. First, don’t cheap out. I’m not saying that any optic less than $500 is junk, or that you need to drop $3500 on the latest Nightforce or US Optics scope. What I am saying is that you should stay away from bargain brands like Barska or Tasco. Not only are they likely to blow apart or fog up at an inopportune moment, the glass just isn’t that clear. Take a look at the mid-priced Vortex, Meopta or Leupold scopes. They’re well made, clear and dependable. Vortex has the added advantage of a no-questions-asked lifetime warranty.
US Optics FDN 25X $3,449.00
Next, don’t buy too much scope. There’s no reason to buy a 6.5-24×55 scope when your longest shot is 125 yards. To be honest, there’s no reason to put that kind of scope on 90% of hunting rigs. Those types of scope are best for the range, Prairie dog fields and on specialized “bean field” or “Sendero” rifles where extreme long range shots are the norm. A 3-9×40 will serve for 99% of hunters in 99% of hunting situation.
Don’t sleep on low magnification fixed and variable scopes or red dots. Both have their place, and both are extremely fast for target aquisition.
Oh, and one more thing. If you do have a variable power scope on your rig, keep it set at the lowest power. That way when that buck or hog crosses in front of you at 30 yards, you’ll actually be able to see it. The field of view on a scope gets geometrically smaller as the power is cranked up. If you need to turn up the power for a long range shot, you’ll have the time to do so.
Now on to my favorite rig. A couple of years ago, I got a fantastic deal on a Tikka T-3 Hunter in 7mm-08 from a gun shop that was going out of business. I think I paid $350 for it. Since then, it’s become my go-to rig for hunting deer and black bear here in NY. It’s currently wearing a Meopta MeoPro 6×42 fixed power scope.
Meopta MeoPro 6×42
I find the 7mm-08 cartridge does the job on everything I can hunt here in NY, and wouldn’t hesitate to change the scope and take it west for mule deer and antelope. I think it’s just a tad too light for Elk and moose, but I know guys who hunt both with that caliber. My pet handload for that caliber is a 150 grain Nosler Partition at 2800fps.
So, what’s your hunting rig look like? Did I miss anything? Something you’d do differently? Let us know in the comments below.
No, we’re not talking about safe queens, we’re talking about how to stop the decay and how to stabilize your older firearms.
Mark Novak owns and operates Anvil Gunsmithing in Charleston SC. He has contributed to C&Rsenal’s YouTube channel. He recently, because of demonitization issues branched out on his own, while still associating with Othais and Mae.
The video we’re presenting tonight is a bit long-ish, but well worth the time if you own any classic firearms.
This editor was inspired by a project Mark and the team at Anvil undertook. I’m currently on the lookout for a SMLE to convert into a “truck gun”. Perhaps you’ll see that video soon. . .
Another Reply to Mike Adams – Three Essential Firearms for Civil Unrest
Springfield Armory M1A .308
This is complete overkill for the situation presented. A battle rifle is called for when you expect to engage the enemy at DMR ranges when the targets are behind light cover; otherwise it’s far more trouble than it’s likely worth. The M1A wasn’t the ideal tactical rifle even when it took en bloc clips in .30-06 Springfield – it was just better than anything anyone else had. Nowadays we have far better options.
That said, the scenario Mike is talking about here is the Ken&Karen scene we saw last week, where a pair of Missouri attorneys got some media attention for defending their property (a historic site) from a potential Antifa assault. While it would be wrong to describe antifa as “unarmed”, the fact is that few of them carry firearms – most of them don’t have the nerve to actually shoot anyone, and they know instinctively the optics wouldn’t be on their side if they did. So a .30-caliber battle rifle is hilariously unsuited to the actual goals of our hypothetical cul-de-sac commando. You job is to get an unruly mob of violent, irrational people potentially armed with assorted melee and throwing weapons, along with some incendiaries, to leave your property. In theory, anything that looks like a gun and makes the appropriate lights and noises on command will do.
You don’t need to kill anyone here; quite the contrary, what you really want to avoid here is significant amounts of media attention, if possible. You’re on antifa’s hitlist the moment you stand against them, and you’ll be doxxed in short order (immediately contact friends and family – and your attorney – to prepare them for the aftermath if this happens to you), but if the optics of your response are good you won’t face any repercussions from wider society afterwards. And while it’s hard to get the general public to side against the homeowner defending his property from a mob, you want to make this task as hard as possible for the media – they’re less likely to cover the story that way – so try not to actually shoot someone unless you see them holding an incendiary.
So first suggestion: get a rifle that isn’t black. Ideally it would look nothing like an AR or an AK, but whatever you choose, get it in some color that is visibly not black. Silver or gray is a better idea, but if you can get it in some garish colors (without it looking like a toy), do so. Appearances matter in a media environment driven by viral videos and screenshots, so the less it looks like something Diane Feinstein would call an “assault weapon” the better off you are. My strongest suggestion under the circumstances would be a 9mm carbine, preferably one that looks as civilian as possible – like the Ruger PC9. It does everything you need it to do under the circumstances (including having a softer muzzle report than a standard AR, reducing the potential damage to your hearing) and the ammunition and magazines are plentiful. It’s even available as a takedown model, so you could safely store it in your car if need be. It’s also a hell of a lot cheaper than an M1A or even a quality AR.
Benelli M4 Tactical 12 gauge semi-auto
If you’re reaching for the combat shotgun under these circumstances, something has gone terribly wrong. But fair enough – we need to have something on hand that will actually stop one of these crazed assholes charging at your wife (who is hopefully either also armed, or else inside the building securing the house and calling for backup). I don’t have anything against either the Remington or the Benelli – both of which have served in combat with distinction – but you may want to consider something with a bit more capacity. So I’m going to suggest you pick up a Kel-Tec KSG– as before, avoid getting the standard black model. Desert Tan will do just fine.
The KSG will hold up to 12 shells in its dual tubes – 14 if you’re loading 2.75” shells – and as a bullpup firearm it’s quite the short package. It’s front-heavy, even for a shotgun, but that tends to help with the recoil absorption, and since it ejects downward it’s ambidextrous from the factory. And while the KSG has seen no significant combat deployments, it is used by some Coast Guard units for boarding operations. I’d suggest mounting a hand stop to the slide, though, as the short overall length of this weapon means your forward hand could easily find itself in front of the muzzle of this pump-action weapon.
As a Glock fan and a 10mm fanatic, it’s very hard for me to say this, but I think this is almost as unnecessary as the M1A. It is by no means a terrible choice – if you have one and you’re used to the recoil impulse of 10mm, this will do you just fine. But like the first two, it’s overkill – and as Mr. Wizard pointed out, if the mob has gotten this far, they’ve gotten past both of your long guns. Either you ran out of ammunition, or you dropped them. The Glock 20 is a fine handgun, but it’s not meant to be a last-ditch weapon against anything smaller than a bear.
As before, you want something that will make the appropriate lights and noises on command, and preferably have a large magazine capacity. The bigger and louder, the better. So I’m going to completely buck all of the advice that you’d normally get from columns about choosing a defensive weapon and recommend the Kel-Tec PMR-30 in .22 Magnum. With a few caveats.
Because .22 WMR is meant for rifles, it makes quite the fireball in this little handgun, and has the appropriate muzzle report to match. No one in the mob is likely to know what this is, but if they confront you after sunset it’s going to look more like you have a flamethrower on burst mode rather than a tiny, toylike handgun. Mount a quality green laser sight to the underbarrel accessory rail, and maybe an RMR to the slide, and you’re good to go – the small amount of smoke this pistol generates will really add to the intimidation factor once the laser becomes visible.
On the caveats – make sure this gun is fully broken in, along with the magazines. The gun and mags both are a bit stiff when factory new, and you don’t want anything malfunctioning if you have to use it. And with that in mind, make sure the ammunition you’ve loaded is both loaded correctly in the magazine (to avoid rimlock) and that the projectiles are 40 grains or heavier, or it won’t cycle properly.
Also: Kel-Tec offers a replacement fluted, threaded barrel and a flash suppressor from their website. Unfortunately, there isn’t anything you could mount to the muzzle in this case that would do any good. You want the fireball and the noise, so neither a suppressor nor a flash hider will help. So don’t bother getting it. That said, MCARBO and Tandemkross both offer a few aftermarket accessories for the PMR-30 that you may like.
Go lighter, shoot faster and be more accurate, your life will depend on it.
