I just can't believe that none of these companies are able to figure out their primer shortage.
I'd imagine the problem isn't just the ammo manufacturers themselves, it's all the other supply chain issues. Like supposed they need a replacement stepper motor for one of their machines, but the company that makes the stepper motor has none left, because the company that makes the semiconductors was shut down for half a year.
The lesson is that you can't shut down an economy without unforseen consequences.
Last time ammo supply got short the manufacturers made more and the price went down. They don't want to repeat that "mistake." The problem is a lack of competition in the ammunition market.
There's a simple test for any market for whether it's competitive or not. Can the largest manufacturer stop producing without affecting the price? If the answer is "no," then the market isn't competitive. In a healthy free market there are enough producers of any given commodity that one producer doesn't have the power to affect prices.
That's a good test.
If you're an ammo producer and people have no choice but to buy your ammo, why wouldn't you want the current situation to continue? You can run your existing factory at full bore and make record profits. If you take all that extra money and invest in more factories you're just going to drive down the price and your margin per unit will decrease.
Lead mined from other countries has a hand in it also
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