Market downturn? Not here! Ammo shelves are getting thin again around here, availability of Speer still hasn't improved since 2012 although Federal .45acp bulk packs were on sale a couple months ago.

Maybe they should look instead at improving their product line, or subcontracting for a company with better products?

Odd. HST is an excellent SD cartridge by nearly all accounts.

quote:

Originally posted by newtoSig765:
Maybe they should look instead at improving their product line, or subcontracting for a company with better products?

Improve their product line...?

Federal's HST ammo is arguably the very best defensive hollowpoints currently on the market.

Their Vital-Shok and Fusion ammo is among the best commercial hunting ammo on the market.

Their Gold Medal Match ammo is one of the best off-the-shelf match loads.

And while it's not the very best in terms of quality, their American Eagle FMJ ammo is likely the top-selling practice ammo on the market too.

So if they were to just discontinue their product line and subcontract for a company with "better products", who would that be?

Federal is already a sister company to CCI/Speer, with both being subsidiaries of the same parent company. That only really leaves three other big ammo companies - Remington, Winchester, or Hornady. And it's debatable whether any of those companies offer anything that are significantly "better products" than Federal.

Not to mention that I imagine the other ammo companies are also going to be cutting production and scaling back expansion too, since demand has dropped overall. Keep in mind that most ammo companies temporarily increased their production during the big ammo booms recently. So rather than thinking of it as cutting production, you can think of it as just returning it to what it was before the mass panics. Which is an entirely foreseeable business decision, considering the fact that we've just come out of two massive spikes in demand.

Nothing about this is at all surprising.

Yes, yes, yes. Now, where are the cheap cases of HST and the affordable 6.8?

I've heard Mini-Mags have been spotted in the wild. I haven't seen a sleeve since summer of 2012. Maybe use that grant to build a new .22LR machine and take pressure off the hoarders?

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Improve their product line...?

Federal's HST ammo is arguably the very best defensive hollowpoints currently on the market...(etc)

I've heard of these products, but they don't show up around here, which is no-doubt why I don't think of Federal when I think of quality ammo. You can't try it if you can't buy it.

Thanks for the reminder that they and Speer are sister-companies, something I remember hearing about years ago, but forgot. I wonder if this would make it easier for Federal to subcontract some Gold Dot stuff if they can't fill shelves with their own premium ammo? It's in short supply here, and along with Winchester PDX1 is only stocked in those overpriced 20-rd boxes.

quote:

Originally posted by IrishWind:
I've heard Mini-Mags have been spotted in the wild. I haven't seen a sleeve since summer of 2012.

I've bought 3,000 rounds of Mini Mags online in the last 6 months or so. On sale too. Supply can be spotty at times still, but CCI's production seems to be rocking along, with large batches available fairly regularly (at least online).

https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...3106699/m/8940089024

https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...3106699/m/4320069914

https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...3106699/m/1960044814

https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...3106699/m/6530039414

Just got Target Sports USA weekly email. A case of 124 gr. Federal HST 9mm has dropped $20 to $379.80 with free shipping.

quote:

Originally posted by mikeyspizza:
Just got Target Sports USA weekly email. A case of 124 gr. Federal HST 9mm has dropped $20 to $379.80 with free shipping.

You can get the same at Bone Frog Gun Club for $350 plus shipping. Should work out to be ~$10 cheaper, after shipping is factored in.

https://www.bonefroggunclub.co...?variant=18327182081

I don't understand why they're laying off workers, you still can't even find ammo shelves even close to full here in South Florida and .22 is still in very short supply.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
I don't understand why they're laying off workers, you still can't even find ammo shelves even close to full here in South Florida and .22 is still in very short supply.

I haven't ammo from a brick and mortar store in years, except the recent Black Friday Remington sale. Why would anyone do that? I order online and save $10 or more in taxes per case. Plus it's cheaper to begin with. Free delivery. I don't have to load the heavy cases into my car, then unload them at my house.

Check out the internet they sell all kinds of things there. Besides food I buy almost everything online.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by mikeyspizza:
Just got Target Sports USA weekly email. A case of 124 gr. Federal HST 9mm has dropped $20 to $379.80 with free shipping.

You can get the same at Bone Frog Gun Club for $350 plus shipping. Should work out to be ~$10 cheaper, after shipping is factored in.

https://www.bonefroggunclub.co...?variant=18327182081

Shipping quote was $29.80 to 28120, so total is exactly the same. I don't need 1,000 rds of this anyway.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
I don't understand why they're laying off workers, you still can't even find ammo shelves even close to full here in South Florida and .22 is still in very short supply.

Same here. .22 is still struggling to reach normal levels. The selection is very poor and hardly anything I recognize when the shelves aren't empty.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
I don't understand why they're laying off workers, you still can't even find ammo shelves even close to full here in South Florida and .22 is still in very short supply.

I haven't ammo from a brick and mortar store in years, except the recent Black Friday Remington sale. Why would anyone do that? I order online and save $10 or more in taxes per case. Plus it's cheaper to begin with. Free delivery. I don't have to load the heavy cases into my car, then unload them at my house.

Check out the internet they sell all kinds of things there. Besides food I buy almost everything online.

Do you WANT gun stores to go extinct? Besides, plenty of people don't buy in bulk(only time online makes sense) and plenty of people like to pay cash for things.

quote:

Originally posted by Jus228:
Do you WANT gun stores to go extinct? Besides, plenty of people don't buy in bulk(only time online makes sense) and plenty of people like to pay cash for things.

I'm with you 100% on this! Although I like the idea of stocking up, I can't afford to buy 1,000 rounds at a time, even at on-line prices.

Besides that, I enjoyed the time I used to spend at an LGS. I hate watching them disappear.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
I don't understand why they're laying off workers, you still can't even find ammo shelves even close to full here in South Florida and .22 is still in very short supply.

I check every time I am in wallyworld to see if they have any .22. Have not seen any there in at least 3 years.

They turned down free money?

quote:

Originally posted by ulsterman:
They turned down free money?

They had to. One of the conditions was the creation of 50 new jobs, not laying off 110.