Ammo Manufacturers Producing '24 Hours a Day' to Match Demand

Amid the myriad questions and theories behind the ammunition shortage currently being experienced across the country, manufacturers have gone on the record to say they are producing as much as they can and are working to produce even more.

Hornady ammunition, makers of some of the most popular self-defense ammo for concealed carry applications, explained it this way: “We are producing as much as we can, much more than last year, which was a lot more than the year before, etc. No one wants to ship more during this time than we do.”

The demand for Hornady’s ammo is so great that they’ve “added presses, lathes, CNC equipment, [and] people and space.” They are producing many popular items “24 hours a day” and “several hundred employees work overtime every week” to make as much ammo as possible.

Black Hills Ammunition president Jeff Hoffman is seeing the same demand Hornady is experiencing. He says the only ammo that isn’t absolutely flying out the door are some of the rarer, larger caliber hunting rounds. 

Supplies of 9mm, 45 acp, 40 S&W, and .223 are scarce in the marketplace, and where they can be found, they are being snatched up by desperate consumers as they are unloaded off trucks at stores like Wal-Mart & Gander Mountain. 

So why the shortage? Ammo producers like Hornady say the cause isn’t government orders but a “politically-induced buying panic.” Although producers say they’ve seen buying panics in the past, nothing compares to what we’re experiencing now. 

During panics in the past, gun owners bought up all the ammo they could; during the current panic, even people who don’t own guns have been buying ammo for the gun they might buy in the future. At the same time, first-time gun buyers have not only been buying guns but also every bullet for it they can find. 

Add to this the fact that some producers can’t expand their production as rapidly as Hornady and others have, and it’s easier to understand why handgun and AR-15 calibers are scarce.

As Remington ammunition put it: “Remington is at full capacity at this time in a majority of categories of ammunition. We are continuing to look at how to increase capacity and supply our ammunition products to the various channels of distribution/sales that we support.”