scooter
05-21-2008, 10:43 AM
PUBLICATION: GLOBE AND MAIL
DATE: 2008.05.21
PAGE: A2
SECTION: International News
SOURCE: REUT STAFF
EDITION: Metro
WORD COUNT: 588
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DOUBLE TAKE: AMMUNITION AND INFLATION Less bang for the buck Surging prices of metals worldwide plus overseas wars have caused the cost of bullets to soar in the U.S.
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Millions of shooters, hunters and even law enforcers across the United States are feeling the pinch as sky-high metals prices and demand from wars abroad drive up the price of bullets.
Ammunition prices for many popular guns have more than tripled in the past three years, driven in large part by surging demand for metals in rapidly industrializing China.
As the Asian giant becomes wealthier, millions of tonnes of copper, lead and zinc, which are also used to make bullets and brass shell casings, are being snapped up.
Shooters, gun dealers and sheriffs say the impact has been further aggravated by competition for limited ammunition stocks with the U.S. military, currently fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Dealers complain that the cost of rifle ammunition has doubled and even tripled in the past two years, with similar increases for some handgun ammunition.
Lynn Kartchner, a gun-shop owner in Douglas, near the Arizona-Mexico border, says he now pays $250 for a case of 1,000 rounds of assault-rifle ammunition, up from $80 two years ago, while a box of popular 9-mm shells has jumped to $17 from $10.
"Price rises have been accompanied by scarcity for certain kinds of ammo," Mr. Kartchner said in his shop, which is packed with rifles, pistols and shooting paraphernalia.
"There isn't as much variety, and a lot of people snap up whatever they can get their hands on." In Canada, however, ammunition prices don't seem to have been affected - so far.
"Prices have basically been the same" for the average hunter for the past couple of years, the president of a gun club in the upper Ottawa Valley said yesterday. "They haven't gone up that much." Why the difference? Higher prices haven't hit Canada yet "because we're not a big consumer like the United States," he said. "What people shoot here in Canada in one year they might shoot off in the States in one day." Canadian inventories have therefore been slower to decline, but as inventories are renewed, prices could increase. "If they're paying double in the States this year, it won't hit us until maybe next year." Increased U.S. costs and competition for ammunition is also being borne by police forces, among them the sheriff's department in Cochise County, which encompasses Douglas and other border communities and faces incursions from armed smugglers and even bandits from south of the line.
Last year, the department had a four-month delay in acquiring rifle cartridges and had to dip into ammunition reserves, arousing the concern of Sheriff Larry Dever.
"We do face people in this environment down here who are heavily armed, sometimes with higher capacity armaments than we carry," he said.
"The last thing we want to do is find ourselves in a situation where we are not training sufficiently so that [deputies] can maintain those very important proficiencies." High ammunition prices are also being shouldered by millions of target shooters and hunters across the United States, many of them working people on limited budgets.
"If you have three of four children, and they all go out on a hunting trip, the cost of ammo can be a bit of a burden," said Luis Hernandez, a keen deer, bird and varmint hunter from Douglas.
Many hobby shooters are either firing less or switching to smaller calibre ammunition such as the .22, which is cheaper, or are increasingly turning to reloading old shell cases.
"The main saving is in the brass casing, which is the most expensive part," said Mr. Hernandez, who reckons on saving up to $20 on a box of some premium rifle cartridges by reloading.
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DATE: 2008.05.21
PAGE: A2
SECTION: International News
SOURCE: REUT STAFF
EDITION: Metro
WORD COUNT: 588
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOUBLE TAKE: AMMUNITION AND INFLATION Less bang for the buck Surging prices of metals worldwide plus overseas wars have caused the cost of bullets to soar in the U.S.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Millions of shooters, hunters and even law enforcers across the United States are feeling the pinch as sky-high metals prices and demand from wars abroad drive up the price of bullets.
Ammunition prices for many popular guns have more than tripled in the past three years, driven in large part by surging demand for metals in rapidly industrializing China.
As the Asian giant becomes wealthier, millions of tonnes of copper, lead and zinc, which are also used to make bullets and brass shell casings, are being snapped up.
Shooters, gun dealers and sheriffs say the impact has been further aggravated by competition for limited ammunition stocks with the U.S. military, currently fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Dealers complain that the cost of rifle ammunition has doubled and even tripled in the past two years, with similar increases for some handgun ammunition.
Lynn Kartchner, a gun-shop owner in Douglas, near the Arizona-Mexico border, says he now pays $250 for a case of 1,000 rounds of assault-rifle ammunition, up from $80 two years ago, while a box of popular 9-mm shells has jumped to $17 from $10.
"Price rises have been accompanied by scarcity for certain kinds of ammo," Mr. Kartchner said in his shop, which is packed with rifles, pistols and shooting paraphernalia.
"There isn't as much variety, and a lot of people snap up whatever they can get their hands on." In Canada, however, ammunition prices don't seem to have been affected - so far.
"Prices have basically been the same" for the average hunter for the past couple of years, the president of a gun club in the upper Ottawa Valley said yesterday. "They haven't gone up that much." Why the difference? Higher prices haven't hit Canada yet "because we're not a big consumer like the United States," he said. "What people shoot here in Canada in one year they might shoot off in the States in one day." Canadian inventories have therefore been slower to decline, but as inventories are renewed, prices could increase. "If they're paying double in the States this year, it won't hit us until maybe next year." Increased U.S. costs and competition for ammunition is also being borne by police forces, among them the sheriff's department in Cochise County, which encompasses Douglas and other border communities and faces incursions from armed smugglers and even bandits from south of the line.
Last year, the department had a four-month delay in acquiring rifle cartridges and had to dip into ammunition reserves, arousing the concern of Sheriff Larry Dever.
"We do face people in this environment down here who are heavily armed, sometimes with higher capacity armaments than we carry," he said.
"The last thing we want to do is find ourselves in a situation where we are not training sufficiently so that [deputies] can maintain those very important proficiencies." High ammunition prices are also being shouldered by millions of target shooters and hunters across the United States, many of them working people on limited budgets.
"If you have three of four children, and they all go out on a hunting trip, the cost of ammo can be a bit of a burden," said Luis Hernandez, a keen deer, bird and varmint hunter from Douglas.
Many hobby shooters are either firing less or switching to smaller calibre ammunition such as the .22, which is cheaper, or are increasingly turning to reloading old shell cases.
"The main saving is in the brass casing, which is the most expensive part," said Mr. Hernandez, who reckons on saving up to $20 on a box of some premium rifle cartridges by reloading.
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