Popper

[Pony Soldier]

During the Obama admin. ammo and especially 22 shells were hard to come by. I was getting my truck window repaired and struck up a conversation with the gent next to me in the waiting room. He said he was recently retired from the fed gov. in Arizona. He had run a popper. I inquired as to what that was and he replied - a set of massive ovens that they fed semi loads of ammunition to. The powder would ignite and the residue went out to cool and be disposed of.

This was the first and last I have ever heard of this. Obama went away and ammo became available again. Have any of you heard of this? Details? I know certain powders were consumed for the military supply in recent years but could it be we are competing with our gov. for affordable ammo.

 

[bsnedeker]

During the Obama admin. ammo and especially 22 shells were hard to come by. I was getting my truck window repaired and struck up a conversation with the gent next to me in the waiting room. He said he was recently retired from the fed gov. in Arizona. He had run a popper. I inquired as to what that was and he replied - a set of massive ovens that they fed semi loads of ammunition to. The powder would ignite and the residue went out to cool and be disposed of.

This was the first and last I have ever heard of this. Obama went away and ammo became available again. Have any of you heard of this? Details? I know certain powders were consumed for the military supply in recent years but could it be we are competing with our gov. for affordable ammo.

Obama got us into more wars than any president in history.

This seems.....unlikely.

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[WTFJohn]

During the Obama admin. ammo and especially 22 shells were hard to come by. I was getting my truck window repaired and struck up a conversation with the gent next to me in the waiting room. He said he was recently retired from the fed gov. in Arizona. He had run a popper. I inquired as to what that was and he replied - a set of massive ovens that they fed semi loads of ammunition to. The powder would ignite and the residue went out to cool and be disposed of.

This was the first and last I have ever heard of this. Obama went away and ammo became available again. Have any of you heard of this? Details? I know certain powders were consumed for the military supply in recent years but could it be we are competing with our gov. for affordable ammo.

Just...no.

We are not competing with our government for affordable ammo, they have their own supply chains that can take priority over civilian production in the event it's needed in a war. Ammo was hard to come by because of the fear of gun control during different administrations, guys hoarding ammo to resell, and now because of supply chain shortages combined with 2020-current domestic affairs.

There are also a good number of gun owners that have become so in the last 10 years, and have been buying ammo by the case instead of the box. See: the popularity of the Magpul Dynamics stuff in the 2010 era thru the rise of people like GarandThumb, Demolition Ranch, and Lucas Botkin.

Lake City Army Ammunition Plant - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Pony Soldier]

Over my career, I have found a thread of truth in most every tale. I looked up explosives disposal in Phoenix and got Clean Harbors. Com. This is an organization that disposes of ammunition and all kinds of explosive based material. No way I could verify the rest of the tale. But I thought this was interesting.

 

[WTFJohn]

Over my career, I have found a thread of truth in most every tale. I looked up explosives disposal in Phoenix and got Clean Harbors. Com. This is an organization that disposes of ammunition and all kinds of explosive based material. No way I could verify the rest of the tale. But I thought this was interesting.

Your story quoted an 'ex fed gov' guy, not an employee of a private company.

The .gov (local, state, federal) has their own EOD for disposal of things that (may) go sizzle, pop, and boom. DEA/FBI/OGA have their own industrial incinerators for disposing of drugs and other contraband, along with their own EOD. There are private companies out there that offer the same services. You realize everyone from farmers to corporations can have blasting/explosive licenses, right? And sometimes they cease operations and need to dispose of excess stock, right?

That does not mean someone was dumping pallets of ammo from a semi into an oven to make ammo harder to come by for Joe America. Full stop.

 

[JBrown1]

The ammo “shortage” is interesting..... Last July my daughter and I drove the Alcan. We started in SW Wyoming and hit quite a few shops in that area looking for 7-08 ammo as I only had one box, and being in the middle of a move(from Barrow Ak to Nome) hadn’t had time to reload any.

So, in Wyoming, Utah and Montana these was very little ammo to be found. And what was on the shelves was the obscure, and mostly expensive stuff. For example, you might find 378 Weatherby for $150 a box, but nothing else.

Anyway, after getting into Canada I decided to run into Cabelas in Lethbridge. On a whim I decided to check out their ammo. There shelves were >90% full. Literally, they had everything that you could imagine. It looked exactly like any of the big box stores look when there is no ammo shortage. And it was the standard stuff you see here in the states: Hornady, Federal, etc.

Of course I grabbed two boxes of 7-08. When I tried to purchase them I was turned away as I didn’t have a “permit” showing that I owned a 7-08.

Anyway, if an American company (cabelas) has oodles of American ammo in Canada, but the same company has almost no ammo in the US, then it lends credibility to the theory that it is the hoarders in the US who are/were causing the problem.

 

[Rich M]

I was talking w a manufacturer rep the other day and he said that they were starting to make hunting bullets again but to be patient, it could be over a year before id find what was looking for.

Hoarders dont cause manufacturers to stop making stuff. Just sayin.

 

[jdinville3]

The ammo “shortage” is interesting..... Last July my daughter and I drove the Alcan. We started in SW Wyoming and hit quite a few shops in that area looking for 7-08 ammo as I only had one box, and being in the middle of a move(from Barrow Ak to Nome) hadn’t had time to reload any.

So, in Wyoming, Utah and Montana these was very little ammo to be found. And what was on the shelves was the obscure, and mostly expensive stuff. For example, you might find 378 Weatherby for $150 a box, but nothing else.

Anyway, after getting into Canada I decided to run into Cabelas in Lethbridge. On a whim I decided to check out their ammo. There shelves were >90% full. Literally, they had everything that you could imagine. It looked exactly like any of the big box stores look when there is no ammo shortage. And it was the standard stuff you see here in the states: Hornady, Federal, etc.

Of course I grabbed two boxes of 7-08. When I tried to purchase them I was turned away as I didn’t have a “permit” showing that I owned a 7-08.

Anyway, if an American company (cabelas) has oodles of American ammo in Canada, but the same company has almost no ammo in the US, then it lends credibility to the theory that it is the hoarders in the US who are/were causing the problem.

I've come across a similar situation looking for primers about a year ago. I could find them available in Canada from search engine results sending me to their websites. They won't ship them to the US.

 

[Northof51]

It’s definitely not like that anymore up here, most common reloading components are scarce and factory ammo is hit and miss…no pun intended!

 

[WCB]

Government ammuntion purchases stay relatively consistant year over year. People see a new contract and think it is immediate fullfilment. Anybody that has worked in the firearm and ammunition markets knows it is cyclical on elections and those results. Look at 2016...some very large distributors hedge there bets on Killary winning and when she didn't they went tits up due to over extending themselves on inventory. Also look at the current shortage...riots and a virus caused wide spread buying sprees and shortages on many things.

The government does not buy .22lr en masse to undercut the citizens or for any other reason. The government does not tell private(non gov) ammunition companies what to make amd when to make it.