DGW1949 said:
I'd suspect that outfits like Georgia Arms and Freedom Munitions is using it as fast as their equipment can be made to run.
Hi,
Yup! Then we can multiply their usage by the number of companies out there also making huge amounts of ammo every day!
Just for example, some months back we had a thread which told how CCI alone was making 4 million rounds of .22LR per day, seven days a week. Other sources have put total US production of .22LR around 12 million rounds/day. Now I've never weighed the powder charge of a .22LR, but a figure of 1.0 to 1.5 gr is sometimes quoted. Let's say 1.0 gr/round for discussion. At that charge, we're talking a bit more than 1 3/4 of a TON per day... or nearly SIX tons of powder each week! JUST for .22LR ammo! How many shelves at the LGS would TEN THOUSAND and some of those one pound jugs take?
Trying to put that in another perspective, I started loading at the end of 1965. Since then, I've loaded around 250k rounds. To some of you, that's not much, but to the average active shooter and handloader, it's probably a fair number. Looking back, I might have gone thru 750 lbs of powder. In the grand scheme of things, that's not even enough to make it to lunch time on a single shift for the guys making .22s... :shock:
So in real life that couple of pounds we're looking for to restock our shelves as individuals doesn't even register on the screen! People don't seem to understand the huge scale of demand we're talking about, versus the relatively small production capacity...
(Edited to correct some of my figures...)
Rick C