Many of us have come to rely on a steady supply of ammunition. We all like to stick with what works well for us. Even reloaders will have their favourite recipe and look to source the same component parts. This is especially true for those who take part in competitive shooting. In these cases the stakes are higher and nobody wants to risk using a brand new product in the hope it delivers great performance. For some time now there has been a factor which may have impacted our ability to source our go-to ammunition and in some cases may have changed our preferred products’ performance – supply chain.
By Hexagon Ammunition’s Paul Bradley
Ammunition companies are reliant on either raw material or components parts. They develop a product and spend months and even years refining and testing until they have a successful recipe which will go out to market. The ingredients of this recipe are vitally important as they define the products performance. A combination of propellant, primer, bullet and case for example give a measured and consistent pressure and velocity.
Change one of those items and it is likely you will need to alter some variables to achieve similar results. Sometimes no matter what changes you make you can never repeat your previous glories. Anyone who reloads will attest to this. Sometimes a certain propellant will perform much better than other products available. In the past ammunition manufacturers simply ordered their preferred parts and things ran like clockwork. So what has changed?
Covid caused huge supply chain problems which most people have forgotten. The problems have not gone away. A 2 year backlog in components and raw materials from China and other major export countries is still an issue. During this time logistics costs skyrocketed and many routes closed down completely. Covid especially effected the shipping of hazardous goods such as primers and propellant. The logistics companies had so much work to catch up on they simply eradicated the most problematic (licenced, hazardous cargo).
Geopolitics have also played a role. China have historically supplied vast amounts of gun cotton used to produce nitrocellulose based propellant. With various wars being waged it is common for countries to slow or withhold supply of raw materials either to stockpile themselves or effect other regions abilities.
This has happened with cotton. Some may wonder why nitrocellulose cannot be produced using other less specific cotton types or even wood fibre? It can but any change effects the end product dramatically. Given the precise burn rates and energy output required with propellant, these changes may take years of testing to complete.
The impact of global conflict
War.. The more wars we have the more the sporting industry suffers. All raw materials and components in the small arms world are dual use – Defence or Civillian. Of course the defence market gets first pick. They buy in much larger bulk and Governments exert pressure on suppliers for obvious reasons. Propellant manufacture also changes with medium and large caliber shells taking precedence over their smaller caliber cousins.
So what does this mean for the products we have come to depend on? There are a few very large manufacturers who saw all this coming a long time ago and made considerable investment in stock. This strategy can be risky as a misjudged purchase of vast quantities could mean death for a smaller company if they cannot sell it. We also have to consider shelf life of propellant and the complex storage requirements.
Propellants must be stored in a controlled environment and within a licenced building with strict max quantities. Not all companies have vast storage for hazardous goods and many suppliers have no room to keep it on hold. This means that many companies have simply chosen to brave the storm and continue buying as needed. Of course they have not always been able to source the components and materials they have preference for. In some cases they have had to source substandard products such as propellant which is a little beyond its sell by date!
This leads to velocity variations and of course precision issues when it comes to rifle ammunition. I recently cut some 12g carts to inspect them as they were not performing as usual. If found 3 different types of propellant being used. I have also seen a few clay shooters with smoky discharges and furry barrels which says something about the quality of that propellant.. In centrefire the main issue is supply of full build rounds. Some products are just becoming very tough to source. The manufacturers are less likely to push out inaccurate rifle ammo as it will quickly kill their reputation.
How can we mitigate this as sellers and customers? I would suggest buying smaller test batches and testing them yourself as a customer. If you are happy with the result then purchase a bulk from that lot which you know is good. Any good manufacturer will never deviate from their recipe within a lot number, that would make their quality inspection and returns life very difficult. As a retailer you should be asking questions of your suppliers. A good supplier will never be offended by honest sensible questions on this topic. If they are offended that probably tells you something…
We’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic, e-mail your views over to editorial@twsgroup.com
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