Saturday, March 15, 2014

If you use Russian or Ukrainian ammo . . .


In the light of the Ukraine crisis, I won't be in the least surprised to find that either the US administration imposes restrictions on the import of Russian-bloc ammunition as part of wider economic sanctions, and/or that Russia restricts the export of such ammo.  Even if no actual restrictions are imposed in the short term, finding ways to get ammo from there to here might become problematic if the Black Sea turns into a conflict zone.

That means if you use low-cost Russian- or Ukrainian-sourced ammo (including brand names like Barnaul, Brown Bear, Golden Bear, Golden Tiger, Silver Bear, Tula and Wolf) in any caliber (but particularly former standard cartridges of the Soviet Union) you might find it hard to get supplies at all, let alone at a reasonable price.  You might want to buy some while it's still available.  (I just ordered another case to augment my stash - a number of Internet suppliers still have it in stock.)  For that matter, considering how those of us with reserve ammo supplies found them worth several times what we'd paid for them during the most recent panic, this might be a good time to add to your reserves of 'trade goods'.

Just sayin' . . .

Peter

9 comments:

  1. Peter,
    I don't use Russian or Ukrainian ammo. I have found that the Russian ammo is dirty and has very inconsistent quality control, and I didn't find the Ukrainian varieties much better. This said, if there is a decrease in the availability of these, then I will be competing with everyone else for the ammo I DO use. Either way the difficulties in Ukraine spell shorter supplies and higher expense with regard to ALL ammo.
    Best wishes,

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  2. Sold 700 round of Wolf and Bear for 20 cents a round the other day. Guy seemed to think he was getting a pretty good deal.

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  3. We don't buy Russian ammo, either. Sometimes it goes bang and sometimes it doesn't. We saw the writing on the wall a few years back and stocked up. Now we are just sitting tight.

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  4. I bought a few hundred rounds from a guy at less than he paid retail. Turns out he was leaving the US to go to India of all places to escape the economic crisis that is coming and couldn't take his weapon.

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  5. @Old NFO: Yes, it is. Thanks for reminding me. I've added it to the list of brand names.

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  6. Posts that say, "there's no reason to panic, but buy all you can," are what starts panics...

    Just sayin'.

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  7. My understanding is that much of the "Russian" ammo is manufactured in facilities in Romania and the like. So no worries about lack of export if they shut off the Russian border.

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