News: Skyrocketing Ammunition Demand

Ammunition sales are up significantly as law-abiding citizens reinforce their home-defense supplies during the COVID-19 crisis. Widener’s Reloading & Shooting Supply, an online ammunition retailer, reported roughly twice the sales from Feb. 23 to 25 when compared with the previous year. “It’s clear our customers want to be prepared in a worst-case scenario,” Jacob Long of Widener’s said. 

Ryan Repp, director of content and communications for Brownells, indicated the company experienced something slightly different. “Our ammo sales are up a few points, but our emergency food and survival supplies sales are trending up higher even than ammo.”

Sales haven’t slowed, either. The National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers reported that ammunition sales doubled in one week during March—going from $9.9 million to $18.6 million. The industry is working tirelessly to meet the demand.

SIG Sauer Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President of Commercial Sales Tom Taylor said the company is working non-stop to fill orders. Nathan Robinson, marketing manager at Olin (Winchester Ammunition) stated, “Like many manufacturers in the shooting sports industry, we are experiencing an extremely high demand for our products. We are continuing to manufacture and ship our high-quality products on a daily basis.”