Grendel Steelcase Ammo Update

[BluntForceTrauma]

At SHOT Show 2022 I talked with Wolf Ammo and another distributor for Barnaul (who manufacturs 6.5 Grendel steel-case ammo for Wolf, who is the importer).

The Barnaul rep said that the ban on Russian ammo is gonna take effect within 20–24 months, with those with Form 6 import papers already filed being grandfathered in. She was very doubtful about future importation of Russian ammo — even if the political situation changes — because of bureaucratic inertia and political expediency.

The Wolf rep said that the plant is running out of the powder used in their 6.5 Grendel steel-case, and since the import ban is looming, anyway, they'll probably not bother to source more, and supplies could dry up by summer.

So this is problematic.

I went and bit the bullet and bought two cases of Wolf 6.5 Grendel from SGAmmo at — Gawd help me! — $0.66 each (was $0.25 each in its heyday). SWORE to myself that this ammo craziness would pass and there was NO WAY I was gonna be raped by these prices. Well, it's not lookin' good....

Not gonna tell you guys what to do, but the Wolf rep seemed pretty confident this was the end of the road for Russian 6.5 Grendel steel-case for the foreseeable future.

On the other hand, chatted with Barnaul themselves directly — not one of their distributors — and they didn't mention anything about shortages or the ban. Not, however, that I would expect them to divulge that kind of thing.

Really need the U.S. ammo industry to step up and find a way — using steel-case or polymer — to manufacture consumable ammo at about $0.25/per.