I picked a fine time to get suckered into trying Cowboy Action Shooting. Matches hosted by SASS (Single Action Shooting Society) clubs generally have shooting stages which require single-action revolvers and lever-action rifles in pistol caliber (as well as a double-barrel shotgun. You can visit their web site http://www.sassnet.com/ and click on the handbook link for detailed firearm requirements and specifications). A typical match involves 100 or more rounds of pistol/rifle ammo and with the Obama anti-gun administration threatening gun and ammunition manufacturers with proposed legislation, people are scarfing all they can from gun dealers shelves as soon as it arrives.

My SA revolver is a .44 Mag, which I can use by shooting .44 Special ammo in. I managed to obtain a lever-action rifle in .44Mag/Special and a shotgun, so that isn't a problem, but the difficulty is in obtaining .44 Special ammo. Revolver and rifle ammunition may not be jacketed, semi-jacketed, plated, gas checked, or copper washed. It must be all lead.

Several companies make "cowboy-friendly" ammo, but with the rumors of a proposed law requiring bullets to have serial numbers, everyone who owns a .44 Magnum has bulked up their stash of .44 Mag ammo and then scarfed up the .44 Special ammo once the Magnum rounds were all sold.

To further compound the problem, the ammunition industry is faced with a lose-lose situation. Even if they pay overtime to employees, they can only crank out a limited increase in product, and they have to raise prices to cover the overtime payroll. In this shaky economy, they are reluctant to hire more employees and expand their facilities, because either of two eventual outcomes would make that unprofitable.

The first possibility is that the bad laws will not get passed, and sooner or later all the gun buyers will have accumulated enough ammo to satisfy their worries (or spent all they can afford on stockpiling) and sales will go down. That will leave new employees to lay off (and unemployment costs to meet) and equipment to pay off.

The other possibility is that the bad ammunition laws will get passed and meeting the requirements will make ammo too expensive to sell to the public. That will leave new and long-time employees to lay off (and even more unemployment costs to meet) and equipment to pay off.

I was planning to use the non-reloadable aluminum-cased ammunition as I don't intend to reload my own ammo. I know it saves money, but I tried reloading years ago and found it to be an unsatisfying chore, rather than an interesting hobby. Even if I were inclined to reload my own ammunition, there is a shortage of components due to concerned shooters stocking up on bullets, primers, powder and cases.

I suppose I can't blame the politicians for being anti-gun. After decades of tearing down the Union, denying Justice, disrupting domestic Tranquility, abusing the honor of those who serve in our military to provide for our common defense, and stealing from funds for the general Welfare, they probably fear that sooner or later enough citizens are going to tire of the voting sheep who continually re-elect the Democratic and Republican party toadies and the people will take their guns to Washington and Madison and secure their Blessings of Liberty the old-fashioned way.

In the mean time, I'm scrounging for for ammunition.