Exactly - we’re over a year into THIS demand boom, and we’ve experienced at least two others in the last decade before this (and more going back in the decades before that)...
When people buy a lot of stuff, there’s less stuff left to buy. As an example, I need lots of 105 Berger Hybrids, but I REALLY just need lots of 6mm bullets suitable for long range. So as I have been unable to find 105 Hybrids, I have bought 200-1000 each of several bullets I would not have otherwise purchased because I know they will suffice to get me through a few matches each, or get me through practice. So anyone looking for 109 hybrids, 110 SMK’s, 112 Match Burners, 108 ELD’s, 110 A-Tips, and a couple others now has ME (and guys like me) standing in their way to find their supply, whereas I was never competition in their supply chain before.
When something is hard to find, people buy more of it when they find it, and they buy competing products they’ve never before purchased when they find them because their primary choice isn’t available. Uncertainty breeds preparation. Those of us who were better prepared beforehand are less concerned than those who weren’t. For example - I’ll make it at least 3 years before I run out of primers, and two years before running out of powder. But I was short on bullets, because 105’s are always in limited supply.
But guess how many 105’s I’m going to buy whenever I can find them available again? Guess how many primers and how many pounds of powder I’m going to need to replace in my inventory once demand starts to slow down and they’re available again? Enough to keep the shortage going on longer, I can tell you that...