A number of blogs and conspiracy theory sites are making claims that Russian rifle ammunition supplies may dry up nearly overnight:

The largest wholesale gun & ammo distributors in the US have informed us in private conversation today that a massive scramble is on for all 7.62 as Russia has reportedly halted all exports to the US of Russian made ammunition.

Our distributor source informed us that yesterday they had several hundred thousand rounds of Russian made 7.62 TulAmmo, and after receiving word early today on the halt of Russian exports to the US, they have been completely wiped out of every last round in the past 10 hours!

This claim is news to TulAmmo. We called Tula USA moments ago, and they are reporting that it is “business as usual,” in their office. Bearing Arms also spoke to several distributors who also said that they are not scrambling for ammo as the various blog posts indicate. None of the distributors we talked to report having heard of any credible information that the Russians would stop the export of ammunition.

Put simply, this is a claim without any substance, and ff looked at dispassionately as a logical matter, the rumored “reverse boycott” makes no sense at all.

Russian companies have ammunition that it wants to sell to U.S. consumers, and the dollars Americans spend on Russian ammunition helps support the Russian economy. Why would Putin make such a decision, if that decision has no upside for Russia? If Vladimir Putin actually wanted to irritate the Obama Administration, he’d actually increase arms and ammunition exports to the United States, while cutting prices.

Over at The Bang Switch, MAC is also trying to talk sense to a panic-prone market.

Wanting to get the scoop straight for the horses mouth, I called the owner of Wolf Ammo (which is an American company by the way) this morning to see what I could find out about the status of imports. I was told that ammo is “on the water”, as are VEPR AK’s, and is headed towards the United States as I type this. I was also told that they have heard no news from Russia that their export agreements have been canceled or otherwise impeded.

Wolf imports ammo from a number of countries including Germany, Taiwan and Serbia — not just Russia. I was informed their corporate planning includes contingencies for events such as what’s currently transpiring in Russia. In short, they assured me that ammo will flow to the U.S. as Russia isn’t the only source of affordable x39 ammo in the world. Wolf isn’t going to close up shop should Putin halt ammo exports, they’ll simply source it elsewhere.

Don’t waste your money panic-buying, folks.