Hornady is a good outfit
I respect what Hornady is doing, they have always been an up front outfit. I have been loading Hornady bullets for over fifty years, followed by Speer, Remington, and Nosler. Hornady has made good bullets, and improved their designs over the years. They expanded into the loaded ammunition business and I think reloading tools came later when they bought out Pacific.
A quick check yesterday disclosed that one dealer had one box or .284 diameter Speer bullets, and a few boxes of Barnes .22 diameter bullets. A check on the Internet shows that dealers are backordered on Remington, Winchester, Hornady, Speer, and Sierra bullets. The basic cup and core bullets are in short supply. It appears the more expensive bullets can be found.
The availability of reloading tools is a mixed big. I was in a shop yesterday that had a few low demand dies sets, but no presses, scales, or trimmers. Online resources stock levels seem to very day to day. It is good to known that Hornaday has some tools, Midway shows a lot of Hornady tools out of stock.
How do you sort out the Whiner from a true loader and purchaser of component on a regular bases. A friend has been doing a lot of complaining, but he does not own a reloading tool. He has preferred buying his ammunition. I have taught him to load at my bench and he is more than happy to shoot any ammunition given to him. He has not taken his rifle out and shot it in a number of years. To hear him complain you would think that he loads a lot of ammunition. The bottomline is that he likes to complain. I place him in the Archie Bunker school of thought and action. In fact I told him to go home the other day because I had loading to do.
Hornady like GE is in business to make a profit. The key to Hornady is that it has always been serving sportsmen. In recent years it has been a leader in the development of new cartridges along with Marlin and Ruger.
Did the industry think the election like Christmas would generate an increase in sales? Did their crystal ball predict the outcome of the election, the reaction to the election, and current economic situation? Let us not forget the impact of two wars, and the demands for raw material that China, and India have on critical materials the last few years. The demand has been so great that the theft of copper from work sites, schools, and other business has over whelmed law enforcement. Communities have suffered the loss of electricity because thieves have stolen cooper components. Had reloaders reduced their purchases of bullets because of the increase cost of copper before the panic of 2008?
This current situation started reaching the critical point just after Christmas.
If I was not such a tight wad, and had a better crystal ball I would have bought a few pounds of powder 12-months ago. We had warning signs earlier because of the cooper shortage, and the large military orders for small arms ammunition. Our first clear warning came on 9/11/2001. We have had a lot of time to stock up, but many of us failed to do so. If buying components on the civilian market had increased steadily manufacturing capability would have increase with the demand. I have read about the shortage of civilian ammunition and components during WWII. More than one home bullet maker was using empty 22-rimfire cases to make small caliber jackets.
Manufactures normally base production on passed history and best estimate of the future market place. Few predicted the current buying spree in a failing economy.
I want consistency and precision in my bullets. I am sure that Hornady wants to provide the consumer with bullets that are consistent and precision.
I know from experience that it takes time to hire new employees and train them. You can expect some to fail drug test, or leave the job in a short time. In an industry where people are working extra shifts, and weekends many 9-to 5 types jump ship. Before adding employees you need floor space and equipment for them to produce the product. It takes time to do this. If you are looking for skilled employees it gets tougher, and I suspect that in Grand Island with an unemployment rate far below the national average, and a relative small population recruiting the right skill set can be tough. Just because a guy likes to shoot bullets does not make him a bullet maker or a skilled worker. I think that it is difficult to launch major growth in a short period of time.
Judging the future market is tougher, if you were a jobber would you ship a half a million dollars worth of merchandise to businesses on the verge or bankruptcy? When businesses owe millions of dollars more than they have on hand, manufactures cannot afford to front them the products. They will be lucky to get a few cents on the dollar in bankruptcy.
I blame myself for any shortage of bullets, powder, primer, and cases I have. I stopped and stare at the components on dealers shelves and offered on the internet. If I was decisive and bought those two jugs of powder and I would be in great shape, now. Rather than wallow in pity, and cry in my powder blaming the other guy I will take the blame for not acting.
