Reloading Components

[badbear]

Hi All,
   Is it just me getting old and suspicious, or are other things at work. I have handloaded since I was 18 and am now 58. I have owned guns since I was 14 years old. The last couple of years have been the strangest in my lifetime. We went through the "unable to get ammo phase", where no one had any ammo for sale and if they did it cost a fortune. I saw one dealer cutting boxes of 38spl. ammo in half and selling what had been a $15 box of ammo for $28 a half box.
  We then went through the "Hoarding" phase where dealers would get in a few cases of ammo and people who could afford it, purchased everything by the case loads. That left nothing for the people who could not afford more than a box or two.
   We have evidently gone into a "no reloading component" phase now. I went out in search of some reloading brass this past week. I had started to run low on some and needed to restock my supplies. My local dealer who wholesales all over the U.S. was out of .243, .22 hornet, 7X57, 22-250, 220 swift and almost anything else except 5.56, 308 and 30-06. Powders were the same story. I then started checking four other places that sell reloading stuff. To my surprise none of them had anything. I finally resorted to the internet and found dealer after dealer listing listing out of stock. I finally located two of the rounds I wanted and ordered a few hundred of each. I even tried a large reseller of used brass, same story. What is happening to the industry that they are not producing brass for the American public when there is a demand for it. One has to wonder if it is a way of getting rid of guns by eliminating ammo for them. Most new sales of guns now are for military rifles and handguns chambered for the 5.56 and .45acp and .40 cal. This started the day after the Presidental election. I know I work in a sporting goods store. I guess my point is getting rid of ammo and components for what has been the standard rifle and pistol rounds for the past fifty years. Then ban sales of ammo for military surplus type rounds and you have disarmed the country by going around the barn.

[badbear]

TMZ,
   I did not know that, but thanks for info. I do know that the day after the Presidental election we had customers lined up waiting for us to open, to buy military style assault rifles and ammo. We had people buying them at $1700 ea. and up. They wiped us out on ammo that morning. This trend continued for almost a year, with many returning every two weeks or so buying more. Had to stop laways and could not keep up with the demand.
  Sales of what normally would have been some of our best sellers in used and new rifles sat gathering dust. Ammo demand for them during the past two hunting seasons has become non existant. A normal hunting season would have meant selling two cases of 30/06 and that much or more of 30/30. Sales actually were more like half dozen boxes of each if that much. Trade ins of the bolt guns got to the point I hated to tell a person what we could pay them, due to no sales of them. We finally started refusing many trade in offers.
  I know there are a few fortunate people who had enough money to stockpile a lot of ammo. But most who purchased a case or two did not resist the urge to take a hundred rounds out every few weekends and crank it off. If the supply of ammo was cut off on military overruns and surplus sales and import bans or increased taraffs imposed on stuff from Russia right now there would be a lot of gun owners who would still have the right to bear arms but have have nothing to put in them. When you cannot find brass easily for a 22-250 without paying $50 or more per 100 something is bad wrong, and the excuse that there is such a demand for scrap brass does not prove out. Brass does not bring $50 for two or three pounds.

[DakotaElkSlayer]

  Yes, it is a conspiracy...between the firearms industry and the NRA.  It was the NRA that spread rumors around election time that Obama was going to take your guns.  Anyone with a brain knew that the "gun grab" was totally dead politically...Al Gore losing his home state showed the country that.  Sad thing is, many gun owners seemed to have left their brains at home and began to hoard shells and buying TACTICAL firearms.  This DEMAND limited availability and people were happily gouged by many gunshops.
  Now, there seems to be a shortage of some hunting brass...  Hmmm....maybe it is due to the high demand for 5.56, 308, etc. which had manufacturers churning that out around the clock at the cost of traditional hunting calibers.  So, if you were one of those guys who went out and bought everything you could get your hands on, you have yourself to blame.
  Buy a little now everytime you go to the store....  Come the next election, you will once again hear how Obama is going to tax, outlaw, etc. everything in the shooting world.  Again, the village idiots will hit the shelves and drive up the prices once again...

Jim

[Pat/Rick]

Dakota, excellent advice, buy some every payday, (along with extras for the pantry). I started doing that during bush II's last term. I have an acceptable reserve of hunting ammo and since i was collecting mosin nagants I amassed an acceptable reserve of that flavor only to see it darn near double in price. The only real pinch I felt was in .357 magnum. I still buy a little every month. When I couldn't find modern ammo during the crunch, I took the opportunity to stock up on blackpowder supplies. I need to start reloading and have alot of once fired brass. After the garage is built I'll start on components. Well, I may get the place fenced first, and a chicken house built. 

[DakotaElkSlayer]

  Good for you, Pat!  You see, I am the last to believe all this BS about the government doing this and that, but I am CHEAP!  I started buying .22 shells at Walmart back when they JUMPED up to $8.96 for 550 rounds.  I knew the price was going up, it had to, so I kept buying a box everytime I went there.
  Buddy, START RELOADING!!!  Be economical with it and try to buy LEE everything...  Lee is real good stuff and a fraction of the price of the stuff in green boxes.  Reloading is simple, fun, economical, and give you a real feeling of satisfaction when your handload performs EXACTLY how you want it. 

Jim

[mrcooper]

Saw Hittlery, shuller, finestine, boxer and reed talking about they could do nothing about the guns because of that damn constitution, but they can take the ammo away from us, so it will be gone soon