Panic buying, components, and presses

[Poppa Bear]

Just trying to get a general feel for what is going on out there relative to the overall shortages being experienced right now.

Something I did not pay attention to the last time we had a major run on components 4 years ago was the availability of presses. I saw the shortage of components but that did not last long as I recall. By the summer of 2009 most things were readily available again. What if anything happened with presses? was there a major run on them at the same time? I do not recall Dillon, Lee, Hornady etc... being seriously backlogged in 2009. Now Dillon is at a 6 to 8 weeks on their orders. All those new presses are going to put a serious dent into the available components through the next year. If the component suppliers do not increase production this could be a long term drought just because of all the new people getting into reloading. It is very much a case of supply and demand and all of those new presses are going to create a much bigger demand.

[Steve RA]

Or there will be a glut of them on Craigslist and E-Bay !!! Let's hope !!!

[Poppa Bear]

It could be but of late I have seen a lot of who always shot factory ammo who have now taken up with reloading. A big part to many of them was the increased cost of factory ammo. Dropping $80 to $100 on factory ammo just to get through a couple of matches was starting to price them out of the sport. Dropping the same amount just to go to the range a couple of times worked the same way.

Stopping at one of my local stores, it is not just AR's that are flying out the doors. The overall selection of guns is way down. Keeping all of those new guns fed is going to take a lot of ammo. I talked to a few people who said that with the price of ammo, they decided to just order a press to keep their new pistols fed.

[ipscjoe]

I see it another way. People are buying up stuff they don't need because there is high demand in hopes of selling for a profit. It's even on here. I've seen more " I ordered this and now I want to sell" (for the "going rate" of course) lately than ever. I just bought a set of dillon dies off eBay and paid about 20 bucks more they cost. The guy had them at 114 bucks obo. And he had 3 sets new of them (38/357). Who the heck buys three sets of the same dies if not to sell them. I negotiated finally to 80 bucks and that was too much.

Edited March 3, 2013 by ipscjoe

[Steve RA]

I'd assume that a lot of the new gun buyers won't be joining some shooting organization and burning a lot of ammo. I know a lot of people who own guns that never - well, almost never - shoot them. Most of the hunters I know - other than bird hunters - probably won't shoot a box of rifle ammo in two or three years, including the shot or two at the start of the season to see if it will still go bang and shoot about where it did for the last 10 or 15 years.

[Poppa Bear]

It might be just a new fad type of thing. We are seeing a lot of new shooters at the range for open shooting, and our USPSA numbers are up. A lot of people with new guns that never owned one before last fall. The big sellers at the gun stores locally are the AR's, tactical shotguns, and pistols. Exclude the hunting handguns and they could easily put all of the remaining pistols into one case. They did not have a single Glock in the case.

We will really see what is going on in a couple of weeks. When Congress reconvenes and IF most major gun control gets shot down, we will see how many are buying to profit and how many are buying because they now see the need to own them.

[Nebwake]

Yep, I can't wait for these knuckleheads to start selling off their purchases! Prices are already starting to come down on some things around here and supply is increasing. You still can't find ammo but even AR's are in stock. The bad thing is that I an find primers, powder and brass but bullets are tough. I have an order for a case of 9mm at grafs and MG but who knows when that will ship.

[BobS761]

I'm in the new hand loader group. Factory ammo is just way too expensive. We shoot pretty casually, and I still figure between my family of four, at least 10K rounds this summer. Even casting bullets, that's 250 pounds of lead I have to find, and safely melt down.

B

[Jaxshooter]

I have read numerous posts regarding the order dates vs delivery dates from Dillon on machines. I pulled an old invoice on a 650 that I purchased in 2009. I received the macine approximately 10 days from order date. I did not think there was a problem with machines the last time like there is now. Are that many people gettting into reloading because they think the factory ammo is going to be harder to purchase?

[Poppa Bear]

I do not think it is the harder to purchase as much as it is the increased expense. I still buy some ammo, but it is all self defense stuff for pistols and shotguns. The hunting, plinking, and competition stuff is all handloads.

I have ammo cans of 5.56 that I thought was spendy at $320 per K from several years ago, I could get 250 packs of 40 for less than $50, and WWB 9mm was around $15. Now you cannot even come close to those prices.

[kita]

I called Dillon to order parts for the 650 last month, and was on hold for 10 nonconsecutive hours in a 24-hour period. They have always been great about answering immediately and speedy shipping in the past. There is definitely a change.

[Buzi]

At a gunshow in Pasadena TX this weekend I saw signs of hope and change all over the place .. cough.

On one hand I noticed the typical ammos sellers that showed up at that particular show had lower prices overall on many

cartridge calibers than say the crazy insane highs I saw the month prior. Talkin bout say 357 mag, 45 acp and the like. Still higher than say

prices from fall of 2012, like double but not 3 to 4 times as high.

ANother indicator of hope and change was I actually saw AR15 style magazines for less than 60 dollars. Some as low as 35. Saw

some what I assume to be Chinese knock off Magpuls being offered for 40 bucks. That is all down from the 90 dollar Magpuls I saw

2 months and 3 months ago.

However, here is a wild kicker. I did manage to spot 4 vendors selling bricks of 22 LR ammo. With real boolits not 22 bird shot.

Some weird brands I never had heard of before, some the standard brands one see.s

Price per brick? 90 to 120 bucks for 500.

It was not some exotic ammo. Just said 22LR high velocity and or standard.

I enjoyed that much. I also saw a lot of Joe Biden Specials. Quite a few vendors had these awesome home defense weapons.

Short barrel side by side 12 gauge with real honest to god 1895 style cocking hammers on them. Joe Biden approved. Cheap too.

The one vendor that usually shows up with reloading stuff, again was just about of all powder and what few primers they had

were gone within hours. I snarfed a 1k box of large pistol magnums for 30 bucks. Not because I needed them so much as I decided

I better buy em now and stash for if I do decide I need them. Last box of those she had.

If ya wanted shot shell primers though, you were in the pink.

So, there is a lot of hope and change still.

(you hear the haunting sound of Vincent Price cackling laughter in the background. You fail to spot the Grue under the nearby stuffed chair...)

[pdogg]

Ugh, I didn't realize that reloading would be affected like this. Was reloading impacted this bad 4 years ago? How long did it take to recover? All I have to say is be careful with Cabelas. Ordered materials on two different occasions and 90% of my order was automatically canceled and I was left paying $29 shipping on a $32 box of primers. :\.

[Poppa Bear]

Components were lacking 4 years ago but like I remembered and as others have also posted, presses were not as hot of a commodity as they are now. That is why I think the recovery will be much slower this time. More people buying up the components.

[JLB-US]

I snarfed a 1k box of large pistol magnums for 30 bucks. Not because I needed them so much as I decided

I better buy em now and stash for if I do decide I need them.

Not knocking you at all understand, but when this stops is when things will get back to normal, and not before.

[Nebwake]

Yea, the problem isnt really the guys that have been shooting and reloading for 20 years though, we all tend to always have ammo and componants on hand. I like to have 2x what I plan on shooting per year on hand in case times like this happen. I have still been replenishing my stock as I shoot it though and that has been a PITA. The kick in the shorts are guys that go out and buy a gun then all the damn ammo their CC can hold just because. Go to a cabellas sometime when they actually have ammo. They will cart out a pallet and leave it in the isle.... The sight is reminicant of a U.N. rice distro site in Somalia circa 1993...

[Flexmoney]

Who the heck buys three sets of the same dies if not to sell them.

I have a couple setups for 45 for my 650. I came to them through other deals.

[technetium-99m]

I just bought an open gun and had 1/2 case of 124's. I got one more and then bullets became non available. Now I have 4-5 months of bullets and am hoping supply comes back before then. Past that I've got backorders in with a few places and am waiting.

The component shortage was no where near this bad last time.

[paraman1]

I know a lot of the local guys who used to buy a couple months worth of components are attempting to purchase a year or two worth of stuff just to make sure they don't get caught without anything if things don't get better . Couple that with the fact that a lot of stuff is getting bought up by manufacturers so the overall amount thats available is less . I know that the pulled bullets and pulldown powders that were everywhere not that long ago are being bought up by the truckload by companies loading remanufactured ammo . The last thing killing us is obviously all the people running out and buying a new gun and 5-10 boxes of ammo for said firearm which is wiping out factory ammo supplies.

[okieSteve]

I just started shooting USPSA about a year ago, old guy that didn't own a sem-auto pistol til I was 52. Found out I like shooting matches and after shooting over 4k rounds last year I had already decided that I wanted to reload and try to shoot more matches.

Just bad timing for me in a new sport. I've got my 550 setup and going with enough components for 2k, and have orders in the pipe for more primers, powder, and projectiles. I need to buy in bigger bulk quantities, but funds dictate that.

[outerlimits]

PV shipped 10k WSR and a bunch of powder! They are getting thru tge BO!