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When supplies run out?


TANFARM

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I doubt this is the correct section for this but.....what are your thought on the current reloading supply crisis for Open shooters or competitive shooters in general??

i used to practice quite a bit , but even with what I consider semi-ample supply stores I see no light at the end of the tunnel.

we have several shooters in our small club that have simply stopped shooting for recreation. No blame intended....just a concern about the future of the average Joe shooter!

Thanks.

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Shoot less, but make them count more. Don't rush out and buy stores entire stock, you should have already had at least something stocked up. Panic buying is a self feeding spiral.

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I would say start casting too, but I know good lead is getting harder to find, and more expensive. I've got a powdercoated cast load that makes major in 9. But for now I pretty much just shoot cast and save my jacketed bullets for my open gun since I don't have a suitable mold for it

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I dont get the powder, bullet, and primer shortage. I mean only a small percent of shooters reload. I bet the vast majority that buy bulk supplies are co0mpetitive shooter. There really isnt that many of  us in the grand scheme of things. I can see factory ammo shortages but bulk hardcast bullets and reloading powders ? 

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34 minutes ago, Joe4d said:

I dont get the powder, bullet, and primer shortage. I mean only a small percent of shooters reload. I bet the vast majority that buy bulk supplies are co0mpetitive shooter. There really isnt that many of  us in the grand scheme of things. I can see factory ammo shortages but bulk hardcast bullets and reloading powders ? 

There are a zillion small commercial loaders that are grabbing up primers and powder and jacketed bullets. And by small, that can mean hundreds of thousands to a million rounds a year in some calibers.   I had no idea how many there were until I started selling high-capacity case-gauges. 

 

You can get sort of an idea by looking at Starline's drum-discount and custom-headstamp quantities and the breakpoints on bulk bullet prices from various suppliers.

 

When the ammo surge started, they all ordered more components at the same time as the big ammo makers started allocating more components to ammo production than for resale.

 

 

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If I get down to having only 1,000 rounds of a caliber I compete with I will stop competing entirely. I shoot for fun and the competition aspect mostly. Dozens of other hobbies I can take up instead. I do not equate my ability to compete in matches, due to a lack of ammo supplies, to a decrease in my support for gun rights.

 

I would rather not compete than waste even more money on it or only shoot matches and not be able to train at all.

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I dont get the powder, bullet, and primer shortage. I mean only a small percent of shooters reload. I bet the vast majority that buy bulk supplies are co0mpetitive shooter. There really isnt that many of  us in the grand scheme of things. I can see factory ammo shortages but bulk hardcast bullets and reloading powders ? 

Kind of answered your own question.

 

Reloaders, even the big one, account for such a small percentage of the market that all the manufacturers have turned to the higher profit margin completed ammo.

 

There has never been been a surge like this in modern history for guns and ammo. Records continue to be set and crushed on almost a weekly basis. All the production capacity is going towards producing finished ammo at this point.

 

The corona plandemic buying frenzy, combined with endless wars, and damn near every single government agency being armed and needing ammo, has led to the perfect storm of a situation that we now find ourselves in.

 

 

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Bayou bullets, SNS, Frontier, Precision, and on and on the names we see here,, ARNT selling bulk cast bullets to ammo manufacturers. 

Correct. I was speaking more to your powder and primer question.

 

That being said they are subject to the same supply lines for raw materials. Which obviously are being crushed with demand and other extraneous forces.

 

All the bullet companies we typically buy from probably run on pretty thin margins and are relatively small companies. I’m guessing in normal times that they are running pretty close to max production in order to maximize profit and minimize cost. Not tough to see demand outstripping production capability pretty quick all things considered.

 

Factor in delivery issues discussed in other posts and here we are.

 

 

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14 hours ago, Joe4d said:

I dont get the powder, bullet, and primer shortage. I mean only a small percent of shooters reload. I bet the vast majority that buy bulk supplies are co0mpetitive shooter. There really isnt that many of  us in the grand scheme of things. I can see factory ammo shortages but bulk hardcast bullets and reloading powders ? 

If manufacturers of finished ammo are "cashing in" on the feeding frenzy then the components go to their assembly lines. 

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Reality is Primer production is limited even in normal times... Vista outdoor controls 70% +/- of the primer capacity in the US (federal & CCI) Winchester has been on a downward spiral in quality and capacity for several years and now has to manage Lake City as the new contract administrator stretching their administrative capacity.. Remington is bankrupt, ammo side has an offer to buy out for $65mil + assumption of debt, that leaves huge questions on the supply chain of raw materials for any new owners of Remington ammo.

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12 minutes ago, AverageJoeShooting said:

correct.  its a small supply but I'm hoping after November is over things will go back to normal

I sure hope so too but am skeptical that will “fix” it. We shall see regardless. 

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I have enough loaded 9mm major rounds to compete through Feb/Mar if I don't shoot a lot in practice.  I have enough 9mm minor loads for SCSA through the end of the year.  Same with PCC 9mm.  After that, I don't know.  If I can score some primers I'm okay.  If not, it's either learn to knit or shoot SFRO and RFPO in SCSA until this nonsense is resolved.

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12 minutes ago, zzt said:

I have enough loaded 9mm major rounds to compete through Feb/Mar if I don't shoot a lot in practice.  I have enough 9mm minor loads for SCSA through the end of the year.  Same with PCC 9mm.  After that, I don't know.  If I can score some primers I'm okay.  If not, it's either learn to knit or shoot SFRO and RFPO in SCSA until this nonsense is resolved.

Good plan and attitude. I have 10k .22 and a new Scorpion with red dot so that’s an option. 

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