78 replies to this topic

[ttownracer]

Roll your own is the only solution, except I failed to anticipate the primer shortage. Only started to reload two years ago. Will try not to let my supply dwindle like this again. Was down to my last 2,000 before one range in town got more in. 2 box max per day.

[Sarge]

Any ideas of what people are doing ?

I vowed to always be prepared after the last shortage. So right now I am loading and shooting as usual. And will be for years to come.

[seanc]

I have about 9k primers left. Bullets are OK for about 6 weeks, and more are in the pipeline, some coming in the next week and more coming in march-early april time frame.

Powder is same story, I will need more.

Basically, enough to get me to the IRC in June. I have backorders in place, but who knows when they will ever arrive.

I saw on a another forum, an dealer had posted message from Federal to the effect that Federal was prioritizing primer production and expected the mfg backlog to be fullfilled by mid-feb and production levels would meet crazy demand.

On an impluse, I bought casting equipment...if it comes down to it, I can cast practice bullets and keep the good stuff for matches.

Primers are a real problem.

[Poppa Bear]

It is a lot about how you buy your supplies. I buy primers by the sleeve. Powder in 4 or 8 lb jugs. Bullets by the case. We have members who announce to the club when they are getting ready to put in an order just so that the expenses can be shared. Our last group buy was over $2,800 worth of powder and primers. If you wanted less than a sleeve you bought from another member or at least agreed up front to split one. By now most of our people have realized that is is better to order another sleeve or two or three when you break open your last sleeve, than to wait until you are down to your last box. I would rather sit on a sleeve for a couple of months because I placed my order early than get stressed out because I am on my last couple of hundred primers and I only placed my order last week.

[anthem]

I usually buy things by the thousands as well. Primers 5000 at a time, etc, etc. I figured the rifle calibers would be problematic and stocked up on 5.56 and 6.5 grendel that I have. Didn't think the reloading primers/powder would be that bad. So yeah, after 2 or so months, am running a bit lower than I am comfortable with. I have quite a few larger orders in with most major suppliers so hopefully i'll get some supplies soon.

The problem is that its not getting some supplies - you need to have /all/ supplies (casing, powder, primer, bullet). If you're missing any, you're dead in the water. So yeah, primers are a bit crazy right now. Just wondering what everyone is doing as I noticed I'm shooting a bit more this year and going through my stock faster. Let's hope this crap resolves itself soon.

[Niceash]

As I am one of the newer USPSA shooters, and did not have a reloading setup, I am at the mercy of the Ammo supply. I have been buying .40cal whenever I come across it, went from $14/50 to $25/50 And from talking to my local Ammo guy, it may be a year before he sees any consistent supply.

I have 1,000 rounds, and unless I can find some in the next couple weeks, I will not be shooting much. I also need to plan for the Area 1 Championship in May.

Crazy, heard a guy today say he may take up Golf again.

[Sarge]

Crazy, heard a guy today say he may take up Golf again.

It could NEVER get that bad!

[Jaxshooter]

Industry rumor is that the primer supply will be back to normal by Mid March. Have not heard about Zero or MG. I am not having any problem with powder. Is anybody unable to get powder other than VV which has always been a problem at times?

[Poppa Bear]

The only problems i have seen with powder are the normal we are out of it right now, check back in a week type. The advantage powder has is the number of brands available, and the fact that for pistol most are good for 1,000+ rounds per pound. Most of us have 3 or 4 different powders we can load up with, so we can usually grab a lb of something else while we wait for the big jug to arrive.

[trodrig]

Industry rumor is that the primer supply will be back to normal by Mid March. Have not heard about Zero or MG. I am not having any problem with powder. Is anybody unable to get powder other than VV which has always been a problem at times?

Viht powders are the only ones that show pretty reasonable stock over at Powder Valley. Lots of Hodgdon, Alliant, Accurate, and IMR and Ramshot varieties are out of stock. It would be nice for the primer supply to stabilize but what I'd really like to see is some rimfire ammo!

[lawboy]

Say what? No ammo, no components? Do you by chance also need oil for your lamp? Some people never learn. MAINTAIN A SUPPLY. Establish a threshold below which you DO NOT GO. Many people use the one-year rule. Me, I have ... enough for a lot longer than that. If you want to shoot, eat beans for six months and buy what you need so you can shoot. If you run out of stuff to shoot blame yourself because it has been widely available for a long time. Nobody even halfway giving a hoot would have ever been caught unawares by this little bubble. And don't even talk about rimfire. There is ZERO reason to ever run low on rimfire. It is so cheap, so widely available, and we all have so many guns that use it. I cannot imagine going below 30K rounds of 22lr. I mean, seriously?

[Poppa Bear]

I do not foresee running out of .22 anytime soon either. I was surprised to find the shelves empty of .22 ammo the last time I was in my local store. I could understand the 9mm, .40 and .223 being out but .22 ammo? COME ON!! have things really gotten that bad??

[lawboy]

We have members who announce to the club when they are getting ready to put in an order just so that the expenses can be shared.

What he said. Our last group buy from Bear Creek was over 100k lbs of bullets. Saved us shipping and got the price down a lot. They dropped the bullets on pallets. There are ways but you have to be willing to spend real money up front. Simple as that. Spend til it hurts.

[a matt]

All good advice, except that golf thing. Just say no!

Edited by a matt, 11 February 2013 - 09:23 PM.

[Steve RA]

100K lbs of bullets is a lot !!! That would be about 2.5 tractor trailer loads.

[pjb45]

I, too, did not anticipate the .22 shortage. I got the 1600 rounds of CCI at Walmart before the craziness. The guy said nobody wanted to shell out $100 for 1600 rounds of .22.

Crapola, I woulda/shoulda/coulda purchased the whole lot.

Powder Valley seems to be the best source of stuff. I just got 500 69gr SMK delivered today. I had to wait a few weeks but no big deal. Shooters Connection sent me 6,000 bullets some weeks back.

[Nimitz]

Just picked up my order of 25,000 9mm 124g plated bullets, I have 9 lbs of powder on hand as well as 3,500 rds of .22; also have 1,000 loaded rds in the box. I have over 15,000 pieces of 9 mm brass and 7,000 223 brass. Unfortunately I only have about 3,400 primers left ... A guy at our club said a friend of his just received his back order of primers from Powder Valley. Don't know when he placed his back order. But at least it appears PV is getting product and starting to fill back orders, hopefully I'm not too far down the list before I run out or I'll be getting really good at US Steel stages ....

[MadMadWorld]

With all this crazy crap going on, I do not think my six month supply was good enough. It sounds like I may have made the same vow you guys have all ready made-never again will I be caught like this. Hopefully everything will stabilize and I will be able to jump my supply up to 18 months out. Primers are the biggest issue around here right now. I actually got laughed at by a local shop when I called them asking about primers.

[jester121]

All good advice, except that golf thing. Just say no!

I believe this advice is also iffy:

If you want to shoot, eat beans for six months and buy what you need so you can shoot.

[outerlimits]

if i don't find rifle powder real soon, there are several big matches i'll have to bail on...this sux...

[motosapiens]

if i don't find rifle powder real soon, there are several big matches i'll have to bail on...this sux...

what powder are you looking for? powder valley has WST, universal and international clays in stock. surely you can come up with a competitive load from one of those.

I've seen 1 lb jars of clays here locally. I would buy a 4lb jug if I found one, but not desperate yet.

[DWFAN]

if i don't find rifle powder real soon, there are several big matches i'll have to bail on...this sux...

what powder are you looking for? powder valley has WST, universal and international clays in stock. surely you can come up with a competitive load from one of those.

I've seen 1 lb jars of clays here locally. I would buy a 4lb jug if I found one, but not desperate yet.

He said rifle powder.

[dcloudy777]

Primers are definitely the sticking point. Bullets, powder, brass.... all these have at least one manufacturer that doesn't also make and sell loaded ammo. But every company that we can get primers from also is an ammo manufacturer... naturally their going to fill "in-house" demand before any other.

[blacklab2011]

I'm a newer shooter just started accumulating reloading components late last year, it's getting down right scary. Bullets should be coming this week, powder is the only thing I'm good on. Been a pain the but to even find 9mm dies. Been shooting factory loads 9mm, my local Fleet Farm who has always had plenty in stock. Went today and they are completely wiped out of 9 and only 4 boxes of .40 in stock. Started asking around they have no idea when they will get more.

Hopefully this will end soon, the newer shooters that have not been through this in the past and haven't had the time to build up an adequate surplus or are depending on factory ammo are going to severely impacted. My guess is the number of new regular shooters will be down.

Please don't make me go back to the golf course, after a year of USPSA it will be such a disappointment.

[johnmac]

if i don't find rifle powder real soon, there are several big matches i'll have to bail on...this sux...

Powder Valley has an extensive selection of VIHTAVUORI powders in stock, including many varieties suitable for rifle. The VIHTAVUORI brand is not cheap, but available if you can deal with the ~ 1 month shipping backlog indicated on PV's home page.

Edited by johnmac, 15 February 2013 - 06:39 PM.