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View Poll Results: How long can you shoot at the same rate as today if you could not buy anymore powder?

Voters
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  • Less than 1 year

    27 4.86%
  • 1 year

    29 5.23%
  • 2 years

    64 11.53%
  • 3-5 years

    154 27.75%
  • 5-10 years

    105 18.92%
  • 10+ years

    176 31.71%
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Thread: How long before you ran out.

  1. #21
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    MrWolf's Avatar
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    I put down 5-10. I have some cross platform powders so I guess it depends on what I am shooting.

  2. #22
    Boolit Master
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    I said 3-5 years, but that is just a guess.

    At 6,000 rounds of various handgun loads each year, I think I have enough of various powders to last more than 2 years, but my son and a friend shoot more handloads at an alarming rate, so it is possible that I will have to start using my "strategic" reserve sooner rather than later.

    Of course, I am continuing to stockpile powder, primers and commercial cast and jacketed bullets, so hopefully I will be able to increase my supplies to stretch well into my retirement(which should begin in about 2 years when I turn 62).

    I be a lot more confident about the powder situation when I can put an 8lb keg of my most used handgun powders (Unique, 2400, Bullseye, Blue Dot and maybe a couple others) in reserve.
    I have over 16k primers on hand and want to get to 30K, so I have a little way to go in that regard.

  3. #23
    Boolit Master nanuk's Avatar
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    I haven't been able to shoot anything today
    I am ONLY responsible for what I Say!
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  4. #24
    Boolit Buddy 18Bravo's Avatar
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    Probably around 5 years. However the last two or three years would have to be rifle only since that seems to be the powders I have the most of.

  5. #25
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    If they stopped selling powder then I would likewise severely limit my shooting and take up fishing. That being said, then my powder supply will last forever.

  6. #26
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    I said 5-10 but of course that's if I used all the pistol powders regardless if the powder produces the best accuracy. A while back I tried to calculate how many pounds of each powder for each handgun I needed to last a lifetime and of course came up with vastly different amounts. I go through IMR 4227, H110, and 2400 the fastest so I'll need the most of those. I believe a lb of Bullseye will last me three lifetimes on the other hand. I think I'm set on black powder since I can only go through round balls about as fast as old people %^&*. I managed to acquire all the cases I'll ever need for the rest of my life but I ain't there yet on powder, primers, and lead alloys. My goal is to get what I need to last me till I'm about 80 at the current rate I shoot so I don't ever have to worry about shortages again in the future. By the time I'm 80 I probably won't remember how to shoot so I don't worry about after that. I hate it when you can't get components.

  7. #27
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    alrighty's Avatar
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    I am at ease , I am sure I have five years at least.Sadly though I don't have any green bullets nor enough powder if this zombie apocalypse thing I keep hearing about happens.
    If you are unwilling to defend even your own lives, then you are like mice trying to 'negotiate' with owls. You regard their ways as 'wrong', they regard you as dinner. John Farnam

  8. #28
    Boolit Buddy dakota's Avatar
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    The trouble is I want to use new powders and I'd like to get my hands on some 8 pounders of certain powders. I have plenty of H335 for instance, but am lacking in other areas. But I could use a different rifle to get by with the powders I have perhaps quite a while. But I may not have the best powder for what I want to shoot... Maybe 10+ years if I'm careful

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  9. #29
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    115 pounds as of today.

  10. #30
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    My goal is not to stockpile powder so i can stare at it and get warm fuzzys. My goal is to have enough powder/primers/lead so that if i lose my job, become disabled or the economy crashes i can feed myself and my wife for the foreseeable future without panic. Its why i stopped most specialty powder purchases and concentrated on general purpose powder to feed all of my guns if i have to.

    Heaven forbid we have another attack but if we do watch the government to turn its eyes to gunpowder purchases
    Last edited by jonp; 01-30-2015 at 06:42 PM.
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  11. #31
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    p.s.

    to what jonp. said above...

    all my powder is general purpose powder meant to feed 8 handguns and 2 more on the way.
    the warm fuzzy i get is that i didn't pay premium prices, i have enough now to pass on as an inheritance so that the gov't eyes won't watch them.
    and i'll get to shoot all i want.

    spent 2 years accumulating reloading gear that works for me...and now
    thats bought...i'll turn my attention to...

    my next warm fuzzy will be lead...as i only have 700 pounds and 400 of that is lino.


    then again...(i just did the math)....that powder will last 20 years shooting 24 shots per day .

    thats one per hour for every hour for 20 years...........hmmm?....! .....need more powder!
    about 49 times that above!

    so i can shoot a box per hour!
    Last edited by mozeppa; 01-30-2015 at 10:19 AM.

  12. #32
    Boolit Bub bdecker9's Avatar
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    I have a lb or two that have light charge rates, and 9mm don't take much so if I had to, could make a long time, but I get such a rush from pulling the triggers that a lb don't last that long.

  13. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by mozeppa View Post
    115 pounds as of today.
    So what's your local fire code? Just wondering because in a lot of areas that's not proper storage.

    It amazes me that people post quantities of what they have. I lost all mine in a tragic boating accident.

  14. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by dragon813gt View Post
    So what's your local fire code? Just wondering because in a lot of areas that's not proper storage.

    It amazes me that people post quantities of what they have. I lost all mine in a tragic boating accident.
    Wow, that sucks. Why did you have all of your powder in a boat with you? Are you in the Merchant Marine?
    I Am Descended From Men Who Would Not Be Ruled

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  15. #35
    Boolit Master AnthonyB's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dragon813gt View Post
    So what's your local fire code? Just wondering because in a lot of areas that's not proper storage.

    It amazes me that people post quantities of what they have. I lost all mine in a tragic boating accident.
    Stay away from boats! I had the same thing happen to all my guns. I'll never go out in a boat again!

  16. #36
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    if .......(big "if").......well, maybe not so big.............

    if the apocalypse does "happen"
    "will anyone here be worried or even the least bit concerned with "fire codes" or "proper storage"?

    always someone steps up to the plate to rain on someone else's good time eh?

  17. #37
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    9w1911's Avatar
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    I am in the same court as Jonp. I feel we are one election away from our hobbies being snuffed out completely. We dont need zombies to curtail supplies, I mean really, Obama did a darn good job and if Hillary is elected - she thinks we are a culture that needs to be checked.

  18. #38
    Boolit Master
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    Awww just build an outside magazine. Really though we don't have a county fire code here. There is a suggested national one but our local gov will not adopt it. Many of them have too much powder. lol
    Our house is protected by the Good Lord and a gun and you might meet them both if you show up here not welcome son!

  19. #39
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    "Tragic boating accident..."

    A close friend actually DID lose his Browning Hi-power 9mm in a boating accident.

    He was coming down the South Nahanni River in the Northwest Territories at spring high-water, meaning boiling white water.... alone in the 18-foot boat, 50HP Mercury adapted to jet drive.

    THe pistol was lying on a bight of the bow line, and in the rough white water, part of the line draped over the side, got caught in the stream, and flipped the gun overboard. No chance of finding it, so he took a couple of despairing visual cross-bearings as he was swept downstream, in hopes of finding it later at low water.

    He went back a couple months later, when the water level had dropped about twenty feet, and FOUND THE GUN high and dry on a boulder bar!

    It was completely rusted, but a good gunsmith got it back in service and the rust resulted in a rather nice natte finish when it was reblued.

    That was in Canada, and the pistol was registered. If you lose a registered gun, ESPECIALLY in a place you were not legally allowed to have it.... guess what?

    (Cop): "Now, Mr Jones, we are checking on all registered firearms. You have a 9mm Browning, serial number xxxxx.... let me see it, please."

    (Mr Jones): "Uhhhhh...."

    One more reason that I'm DAMNED glad to be out of Canada.
    Last edited by BruceB; 01-31-2015 at 02:16 PM.
    Regards from BruceB in Nevada

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  20. #40
    Boolit Master ballistim's Avatar
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    How long before you ran out.

    dragon813gt makes a good point about posting quantities on hand as well as reminding us of both local and national storage codes, just read an old Handloader magazine (#53) from 1975 with an article with Bruce Hodgden (using a box car for storage, etc.) and another article on proper powder storage and regulations-even back then! Nowadays officials are zealous about enforcing any and all laws and regulations, something to keep in mind. I'd like to see a stickie on how to build proper powder magazines of different sizes, I'll bet someone here has knowledge of this and has done so.
    Last edited by ballistim; 02-05-2015 at 06:04 PM.
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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check