NPR is on the cutting edge ...<typed with much sarcasm>

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

With Bullets Scarce, More Shooters Make Their Own
by SCOTT GRAF
July 06, 2013 6:24 AM

http://www.npr.org/2013/07/06/199057377/with-bullets-scarce-more-shooters-make-their-own


...So Nicholson, like thousands of other shooters, is going a different route. He's making more of the bullets he shoots. Shop owner Poser says the scarcity of ready-made bullets has frustrated shooters to the point they're spending between $200 and $1,000 to get into the hobby known as "reloading."

Derek Emmert is one such enthusiast. He's making his own bullets "partially for hobby, something to do," he says. "But, as well as, the cost of ammo off the shelf is outrageous right now. So if I can reload my own ammo, it's gonna cut costs and make shooting a little more cheaper."


"It's been a challenge because we're used to operating at a certain level," says Mark Pixler, a spokesman for Arizona-based Dillon Precision. His company makes presses that assemble ammunition components into a finished bullet. Pixler says calls have come in so quickly that customers crashed the company's phone system.

"We were literally unable to make outgoing phone calls. So we literally had to go and buy some prepaid cellphones so that we could conduct essential company business on the telephone," he says.

To try to keep up with demand, Dillon Precision has hired back retired salesmen, asked parts suppliers to ramp up production, and added a second shift at its factory. Pixler says the company is doing more business than ever before, but thanks only to what he sees as a few people hoarding.

Maybe I shouldn't have highlighted Scott's use of the word bullet...But I just had to.

[runfiverun]

that's about the same story I hear at the gun shops.
and I quote..."things would be fine if everybody would just buy what they normally do".

[dragon813gt]

I never realized reloading meant making your own bullets. Sloppy journalism like that irks me to no end. Do the research and use the proper terms.

[Finster101]

Heck, I'm happy for them to stay ignorant and uninformed. There is enough competition for components already. We have a couple of local gunshops that like to get on TV and tell how dangerous shooting reloads is. They have indoor ranges and are happy to sell you ammo.....when they have it.

[40-82]

A few years ago I did a short piece on NPR. One of my favorite lines in that piece was "I'm not a good man, as a child the only religion I knew was the bolt-gun." And they actually ran it. Had the short piece focused on shooting or hunting, I am sure I would have never seen the inside of their studio. As a old man, I can happily report that I am much broadened: I like single-shots, levers, pumps, and semi-autos. Too bad current law will not allow me to own and use a rifle I've always been fascinated with, the Browning patented 1918A1, the BAR.

[Hickory]

I never realized reloading meant making your own bullets. Sloppy journalism like that irks me to no end. Do the research and use the proper terms.

You can always count on the new
media to get it wrong.

[Gliden07]

This is the kind of mis-information that drives much of the Anti-Gun establishments rhetoric!! Articles like this mis-inform the public while Antis preach it as gospel!!

[TXGunNut]

Our tax dollars at work. NPR is on the edge, all right. All they need is a good push!

[Dale in Louisiana]

What I REALLY like to hear is one of their 'I know all about guns' types who talks about the 'heads' for 'bullets', the 'head' being the part that comes out of the muzzle when you pull the trigger.

dale in Louisiana

[375supermag]

What I REALLY like to hear is one of their 'I know all about guns' types who talks about the 'heads' for 'bullets', the 'head' being the part that comes out of the muzzle when you pull the trigger.

dale in Louisiana

Yeah...

When did calling bullets "heads" start???

I have been shooting since I was about 5-6 years old and reloading for 35+ years and I had never even heard of a bullet being called a "head" until the current shortages began.
I see the term used on Craigslist all the time...
I wonder if it is a way to dissuade the anti-gunners from "flagging" firearm related offerings?
I guess it's possible.

[dragon813gt]

It's a Craiglist term to prevent flagging. Tips is used as well. That's all it is and it was around well before the current shortage.

[Bad Water Bill]

You should listen to our know it all politicians. Clips should be restricted to 10 bullets at the most and you should not be allowed to carry more than one clip on your person.

God forbid if they ever found out that we know the secret of making those shiny things that fly out of guns go bang more than once.

Not sure if the governor or the Crook county sheriff is the dumberest.:bigsmyl2:

[alamogunr]

Periodically my wife has me drive her to Memphis to shop. Usually I drop her off at the mall and I drive about 2 miles to a small gun shop that always has some interesting stuff. This time they didn't have anything I wanted to buy so I just looked around and stayed out of the way of paying customers. As I was working my way toward the door, I stood aside to allow 2 more customers get in the door. These two guys had on shirts with the logo of the local public radio/tv station. Hopefully, they were there to buy.

[williamwaco]

Guys!

I have been making my own bullets since 1956.

Most of the members of this board make their own bullets.

Some of us even make our own jacketed bullets.

After we make them, we usually load them into cartridge cases. Sometimes however, I hoard them.

[Hickory]

Yeah...

When did calling bullets "heads" start???

My bet is it started with some no-nothing who doesn't reload, knows nothing about reloading, never read a loading manual, cares nothing about the correct nomenclature of our craft, or maybe wants to impress others with his stupidity.
But, I could be wrong on all counts.

[DCM]

When did calling bullets "heads" start???

Not sure but I know I have been hearing this slang term for at least 25 years, maybe it is a midwestern thing like "bubbler".
I am guessing that it comes from setting a cartridge on its primed base as it most easily stands up that way, then the projectile would be the head?

Might surprise folks here but if you say boolit to folks that only shoot those FLGC things you can get some strange looks too, I use it to differentiate between the 2 personally.

[Rockydog]

The use of "heads" and "tips" for bullets drives me crazy too. Not a midwest thing as far as I know. Sorry, but I usually view any one who uses those terms with a bit of suspicion or at least consider them relatively inexperienced. RD

[MtGun44]

"relatively inexperienced"??? LOL!

I'd say full-on neophyte without a clue if they ever say "heads" or "tips".

Bill

[DCM]

When did calling bullets "heads" start???

I asked one of my shooting mentors when he first heard the term used and his reply was.

"I was on the Cherry Point, NC (Marine Corps) Rifle & Pistol team
from 1965 to 1970, and I know the term was well in use then."

Call him what you will as I can't stop you, but I will stick to Top, sir etc. .

[Duckiller]

One of the reason NPR reporters do such a poor job on guns and hunting is they have dever done it. Talk a aquantance that hunts a little to take you top a range once and you know everything about guns and hunting. They didn't hunt or shoot as children and have no interest it it now. The peop[le that supervise them know less than they do. Most NPR types aren't shooters. Given their lack of knowledge they probably do a half way decent job of reporting.
As to a bullet being called a head, never! Head of cartridge has a head stamp on it. Calling a bullet a head or tip has to be a local idiom similar to the names southern bass fishermen have for various lures.

[JIMinPHX]

When did calling bullets "heads" start???


That's what my grandfather used to call them. It's not correct, but it's been around for a long time.

[Dale in Louisiana]

One of the reason NPR reporters do such a poor job on guns and hunting is they have dever done it. Talk a aquantance that hunts a little to take you top a range once and you know everything about guns and hunting. They didn't hunt or shoot as children and have no interest it it now. The peop[le that supervise them know less than they do. Most NPR types aren't shooters. Given their lack of knowledge they probably do a half way decent job of reporting.
As to a bullet being called a head, never! Head of cartridge has a head stamp on it. Calling a bullet a head or tip has to be a local idiom similar to the names southern bass fishermen have for various lures.

Not just NPR. Gone are the days when a reporter came into the business having a knowledge of anything other than journalism school. I got a good laugh earlier this week over an article (with a picture) showing a bunch of baby turtles heading for the ocean. The article said that the mother turtle had just given birth. A TURTLE!

It is equally revealing to listen to one hold forth on just about any topic. We have heavy industry in this area and the bloopers they pull over reporting any of that are hysterical, except when they film a cloud of water vapor or a cloud of nitrogen frost and call it 'pollution'.

Couple the ignorance of the people reporting the news with the people listening to the knew who are equally ill-informed, and it's not a surprise that we get the kind of government we have.

dale in Louisiana

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I got a good laugh earlier this week over an article (with a picture) showing a bunch of baby turtles heading for the ocean. The article said that the mother turtle had just given birth. A TURTLE!

I seen the photo and skipped over the article...Now I wished I read it...just for the laughs.

[Echo]

I look at it as simply ignorance, not stupidity. They just don't know - if corrected gently, they might learn something. Maybe not...

[KCSO]

I listen to NPR on a regular basis. Aside from the fact that I find classical music relaxing if you don't listen the the enemy you will never know what he is planning. This is about the same as reveiwing the bills in the legislature, you have to keep a close eye on the opposition. I will admit that after Native News or BBC at Night I really NEED the classical music but... As to their terminology If I had a nickle for every one who asked me for a box of bullets for their gun I wouldn't be working today.

[FISH4BUGS]

radio moscow!

[olgandalf]

I heard the NPR segment when it was broadcast and just got around this morning to reading it online and to see other peoples' reaction to it. As a regular NPR listener, I was happy that it was not hostile in tone and wasn't put in the usual context of emotional reaction to recent tragedies. Reloading was presented mostly as an odd hobby. Now about their misuse of the term "bullet." I am a pencil-necked English professor. (A life-long Republican too. Too young to vote for Goldwater but voted for Nixon. Twice. But that's beside the point.) Some words have one meaning for specialists and another meaning for other people. Physicists and engineers don't refer to the "engine" of my car as a "motor." The guys around the corner who work on it use the word "motor." I would be stupid and rude to correct them. Specialist use the term "Old English" to mean the language between 650 and 1100; everybody else uses "Old English to mean the language of Shakespeare or the King James Bible. Confusion happens without anybody being a moron. On this site and others, my newbie posts have been answered with patience and kindness when I asked about suitable boolits for GEW 88, CZ 52, Yugo tok, and 95 Nagant. Sorry if I'm longwinded.