If you could not buy any more powder as of today. How long would your supply of powder last at your present rate of usage?
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If you could not buy any more powder as of today. How long would your supply of powder last at your present rate of usage?
2-3 years for everything except unique. Which is almost gone and its been three years since I found any so my three year guess was right on the money.
I would probably shoot less if I knew I could not get powder anymore. I could shoot my rifles for a long time, but would run out of pistol powder in just a year or 2. Longer if I stopped using Unique in my cast rifle rounds.
I said 5 to 10 years because you said if you reloaded at the same rate. I would never run out because I would start making my own black powder and save my smokeless for special occasions.
Tim
I am good to go for a long while yet on everything except Unigue.
3-5 years likely for my pistol shooting. Less for my rifles.
how much pounds last you guys one year? just want to try to average for the sake of curiosity ow much i can shoot by these standards.
I don't openly discuss this type of thing. I'm self sufficient for almost every aspect and making black powder is easy.
Oh No ... Another one of these threads! :groner:
Some folks have nothing better to do and just want to do a run up of pages.
Dave, if your so curious, send me an email to find out
I said 3-5 years. But may be longer. I have around 60-70 pounds of pistol powder lost count, and i shoot around 10k pistol rounds per year. Avg charge 4 grains so i figure i can load about 120k rounds. So maybe good for 10 years. But just started shooting uspsa so that may cut into my supply big time. As for rifle powder have about 100 pounds. But that goes fast.
I have no idea? I can't say I think about it. I have enough be good for a few years but that is all I can say.
Long enough
I replied with 3-5 years when in actuality I believe I could make it to 10 years easily
I'll probably still have powder & primers left when I die, knowing my luck.....
I do not know.
i'll run out of lead before I run out of pistol powder to propel it with.
as long as I don't start shooting shotguns like I used to.
[then i'll need at least 2,000 more pounds]
NEVER -- told myself 6 years ago it would never happen to me again -- powder or primers .....
I still have a few unopened cans of powder from '98-'99
I'm sure I'm good for years to come.
I don't keep much at all and should be out by noon today. [smilie=1:
I put down 5-10. I have some cross platform powders so I guess it depends on what I am shooting.
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.
I haven't been able to shoot anything today
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.
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.
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.
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.:groner:
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
115 pounds as of today.
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
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!:bigsmyl2:
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.
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?:groner:
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.
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
"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.
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.