O my gosh

[kbstenberg]

I almost fell over today. I usually try to stay out of stores but today i needed things for deer season in a week. I figured i mite just as well pick up a box of shells for the grandsons new rifle. Its only a 300 Sav. 25 to 34$$$ a BOX. I haven't bought a box of shells or paid attention to prices in 20 Years. ARE THEY SERIOUS!!!! What do the non-reloaders do, buy there ammo by the round.

[WARD O]

It is frightening isn't it? Sometimes shopping around may help as I know I've seen some of the popular calibers for much more reasonable prices but they just may have you on the 300 Savage.

Ward

[sqlbullet]

Who are these 'non-reloaders' you speak of?

[peter nap]

Who are these 'non-reloaders' you speak of?

Little People!

[Shiloh]

You mean there are folks who don't reload??

I reload and shoot my virtually free cast boolits, many with cheap surplus powder.

Shiloh

[Beekeeper]

Shiloh,
When did you last check surplus powder prices?
There ain't no such thing as cheap surplus powder.


Jim

[stubshaft]

Stopped by the local gun emporium last week. He was selling 500 S&W midrange loads for $75.00 for 20. I cast and load my own, and usually pop over 100 caps a weekend. I cannot believe the prices of loaded ammo. I know that over the last 2 months LR primers went from $22.50 to $42.00 per K.

[TDC]

Frightening ain't it... but other calibers are fending even worse!!

I happened to notice 416 Rigby's at the Local Sportsman's Warehouse are going for $219 per box of 20. That's $11 per round!!!!

Gee... do ya think it would be time to take up casting and reloading? Low volume production ammo prices are becoming insane.

[BruceB]

My wife and daughter gave me a Ruger #1 in .416 Rigby back around the early '90s.... WITH a set of RCBS dies. To this day, after firing well over 2000 rounds, that rifle has never seen a factory-loaded cartridge.

I have loaded some jacketed or monolithic bullets, but the vast majority was composed of cast bullets. Even so, with Norma brass costing $60-80 per twenty, it wouldn't be hard to have more money tied up in brass than in the rifle itself. Not even a single case has failed to date, so my 100-plus rounds will last me a good long while.

I'll confess to a certain degree of smugness when looking at current ammo prices, even if I load the cartridge in question with store-bought bullets. When CAST bullets enter the picture.....I can shoot factory-level rounds in the Rigby for about fifteen cents per round!

[jdgabbard]

Yeah, I saw a box of .380acp a while back. It was a 50rd box, and the price for it was $89.95 + tax. Do the math, thats almost $2 per round.

Thats why

[Bret4207]

My oldest boy called me one day trying to find a box of 284 Winchester ammo for his friend. I directed then to a sop I knew of and they snagged to only PARTIAL box of ammo there. My boy noted that, "Dad never has problems like this. He makes all his own ammo."

Maybe it's starting to sink in to him...

[mroliver77]

I wish I had a dollar for everytime I read "Sit tight untill this blows over and then we will be swamped with cheap ammo and components the hoarders have to sell cheap."
Well I rarely buy any factory rounds excluding .22rf. I/we have srrn this comming for a long while. I had some extra scratch and stocked up on components. Actually I have been putting aside since I started reloading. (my nature) I feel for those forced to buy factory stuff and try to help those that I can by reloading a few for them now and then.
Jay

[JSnover]

they snagged to only PARTIAL box of ammo there.

A partial box? From a retailer?

[anachronism]

People buy ammo?

[jlchucker]

Kind of reminds me of when I was a kid growing up. We were never very rich, as kids, and when hunting season came around we'd trudge down to Mr. Perkins' old general store and he'd sell us rifle ammo or shotshells by the round. He kept some partial boxes of ammo around just for that type of sale. It sounds like what goes around comes around and we're getting back to that--at least for non-handloading adults. Most of the guys who post here on this site I expect have a good stash of cases, primers, powder, and bullet alloy, either purchased or of their own making, so we're in good shape until things get straightened around again. Do you guys think this is political, or due to a loss of industrial capacity? Or both?

[GabbyM]

Maybe why a lot of rifles in the deer woods aren't even sighted in well.

The price of 22 rimfire shocks me. When I was a kid two hours pay at minimum wage could by a 500 count brick of 22's. That would be around $16 today but what are 22's? twice that maybe?

[Matt_G]

My boy noted that, "Dad never has problems like this. He makes all his own ammo."

Maybe it's starting to sink in to him...

One can only hope so Bret.
Maybe he'll start asking you about reloading. Then when he can't find condom bullets he'll be saying "Dad never has problems like this. He makes all his own boolits."

[sqlbullet]

I am not sure what I am going to do with my 22's. I get more lead than I can cast, and I trade for components. It works out that I can reload 10mm cheaper than I can buy 22lr.

I guess the 22's will just become safe queens that remind me of my youth.

[Rocky Raab]

Don't dust off your tinfoil conspiracy caps just yet. It is neither that nor a lack of capacity.

It is two things: demand and raw materials cost.

Since the election, every shooter and existing reloader in the country decided to "stock up" with enough components that their great grandkids will never run out. That emptied the shelves and caused even more panic. Adding to that quantum leap in demand were the tens of thousands of guys who suddenly decided to start reloading. Demand for ammo followed right along, and wasn't helped by huge government orders.

The factories are and have been working at maximum output - but simply cannot keep up. (The .380 issue is due to the fact that the same machines are also used for 9mm Para, and they have so much demand for that they can't stop and change over to .380 at all.)

Then there are component prices. Companies buy copper, lead and other supplies on LONG-term contracts. When metals prices went through the roof a few years ago, the contracts they signed then for delivery now were at those astronomical prices. So even though metals prices have dropped, the factories are contractually bound to the inflated ones - until these contracts run out.

Those are the facts, folks.

[SPRINGFIELDM141972]

I started reloaded when I was still living at home with my parents. I grew up in a very poor home with lots of brothers and sisters. I remember I would get a box of .22 shells for Christmas and my father would ration them out to me, because he was not about to let me waste all that money being foolish. I remember the boxes cost less than a dollar a box. My father reloaded some center fire but mostly for shotgun. He didn't do alot of either, because he didn't have the spare money to spend. When I started to get better paying jobs as a kid, (mostly bucking hay bales in the summer) I was able to spend some money on components. If we had a rainy day, during hay season I would hitch a ride to town and buy my powder and primers from the local Ace Hardware. Then on Sunday night, after chores were done, my father and I would set down and reload shells for the up coming fall. These reloading sessions were one of the few times that my father had time just for me and I treasure those memories.

Do I reload because because it is alot less expensive? Yes, but its something more as well. When I set down at the reloading bench and grab the handle of that old Spartan press, or am standing in front of the casting pot with that Lyman 452488 with the taped up handles, it puts everything in perspective. Reloading and casting is a part of my life that made me who I am.

Regards,
Everett