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Availability of components during ammo crunch

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  • Mouser

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    Since I am new to reloading and was not shopping for components until recently...how was the availability of powder, primers and bullets during the heat of the ammo crisis? 2012-2015 timeframe for me is the period I am speaking of.

    I had heard primers and powder were rare though I lived in another state at that time. There will be another ammo crunch in my lifetime, maybe two or more so reloading can be a hedge against that but like anything else, I would have to be carrying high inventories.

    Thoughts?
     

    Bones2586

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    Stockpile them if you can, picking up a few items here and there will be good. Have been doing it myself, as availability was very scarce at that time. When you could find components, they were overpriced (supply vs demand), but folks were still paying for them. Order limits were placed on items as well, so as to give everyone a chance. Lots of battering and trading for this and that, depending on what were looking for.

    Good luck, welcome to the world of reloading!!! Be safe! Cheers!
     

    oneshot

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    Buy in bulk, go in with other, this will all so cut your cost store bullets in ammo cans, don't store primers in ammo cans just don't let them get wet, buy power in 8lbs , the hasmat. is the same for 1 lb as for 8 lbs., same for primers. It want go bad, All ways had ammo during the crunch time, Save your brass, don't buy steel case ammo, buy case's that you can reload, stay with caliber's that will be easy to get bullets for and power that is more common to get, get all of your non reloader friends to save they brass for you. I keep a minimum of 5k of components for each cal. on hand. There are a lot of more things you can do, to save money on, in setting. will be glad to help. You would have to come up, and show you. just my 5 cents jj
     

    TennJeep1618

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    During the late 2012 to 2014 ammo crunch, pistol powder was the most hard-to-find item, followed by primers, then rifle powder. Projectiles were fairly easy to locate, but everything was more expensive than before the crunch.

    Like oneshot said, buy in bulk and stock up enough to get you through 1-2 years and you should be good. If you are diligent, you can find enough components during the crunch time that you can sustain your stockpiles.
     

    SAWMAN

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    Why not store primers in steel ammo cans ?? Been doing it for quite a few years. Never a prob.

    Buy powders that you can use for multiple chamberings. A good example is 748. For both 223/5.56 and 308Win/7.62X51 it works extremely good for me. There are others as well. H380 or H335 comes to mind. Don't try to gain MAX velocity with all your loads. This will "trap" you into stocking all kinds of powder. Remembering,it is mostly about accuracy anyway.

    There are several pistol powders that can be used for multiple chamberings also. Accurate #9 comes to mind. Also a couple of the Blue Dot, Red Dot,and Unique and similar. Some powders can be used for pistol AND shotgun.

    Primers ---> I use mostly all mag primers,both in pistol and my rifle reloading. Why not ?? It's the CCI brand for me ...350,450,250,and Fed 215's are about all I use nowadays.

    Buy bullets in bulk. Find a good hunting bullet and a good range bullet. Don't use one for the other. The younger you are,the more stuff you buy. I believe that there is a scientific formula for this somewhere.

    Stockpile stuff when your budget and availability of components matchup. You CAN have too much stuff(consumables). If you are 50 years old there is no reason to sit on 50,000 bullets and 80lbs of powder. If you are 25 years old ....... possibly. None of us will ever live to see bullets and powder traded like gold so get that outta your mind.

    AND ...... --> A chambering is determined by which loaded round your rifle or pistols chamber is designed to shoot. A caliber is the size of the hole at the end (far end) of the weapons barrel. (A 300 Win Mag,308Win,30-'06 Springfield,300 Savage,and a 300BLK are all the SAME caliber.) --- SAWMAN
     
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    oneshot

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    I have seen some can,s sweat, I know this is determined by meanly factors, But I'm old and have seen a lot of things happen, such as , I had some one load a couple thousand rds of 45, and then put wd-40 on them and put them in a seal bag to keep them from corroding. and the young man that put wd-40 on his 357 rds for his bang stick that didn't work when he needed it to go bang, need I say any more. Just my 5 cents jj
     

    JohnAL

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    Bowhntr6pt

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    I've been spending all my "play" money lately on primers and powder... so much to the extent I have to store powder at different locations so as not to violate the Federal storage laws.

    For a couple years pistol powder was extremely difficult to find... certain popular rifle powders as well... so I figured I'd start slow and build up, I've been at it for a few months now.

    All I really do is shoot and I have two brothers who shoot as well, so it's not like I'm in danger of over buying... I'll use the stuff up eventually God willing.

    I'm sitting good on 9mm, .45ACP, and .40S&W loaded ammo at about 10K rounds per... my loaded .223 stash is at 30K with .308 at about 10K. The reason my stash has grown over the years is I'm fortunate to have a job where I get paid to shoot twice a month... so I enjoy shooting w/o burning my ammo stash.

    "How much" to store depends on your shooting habits... supplies are in stock NOW so I highly recommend placing an order monthly if you can afford it. I am ordering in "sets" such as:

    Small Rifle needs such as .223: 4lbs powder to 1K primers
    Large Rifle needs such as .308: 6lbs powder to 1K primers
    Pistol Loads at/less than 7grs: 1lb powder to 1K primers

    This way my supplies are evened out to some degree. Then after a few orders, I do a bulk bullet order in the 5K range to round out a specific caliber... in fact, tomorrow it's time to order bullets for this month...
     

    Khaot1c

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    So, what are these federal storage limits you speak of?!
    Agh, edited after posting. Because I do my best proof reading (and thread reading) after I post.
    I see the link in the other post.
     

    Bowhntr6pt

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    So, what are these federal storage limits you speak of?!
    Agh, edited after posting. Because I do my best proof reading (and thread reading) after I post.
    I see the link in the other post.

    Not really what most of us would be aware of... but as you can see, if you "stockpile" certain items, there are storage regulations. In the unfortunate event of a house fire, not complying with the laws could have bad consequences, from your own home owners insurance policy and/or collateral damage caused to a neighbor's property due to explosion, etc.
     

    Bowhntr6pt

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    Seems supplies are still holding strong... I'm going to slow down some... maybe order 2K bullets a month to finish off some excess brass. Then reevaluate the supply situation and adjust from there.
     
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