Venting... (hopefully not violating the rules)

[Bill M.]

3 years ago the OP was not interested in reloading or buying supplies. Now he is. That is different from somebody who has been loading for 20 years and seeing these things happen. I sure did not see this one coming. I do have some supplies because I have had a continued interest for a number of years. Some people, me included, do not feel comfortable with large quantities of primers or powder stored. So we tend to by as we need them rather than to "load up" when the market is depressed.

 

[Frulk]

I’ve stated this elsewhere in other threads touching on the OPs topic....I can buy EVERYTHING I need for reloading today on a local gun website. I just have to be willing to pay the current inflated asking prices. I saw someone asking $200 for 1K rifle primers today. He will probably get it, just not from me.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Together with my son I recently decided to revive the old hobby of reloading. It's been over a month that we've been shopping for supplies (of course while constantly monitoring THIS thread), and so far our efforts can be summarized with one big fat zero. Zilch. Nada.

That's what happens when you choose to get into something at the most awful time possible.
You don't wait until a hurricane hits to buy a generator.
You don't wait until a shortage to get into something.

You can call it greed if you want, and some people are certainly greedy. But if prices were normal, you'd have to be extremely lucky to get anything still.

Moral of the story, prepare during good times. If you wait until an emergency to buy emergency supplies, you're going to have a bad time.

 

[SamT1]

After the Obama admins attempted gun grabs after every tragedy (notice we had few tragedies the last 4 years and make your own conclusions on why) The words “lifetime supply” should have been and were the goal of most Serious gun folks. Some got lax as things returned to normal, some bought 2-3 lifetime supplies.

myself I’m light on a few things because my needs have changed. I wasn’t big on calibers that used small rifle primers for instance. I was also casting a ton of bullets so I neglected buying as many bullets as I wish I had.

personally I need badly to inventory and match things up. Sell off what I’m long on today and save that cash to (hopefully) buy stuff I need when it snaps back. Every time the market does this there’s a chance it doesn’t go back and every time the demand is different. After sandy hook Dems were targeting pretty specific things. You could get a sweet deal on a nice bolt gun. Today, they have basically told us they want em all so people are buying up everything. The AR15 type guns haven’t rose to where they were then, maybe a sign that folks bought what they wanted at all time cheapest prices from 15-19.

 

[jmorris]

I have always said, everything I own is for sale. It’s not greed if I don’t like your offer anymore than you are stingy if you don’t like mine.

 

[George P]

I’ve stated this elsewhere in other threads touching on the OPs topic....I can buy EVERYTHING I need for reloading today on a local gun website. I just have to be willing to pay the current inflated asking prices. I saw someone asking $200 for 1K rifle primers today. He will probably get it, just not from me.

And that is how free markets are supposed to work. Someone offers something at his ASKING price and if he is too high, he will lower his price to one where someone will agree to the transaction. Uber high prices ensure there will be some available to those who truly need it.

 

[Foton]

This same frustration is had in many industries. I can just imagine the frustration of trying to buy a new bicycle 6 months ago. Or an RV. Or any other outdoor sporting equipment. Home remodeling is booming now too and building supplies are scarce.

The locusts have worked their way through the ammo system and landed on reloading components. Reloading is more of a niche market and quick changes in demand can affect it. Even just a few months ago things were tight but not this bad. I bought projectiles, powder and primers in October. Powder was readily available. It took a week to land primers. Projectiles took 8 weeks on backorder. Now just a few months later it is even harder to find necessary items.

As people have already said, stock will come back eventually. When it does, there will be sales and the hoarders will need to move their stock or be stuck with it. That is the time to buy it cheap and stack it deep.

I did buy a bicycle 8 months ago. Actually I ordered it, paid for it and waited 6 months to get it. Ordered my wife a made in the USA rowing machine for her birthday in April of 2020 - delivered in August. C’est la vie. Happy with both purchases BTW. It’s just the new and hopefully temporary norm.

 

[Walkalong]

Times are indeed tough, but fussing about it, calling people greedy, etc etc, won't help. It is what it is, and it happened the last time as well.

This too shall pass. When I don't know, and I feel for everyone caught short or trying to start reloading during this. Last time many people who could not find ammo or didn't want to pay the price decided to start reload, and found that was all gone too, or priced way high.

 

[Walkalong]

All the best, and may the stock be with us!

Amen to that, may it pass soon.