Was powder affected by panic buying in 2008?

[HOOfan_1]

I remember primers being affected....as they are now, but I do not remember powders....but then again in 2008 the only think that I shot in vast quantities were pistols...and they don't require much powder per round, so I was not buying much powders.

Now that I am shooting a lot of .223 and only have half a pound left....I am wondering if I need to go ahead and panic buy an 8 pound jug while it is available.

 

[readyeddy]

An 8 pound jug wouldn't qualify as a panic purchase. That's only about 2250 rounds. If the price is right, I would buy if down to only half a pound.

 

[1SOW]

"Certain powders" are going to be scarce fast. Probably 'your' powder is one of them.

Back in the first panic, my favorite pistol powder was rarely available along with primers.
You don't shoot very much, but I would get at least 8# if I were you.

Also consider that the price WILL go up, and even if/when the shortage eases off, the price is unlikely to go back where it is now. It didn't last time.

 

[plodder]

I normally buy powder and primer only when I notice I am getting a little low on inventory. I then buy enough to get close to the first level of Haz Mat fee (50lb. at Natchez) That will get me about 6 or so 8lb jugs and some primers. I have an order processing now, but it was a "routine" order. But I did notice that they were out of stock on small rifle & small pistol primers.

 

[HOOfan_1]

That's only about 2250 rounds. If the price is right, I would buy if down to only half a pound.

2285 rounds for me. At my current shooting rate, that would be about 1.5-2 years worth of shooting. If an AWB passes, I may lay off on shooting it that much though, for fear of burning out the barrel.

With Hazmat and shipping I am looking at $187...not really that great of a deal. Probably still cheaper than buying it at my LGS with sales tax though

 

[cfullgraf]

Yes, in 2009, some powders were in short supply for a while.

I had to do some substitutions, with the appropriate adjustments in loads, to keep my inventories at comfortable levels.

 

[smokey262]

The powder that seemed to be hardest to get last time was Varget. Rampant price gouging on gunbroker, etc.

Also 380 ACP brass and bullets, 45 ACP bullets, all primers except 209 shotgun. Some reloading dies were scarce, especially for pistol, as many new folks started this hobby

 

[Walkalong]

Yes.

IMR 4895 and Varget got hard to find quickly. Perhaps others as well, but I don't use a great many rifle powders.

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

If an AWB passes, I may lay off on shooting it that much though, for fear of burning out the barrel.

not sure about the text of the proposed legislation, but you could get a barrel easily and legally during the '94 AWB.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I remember primers being affected....as they are now, but I do not remember powders....but then again in 2008 the only think that I shot in vast quantities were pistols...and they don't require much powder per round, so I was not buying much powders.

Now that I am shooting a lot of .223 and only have half a pound left....I am wondering if I need to go ahead and panic buy an 8 pound jug while it is available.

Many powders were not to be found during the 2008 scare.

Varget, BL-C(2), H335, 4895 and a few others were gone as was Unique and 2400. No W231 was available either. I'm sure there were many more but those are the ones I remember because I couldn't get them or my friends mentioned they couldn't get them.

 

[Sport45]

Now that I am shooting a lot of .223 and only have half a pound left....I am wondering if I need to go ahead and panic buy an 8 pound jug while it is available.

That's not a panic buy. That's waiting too long to restock.

If an 8# jug is good for 1.5 years you only have about 5 weeks worth of powder left.

 

[Twiki357]

In my area in 2008 powder was just as scarce as primers and just as expensive. One pound jars were going for up to $35,Bullseye, Unique, etc., IF you could find any. A few weeks ago it was back down to $20 a pound and some of the premium stuff like Varget was $24.

 

[HOOfan_1]

not sure about the text of the proposed legislation, but you could get a barrel easily and legally during the '94 AWB.

Even threaded barrels? (not that I really need that)

 

[hentown]

I bit the bullet and bought 32# of 844 a coupla months back. Also have about 50k primers and 8k-or-so .223 bullets.

 

[HOOfan_1]

Well I just boght 8lb of H335 and 2 pounds of W231 (which is about 2500 rounds). Should have gone ahead and bought another pound or 2 of H335 just to take advantage of the Hazmat fee

Bullets seem to be pretty well in stock.

Primers are going to be my problem....

 

[cfullgraf]

Even threaded barrels? (not that I really need that)

There were specific rules concerning the installation of muzzle devices. They had to be pinned and welded.

Also, certain types of muzzle devices were banned, like flash hiders if I remember, but muzzle brakes were not.

And, you could still build a pre-ban rifle(a rifle identified by documentation as having been built prior to the ban) any way you want.

So yes, threaded barrels could be had.

(disclaimer, I think I got all that correct. I may have specific details a bit off. After all, I have slept since then. )

 

[capreppy]

H4350 is already out at pretty much all (I say pretty much all, but haven't actually found it) of the places.

I know that H4350 is pretty popular, but dang!!!

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

Even threaded barrels? (not that I really need that)

yes, even threaded bbls

if it was in pre-ban "evil" configuration before the day it went into effect, you could put new parts on it that included the evil features. the lower was the only part that mattered because it has the serial number.

like i said, we have no idea what legislation will or will not pass or what the actual text will say, but i doubt any proposed legislation would be much different from the previous AWB. the '94 AWB did not prevent anyone who wanted to shoot an AR from doing so. it might've had a different name on the side and missing some "evil" features, but it was made on the same machines in the same factory and functioned just the same.

 

[Hondo 60]

I loaded a LOT of Tite Group back then because it was always available.

Some powders were scarce others, not so much.

 

[bfoosh006]

Last time it got bad , primers dried up , powder was all gone. If you were lucky, you would find some online... if you checked every day and frequently.
BUT ..... it took a lot longer than 72 hours for stuff to "dry up"....

This time , all of the stuff online is drying up at a much, much faster rate.
People that lived through the previous panic buys, have gotten smarter....
For good and bad.... some people have bought tons of products just so they can sell them for profit when it gets worse. ( Which I believe will happen )
The time of the year ( the holiday season ) has also made it an issue for some, both buyers and sellers. I will be interesting to see where prices are after the holidays.

 

[Fishslayer]

My main powder source has a limit on how much they can stock at one time so it was a "call & ask" sort of thing. An upside is that I discovered Green Dot when I couldn't get Bullseye. Now I keep a good supply of both and will grab either one.

LPP were hen's teeth. This time around I have a good supply of the SPP .45ACP brass that everybody complains about. It'll use SRP if ya need to.

I'm scratching my head at all this panic buying of 5.56/.223 ammo & components. They're not gonna ban the ammo. There is talk of huge taxes & banning internet sales.

Hmmm.... better go order a few crates of x54R...

 

[gahunter12]

I'm scratching my head at all this panic buying of 5.56/.223 ammo & components. They're not gonna ban the ammo. There is talk of huge taxes & banning internet sales.

Yep. That's was my thoughts. Even though I have plenty of mags, I picked up 20 extra P Mags, and another Colt LE6920 from Clyde's Armory the Friday evening of the CT shooting. I had a feeling it was coming, and about 10 other guys did also. They had plenty of ammo that Friday, but by Monday afternoon ammo was gone, and they still had plenty of mags, and rifles when I stopped by.

 

[kingmt]

Seems schools or church is always the target. Wonder if that is because it isn't likely to have someone armed? Wonder if the places that had the signs no firearms allowed are more likely to get hit?

Just thinking if it were me I'd feel better about hitting a place if I knew I was the only one armed.

 

[cougar1717]

Yes, the 2008-09 panic affected powder as well. Most all of the common powders for loading 223 and 308 were purchased quickly. After that initial panic, it became difficult to get typical extruded rifle powders (4064, 4350, 4831, etc). At that time the issue was wanting to place a large enough order to maximize the hazmat fee, while accepting the fact that the purchaser will have to make some substitutions and take what you can get. Competition and high volume shooters are the most affected. If it's any consolation, the sky is not falling, just wait it out, if possible. Availability will be better once the hysteria dies down.

 

[HOOfan_1]

Well so much for that....

I ordered 8 pounds of H335 and 2 pounds of W231 Friday....BOTH OF THEM said they were AVAILABLE.....5 days later, Midway cancels my order and says they are not available....well then why did your site say they were when I ordered them

Thanks for nothing Midway....

Oh and then they didn't credit me for 100% of my order...it was only 54 cents...but after that horrible service......