is stuff getting thin?

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Axis II

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I went to cabelas about a week ago and reloading stuff looked a little thin. fin is about 45min one way from me so I don't go there unless needed.

are you guys seeing reloading stuff getting a little thin due to November being next month? I want to stock up for something to do through the winter but if I don't have to rush right out and grab a bunch of stuff I can put the money on student loans.
 
Im not. Primers at my local box shops have always been thin, but powder seems to be good. Just got an order from PV, the primers were in stock for a week and then gone, so it just seems the primers are playing hard to get
 
i was curious a few weeks back and checked midway and everything was almost gone! looks like I'm back to a brick of primers a payday like I was. I have about 3k small rifle primers that will probably last me 4-5 years with the way I shoot lol. now handgun is another story. I need about 10k of those.
 
The shelves at my LGS have always been kinda thin. But on my trip to Cabelas in Lexington, it wasn't bad. The shelves weren't stocked the best, but the sales associate said that they don't always restock as soon as stuff is out. I was able to get a couple pounds of powder and 3k primers that weren't on the shelf by just asking if they had some in back.
 
just checked online for my Cabela's and out of stock on pistol primers which is what I need the most. I'm only 10min away from them so I will keep an extra eye online to see if it comes in stock.
 
On Friday, I went to a fairly large gun store in my area, an hour away, I had not been there before. I was quite surprised at the amount of reloading components, they had just about every powder on the shelves and quite a bit of primers. I kept taking things off the shelf and then putting them back. In the end I purchased a brick of Federal small pistol primers, which are in my opinion one of, if not the toughest component to locate.

In the last two months or so I have purchased 15k of these primers. This and what I had prior gives me a nice buffer against shortages. I also have a bunch of CCI an S&B spp. I just buy a brick or two every payday and have now basically reached my pistol primer stock goals. But I think I'm going to continue getting a brick from time to time, I want to have a minimum of 16k of the Federals on hand.

From that store I went to Cabelas, they didn't have much in the way of primers but did have a good supply of powder. I purchased an RCBS Loadmaster 1500 powder dispenser which is really nice.

I need to:

Buy a couple bricks of small/large Rifle Primers, some Varget or H4895 and bullets of all kinds. Overall I'm in fair shape component wise, a tad heavy in the pistol powder department. This is the best components have been in several years.
 
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I was at Cabelas in Phoenix a week a days ago and they were out of Small pistol primers, low on Small rifle but had everything else. /shrug didn't seem bad
 
Not really a problem locally. Powder is fairly plentiful, you just have to decide how far you want to drive to reach which price point you're comfortable with. I've found it more cost effective to just order it on-line and split the shipping and Hazmat fee.

My local powder supplier tells me he has had some primer shortages. But I've been able to drive 45mins and get Federal SPP for about $30/k (cheaper than CCI) at a small sporting goods store, but I have to pay sales tax.

I thought it sounds like you guys were buying a lot of primers fairly frequently, until I realized that a "brick" is only 1k primers. I was thinking of the 5k count box that I usually buy every couple of weeks
 
Stopped at a Bass Pro on the way back from Va Beach last month. They had nothing. 2 hours later, stopped in Cabela's at Richmond. Well stocked. LGS have as much as they always have. Around here, I am not hunting for components. Yet.
 
Gander Mountain just opened a store in Frisco, Texas, and since it was a grand opening, it was fully stocked.

Even though powder in 1 pound containers was plentiful, the selection was somewhat limited; basically just several of Hodgdon's pistol powders, five or six types of IMR and most of the Alliant Dot powders.

I picked up a couple pounds of Bullseye and a lot of very expensive (but nevertheless available) primers.
 
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I went to my local shop that usually has a good supply or reloading stuff for a 100 pack of primers and primers and some powder was looking a little thin. going to buy a few more k of them payday and then focus on 8lbs of powder.
 
The Allen Cabelas has lots of powder and primers. Even the ones that seam scarce at times.
 
I believe supplies are better now than a year ago. Using Varget as a barometer, I'm seeing it a lot of places
 
I've noticed that rifle powders seem much more available than handgun powders.

When ever I see a handgun powder I'm interested in, I usually buy an 8lb jug...2 if the price is good or if I need to offset a Hazmat fee
 
I have 3 LGS that have a ton of powder between them, primers out their ears and a good selection of projectiles and brass. I've been ordering most of my projectiles lately from Midway without any issues of availability. I do need more supplies for 300 Blk but I'm looking to start loading and setting back about 100 rounds a month. I'm on a budget. :banghead:
 
I'm not hurting too much for reloading components right now, so I haven't paid an awful lot of attention. However- compared to two or three years ago or so- it is 1000% better. You can actually FIND components now whereas they were virtually non-existent then.
 
Rifle powder available but at 28.95 per. Not a fan of that but at least available. If only tinfoil prices would stabalize.
 
I'm not hurting too much for reloading components right now, so I haven't paid an awful lot of attention. However- compared to two or three years ago or so- it is 1000% better. You can actually FIND components now whereas they were virtually non-existent then.

X 2 for me.
 
During this last year 55 Gr FMJ has been as cheap as it was 9 years ago. AR prices are as low as I have seen them, and there have been sales on bullets, powders, and primers.

Getting thin?

As far as a "rush" on things like pre/post Obama, I just don't see it. No need to get itchy feet.
 
Yesterday I went to the Oaks PA gunshow which is quite large, 2000 tables. I didn't cover the whole of the hall but most of it. I purchased some Winchester large rifle primers, 500 55g .224 Hornady boat tail FMJ some once fired 35 Remington brass, some Hornady 9mm JHP bullets and a reloading manual.

I saw quite a bit of powder and primers. Prices were a bit high but the stuff was there, including American Select, AA#2, Clay Dot, Clays, Bullseye, HP-38, some of that Shooters World powders and so forth the but I didn't see any 8 pound kegs of H-4895 or Varget.
 
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Just came back from a gun show here in li'l ol' Mountain View, Arkansas (Pop. 2,786) and there were tables laden with primers, powder, bullets, cases -- you name it.
 
Back in 2005 you could buy a brick of primers for $19.95 and a pound of powder for $17.95 or less. Man do I miss those days.

I should have enough to weather another storm. What I have will have to do because I can't make any big orders right now, no money for supplies, none... I would like to put in another 20,000 primes or so but the house has to come first. I could also do with 8lbs each of H4350, H4895 and W231 plus 4lbs each of AA5744, W296 and HS-6. Hey, if I could come up with $1,200 I would be really set lol. That used to cost me under $500
 
This is just my opinion, but if you can spare the cash it would probably be a good idea to do some stocking up on components, particularly powder and primers.

Supplies of components and ammunition seldom taper off slowly. Something bad happens, and suddenly people start scrambling around like chickens on meth, buying anything they can find at almost any price that's asked.

That's when people start showing up here and asking for a good 95 grain 9mm JHP load using Retumbo or H4831. :banghead:

Buy now and get exactly what you want at fairly reasonable prices.
 
Graf and son has no standard small pistol primers. They have some magnum SSP but no standard.
 
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