Crossing the threshold of being prudent..or..a hoarder. Rethinking inventory.i

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Rembrandt

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Weathered this last reloading drought in better shape than many....but I may have underestimated difficulty in getting powders. Been almost a year and half since I could find some of what I use. Now that shelves are starting to be restocked....contemplating how far to go to avoid another drought?

I'm sure there will be future shortages, just a matter of time. Re-thinking how much to have on hand.....1-2-or 3 years worth. Stockpiling does tie up some capital, but buying now avoids future price spikes and gun show/internet entrepreneurs :evil:. These shortages seem to be initiated most by elections and mass shootings, which will occur down the road.

Going to try and buy powders in 4 and 8 pound containers in the future, one pounders if that's all that's available. My observation is that bullets re-appear first, then powders and finally the primers. Just keep buying as they become available. Trying to figure out what that inventory "comfort level" is.:D


This is what I've been able to acquire in the last month (should be enough for a couple years). Will probably never use it all, just trying to keep it on hand. Hope I'm being prudent and not a hoarder.

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I have a system that is ok. It’s not perfect but it is what I do.
I buy two boxes of ammo for every box I shoot.

Then I reload the brass.
I also buy twice the powder and primers I use.

So I don’t have as much as I’d like, but I have enough to get through a small crisis.
Sadly things were tough, so I couldn’t buy much extra. Otherwise, I’d probably order a case of ammo a month.
 
This is a bad time to be stockpiling, for various reasons. :)
True it’s also a bad time to use up what you have.
The question is, will prices go down some more or are we at a bottom for awhile (ever?)

I’m hoping with new plants being built, we will see more product and lower prices. But I also know more demand could also eat that up.

I’d say, buy what you need. Replace what you use. Add a little when you can. Watch for sales and bargains.
 
I've stopped buying 1 pound bottles of powder, with the exception of NOS stuff from estates or reloaders selling out for whatever reason. When buying out estates, I will only purchase multiple pound bottles of the same lot number.

It's just not worth my time to purchase small quantities.
 
I had a 4 year supply. I'll be going for a 8 year supply once prices settle down. I'm not buying anything at todays prices. Prices are still about 30% to 50% higher than they should be. Prices will come back down once people stop panic buying everything they can find.
 
Re-thinking how much to have on hand.....1-2-or 3 years worth.
Think in election cycles - 4, 8 or 12 years. In spite of the "buy when it's cheap" theme, buy when it's available. Diversify your collection so you aren't relying on a single component, like small pistol primers, for all of your handguns. Same with powders.
 
Shortages are everywhere and prices have doubled for some products other than ammo. Some things are just plain ridiculous. It’s almost seems like the people in control want to cause inflation to accelerate.:confused:

Anyway, now might be the best time to top off your stock of everything you need for living. I like dollar cost averaging and continue to buy some powder and primers at the current prices. I will not buy primers for $200 but I will grab a thousand for $75. Just to top off.
 
When I first started shooting, I started keeping all of my brass and shotgun shells. My dad reloaded and taught me about saving cases, so I had a pretty good inventory of cases, when I started relaoding back in the 80's, I just bought powder and primers, as I needed, untilI figured out what powders worked best for my reloads. After that I started purchasing powders and primers in the largest quantities I could afford. During the last couple of shortages, I have been lucky enough to have inventories of primers and powders, to avoid the shortages. In order to get to that point, when I order powder or primers, I order double. By doing this every time, I am always putting extra in inventory. Using this practice, I feel it has really improved my hobby time. More time shooting and relaoding, rather than looking/shopping for ammo or product. I never really worried about the cost, but the last year has changed that thinking for sure. Inventory that is stored in a cool dry place is a good investment these days.
 
Anyway, now might be the best time to top off your stock of everything you need for living. I like dollar cost averaging and continue to buy some powder and primers at the current prices. I will not buy primers for $200 but I will grab a thousand for $75. Just to top off.
This has been my approach as well - never stop buying. Top off when you can and buy in bulk when it's available.
As an example - when cheap 22lr ammo gets close to the price of premium 22 ammo (which, by the way, is always in stock somewhere) I buy the premium stuff.
 
Trying to figure out what that inventory "comfort level" is.:D

It seems we all are.

The main question would be- what are you saving (or hoarding) for?

Someone that likes to shoot every week has a different level than a competitive shooter or the bunker dwelling, end of the world kook.
 
Late in 2019 I was at Bass Pro and they had 1000rd bricks of Browning 22lr for $40. Had one in my hand and thought, "This is silly, I have heaps of 22 at home".... I lucked out and had just built out and stocked up a new reloading room when the craziness hit, so I'm still loading 2019 stock for the most part. The things I'm out of are starting to come back, however, I have to rethink my strategy going forward. When component prices drop, I'll start stocking enough to support my shooting for at least 8ys, and then that amount again to sell.
 
. "Will probably never use it all, just trying to keep it on hand. Hope I'm being prudent and not a hoarder."

Asked and answered.

If you load X number of pounds a year, for the next XX years you may survive, then what do need? And include new powders to be introduced at the rate of maybe one every few years you can use, which means you stop using the older powder. And now it sits.

There are limits to the amount of gunpowder you can store, check your jurisdiction having authority, and what storage requirements it has. Your local fire marshal may have some words of guidance that explain code. If you don't exceed those limits it's still a matter of what do you need, vs comfort level. Is it excessive? What do the numbers say?
 
When it comes to powders, I try not to stockpile more than I can keep fresh and safely stored. Yes, I know smokeless lasts for decades and spontaneous combustion is exceedingly rare but, I don't like taking chances and I do live in the tropics. So, no more than 12 pounds total and I do prefer 1 pound bottles. Primers last decades if stored properly and it's not exactly easy to store them wrong, even in the tropics. I've never heard of a bullet going bad from being stored too long or incorrectly. Ditto for brass cases. Kind of hard to ruin them by stockpiling.

I use primers and powders up and replace them when I can get them cheap. Unfortunately, this last time hospital bills and some unexpected big expenses sapped my primer money right before the bottom fell out. Still got powders and bullets and never really got low on primers, even loading for friends and relations. Nice people helped me out greatly and I'm grateful for that help. And then there were the internet rascals... Never had to resort to funding the neckbeards and incels, thank goodness.

Like I always say, Rule number one is, don't do what I do. It probably won't work for you. ;)
 
I stocked up on cartridge components before the local shortages set in. For a variety of reasons, I've not been shooting as much so my inventory has been staying good.

10mm auto is the only exception as I bought a S&W 610 last year. I did manage to get a case of ammunition for a reasonable price but cases and dies have been virtually unavailable.

Shot shell has been a different story. I got back into shooting skeet. I've managed to buy ammunition but primers have been hard to find. Before long, all I will have left to shoot is .410. Talk about a forlorn hope.

I'll be better prepared next time.
 
I don’t know about anyone else but it seems like 2-3 years after an election is the best time to stock up. Post-election hoopla is over and pre-election hoopla hasn’t started yet.

“Incidents” in the news get me itchy to buy more too.
 
Even before Covid I wasn't shooting nearly as much as I used to. If I go back to my pre-Covid habits, I figure about 60 pounds of powder will last until I fall off my perch. And as I've whitled down the number of cartridges I use, I think just two kinds of powder will suffice. (Given how little I shoot centerfire rifle, what I currently have on hand should be fine.)

So I figure on buying maybe six eight pound kegs of Unique and another couple of 2400. I probably have enough lead, but may still keep an eye out for whenever it comes available at a good price. I guess I'll need to sit down with a calculator to figure out primers - and probably will just get into the habit of snagging a sleeve whenever I drive by the lgs - but at this point am thinking about 10,000 large pistol and 5,000 small. That won't get me to the end, God willing, but would make me feel pretty comfortable.
 
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As said above know your storage limits. Then i like to keep enough of everything on hand to keep me shooting as I am today for at least one election cycle (5 years). Then only spend what you can afford to without cutting yourself short on things like food and shelter. Maximize things by buying in bulk and when on sale as well. Primers, primers, primers, these are what will dissapear first, always has been. You can always trade primers for other supplies. Just sayi'n.
 
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