are you buying componets at these prices?

Blkhrt13 said:

If I could find the powder or primers I need yes I would. I picked a tragic time to learn a new hobby.

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I'm pulling an oar next to Blkhrt13 in this vessel. I'm holding out as long as I can, but I will probably break down and buy some primers in the next month or two when I run out of SPPs.

The first 1000 LRPs I bought when I started reloading a couple years ago cost me $100 but I was anxious to get started so I coughed up the dough. Unless I really screw up my waiting strategy and prices start going up again (not out of the question now that Biden is trying to goad Congress into "action"), I probably won't have to pay as much per K as I did to get started.

Well, now, let’s just do some Devil’s Advocate thinking, here. Plain old WWB 130gr FMJ .38Spl is $70/100 at Bass Pro. Saw it for myself tonight waiting for my wife to get out of her hair appointment. If I was new to reloading or had used up my reserves I’d prefer my own reloads using a better bullet than that. If I’m going to pay close to $1/round for .38Spl (after taxes) it’s going to be for something more useful than a light FMJ.
So if I’m one of those people, with no supplies or just getting started, I’m paying for the components and making my own.

I pretty much quit shooting and loading during Covid. Had a decent supply of most things but didn't like using them. Now that availability is easing a bit I've started again - even bought myself a new gun for the first time in years. I've bought some powder, brass, and bullets at reasonable prices, but am doing my part to drive down primer prices by not buying any. I won't be able to do that forever, but hopefully we can do it for long enough...

Yes I buy components at high prices when needed’ although I’m trying to get ahead of the game a little bit to ease the pain.

I am not out of almost out of anything,but primers are for sure my limitation. At some point I will be low enough that I will curtail shooting until I can resupply. I have been slowly accumulating some Walmart 22lr so that I can start stretching my small pistol primers.

I am still buying as needed, my stash is not touched until no components can be found.

Once no components can be had then and only then ARE WE SCREWED.

Until that day we just have to accept whatever the price is and pay to play.

I'm waiting for primers to get down to the price of double what I paid at last time's purchase.

Bullets purchased are not too bad, plus I cast my own.

Powders are coming back.

It is all relative.
Pay for ammo or make your own.

Hey, use care out there!

B.L.

I'm with walkalong. I haven't bought anything but 200 bullets and 100 brass for a new caliber, in the last three years.

KY DAN said:

I am still buying as needed, my stash is not touched until no components can be found.

Once no components can be had then and only then ARE WE SCREWED.

Until that day we just have to accept whatever the price is and pay to play.

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We get down to that I will jut switch entirely to black powder percussion. I can make caps, powder, cast balls, minies and conicals. Haven't had any trouble dropping deer with 54 and 58 balls, doubt bear or elk would fail to expire from a decent hit from either.

12 cents a primer...hard no...Unless I'm completely out of ammunition. 6 cents I can and am living with. Powder and bullets, I'm riding the storm out and slinging some substitute standards. Just bought 5k of 209s. My trap team comes and loads shells with me. Their donations plus using $1 per pound reclaim shot recoup my cost so I'm good there. Having a couple years supply of shotgun primers is good piece of mind, and that has value also. Just a bit over 6 cents, and I live by the store so no Hazmat. Still in stock at BPI BTW.

brewer12345 said:

We get down to that I will jut switch entirely to black powder percussion. I can make caps, powder, cast balls, minies and conicals. Haven't had any trouble dropping deer with 54 and 58 balls, doubt bear or elk would fail to expire from a decent hit from either.

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One ahead of you lol, I am looking into compresord air weaponry. No chemicals no processes, just a 30 caliber projectile being propelled quietly. I can hunt or defend should we ever reach that dismal future.....

I just put away 2,000 Cheddite 209s today. They were $99/1,000. They sit next to 4,000 Win 209s I paid $33/1,000 for. But at 4,000 I was short, so I bought them.

I’d pay $150/1,000 for CCI 250s.

I gave 3 sleeves of 250s to 2 different friends in the last 10 days. I probably have enough to last my lifetime since I only have 2 guns I use em in. But another thousand or 2 would let me sleep better.

Oh, and a couple 100 .284 160 grain Accubonds.

KY DAN said:

One ahead of you lol, I am looking into compresord air weaponry. No chemicals no processes, just a 30 caliber projectile being propelled quietly. I can hunt or defend should we ever reach that dismal future.....

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Yeah, I may look into it eventually. Still happy with the charcoal burners.

We just bought a new car (second one in a year) and paid sticker for one that was about 50-75% of what we wanted. But we needed a car.

A few years ago it wouldn’t have made our list at all. Two things it didn’t have used to be show stoppers for me. The color was completely unacceptable to my wife. But we needed a car.

Of the nearly one dozen dealers for this brand in Northern Virginia there were only two dozen cars in stock. But we needed a car.

The dealer politely said they no longer negotiate nor accept Navy Federal Credit Union buyers service (TrueCar) but they don’t markup either. The price was exorbitant to me. But we needed a car.

So, I’ll wager the analogy holds for most shooters/reloaders too. If you need it, and it’s available, you’ll buy it. Maybe even if you just want it, you’ll buy it. (And some day in the future you’ll dollar cost average down and stock up when the prices fall.)

I haven't been buying, at least not yet.

However, I have a few friends just getting in the hobby. When I find primers at less than $100/K I alert them to the 'bargain'.

If one wants to dance, one has to pay the fiddler.

Not really. I'm looking at retirement less than a year away coupled with moving 950 miles from my current location, my focus is going to be on shooting down existing supplies. I don't know if I'll have time. I'm not a high volume shooter, so 3-4k LPP and 2-3k SPP will take eons for me to shoot up. With powders like W231, CFEP, Unique and Bullseye on hand and the relatively high shot per pound ratio they provide, I won't need to buy anything for the foreseeable future.

@sisco683, welcome to THR!
I’m not buying primers until I need to, hopefully prices will be down to something “reasonable” by then. As more factory ammo makes it to the shelves, depending on the price, I may buy that instead of components for certain uses.

I have a decent stash that being said I check for decent prices but haven't bought much online over the last year. As some have stated here I shoot my semi's slower and not quite as often. I have upped the use of my revolvers and .22's. If things continues for another couple years my spp stash will mainly be saved for .38/.357. I can find 9mm on the shelf but the revolver fodder seams more difficult to find and much more expensive when located. I see this lasting for a few more years the days of most reloaders having a couple thousand primers on hand and being happy with it won't be the norm.

I only buy deals (less then .10 per primer now) or when absolutely necessary to maintain stock (and usually try and make a combination purchase to lower HM costs)
A couple of points:

1) I try to stay about 1K primers (of any size) ahead of the projectiles I have to load. To me, it just seems to make better sense to stock up on the right projectiles for the weapon I have rather than "...any projectile in that caliber I can find..."
2) I have completely switched to cast lead and foreign primers for target, staying as close to the grain weight of the Critical Duty rounds as possible. I will dump a mag of CD every once in awhile, but have moved towards looking at the age of the CD rounds and plan on pulling the projectiles/replacing the powder when they get too old.

So...I guess my transition is complete: I was able to shoot as much as I wanted for free (LEO firearms instructor)...then retired and still shot frequently...then realized it was getting expensive....now maintaining a small stock and haunting the scrap yards for lead.

I bought LOTS of primers when they were $20 per thousand.

KY DAN said:

One ahead of you lol, I am looking into compresord air weaponry. No chemicals no processes, just a 30 caliber projectile being propelled quietly. I can hunt or defend should we ever reach that dismal future.....

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Me too. Quiet is a big part of the appeal for me.

On topic - All I should need for the next decade or so is projectiles.

Hard yes. Still hard to find small and large pistol in 5K cases, still paying .10 to .12 a primer. Brass is still spotty for certain calibers. Powder is coming back, but still spotty for some, some bullets are still unobtanium. Some press parts are still unobtanium. I'm finally starting to see things I've had backordered for 2 years start to roll in. I am changing my opinion on when things will be back. I'm now convinced that consumer spending has peaked and tanked, and that means the shelves will start filling. Lots of people are not buying goods of any kind, they need the money for gas and food. This is also true of the ammo and firearm industry, spending tapered off hard in May, like somebody flipped a switch. The gun control noise right now might spike it again <shrug>, don't know about that, but too many people will be struggling really hard in the immediate future that I just don't see spending picking up enough to matter. I think components are coming back fast now. Even in the past week I've seen the shelves that the big box sporting goods places fill up with ammo and guns. I think we'll have a brief glory period where everything comes back and the prices start to drop......then Vista and the other manufacturers will taper off production, end the extra shifts, and start laying people off because of the recession, and prices will likely not move much after that, and the reduced production will keep inventory low enough that we won't see a collapse in prices like we did the last couple of go arounds. This is likely to be a massive global recession too, so it's not clear how much of a role the foreign manufacturers will play. Fiocci, S&B, and Magtech for starters are already increasing sales to the US, and they can produce cheaper by far. Might be scary for a lot of small business guys for a while, might be a lot of layoffs in the gun industry...all industries really. Hard to sell things to people with no money. Lot of lower middle class americans are seeing the bulk of their paychecks go to gas and food now...not much lose money in the economy to drive growth.

I buy what I need to continue to do what I enjoy. Luckily I make a decent living and can afford to. And yes, I complain about the prices . Doesn’t everyone????

I also buy overpriced lumber to make repairs on the deck and around the house.

I also buy gasoline at $4.69 a gallon and complain about it too.

if it ever outprices me, I’ll make that decision if/when it happens.