Availability of Reloading Components in USA

[spEKTre]

I'm from Western Australia and we are in a unique situation where we are getting squeezed out of shooting due to limitations on reloading components.

At the moment we can't get Winchester Powders and up until a month ago we couldn't buy Federal Small Pistol Primers. Some FSPP become available last week but for $423 for a case of 5000. Fiocchi Primers are also unavailable anywhere but we have Magtech and Sellier and Bellot.

My question is how available is Winchester Powders and specifically WST ? are Federal Small Pistol Primers available in quantity ? and is there generally a shortage of powders and primers over there ?

Thanks in advance

 

[chris in va]

I suppose it depends where in the US. Some states/regions have plenty, others...not so much.

Here in the Louisville KY area I can get most anything I need...powders, various primers, reloading gear etc. Heck I even cast and powdercoat my own bullets

If a certain powder isn't available locally you can just order it online with additional $25 hazmat fee.

BTW S&B primers are very good and literally half the price of CCI here, typically $20/1000.

 

[ReloaderFred]

There has been a general shortage of reloading components in the U.S. since 2008, due to the person who occupies our White House. The root cause has been panic buying by those concerned with not being able to get components in the future. If the election goes badly this fall, it will get even worse.

For a period of time, loaded ammunition was non-existent on store shelves, and .22 rimfire ammunition is still hit and miss. Whenever some .22 ammunition hits the shelves, it's normally gone by the end of the day, at least on the West Coast where I live.

Powders are starting to come back, and with ADI being back on line after their fire, it should improve, though Hodgdon has found new suppliers in North America for some of the powders they used to buy from ADI. The maritime shipping companies imposed a single shipping container limit for their ships, which really limited the amount of powder Hodgdon could get from overseas.

The Winchester powder you're looking for, WST, is made by St. Marks Powder Co., in St. Marks, Florida, so you're facing the same limitations on shipping that Hodgdon faces here. Only one 40' shipping container of powder is allowed on any one ship, and when you spread that container full over a whole country, the supply gets pretty thin.

Federal has pretty much caught up with the primer demand. My good friend, who is a dealer, once had a backorder for 500,000 Federal Small Pistol Primers during the drought. He's finally gotten all his primers now, and I'm seeing them on store's shelves pretty regularly. I pay $150.00 U.S. for 5,000 Federal primers, including shipping to my friend.

MagTech primers are just about equal to Federal in sensitivity, if that's what you're looking for. S&B primers are also very good quality, and I don't hesitate to buy either of them when the price is right. I generally buy my primers 50,000 at a time, and try to keep at least a two year supply of primers and powder in stock at all times. During this last shortage, I've been fine, while some of my shooting friends were scrambling for primers and powder. I was even able to supply a couple of them with primers, and still not short myself for my needs.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[spEKTre]

$20/1000 that can't be right ? that would mean less than $100/5000 ? I swear I have never seen primers that cheap in Oz. Best I saw was $210/5000 Federal Small Pistol Primers back about 8 years ago.

 

[spEKTre]

I'm seriously envious of your situation there, our various governments ( state and federal ) are trying to squeeze us out slowly and by stealth. The State in between Western Australia and New South Wales has changed its laws so only 5kg of Powder can be transported through it which pretty much killed any chance of getting Winchester Powders.

I have pretty much tried all the available powders for my 38's and 9mm's and the ADI one are really very good. AS30N or Clays as its branded by Hodgons is one of the best powders for light loading with pretty much the best chrono results of anything.

AP50N is just slightly behind WST for me in my 9mm auto's and I bloody can't get either. On a sand bag with a scope my STI can put inch groups at 50 yards using WST but about 1.5" with AP50N that's using a multitude of OAL's and crimps. AS30N has a tendency to lead up if you go over 3.5gr on a lead projectile but my target loads are 2.7gr using a 100gr SWC with both WST and AP50N.

 

[Reefinmike]

$20/1000 that can't be right ? that would mean less than $100/5000 ? I swear I have never seen primers that cheap in Oz. Best I saw was $210/5000 Federal Small Pistol Primers back about 8 years ago.

The USD and AUD are not equal, but hey, I just recently picked up some s&b primers from cabelas for $18.99 USD +6.75% sales tax. At $20USD/k, they are very hard to pass up.

 

[kcofohio]

spEKTre, WST here in the U.S. has just started to show up after a spell. With shelves starting to have more powders on them, maybe it will ease your situation there.

Hope your powder and primer stocks improve.

Wish we could work out a trade. Some of my pistol powder for some Aussie Varget.

 

[gojones]

spEKTre, not to get off topic, but I just got back from Sydney and I did not know you could own a pistol. I was constantly defending my position and the USA was not the wild west. Good selection of components here in Alabama. Primers at Cabela's are as low as $20 per 1k periodically. Good day mate.

 

[spEKTre]

Yeah not a lot of people realize we can own semi auto pistols either, I have a 3 in 9mm and 38 super but we do target shooting at my club which means light loading and plenty of 50 yard shooting. Shooting in general has this stigma about it here, kind of like you have to be a loon to own one. But slowly younger people are taking it up although I went to our Pistol Australia Nationals a month back here at Whiteman Park and I @ 48 was one of the younger ones.

Most of the shooters were 55+ and we are really finding it hard to get the younger ones to take it up, I shoot with my youngest son but the eldest wont have a bar of it for some reason.

Looking liek we are about to go through another round of gun control too, lots of talk and hype about our laws not strict enough. But they always go after the lawful owners and not the criminals, because they actually shoot back at them and our cops don't like fair fights.

 

[Reeferman]

spEKTre here in Canada the liberals hit us hard back in the 90's with the gun registration. We had a conservative government up until last year that got rid of the long gun registration but the far left, unions and welfare bums voted in the pretty boy man Justin Trudeau the spawn of Pierre Trudeau.
We are pretty scared as well here as they really want to bring in the same crap that you have down there. So the fight has started.
Reloading components have been scarce over the last years just like in the USA but have been showing up lately. For how long I don't know as The Obama government has really put the screws to anything gun related coming to Canada with ITAR.

 

[Capybara]

spEKTre, don't want to depress you but I bought 10k of the S&B primers from www.cabelas.com earlier this year on sale with free shipping and $20.00 Hazmat fee for U.S. $179.99

I am also in TV production and it's the same with video gear over there, you guys get royally gouged on prices compared to what we pay here.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

spEKTre, There has been a very deep shortage on powders, primers and bullets and even loaded ammo for about 7 years now. Only the last 6 months have we seen some easing but it's sporadic. SD ammo is still hard to find and in turn HP handgun bullets too. 22LR ammo is still very hard to find and when you do it's expensive, at least 3x the price from before the shortage.

Primers the past few months are actually coming down. Federal small pistol primers are available for $154/5000 US, $200/5000 AU. We then have to add sales tax, 6% for me and hazmat plus shipping charges, another $35 to $40.

Sorry to hear the component prices are so high where you are. Hopefully a change in elected officials in both our countries will make things better.