Time to stock up on reloading components again

[kcofohio]

I prefer to choose certainty of reloading components on hand over uncertainty of anything.

Who knows, ISIS/ISIL is trying like heck bombing all over Europe/Middle East and DHS/FBI/Border Patrol/US Marshalls added to PD/SD and military COULD order like 100 million rounds of ammo for war against ISIS/ISIL if any bombing occurs in the USA. That alone could trigger a retail shortage for a while.

I think while supplies are good and prices low, stocking up is a good idea.

This hits the nail on the head!

 

[blue32]

Casting was one of the greatest reloading decisions I ever made. I base my shooting on how much lead I can scrounge so I end up shooting less. The extra money gets poured into primers and powder. My next project will be making charcoal for home bp production.

 

[Axis II]

you guys are scaring the hell out of me.

I jumped in feet first in December with a turret, new bench, scales, books, dies, throwers, etc. I would buy 1 thing each payday.

I only have 1200 primers. 2lbs of rifle powder and 300 rifle bullets.

I still have a 9mm, 38 and 45-70 to buy supplies for.

this paycheck I was thinking 500 sp bullets and next payday maybe more. cant buy a keg of powder until my credit cards paid off and trucks painted. so by august I can play.

 

[thomas15]

you guys are scaring the hell out of me.

I jumped in feet first in December with a turret, new bench, scales, books, dies, throwers, etc. I would buy 1 thing each payday.

I only have 1200 primers. 2lbs of rifle powder and 300 rifle bullets.

I still have a 9mm, 38 and 45-70 to buy supplies for.

this paycheck I was thinking 500 sp bullets and next payday maybe more. cant buy a keg of powder until my credit cards paid off and trucks painted. so by august I can play.

Obviously much of this depends on how many times you pull the trigger in a year. In my experience, becoming a handloader help grease the skids so to speak, I got more involved in organized shooting events and this ramped up my ammo consumption a lot.

I think last year I shoot about 8000 pistol rounds, I'm hoping to do more this year but time is not my friend. I would like to have enough components on hand to last me 5 years min without making any changes in my shooting habits.

We are almost recovered from the component shortage (mainly powder) that started in early 2013. It really wasn't fun trying to find powder at the height of the shortage. I have plenty of pistol powders on hand but would like to keep the levels at what I have so I need to replenish from time to time. Primers and bullets are what I need.

BTW, the component shortage was way worse for pistol components than rifle.

 

[dragon813gt]

Hopefully you do the math before buying. And I don't mean money wise. Inventory your pistol powders and primers. Then figure out how many rounds are in an 8# jug of Bullseye. I'm betting most are extremely short on primers.

And it's the exact opposite w/ rifles. I have 1k LRM primers. All they are used in is a 375 H&H. That's a whole lot of powder to use one thousand primers.

So do the math before you buy. If everything isn't in balance it's kind of pointless. I personally don't trade for anything so if I have a pound of powder and no primers it's worthless.

 

[Walkalong]

Too much politics, and I'm not in the mood to trim and prune.

 

[Walkalong]

OK, all pruned and ready to go. I removed anything about elections, left, right, and candidates in particular. Let's keep it about buying while sales are going, which is the way to stock up a little here and there.

We are indeed seeing some good sales on bullets right now (Haven't bought any, broke from buying the wife a nice anniversary gift), and have seen some sales on primers recently (Yep, bought some $20 delivered primers (15K)), which is far better than it has been for a while with shortages and high prices.

7K in reloading stuff. Wow, that would hold me the rest of my life, easy, but I need a tractor.

Let's keep it between the lines please. I know politics can/has affected this lately, but we don't do politics, so.........

 

[kcofohio]

I started reloading in early 2012, I believe. I was only starting to build up on components. I think there is more components available now than then.

Prices at some places are still high, but there are deals.

 

[RPegram]

I don't call it hoarding, but when I find a powder or bullet I like, I buy em when I have the money. It might be 8lbs of powder, 10,000 primers or a couple of thousand bullets, but when I find something I like, I want a lot of it. I have found a particular powder for pistol I really like and will likely stock up on it. Primers, I buy whatever is on sale (in quantity of course). Bullets, I try to buy in bulk, but it seems the more I have on hand the more I load and the more I shoot. During the last shortage, powder and primers were nonexistent, but bullets were fairly easy to come by if you were patient.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Why not stock up on powder, primers and so on? The worst that can happen is that you'll be shooting at what will look like ultra cheap prices in the years to come.

 

[ColoradoShooter77]

I will certainly be making another big purchase late this summer, to resupply. Shooting 6000 pistol rounds/year between 6 pistols really eats up the supply.

I'm on track for 3000 5.56 rounds fired this year.

 

[sage5907]

Now is definitely the time to stock up on components. I have been able to find items that have been out of stock for several years.

 

[wankerjake]

It's a buyers market right now. 5 months away from a presidential election. If shooting is a priority then now is the time to buy. It ain't getting cheaper or more available any time soon (my speculation of course). But the next time supply can't meet demand some will remember this thread and kick themselves.

 

[Reloadron]

If you haven't, would you consider buying while reloading component prices are low/on sale for the future? In the past 35+ years of shooting, I have only seen reloading/shooting component prices go up over time - now everything is double and triple what I used to pay.

This weekend among other things I loaded 100 each .308 Winchester using Sierra Match King 168 grain HPBT. These bullets came out of my stash and were priced at $15 per hundred. They run back about 20 plus years. The beauty of bullets as well as many other reloading components is they have a long shelf life.

During the shortages of the 90s I was fortunate in that my wife and I owned a gun shop so I was always well stocked and prepared. Selling reloading components was our niche in the business. I do not really see a season for buying components. When I see something on sale if it's a good deal I buy it. Doesn't matter if I need 8 Lbs of powder at the time, if the price is right I buy and set it aside. Powder, bullets, primers and whatever, if the price is right I buy. A year from now that 8 Lbs of powder or a thousand primers will likely cost more. This logic applies to those who can manage to do it. Obviously someone young and starting a family should have their priorities in order.

Ron

 

[jmorris]

I always try and buy when prices are low. I hope it doesn't make me un American but I also sell stuff when the prices go up sometimes.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

As I said earlier -- stock up when you can, and in years to come, you'll be astonished at how cheap your components were.

 

[valleyforge.1777]

Definitely a good time to finish replenishing the stocked up supplies from previous years. But for the guy who has 1,200 primers and 300 rifle bullets and for so many other people reading these pages, don't lose sight of what's truly important: You need a home, food to eat, clothes, and transportation. Don't read about us guys with the stored away supplies and let that goad you into spending money that you can't really afford to spend on hobby stuff. A lot of guys have the excess cash to do this kind of spending, but for goodness sake, don't get sucked into spending money on reloading stuff that you really NEED to use for other more important parts of life. Best advice is spend a little bit of money a lot of times over a long time period and then you wind up stocked up and not feeling the shortages in the marketplace. Going hog wild to "catch up" with some of us big spenders could just make you broke and miserable. If you have lots of cash, now's the time to spend, but don't let yourself get sucked into that if you genuinely don't have lots of spare cash.

On the other hand, there are some folks at my range who would probably be better off finding a less expensive hobby than shooting firearms. We had a lady complain that raising the annual membership fee from $50 to $75 a year would be a big strain for her. $25 extra bucks a year is a strain? Well, golly, a box of 9 mm is at least $20. If $25 extra a YEAR is a strain, you really need to consider not trying to keep up with the Jones's (if they're heading to the shooting range).

 

[HankC]

Is there any law, fire regulation limit stock piling ammo, powder, primer and your fire department, insurance company still like you!

 

[Walkalong]

Yes, there are local regs on storing primers and powder, and I am sure our members are following those rules. Some folks spread their powder and/or primers around with family members and friends to stay withing the limit in any one place. It's also a good idea to mark/label powder/primers stored in your house. I use the hazmat symbols on packaging to hang up for fire fighters to see.

 

[Hangingrock]

I placed an order for five thousand 45-230-FMJ, ten thousand 9mm-124Gr-FMJ and five thousand 9mm-147Gr-FMJ bullets.

 

[35 Whelen]

<snip>
If you have a spouse who disagree with money you spend on stock piling reloading components, try this - our rule is wife cannot complain what I buy but she gets to spend double what I spend - this rule has worked well for many decades (even in 2014 when I went on a buying spree spending over $7000 and when I got home, wife smiled and said, "Honey, I get to spend double, right?" and proceeded to spend over $15,000). Now, she happily greets me whenever UPS/Fedex/USPS drop off another reloading/shooting related box.

<snip>
Are there other THR members doing the same?

You realize with this "rule" that the $7000 worth of components you purchased in 2014 actually cost you around $15,000, don't you? I understand the need for fairness with the wife, but....anyhow.

I try to buy a little all along, just keeping an eye on things. I was shooting my .44 Special yesterday evening and noticed I was down to around 7 or 8 thousand LPP's so I'll start watching for sales. Our GLS's are pretty well stocked up so I usually drop in every once in awhile and pick up a pound or two of powder.

As far as budgeting, here are a couple of suggestions:

Change. Every evening I throw my change in those small metal coffee cans. In fact I deliberately break bills during the day instead of pulling change out of my pocket. Took two cans to the bank last week and had almost $200.

Sell junk. I can always find something around there I on longer need and eBay or otherwise sell it.

Extra jobs. I'm a weekend musician so make extra money that way, but I'll do just about anything to make a little extra money.

Do without. Eating out, especially lunch when I'm at work, consumes a lot of money. Pack a lunch and pocket the saved money.

35W

 

[ajandrs]

If you have a spouse who disagree with money you spend on stock piling reloading components, try this - our rule is wife cannot complain what I buy but she gets to spend double what I spend - this rule has worked well for many decades (even in 2014 when I went on a buying spree spending over $7000 and when I got home, wife smiled and said, "Honey, I get to spend double, right?" and proceeded to spend over $15,000). Now, she happily greets me whenever UPS/Fedex/USPS drop off another reloading/shooting related box.

Wow, I can completely empathize with keeping the wife happy but letting her have double is, well ... I guess awesome that you're able to do so. My wife and I live by a pretty strict budget (Dave Ramsey fans here) and allow $100 of "personal spending money" for each of us each month - outside of the family budget. That $100 is ours to do whatever we want with it without judgment from the other. Hers is usually spent on starbucks, random shopping at target, clothes (if we can't fit that new shirt she has to have into the monthly budget), and whatnot. Mine goes into my safe where I sock it away for bigger purchases like reloading components, or guns / parts. I spend very little if any on food and crap so that I can have what I need for my shooting hobby.

$100 a month isn't very much let me tell you, but it's part of the sacrifice we made to let my wife quit her job and stay at home while our 2 boys are young. Once the youngest is in school full time (2 more years) we'll go back to having 2 incomes and my hobby money will be a little more generous!! I'll agree with previous comments, make sure you're taking care of your daily needs before blowing it all on stuff that won't feed you or keep your lights on.

 

[cheygriz]

I started, 30 years ago, stocking up.

Tip: Buy powder in 8 lb caddies. Or even better, in cases of 4 eight pound caddies.

Buy primers in lots of at least 5,000, and 25,000 is better yet.

Buy bullets in bulk packs of 1K or 2K

When .22 LR was available, I bought cases of 5,000.

Even as much as I shoot .22, I've still got about 7500 left on the shelf.

Another tip:
Standardize on one brand of primer. I use only Remington, since their 7 1/2 and 9 1/2 are MilSpec.

Standardize on just a few powders. For Pistol, Green Dot, HS-6 and H110 cover all of my needs.

For rifle, H335, H4895 and W-W 760 cover everything.

Standardizing lets you buy more of your components in bulk.

 

[ajandrs]

To take Chey's point even further, if money is tight like it is for me, standardizing around a few components is good, but I'd go further and say standardize around a couple main calibers. For me I primarily shoot 9mm and .223 so that is all I aim to amass a reserve of components for. Those are also the 2 most popular calibers (not including .22lr) and are typically the last to find their way back to store shelves after a shortage. Even during the last shortage after Sandy Hook I could typically find .40 and .45 as needed, but it was about a year and a half before I could walk in and reasonably expect to find 9mm or .223 sitting on a shelf. I still can't expect to see .22lr, you basically have to be at the store when it comes off the truck to have any luck at getting it.

If you're trying to stockpile components for several different calibers your money isn't going to go as far and your stockpile not as deep.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I agree. While I reload for a pot full of different cartridges, I've standardized on a few powders:

Bullseye for .38 Special, .45 ACP and my .22-equivellent .22 Hornet loads.

Hodgedon's Li'l Gun for .22 Hornet (full power loads), .357 Mag and .45 Colt

Varget for everything else.