hostjunkies said:
Last year it was primers, impossible to find. Then earlier this year was rifle powder. Now pistol powder. It's a cycle.
Now your getting close. That is exactly what it is. It would be properly called a manufacturing cycle. Also a manufacturing schedule. Powder, ammo, and bullet manufacturers do not have the capacity to run all of their products all of the time. SO they have a manufacturing schedule.
I would guess that late winter, thru most of spring is the time of year when rifle powder is produced. That way it can be on the shelf in the fall when we turn our interests towards hunting. After that they turn production over to pistol powder. If you remember last fall you could find pistol powder but NO rifle powder.
Manufacturing schedules are not at all very flexible. Equipment needs to be changed to run the new line, raw materials need to be ordered ahead of time so they are at the plant when needed.
So the schedules coupled with the added sales thanks to the ever present panic climate, have us over a barrel. Manufacturers are enjoying booming sales but are still reluctant to invest capitol to increase factory capacity. They have seen this before and probably intend to ride it out. Even if they did decide to expand facilities I would guess to say you would be looking at a minimum of a year or two before the new facilities would be up and running.
My suggestion, grin and bear it. Buy what you are going to need for rifle powder NOW while it is on the shelf. I do believe in a few months those who didn;t will be creating a thread asking where all the rifle powder is!!!
Please be kind to your fellow reloaders too. Buy what you are going to need, not what you believe will get you thru an apocalypse, that kind of buying is contributing to why we are where we are right now.