OK, here's a case study - me. Though I shot on the rifle team in HS decades ago, the only gun I owned was a .22 rifle. Then, after the election, seeing what was happening with the economy, I decided it was prudent to buy a handgun. My decision had NOTHING TO DO with which party/person was president (believe it or not). It was mostly based on uncertainty on how the economy issue was going to shake out. OK, mid-January I buy a .380 and a case of target ammo. (Yup, 1000 rounds - knew I was going to practice to be proficient.) Go to the range, shoot some paper. While reading about training classes I come across info about IDPA/IPSC. Take my .380 to a weekly IDPA match, have a LOT of fun. Find out that 9mm is smallest caliber for the "games". It's now almost March. Go buy a XD9SC and another case of ammo. Practicing at the range a lot, so I find a used S&W .22 target pistol to save on ammo cost. Shoot the XD9SC for a few weeks in IDPA, and realize that while I really prefer the XD9SC over the .380 for daily CC (I'd gotten my permit by this point), I was behind the curve using a subcompact as my primary "game gun". It's end of March, I sell the .380 & 1200 rounds of ammo (to a VERY happy buyer) to fund a M&P Pro 9 (a very sweet gun, let me say). I realize I'm really enjoying IDPA, and practicing at least once or twice a week, so I'm burning through 500 rounds/month minimum. So at the same time I buy a used Lee Turret rig with all the extras I need to start reloading. Came with 1 lb of Clays & 100 primers. Week later buy 1k primers @ $43 from a local shop. By now I was fully aware of what a BAD time I'd picked to start shooting & reloading as a hobby. Also knew I was in the sport for the long haul, and was enjoying reloading, so put in an order for 10k primers & 4 lb powder online. A week later the number of posts regarding primers is escalating like a (bullet?... ok...) like a bullet, so because I think the PRICE MIGHT GO UP IN THE NEAR FUTURE (it already has at the local shop), I order another 25k online from another vendor. A few weeks later I've gone through the 1k primers, and bought another, though now the price is $48/k. BTW, the online primers were locked in at $23/k, no matter when they ship.
So let's recap; started shooting 1/15/09, now 4 1/2 months later, I've had 4 handguns, shot about 3k ammo, started reloading (1.5k of that 3k ammo was handloads), Classified in IDPA, have a CCW & carry daily. I've got 8 lbs of AA#5 and about 500 primers left of the 2k I've bought locally, got 4 lb of HP38 & 35K primers on order, with no idea of when they'll arrive.
NONE of the above was out of fear of gov't intervention, nor do I believe they have ANYTHING to do with the shortage (directly, that is, like telling ammo manufacturers what to do). OF COURSE the election of anti-2A politicos caused many to either buy their first or stock up, but there were other good reasons as well (the economy tanking, notably).
As others have said, when this settles down (which it will), going forward I will always have on hand enough powder & primer to see me through at least a year, so should this kind of spike happen again, I can sit back & ignore it.
I guess I'm writing all this as a cathartic release, as just last weekend at an IDPA event someone made a comment about how "all the noob shooters are ruining it for us that have been doing it xx years". Well dammit... too bad for you! I'm a new shooter, proud that I made the decision to carry wherever I'm legally allowed, and damn well going to hone my skills so God forbid should I ever have to use my weapon to defend myself, I might have a chance to survive it! So $#@ off!
