Overpriced Reloading Components?

[CoElkHunter]

@375Ruger Fan
That's a rip off. 6 weeks ago I bout 1,000 BR4 small rifle primers for $119AUD and 1,000 Remington small rifle primers for $99AUD.
Problem is now try and get then in Australia. My gunshop thought he was getting more in a few weeks only to be told it might be 12 months or more.. Lucky for me right spot at the right time for a change.

I'll take them! Put a bunch of the 100 packs in a zip lock bag and shove them into a giant jar of vegemite and mail it to me! I'll PM you my address and pay you with Nazi Pal or Zelle. LOL

 

[Hogpatrol]

I received an email from LG Outdoors saying they had some reloading components back in stock. From the looks of things, expensive powder is here to stay!

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Those are GOUGE prices. Was in a gunshop in PA yesterday and 8 lb. jugs of Varger were 350.

 

[rookhawk]

This current supply chain has brought out ththe best in people. A fellow member here came by and gave me a ton of reloading components, taking a few back from me I had as spares. Another member gave my kids dies.

what I would say is ask members here. Nobody here is going to let you be ammoless for a hunt. Others have been great at finding in-stock powders online.

But I don’t think things will ever calm down. $45-$50 is the new MSRP for powders. Good bullets are a buck a piece.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

But I don’t think things will ever calm down. $45-$50 is the new MSRP for powders. Good bullets are a buck a piece.

If they come down, I’d say it will be 5-10 years. I’m guessing it will take that long for everyone to get their lifetime supply and quit buying.

 

[CoElkHunter]

If they come down, I’d say it will be 5-10 years. I’m guessing it will take that long for everyone to get their lifetime supply and quit buying.

I say if one has what they NEED, quit buying from GB and your LGS and gun shows at inflated prices. Prices will eventually come down. If you absolutely need something, buy it. If not, wait. Just my 2 centavos.

 

[Woodcarver]

This current supply chain has brought out ththe best in people. A fellow member here came by and gave me a ton of reloading components, taking a few back from me I had as spares. Another member gave my kids dies.

what I would say is ask members here. Nobody here is going to let you be ammoless for a hunt. Others have been great at finding in-stock powders online.

But I don’t think things will ever calm down. $45-$50 is the new MSRP for powders. Good bullets are a buck a piece.

I would agree with the first part, I have seen/read where members here have helped others make sure they had what was needed for an upcoming hunt, or even just to be able to go shoot at the range some. Just this evening, a buddy stopped by to swap some primers so he had what he needed to build a load for a new rifle in a new to him cartridge. He hadn't had a need for LRM primers before, now he has a couple hundred.
But I am more optimistic about the price of powder, as I haven't paid over $34/lb for any yet, and don't expect to in the foreseeable future. Last delivery was less than a month ago. But I won't buy 1 or 2 pounds and pay hazmat and shipping. Minimum order has to be 20+ pounds. Ideally, the full 48lbs allowed per hazmat charge.
Bullets are finding their way back onto the shelves as well. While there has been an increase, what I have tracked is more in the 10-20% range. I suspect those increases will diminish a little, but not much.
Primers will take longer to be found in quantity. Unfortunately, I see them as having the largest permanent increase, closer to double what most of us were paying a few years ago, landing somewhere in the $70-$90/1000 price range. Hope I'm guessing high, but that's what I'm expecting to see.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I'll take them! Put a bunch of the 100 packs in a zip lock bag and shove them into a giant jar of vegemite and mail it to me! I'll PM you my address and pay you with Nazi Pal or Zelle. LOL

@CoElkHunter
Mate I would prefer US dollars , none of this funny money like Russian rubels. I have some spare Federal 215 LR magnum primes if I could get them to you you would be welcome.
I can see the headlines now.
Cargo plane crashes al survived cause has been traced to an exploding Vegemite jar that severed the electrics an hydraulic lines

 

[Woodcarver]

I say if one has what they NEED, quit buying from GB and your LGS and gun shows at inflated prices. Prices will eventually come down. If you absolutely need something, buy it. If not, wait. Just my 2 centavos.

A big part of not having paid more than $34/lb is that I haven't bought anything from GB or any other source that wanted to charge inflated prices. Patience and persistence has yielded everything needed (except primers). I have bought more premium bullets than I used to, as they have been the first to become available again, and with new calibers there is a need for new projectiles.

 

[Trogon]

I would agree with the first part, I have seen/read where members here have helped others make sure they had what was needed for an upcoming hunt, or even just to be able to go shoot at the range some. Just this evening, a buddy stopped by to swap some primers so he had what he needed to build a load for a new rifle in a new to him cartridge. He hadn't had a need for LRM primers before, now he has a couple hundred.
But I am more optimistic about the price of powder, as I haven't paid over $34/lb for any yet, and don't expect to in the foreseeable future. Last delivery was less than a month ago. But I won't buy 1 or 2 pounds and pay hazmat and shipping. Minimum order has to be 20+ pounds. Ideally, the full 48lbs allowed per hazmat charge.
Bullets are finding their way back onto the shelves as well. While there has been an increase, what I have tracked is more in the 10-20% range. I suspect those increases will diminish a little, but not much.
Primers will take longer to be found in quantity. Unfortunately, I see them as having the largest permanent increase, closer to double what most of us were paying a few years ago, landing somewhere in the $70-$90/1000 price range. Hope I'm guessing high, but that's what I'm expecting to see.

Based on what I've seen traveling around my home state the last 2 years, I believe your price point on primers, where available is right on- going to be $7-$8 per 100 count at least, hopefully not higher. Pistol Powders in the $35-$45 range, desirable rifle powders now $45-$55. Nearly zero luck in finding Large Rifle Magnum primers, the only primers I'm looking for.
My extra per diem funds go to buying reloading stuff so it eases the hurt to my wallet.

 

[Woodcarver]

Based on what I've seen traveling around my home state the last 2 years, I believe your price point on primers, where available is right on- going to be $7-$8 per 100 count at least, hopefully not higher. Pistol Powders in the $35-$45 range, desirable rifle powders now $45-$55. Nearly zero luck in finding Large Rifle Magnum primers, the only primers I'm looking for.
My extra per diem funds go to buying reloading stuff so it eases the hurt to my wallet.

Think of it as a good diet plan; if you're hiking around spending it on reloading components, it's not going for meals, ijs.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Here's another small example of why the price(s) for "fun" stuff keeps going up and/or won't come down anytime soon. The neighbor (36yoa) next door hasn't hunted and hasn't owned a firearm. He is working in a new job and now makes more money. He wants to get into hunting as he's heard myself and another neighbor talking about it. He bought a .308 three weeks ago and found some reasonably priced ($40/box) ammo. Great! Oh, but now he JUST bought another rifle in 6.5PCR because a friend of his told him that's what he needed for LONGE RANGE shooting. He paid $66/box+tax+shipping for two boxes of ammo online PLUS $20 extra for Fedex delivery with an adult signature required. He told me he just had to have it NOW and didn't care what the ammo cost. Multiply his mentality by the hundreds of thousands with the same thought process and more money in their pockets, buying overpriced firearms, ammo, reloading components, etc., and it isn't difficult to see why inflated prices are staying high on EVERYTHING.

 

[Hogpatrol]

I just wish someone had IMR 4064 back on the shelf.. Ive been checking weekly for the better part of the last 9 months, and have alerts set at all of the major retailers... nada...

90% of everything I load for either gets H110 or IMR 4064...

Ive got enough H110 on hand to last me for the next probably 6-8 years based on my shooting habits..

Ive got maybe 2 years worth of IMR 4064...

Im going to have to slow down a bit, change powders, or keep praying that one day 4064 will show back up on the shelf at any reasonable price..

Primers, brass, and bullets Im not worried about.. Im set pretty much across all calibers there..

Powder however is a different story..

I saw H110 at a gun shop in PA yesterday and a week ago in another PA gun shop, IIRC, it was 39.95 a lb.

 

[mdwest]

I saw H110 at a gun shop in PA yesterday and a week ago in another PA gun shop, IIRC, it was 39.95 a lb.

Yep… I’ve had no problem finding H110… I’m stocked up pretty well there…

It’s just the IMR 4064 that has become unobtainiaum

 

[rookhawk]

I think we have two different woes going on in this thread getting mixed together.

1.) The reality that prices will never come down. Never. The reasons for point 1 is that they increased the MSRP of all powders and bullets, plus the COGS with inflation ensures more actual manufacturer-to-distributor-to-dealer price increases over time. Whatever that price is, we can all whine if we want but a box of 50 small-bore Barnes bullets is $50 and a bottle of powder, 1lb, is now an MSRP of around $45-$60 depending on which brand.

2.) The other type of price increase. This is because jackwagons are buying at MSRP above And marking it up to sell at auction. $10,000 primers, $8 bullets, $250 dies, this is all private, secondary sales (or corrupt dealers) selling goods at 4x to 10x of MSRP.

We can lament point #2 and that issue will correct when demand subsides, but point #1 is never going away as real inflation is baked into the price. Bitching about point #1 is like me whining to my kids that bricks of 500 .22lr rounds should be $5 like they were when I was a kid. They call me a boomer, laugh at me, and we pay the $7 for 50 rounds to go plinking. The former is an old-person problem about what things cost these days.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

This should help. New investment group starting up a primer manufacturing plant in Texas.

A Third Primer Manufacturer Now Tooling Up For Production in Texas in 2022 - The Truth About Guns

While lots of calibers of ammunition are slowly returning to many store shelves, primers haven’t really reappeared in any meaningful numbers since The Time Before. The two major players in the market, Olin (Winchester) and Vista Outdoor (Remington, CCI and Federal) have maxxed out their...

www.thetruthaboutguns.com

 

[rookhawk]

Data point for all of you from the news today. Wholesale good prices surged 11.2% in March, the highest ever recorded in the USA. You'll never see reductions in MSRPs, only massive surges, when we have a leftist government printing money and doling it out to folks.

Definition of inflation: too many dollars chasing too few goods. The market corrects by increasing prices until supply/demand equalizes.

 

[CoElkHunter]

I think we have two different woes going on in this thread getting mixed together.

1.) The reality that prices will never come down. Never. The reasons for point 1 is that they increased the MSRP of all powders and bullets, plus the COGS with inflation ensures more actual manufacturer-to-distributor-to-dealer price increases over time. Whatever that price is, we can all whine if we want but a box of 50 small-bore Barnes bullets is $50 and a bottle of powder, 1lb, is now an MSRP of around $45-$60 depending on which brand.

2.) The other type of price increase. This is because jackwagons are buying at MSRP above And marking it up to sell at auction. $10,000 primers, $8 bullets, $250 dies, this is all private, secondary sales (or corrupt dealers) selling goods at 4x to 10x of MSRP.

We can lament point #2 and that issue will correct when demand subsides, but point #1 is never going away as real inflation is baked into the price. Bitching about point #1 is like me whining to my kids that bricks of 500 .22lr rounds should be $5 like they were when I was a kid. They call me a boomer, laugh at me, and we pay the $7 for 50 rounds to go plinking. The former is an old-person problem about what things cost these days.

While I agree wholeheartedly with your point #2, I don't think ammo/reloading component prices will permanently stay where they are price wise. Example: Lower end .30-06 Winchester, Remington, Federal ammo at Wal Mart. I use my local Wal Mart as an ammo price bellwether, as they can't be making much of a profit on their ammo sales. Before the pandemic, $18/box. During the pandemic and up until VERY recently they didn't have ANY. So, if you could find any .30-06 anywhere it was at LEAST $50/box. Present day, $27/box, when they have it. My point is that in the ENTIRE HISTORY of ammunition price increases, .30-06 at Wal Mart was $18/box, all day, everyday before our current ammo shortage/price increases. I see it eventually selling everywhere in a $27-30 range, instead of the 2-3x mark up other LGS here are selling the same ammo for. Hope I'm right?

 

[rookhawk]

While I agree wholeheartedly with your point #2, I don't think ammo/reloading component prices will permanently stay where they are price wise. Example: Lower end .30-06 Winchester, Remington, Federal ammo at Wal Mart. I use my local Wal Mart as an ammo price bellwether, as they can't be making much of a profit on their ammo sales. Before the pandemic, $18/box. During the pandemic and up until VERY recently they didn't have ANY. So, if you could find any .30-06 anywhere it was at LEAST $50/box. Present day, $27/box, when they have it. My point is that in the ENTIRE HISTORY of ammunition price increases, .30-06 at Wal Mart was $18/box, all day, everyday before our current ammo shortage/price increases. I see it eventually selling everywhere in a $27-30 range, instead of the 2-3x mark up other LGS here are selling the same ammo for. Hope I'm right?

That's correct. You're saying that $18 was the walmart discount against a Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price (probably MSRP of $25). Now they are selling for $27 (probably a new MSRP of $35). That's just forever inflation, will peg at that or continue to rise month over month. Unfortunate, but natural.

Separate from that, is the Local Gun Store that was literally selling MSRP $35 ammo for a 150% of MSRP price point of $50. Yeah, we'll remember those guys when the craze stops. When people conduct usuary and exploit supply shortages (e.g. reselling toilet paper last year) those dealers need to be blackballed. That's point #2.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Data point for all of you from the news today. Wholesale good prices surged 11.2% in March, the highest ever recorded in the USA. You'll never see reductions in MSRPs, only massive surges, when we have a leftist government printing money and doling it out to folks.

Definition of inflation: too many dollars chasing too few goods. The market corrects by increasing prices until supply/demand equalizes.

When Janet Yellen and Jerome Powell quit playing politics and protecting Brandon from his disastrous domestic economic policy choices, you'll see interest rates HAVING to rise significantly in an attempt to stem the "too many monopoly dollars" chasing already overpriced goods. Hey, if it's FREE MONEY, why not spend it on overpriced stuff, just so the manufacturers can again raise the price on that "stuff" again? Same with businesses borrowing virtually free money at no interest rates over the last thirteen years. We continue to have an over exuberant stock market with massively overpriced stock shares in many sectors and based on what? High oil prices and massive inflation? Borrowing money at artificially low interest rates? We've seen this same scenario before and it didn't end well.

 

[JimP]

Sadly the price of components is simply a case of supply and demand. Low supply with a high demand will equal higher prices every time. Look at the housing market the last few years, it is crazy. Where I live a home is usually on the market for less than a week before someone offers above the asking price just to be able to purchase it.

Loading supplies are no different. Most stores that sell the items price them high just because the can. Once the supply catches up the prices will come down, how much is anyone's guess. I won't even put GB into this equation, people go there to buy what they need and the prices that components are going for reflect that.

A number of years ago when 22Lr were in short supply I stopped into a small gun shop that I was passing by just to see what he had. All of his prices were high but on his counter he had 5 or 6 cartons of Federal 22Lr with 375 rounds in each carton. He was asking $250 for each carton. I asked him if he was selling very much at that price and he said that he was and that he was just trying to get his money back on them. I have no idea of where he bought them and just how much money that he needed to get back.

Then last summer I saw a new store pop up with a big sign in their window saying that the had ammo. I wandered inside and looked around. They had quite a bit of big bore ammo. 375HH and up and their prices were about double what they should of been. The rest of their ammo which consisted of popular pistol rounds and a few common hunting round was also priced out of the universe. I have no idea if they even sold any since I haven't been in there since. But as soon as the supply starts to normalize and other stores pick up some of the cartridges that they are selling they'll have to either drop their price or watch dust gather on the boxes.

But all this should come as a warning to those of us who load for our rifles and even those who buy ammo off of the shelf. When and if things get back to normal that they need to pick up a few things extra as they go along. I don't mean to walk into a store and buy them out of what they have but to stock up gradually until you see that you have a few years of items that you may need down the road. I have done this and over the last year I have been able to help others out. I am going to drop off some powder tomorrow to a person that drastically needs some for this falls hunts.