Unless you have been buying ammo by the pallet, you are also feeling the pains of the lack of ammo at a decent price. I am not gonna lie and say I am all fixed because I reload and have components, but there are a couple of calibers I feel pretty satisfied with the amount of components I have.
When I started reloading, I did it because of IDPA competitions and I hated to go hunting for ammo. Back then, reloading 9mm was considered silly because it was abundant and cheap, but not really if you had the time to pick up the reloading hobby (Have I mentioned that reloading is relaxing?). When I gave up IDPA, I ended up with a significant stock of both finish product, components plus the tooling to make my own ammo. Other than refreshing the carry ammo, I never thought about getting more and at this juncture in life, I am happy for not having to fret for pistol calibers. And here is the great truth about reloaders: They do not suffer as much, the whims of the market and politics. It is hard to be controlled by outside influences when you can manufacture your own ammo.
All the experts say (and I agree) that we won’t se the end of this drought till sometime 3rd quarter of 2021. I think reloading presses and ancillary equipment will probably be available earlier, but no idea about the price, not cheap either. Whatever the case, buy ammo and start buying anything for reloading, even if it takes you a year to do so.
And somebody out there reading this will be asking him/herself: “What about the warnings through the years about not using reloads in self-defense to avoid legal problems?” If I am down to using my reloads, our society is at the point where courts don’t matter much and we have more pressing problems.
All true. I’ve laid in a couple of hundred XTPs in the two family defensive calibers in case it gets there.
Only 200?
I love reloading as a hobby seperate from shooting lol. Just like you say relaxing; queue up a few you tube videos to to listen to and crack a beer. If only it were safe to smoke a cigar while pulling the lever!
Post sandy hook it was minimum 2 years until components started to show again and probably closer to 3 until things were normal again. It took me 3 years to find h110 in stock…
my motto is no distractions. No music, no TV, no snacks, no beer. You can’t afford to make even one mistake while reloading. Works for me…
To some extent I do agree, especially if you are a beginner, as few distractions as possible and the supervision of someone experienced is a good idea. However, there are things you can do to mitigate dangers from mistakes.
The most dangerous mistake IMO is under or over charging a cartridge. This is easily avoidable by visual inspection of every cartridge before bullet seating, even on a progressive press. In the thousands of rounds I’ve reloaded, I’ve had one squib load and that was as a newbie, before I changed my process, changed to progressive equipment, and before I introduced distractions.
In addition a mitigation I suggest is loading 10% more than min suggested load and 10% less than max load for when “mass producing” to account for variances in the powder measure as everything jostles around and for accuracy deficiencies at the extreme high and low ends because of either the equipment or due to the powder; shape of the powder for example plays a large part in consistent measurements.
A way to mitigate the danger of an incorrect charge is to load with a powder charge that would still be within the printed maximum loading even when double charged. You of course cannot do with all cartridges and powders but it is an option for some.
A way to mitigate the danger of under loading is never load minimum loads for certain powders. Win231 for example is very hard to get consistent measurements of at the low end because of the powder shape.
Per you comments below, I cannot recommend highly enough a Dillon press! I upgraded to a 550B a few years ago and it is phenomenal. The removable tool heads alone are a feature that make it worth it.
Primers are gone and I only have a few thousand on hand.
When you become part of the supply chain you start to see the bottlenecks.
The ammo plants are going full out but they are having problems getting components to. Not brass, they often make their own brass, easy with the right tools. But they buy their powder and primers just like the reloaders.
Powder I can find, brass I can find or buy. Primers are what I have in stock.
One thing you quickly learn as a reloader is if you are buying one hazmat item, buy three. If you are buying one box of a thousand primers, buy three boxes of that primer and maybe add another box that you don’t use as much.
That’s why I have small rifle primers even though I’ve only reloaded a very few 5.56
One thing you quickly learn as a reloader is if you are buying one hazmat item, buy three.
And that right there is the reloader’s quote of the day
I got started reloading this spring and already felt the pinch with a month wait to have Natchez ship my press kit. After that finding components has been iffy. I have brass and powder and luckily scored a bunch of primers but 9 mm bullets are really hard to find so I have ended up loading more .38 Special than anything else because I have bullets and can easily collect my used brass. Fortunately I have a stash of factory ammo so I don’t have to reload .223 (it was a PITA to get powder in them) and can wait for 9mm bullets.
I keep wondering if going in the ammo manufacturing business would be a good idea. Therefore’s comments suggest maybe certain of the raw materials might be even better.
The other, related, question that comes to mind is if acceptable materials can be made in a home shop. I know how to make a classic primer ingredient (no longer in common use?), but some of the other ingredients are rather scary. Smokeless powder is well and good but one of the starting materials is nitroglycerin, which is quite another matter.
Happily reloading near 30 years. Its a great hobby, very relaxing. Use an Oehler chronograph to work up consistent, reliable loads. Buy components in bulk. BUT, when you see a good sale on any ammo, buy that too. When our local Gander Mountain was closing, they had a great deal on .30-06, and I bought 500 rounds.
Last year, my friend asked me, “why do you have so much ammo? Why, you have 4,000 rounds of .223!” I said, “You will find out, one day.”
Now he wants to buy some of my ammo. I don’t sell my own reloaded ammo to anyone. If they are injured because of (a very, very small chance) a mistake on my part, I would feel bad, but also would be risking a lawsuit. So I gave him, free, 60 rounds of factory .556. I said, “don’t waste them. Save them for emergencies. You have two mags worth, use them wisely.”
If we get through this crisis ok, and things settle down, buy a Dillon press, calipers, scales, and a few books, set up your bench, and learn how. You will be glad you did.
And my advice? Don’t watch TV or drink or eat while reloading. Or even play the radio.
Good advice, that last point. My rule is: no firearms or skydiving less than 8 hours after the last drop of alcohol.
I disagree with your intended premise, and offer this as a substitute:
It isn’t that reloaders are immune to interruptions in ammo supply. After all, you still need to buy components. If you are out of primers, you still don’t have jack.
You are a hoarder (some assembly required). I prefer to go a different route: I buy in large quantities when prices are low. In January I bought cases of 9mm at $150 per 1000 round case. I once bought 5 cases of .357Sig at $165 per 1000 round case.
In all, I have tens of thousands of rounds of ammo in my inventory. The only difference is that my ammo supplies are already assembled.
On parts shortages: Joe Crow mentions bullets. I know some guns don’t like lead bullets (factory barrels in Glocks are said to have problems, though cut-rifling aftermarket barrels are ok). But generally speaking, would casting your own be a solution for that?
X-Treme Bullets has a note that they’re taking no dealer or phone orders at this time, apparently the individual orders are all they can try to handle.