Are shortages real? (I hope this is not considered off-topic.)

user said:

Aha! Say, what the hell is a "magazine-clip", anyway?

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That is the page marker that you use to keep track of what page you are on in a magazine

Listening to people at the gun show, it's the small pistol/rifle primers that are hard to get. A lot of the behind the counter people were shocked that the large pistol primers weren't selling like the small.

I couldn't believe what I picked up in the short time I was there.

.45 or bust

mpguy said:

Listening to people at the gun show, it's the small pistol/rifle primers that are hard to get. A lot of the behind the counter people were shocked that the large pistol primers weren't selling like the small.

I couldn't believe what I picked up in the short time I was there.

.45 or bust

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Small pistol Magnum primers are fairly plentiful. I maxed out on them tonight. Just reduce the load 10% and use them.

peter nap said:

I have to stock two bullet weights in .224.

My rifle has a 1:9 twist and loves 75 grain bullets but my Contender has a 1:12 twist and anything over 55 grains tumble.
Kind of a a PITA to keep different weight cores and jackets for the same caliber.

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I have a barrel with a 1x9 twist until I re-barrelled with the 1x7 Nitride. I like the stability it provides with heavier bullets. I haven't tried 80 grain yet, but then again, I haven't found a range with 600 yards to shoot on either, close by anyway. And those won't fit into the "magazine-clip (as some refer to it as)" anyway. I can shoot 55 to 77 grain with pretty much equal results through those barrels.

Thundar said:

That is the page marker that you use to keep track of what page you are on in a magazine

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I'm glad someone finally cleared that up. Now if we could only educate CBS, NBC, Fox & CNN.

user said:

I'm glad someone finally cleared that up. Now if we could only educate CBS, NBC, Fox & CNN.

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While we're at it, let's educate them on the difference between bullets & ammunition. :banghead:

Roscoe

This might shed some information on the subject:

Here is Hornady’s statement:
A Word on Availability

The current political climate has caused extremely high demand on all shooting industry products, including ours. Empty retail shelves, long backorders, and exaggerated price increases on online auction sites – all fueled by rumors and conjecture – have amplified concerns about the availability of ammunition and firearms-related items.

If the information you hear doesn’t originate from Hornady Manufacturing, don’t believe it.

Here are some of rumors we’ve heard, and questions we’ve received:

•Have you stopped production, or has the government forced you to stop?
◦Not at all.

•Did you stop selling bullets so you could only make loaded ammunition?
◦Absolutely not.

•Since we can’t find your product you must be selling it all to the government.
◦Nope, less than 5% of our sales are to government entities.

•Why can’t you make more? Ramp up production? Turn on all the machines?
◦We’ve been steadily growing our production for a long time, especially the last five years. We’ve added presses, lathes, CNC equipment, people and space. Many popular items are produced 24 hours a day. Several hundred Hornady employees work overtime every week to produce as much as safely possible. If there is any question about that – please take a tour of the factory. You’ll be amazed at what you see.


We are producing as much as we can; much more than last year, which was a lot more than the year before, etc. No one wants to ship more during this time than we do.

We appreciate everyone’s understanding and patience. We don’t know when the situation will improve, so please bear with us a little longer. And remember, when it comes to Hornady Manufacturing, if you don’t hear it from us, please don’t believe it.

Part of the problem also is the federal government and military no longer sell once fired brass to factory reloaders. It is all sold as scrap metal for less than casing would bring them. Gotta love the stupidity of government, get less for a resource, end up paying more for the final product. But hey it is only the tax payers money, or just print some new money.

Thanks ACFreddie!

I buy very little storebought bullets but for the cartridges like the 204 where I don't have swaging dies, I've noticed that bullets are far more available than other components.

Primers and Powder are still the flies in the ointment, with brass right on their heels.

WalkingWolf said:

Part of the problem also is the federal government and military no longer sell once fired brass to factory reloaders. It is all sold as scrap metal for less than casing would bring them. Gotta love the stupidity of government, get less for a resource, end up paying more for the final product. But hey it is only the tax payers money, or just print some new money.

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Do you have a source for this assertion? This apparently did happen a couple years ago, but was mostly resolved. My short Google efforts popped up one recent report from David Codrea about Fort Drum, but nothing else. And in fact, I found this auction site, which has over 50 current auctions, representing many thousands of pounds of once-fired-brass.

I think we would all be very interested to know if you had other information.

TFred

TFred said:

Do you have a source for this assertion? This apparently did happen a couple years ago, but was mostly resolved. My short Google efforts popped up one recent report from David Codrea about Fort Drum, but nothing else. And in fact, I found this auction site, which has over 50 current auctions, representing many thousands of pounds of once-fired-brass.

I think we would all be very interested to know if you had other information.

TFred

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I'll have to dig for it, but I believe the practice(selling used brass) stopped in 2009 after Obama took office.

I could not find a date for this memo but if memory serves it was sometime in 2009


Dear Valued Customer:

Please take a moment to note important changes set forth by the Defense Logistics Agency:

Recently it has been determined that fired munitions of all calibers, shapes and sizes have been designated to be Demil code B. As a result and in conjunction with DLA's current Demil code B policy, this notice will serve as official notification which requires Scrap Venture (SV) to implement mutilation as a condition of sale for all sales of fired munitions effective immediately. This notice also requires SV to immediately cease delivery of any fired munitions that have been recently sold or on active term contracts, unless the material has been mutilated prior to sale or SV personnel can attest to the mutilation after delivery. A certificate of destruction is required in either case.

Thank you,

DOD Surplus
15051 N Kierland Blvd # 300
Scottsdale, AZ 85254

WalkingWolf said:

I'll have to dig for it, but I believe the practice(selling used brass) stopped in 2009 after Obama took office.

I could not find a date for this memo but if memory serves it was sometime in 2009


Dear Valued Customer:

Please take a moment to note important changes set forth by the Defense Logistics Agency:

Recently it has been determined that fired munitions of all calibers, shapes and sizes have been designated to be Demil code B. As a result and in conjunction with DLA's current Demil code B policy, this notice will serve as official notification which requires Scrap Venture (SV) to implement mutilation as a condition of sale for all sales of fired munitions effective immediately. This notice also requires SV to immediately cease delivery of any fired munitions that have been recently sold or on active term contracts, unless the material has been mutilated prior to sale or SV personnel can attest to the mutilation after delivery. A certificate of destruction is required in either case.

Thank you,

DOD Surplus
15051 N Kierland Blvd # 300
Scottsdale, AZ 85254

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Ah. Your information, while true at the time, is three years out of date. Due to the extreme pressure put on the DoD by legislators who were swamped by their constituents, this policy was quickly reversed. The link I provided from David Codrea seems to be an anomaly, and the link to the 50+ current auctions of once-fired brass would certainly seem to show that they are still selling it.

Although I hate to use it, Snopes actually does seem to have a good write-up on this.

TFred

ETA: Another link from FactCheck.org