There was an ammo shortage back in 2013. Became real hard to find even basic 9mm pistol ammo. 5.56 was in short supply as well. Some sources attributed it to a nefarious plot by the Obama DOJ to buy up all the ammo at the time. So, why is Lucky Gunner again out of ammo? Is Trump's DOJ buying it all up this time? https://www.luckygunner.com/rifle/5.56x45-ammo https://www.luckygunner.com/handgun/9mm-ammo As of the moment they have some Speer Gold Dot 124gr +P JHP. But it's going fast...
Good question. Might just be that antifa and BLM makes people realize the second amendment means something.
I got lucky a couple of weeks ago at a gun show and got some Winchester White Box 9mm for nearly precovid prices. But other than that, I haven't seen anything anywhere for less than $30/box and sometimes more than $50/box. Someone has to still be making ammo, but I never see it on the shelves. I think there is some serious neckbearding going on and we have a bunch of liberals who realized that with the police being canceled, they will need to protect themselves. This is adding to the preelection run on the market. We went through it in 16, 12, ...........
Lots of newbies who bought guns don't know the proper price of ammo and are being taken advantage of by some who raised the prices.
Having lived through riots in the late 1960's, AWB in the 1990's, 911, obama in 2008, obama in 2012, guaranteed win for Hillary in 2016, Chinese virus and subsequent rioting and unrest, I have a long history. You probably don't have to ask me if I am prepared, in fact, you probably don't have to ask if my grandchildren are covered.
People are buying it up. Angry mobs and talk of defunding police have my liberal friends all buying guns. Even primers, brass, and bullets are hard to find.
I don't think it's cost effective or that it offers better quality. Certainly for some applications there are exceptions. I could be off though - I only briefly looked into it about ten years ago. I think that what I found was that if I reused my own brass and was able to find bullets comparable to Speer Gold Dot 124gr 9mm JHPs, which didn't seem to even be available, plus the primers and the loader it just didn't add up. Even for a hardcore prepper the money would be better spent on commercial ammo and desiccant.
You'd be surprised. I saved a lot of money on training ammo and was able to customize that ammo and my hunting and precision ammo to my firearms.
Midway USA, Natchez Shooters supply etc are out of my go to plated bullets-BERRYs. Lead is easy to get though. Primers are tough to find. I get a K here and there. My club buys in bulk-I ordered 15K but One K was all I could get this time.
I have won over 250 matches and set two national records using my own loads. I'd never shoot factory ammo out of my 45 handguns. the 200 grain SWC in lead is more accurate and easier on the guns then FMJ Hardball
Interesting. What precision ammo and firearm do you use? I had a buddy at work that was crazy about 6.8mm.
Like I said, certainly there are exceptions. Competition match shooting no doubt among leading reasons to build your own. Congrats on your wins. What were your national records?
6.5 Creedmoor, Hornardy brass, Hornady 140 gr ELD-M, 41.5 gr of RL-17, Federal Match primers. Shooting factory 6.5 Grendel, will reload once I've shot it all. .223 Remington with Lapua brass, match primers, 75 gr Hornady AMAX, 24.5 gr RL-15. This last load was used to shoot a 1/4 MOA group at 300 yards.
They're not going to make themselves! Also, I collect antique guns that use ammo they don't make anymore.
Depends on the round and application - you get a much better rate of return on rifles than handguns. You cannot beath the quality of carefully handloaded ammunition tuned to the specifics of your firearm.
Pin shooting many years ago. I used factory shells to win the first JO skeet titles and as part of the team that won the US skeet team title. (winchester international for the JO, Remington International Loads for the team)
My son and I compete in 3-gun competitions at the local gun club. While I have nowhere near your success, I have always done better with my own loads.
some stuff isn't in the books. For example, when I shoot for EAA I was using the first version of the Gold team-a race gun version of their copy of the CZ 75. It was in 9X 21 because at the time, USPSA did not allow you to load 9mm to the 175 power factor required to make "Major" (it has since been dropped and 9X21 went the say of single stack 38 Supers. But we had to load those things pretty hot for a 124 grain bullet to make major. My pin loads-a 225 grain lead TFP bullet in 45 ACP was going 1000 FPS for a power factor of 225