Thanks for the update but if the shortages are being resolved, hopefully it won't be too long before we can order 4-8lbs to make the hazmat fee worth paying.
There is a lot coming and going on midway right now. That IMR 4895 has been around for about 2 weeks. H335 has been around a while also. Small rifle, and 209a primers are in stock.
They just got IMR4350 in stock, limit two pounds!!!!
This is how it has always been. What we have available as reloaders is, and always has been, the surplus from ammunition manufacturers. Their requirements have always driven the market. Reloaders make up a very small percentage of the shooters in the world.The fact of the matter is that the reloading component manufacturers are selling most of their products to the ammo manufacturers for a much higher profit, leaving the scraps for the reloading crowd. Many of the ammo manufacturers own some of the reloading component manufacturers. Look at the price of factory ammo and what ammo is mostly available? Where I live, the ammo available is mostly NOTHING anyone has a rifle for! If you do find .270, .308, .30-06. etc., it's $40-50/box for the same ammo Wal Mart was selling for $18/box two years ago. Think about this: In the ENTIRE history of factory ammo price increases since the '40s and '50s, the above ammo has gone from the $18/box to the current prices. I believe the ammo, component and firearms companies are in cahoots to a certain extent and "price fixing" their products and producing most of the ammo used in their new rifle chamberings at the expense of ALL factory ammo. When you have shelves full of .50BMG, .350 Legend, 6.5 this and 6.8 that and none of common hunting cartridges, it's clear to me the available reloading components are being used to manufacture the newest ammo for their latest rifles. They've used the pandemic "supply shortages" as cover for pushing their new products. Remember the WSSM and SAUM failures and to a lesser extent the WSM cartridges? They're determined not to let that happen again. "Never let a good crisis go to waste"! Just my 2 centavos.
The fact of the matter is that the reloading component manufacturers are selling most of their products to the ammo manufacturers for a much higher profit, leaving the scraps for the reloading crowd. Many of the ammo manufacturers own some of the reloading component manufacturers. Look at the price of factory ammo and what ammo is mostly available? Where I live, the ammo available is mostly NOTHING anyone has a rifle for! If you do find .270, .308, .30-06. etc., it's $40-50/box for the same ammo Wal Mart was selling for $18/box two years ago. Think about this: In the ENTIRE history of factory ammo price increases since the '40s and '50s, the above ammo has gone from the $18/box to the current prices. I believe the ammo, component and firearms companies are in cahoots to a certain extent and "price fixing" their products and producing most of the ammo used in their new rifle chamberings at the expense of ALL factory ammo. When you have shelves full of .50BMG, .350 Legend, 6.5 this and 6.8 that and none of common hunting cartridges, it's clear to me the available reloading components are being used to manufacture the newest ammo for their latest rifles. They've used the pandemic "supply shortages" as cover for pushing their new products. Remember the WSSM and SAUM failures and to a lesser extent the WSM cartridges? They're determined not to let that happen again. "Never let a good crisis go to waste"! Just my 2 centavos.
Maybe your right, especially about reloaders being a small percentage of the equation. I still can’t reconcile in my feeble mind though, why as a small example, a local (actually several) gun store has a dozen or more new rifles for sale of different brands and HALF are 6.5 Creemoors. Not ONE is a .270, .308 or .30-06. Oh, and they have PLENTY of 6.5 ammo. Isn’t that a little strange? And this same example is not a one off as they haven’t carried more than an occasional rifle in a standard non magnum hunting cartridge for months! Sure seems to me the rifle manufacturers are focusing the buyer towards their new chamberings with plenty of available ammo for them? Maybe it’s only a mirage, but it doesn’t feel that way to me.This is how it has always been. What we have available as reloaders is, and always has been, the surplus from ammunition manufacturers. Their requirements have always driven the market. Reloaders make up a very small percentage of the shooters in the world.
From what I have found, the price of raw materials going up has driven up the cost of manufacturing. Virtually all metal markets have skyrocketed over the last 2 years. Unfortunately, some of those raw materials are not primarily sourced in the US and must be imported. So we have that to add on the increases and the problems associated with importing anything right now.
Internally, as in the US, there is a real shipping problem. Have a couple friends who own trucking companies. They cannot find enough drivers to keep all their trucks on the road. New regs make it more difficult (and expensive) to become a truck driver. One state in particular, won't let a truck over 10 years old in to haul freight. So it sits in containers, waiting. Other ships have to just anchor as there is no more space to stack containers. Take a stab at which state that is. All this has added onto the price per mile to have anything moved. Oh yeah, and fuel costs have taken major jumps up again.
All this to say, it isn't the ammunition manufacturers that are driving up prices and somehow "gouging" us. This is just one of many examples of the problems the moron in the white house and his policies have exacerbated. We have had a "perfect storm" roll through with a senile, witless captain at the helm. So far, the ship hasn't rolled, but don't take your life jacket off yet.....
In the case of rifles (and pistols), the manufacturers are catering to what is the hottest selling item right now. It's why there is a plethora of AR rifles and components out there. For unknown reasons (at least to the AH bunch), the 6.5Manbun has become a hot item in the rifle sales. Go figure. Same reason I haven't seen a decent piece of walnut on a production rifle in a long time. What's selling is these ugly synthetics.Maybe your right, especially about reloaders being a small percentage of the equation. I still can’t reconcile in my feeble mind though, why as a small example, a local (actually several) gun store has a dozen or more new rifles for sale of different brands and HALF are 6.5 Creemoors. Not ONE is a .270, .308 or .30-06. Oh, and they have PLENTY of 6.5 ammo. Isn’t that a little strange? And this same example is not a one off as they haven’t carried more than an occasional rifle in a standard non magnum hunting cartridge for months! Sure seems to me the rifle manufacturers are focusing the buyer towards their new chamberings with plenty of available ammo for them? Maybe it’s only a mirage, but it doesn’t feel that way to me.
Not any more....They just got IMR4350 in stock, limit two pounds!!!!
Must have sold the 20lbs. they had in stock? LOLNot any more....