I don't get it.

[David Bachelder]

I can understand the shortage of firearms and ammo. It's a kneejerk reaction to Obama getting re-elected .... and a no brainer.

I can even understand the shortage of primers and powder, sort of.

What I can't for the life of me understand is the shortage of reloading tools. Did the election results create this? I don't see how. I don't think several thousand new gun owners all decided to jump into reloading all at once buying up all available inventory.

Dillon, Hornady, RCBS, LEE and most bullet manufacturers are behind, they are all backordering parts, kits and new presses. I'd like to get a few extra parts for my soon to arrive Hornady LNL like extra primer pickup tubes, a micro adjuster for the powder throw and a few other odds and ends. No luck, seems most everyone is out of stock.

Why is it that the reloading tool industry is so far behind? Maybe its hoarding?

[Traveling Fur Hunter]

Everybody wants to be prepared and reload instead of relying on the gun shops.

[Jimro]

I've helped three people in the last year get into reloading. One for prepping, one for keeping ammo costs down, and one for tuning match grade ammo.

I think that there are just a lot of people getting in to reloading, bullet casting, and trying to get away from being at the mercy of the market for complete ammunition.

Think about it, even if you don't have optimal components, most reloaders can alway cobble together SOMETHING that shoots safely.

I don't think this is hoarding, I think this is a market expansion.

Jimro

[Nathan]

A lot of people bought into the idea of reloading as a way out of the ammo crunch. First went primers and powder with bullets right behind!

Once they blow a few guns up or struggle with load development, will they quit reloading?? Yes, but likely they will sit on components...in reality, most will only buy components once, so I believe reloading will recover first.

[cvc944]

It kind of makes sense to me. I haven't loaded handgun ammo since 1996 because it was plentiful and not all that expensive. Now it's hard to find and nose-bleed expensive when you do. I wouldn't guess reloading tools are being hoarded, but instead are being bought by people who are starting to load their own ammo.

[SHR970]

Just my $.02

Some calibers in the past were: Why bother reloading XXX ammo is so cheap you aren't going to save any money. Suddenly you can't get XXX so established loaders have gone and got what they need for these calibers. If you look at calibers that are less common place and were more likely the realm of loaders (32 S&W Long, H&R, 375 anything, etc) you will find brass, bullets, and dies available.

Some things like turret and progressive presses are a much lower volume item so the makers aren't geared to manufacture lots of them quickly. Lots of newbies and some established people looking to upgrade demanding heavily of the limited available supply and manufacturing capacity have overwhelmed this segment of the market.

Brass, bullets, powder, primers, are going to fulfill spot market and long term contractual obligations to the FFL manufacturers who themselves can not keep up with demand. That means fewer of these components make it to the secondary stream market (that is us).

After the last go around, it was over a year after everything settled down that I was able to get JHP bullets for my 32's. Now I can still get all I want for now. They were a late run because they are a lower demand product. As such the manufacturers did their run much later as they were catching up on main stream components.

[lamarw]

The shortage is due to demand. The demand is driven my many of the things various people on this forum and others have been stating for two to three months. Go back and do some reading, and the answer will be obvious. The same demand is indicated first by the shortage of firearms. People buying new and/or first new guns are having to buy ammo since firearms do not work without ammunitions or at least most don't.

Then people are figuring out the price of ammunition is not going to drop back to its prior levels. Then there is also the fear of additional taxes on manufactured ammunition.

[A pause for the COZ]

Think about what we will have available in a year or so, once all these people decide they really dont like to reload.
Flea Bay will be full of LEE Turrets and stuff.

[NWPilgrim]

There are a LOT of new shooters, we should be real happy with the swelling of our ranks. I have never so many people wanting to learn to shoot and buy their first gun. Then, they need ammo. Just read forums such as TFL, when someone says they can't afford the ammo, or where is it, what do we do? We recommend the learn to reload! For one thing, reloading components have not gone up in price by the same factor as loaded ammo.

I have one friend who foresaw the coming shortage in ammo and decided to get into reloading. Not wanting to risk missing the buying window he bought a couple of presses, tens of thousands of components, case prep equipment, the whole shebang. Now that there is nothing available to buy he is going through the manuals, asking advice and carefully learning how to use his equipment and components safely. He is finding he does not have the ideal set up of combinations sometimes, but he at least has the basics and "good enough" combinations that he can keep shooting frequently. By going this route he has probably 2 times the ammo supply than if he had bought loaded ammo before the rush, or 4 times than if he had bought it spread out over time and paid inflated prices.

Lots of new shooters, and with the shortage many old and new shooters are seeing reloading as a means to reduce costs and improve odds of getting ammo. Plus, some states are seriously making noise about increasing taxes on ammunition or limiting sales, so that I am sure is driving many guys to look to reloading to avoid the cost/restriction of loaded ammo sales.

[Constrictor]

I dont get all these threads. Its been well reported that there is a run on all guns, ammo and everything to do with guns. I would assume this to mean everything for shooting, primers, powder, bullets, raw lead to mold bullets, molds, 22lr ammo, cleaning kits, patches, solvents, brushes, gun safes, gun pouches, gun cases both plastic and metal, bullet boxes, reloading equipment, scales, powder measures, dies, presses, bolts to mount presses, wrenches to tighten bolts on presses, gloves to hold wrenches to tighten bolts on presses, and so on and so forth. everything to do with our hobby is in short supply.

[BigJimP]

The reloading industry ....was geared up to meet demands...based on what they had seen for the last 2 or 3 years....

...when thinks went nuts on the demand side from the assault weapons ban discussion....their inventory just disappeared quickly.

....guys are hoarding, which is making it worse than it needs to be. ( I know a number of guys that paniced - and bought supplies that will last them for 10 yrs based on their annual usage).

I think it'll all level out by early summer / if everyone would just relax - it might be quicker.

[AllenJ]

+1 for BigJimP's response, except the part about it being over by early summer. I'll hold my opinion on that until after all the votes are cast concerning gun legislation. I'm afraid that if a gun bill is passed this could last until winter or even next year.

[rclark]

....with bullets right behind!

Well, I don't see that.... Bullets are easy to get. Just a month or so, I ordered up a bunch of SWCs ... no problem. Cases are easy to from Starline too. So basically it is primers and powder. Luckily I went through the pain the last time around (this time is worst and probably longer lasting) and had stocked up for the occasion that we all knew (everyone not wearing rose-colored glasses that is) was coming..... Hopefully it won't last more than this year ... I hope ... Might have to stock up more for next time (if we even get a chance at a next time seeing how NY and other states are dissing the 2nd Amendment, and the left is having a feeding freezy at the fed level) ....

[Overscore]

Reloading was on my to-do list, but I wasn't in a big hurry to get into it. This changed when I saw that the case of 1000 9mm that I'd purchased for $210 was suddenly selling, if available, for $500. So, the Sandy Hook hysteria accelerated my timeline.

It took about six weeks for my press to come, and I spent the majority of that time hunting down primers. It's nutty, all of this, and while I'm part of the problem because of the calendar, I feel only so bad since I was going to get into it regardless.

[Jimro]

Hoarding? Not a very precise term at all, and it is a term usually used by those that wished they had the foresight to buy a stockpile of components.

I got lucky last year and bought a couple thousand bulles, a couple dozen pounds of powder, and a couple thousand primers. Hardly a "hoard" by any stretch of the imagination. Powder Valley still continued to have those components on hand.

If I placed the same order again this time of year, it seems like someone would be all butt hurt about "hoarders" instead of "combine orders to reduce the sting of the hazmat fee."

Jimro

[BigD_in_FL]

What I can't for the life of me understand is the shortage of reloading tools. Did the election results create this? I don't see how. I don't think several thousand new gun owners all decided to jump into reloading all at once buying up all available inventory.

Try several MILLION new gun owners, so even if a few % points of that amount take up reloading, that is numbering in the thousands