The reason distributors are getting less powder (and .22 ammo, and everything else) to ship is NOT because companies are making less, but because more distributors and store chains are ordering more. Orders exceed production by so much that manufacturers have to allocate shipments so that everybody gets some of what they ordered, but not everything.
I also know for a fact, however, that a few distributors and stores aren't getting what they used to get because they blame it all on the manufacturers. An example is a big sporting goods store in the Midwest that ordered a bunch if rimfire ammo. The company sent them their complete order, but the store allowed anybody to buy however much they wanted, so was out in a week, with a supply that normally lasted three months. The store immediately put in another order for the same amount of ammo, and when they didn't get it immediately started telling their customers the manufacturer wasn't filling orders. The manufacturer knew this because they started getting calls and e-mails from the store's irate customers. As a result they quit selling to that store.
I have mentioned the New Zealand problem with ADI and Hodgdon in previous posts, so only alluded to "bottlenecks" in this one. It's no big secret. The big problem, in fact the source of all the trouble, is exactly as I stated, shooters buying far more than they usually do, or they even need.
