No, it's not!
One of the reasons for the brass shortage, aside from companies mostly making more popular cases, is a lot is being used for factory ammo. Believe it or not, most shooters don't handload, and ammo manufacturers need to fill their needs too. Plus, if a handloader really needs brass, he can always buy some factory ammo. It's not what we're used to doing, but if we really need the brass....
MD - yes, completely understand about the factory ammo, however, anyone seen any 257 Roberts or 35 Remington ammo lately? I see quite a bit of other rounds (6.5x55, 7x57, 280 etc.) but I haven't seen any 257 factory ammo in quite a while. I'm sure the factories are doing all they can just keep up with the requests for the more popular stuff (243, 270, 30/06, etc.), same as components - once the rush ever stops on everything, maybe they will have a chance to produce other, less popular rounds.
