Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Is There A Varmint Brass Shortage Now?

hemorrhoidallen: You really don't have anything intelligent to say do you!
If YOU are offended by "whining" then you have proven how ignorant you are by continuously visiting the 24 Hour Campfire - public whining is an integral part of this site!
Sheesh man, are you as stupid as you sound?
Don't believe that - then just go to the first forum on this site and commence reading the topics - many, if not most, are whine related AND whine filled.
YOU and your feigned offense regarding hearing a "whine" on this site is, TRULY, laughable!
And this there hemorrhoidallen, if you have anything intelligent to add, then do so by breaking with your normal tripe and add it - if not then take your easily offended self somewhere else.
No "whining" - are you serious?
No "whining" - are you trying to make up new rules for this site?
Good luck with that!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Varmintguy....i think we will see some significant shortages on reloading components for some time. i own a reloading shop, and one of my employees pretty much spends all her time sourcing inventory so we can try to keep stuff on the shelf. We have seen considerably reduced availability on both brass and components in general, and i believe that trend will continue. Only upside is that some things are flowing better than in the previous few months, but brass is NOT one of those items.

Depending on how the next election cycle progresses, also kinda thinking we could see more panic buying as people fear the implication of gun-haters picking up more seats.

locally we've also seen higher demand for some components as a number of small shops have set up for ammo manufacturing to market ammo they are loading.

we see quite a few guys who say they are increasing their personal stock at home because they are unsure about ammo & component availability over the next 24 months.

only improvement in conditions i see likely would occur if voters collectively toss some rubbish to the curb....

VarmintGuy,

It's always a conspiracy with you, isn't it? And always an illogical conspiracy.

Do you REALLY think the ammo companies can make more profit selling loaded ammo rather than empty brass? The cheapest factory is about twice the price of the cheapest brass--and to make loaded ammo they not only have to add powder, a bullet and a primer, but spend the TIME to add them.

Do the math. Just because loaded ammo costs more than empty brass doesn't mean the factories make more profit on each round.

The reason the factories are offering more loaded ammo and less brass now is that far more people shoot factory ammo than handload. And as I pointed out earlier in this thread, handloaders who want brass can still buy factory ammo. The brass is right there, ready to be shot and used.

This is pretty cool. Pose a question to silly posts and get the old fart all worked up. Don't take it so hard, VG, you are only a year or more late to the party, glad you caught up and can joint the real world!

Here is the intelligent point to this post, VG:

Hey VG, Did you know Hornady suspended manufacturing of low-purchase bullets and prioritized manufacturing the big selling items, or did you forget that thread also? If memory serves, you also had conspiracy theory posts about the shortages, or have you forgotten your ramblings many months ago?

And, kind sir, you should proof read your above post before hitting send. You started out tossing the "whining" word, and again ended with using it, twice. I suspect from reading that, you might have the first signs of Alzheimers, and maybe that explains how you missed the brass shortage over a year ago! Keep searching, they say even a blind squirrel can find a nut, in your case, find brass as you already are a nut!


I think you need more fiber and hugs, you really are in a foul mood! I seem to have hit a nerve from your replies: Thanks for verifying I have accomplished my goal! But thanks for making all us aware of what we already knew! As a kid, were you always the last to know?

Here is a bet: in 6 months you'll be posting another shortage thread, maybe the next one will be for centerfire bullets!And just to stay a step ahead of you, did you know powder is also in short supply...LOL!

I really shouldn't tease you, you are so easy to get riled up over things you have no control over, but you also seem to be late to the party. Posting your childish name calling proves you have lost it.

Piece out, Varmintguy

Fixed it for you

hemiallen,

Apparently VarmintGuy completely missed the .223 shortage, which is already over.

And he and his buddies are heading out on yet another Montana search for rimfire ammo and brass. I bet there's another post on shortages when they return, since their road trips rarely turn up anything. In the meantime I've found everything I need in stores within an hour of my little town, including both .17 HMR and .22 Long Rifle hollow-point.

This very true MD, 223 was a little scarce for awhile, but anymore I see it all over, 17 HMR wasn't all that scarce here but the price went up for awhile. Powder has been hit and miss, but I have found everything I use locally along with primers.

As an aside, I found the Nosler brass in 223,243, and 25.06 to be quite good. First tried it in 22.250 when it first came out. I found it erratic in quality at first, but subsequent lots have really been very uniform. Not quite Norma but close.

Hmmm, maybe it's time to dig through my boxes of 'stuff' and sell off all that brass I'm not using anymore...

Yes indeed.

He will be posting of all his failed searches in due time, always way behind what everyone else has known for quite awhile.


And I agree, I continue to purchase almost everything I had less than I wanted to have on hand for my soon-to-be retirement, as I plan to have a need to increase my shooting ground and skippy vermin. I only have 1 powder I would like to try, other than that I am golden.

I had thought about selling some of my excess off, but I think Brass is about as safe a place to have $ as gold is. Brass prices, when supplies catch up to demand and it is actually on the shelf longer than a day, can only go up in price, IMHO.

I seem to be quite the opposite of ole VG. I bought 1000 rds of 17hh Ammo before actually getting a gun. It seems my plan was good as 17HH is currently hard to get ( but don't let VG know, it will be another one of his posts showing his ignorance of the world around him!)

I can't wait for his name-calling reply, it seems he is stretching his vocabulary thinking of names to call me!

Spend more gas searching the countryside VG, you seem to not understand how to locate items you need other than spend time and fuel driving around...lofl

Allen

VG,
This probably would not be as much fun as whining on the internet there is an obvious solution to your problem.

You are loading for 69 varmint rifles, lets say you paid an average of $400 each for them that means you have $27600.00 tied up in varmint rifles. If you have had them any time at all they should be worth at least $500 each, it is doubtful that you take all 69 when you go shooting and more than likely some of them get very little use or are duplicates.

SOLUTION - sell 9 rifles at $500 each, that will give you $4500 to buy brass for the remaining rifles (the 60 remaining should leave you enough to fend off a rampaging horde of varmints). Even if you have to pay $1.00 per piece of brass that will give you 4500 pieces, not only that buy you will be buying the brass at a discount because you are buying it with money that was acquired because of the increase in value of the rifles you sell.

Also you can stop running all over the country burning up expensive fuel and that will save you even more money to buy brass and components. Of course then you couldn't complain about fuel prices and how much time and money you spend not finding what you are looking for.

But them perhaps you really don't want a solution.

drover

Swifty,

Much of the Nosler brass IS Norma, but probably not the .22-250, .243 and .25-06.

You're making way too much sense!

This is almost exactly parallel to the Why No 9.3 from Ruger thread. Neither OP seems to understand how businesses make decisions and why they make same.
Right now, I've decided if any new guns are on the horizon, they will be focused on chamberings that work well with the powders I currently have decent stocks of, in calibers commonly available where backorders don't cover the entire category, using cases I can at least smash and fireform out of common brass.

Agree MD, couldn't tell the difference in the 223 between the 2, but haven't bought any Norma in 243, 22.250, or 25.06 as of yet but they are now listed so will have to get some when I go to buy brass in those calibers later this spring.
I think Nosler was using someone else for the 22.250 when they first started, but their later stuff looked just like the Norma I bought for my Swift. Very uniform and high quality. Well worth the money.

Then it just might be Norma. Nosler might have found the brass they got from anybody else varied considerably.

Nosler also used whom ever produced Remington brass. For while the Remington and Nosler packaging has the same exact marketing hype regard their manufacturing procedures.

Yea John

I believe the 221 fireball brass Nosler sells is Norma, it is very consistent, good quality brass. Glad I snagged up a mess when Midway offered it at just over Rem 221 fb prices. I am forming 500 for a 20 VT recently acquired rifle. I also have a ton of the "seasonally available" rem 221 fb brass, sold some to justify replacing it with the Nosler brass.


I, Like Seafire, try and buy what I can when it is available.

"But then perhaps you really don't want a solution.

drover"


Drover, I think you hit a home run with that one. No way ole VG can keep track of, let alone load for, that many rifles, especially when he writes that he spends days on end looking for brass, 22 ammo, etc.


I am trying to limit myself to 5 rifles per vermin trip. Currently we drive 5 hours and spend close to a week meeting and helping ranchers, much of the joy comes from the Ranchers asking us to come back as I suspect there are some doozies they run across...


My thinking is currently to start thinning out the herd, maybe sell 2 to build one custom and avoid so much wasted time in load development and focus on the good ones.

Ole VG surely is the posterchild for reducing volumes of options, he would have to have an awful big vault to hold his fantasy number of guns.


Thanks for keeping this one alive, ole potty mouth must be out searching the countryside for brass. I would imagine all the local gun stores are tired of telling him" No VG, WE STILL DON'T HAVE ANY BRASS". Heck, they might even have a sign out front to keep him from entering their establishment. The rest of us search free on the net, or call gun stores and save gas money for buying brass with.


Is VG the guy who claimed to shoot 10,000 rounds of ammo accurately out of his guns without loosing accuracy?

Allen

I'm known as something of a rifle loony, but even so I only own about 12-15 rifles in chamberings that could be considered suitable for most varmint shooting--and 2/3 of those are primarily used for shooting burrowing rodents. And the only round I own multiple rifles in is the .223 Remington.

Now, I can understand wanting lots of rifles. At one time I had six .30-06's, and on another four .250 Savages. But as I've gotten older my desire to own multiple rifles chambered for ANY round has waned, and I also prefer to spend more time shooting. As a result, one of my most-used varmint rifles is my CZ in .17 HMR, which may be the most available rimfire ammo right now, at least at semi-normal prices, the reason my stock of .17 HMR exceeds my supply of hollow-point .22 ammo. (I also like the .17 HMR because it DOESN'T require handloading, but provides near-centerfire performance. I handload enough in my job without having to constantly crank out hundreds of rounds for shooting 1-2 pound ground squirrels.)

But when I've acquired varmint rifles in new-to-me centerfire chamberings I've immediately (or even beforehand) stocked up on at least several hundred cases. In .22 Hornet, .204 Ruger, .221 Fireball and .223 Remington my supply is in the thousands, but I also have at least 500 in .17 Hornet and .17 Fireball--and both of those can also be easily made from .22 Hornet and .221 Fireball. Between those and a good supply of small rifle primers, plus a good stock of .17 HMR, I have enough to keep busy during any rodent shoot.

But I can also see why somebody who doesn't have much to do otherwise might prefer buying more rifles and making road trips to look for components.

I've seen a lot of 22 ammo at the Fort in Big Timber.

Scheels in Billings had a lot of 223 brass and Cabelas had a stack of 223 ammo today.

I have a bag or two of 220 Swift brass I would sell.

Let me know.

MtHtr

Stopped at Cabelas today and picked up 2 bags of rem 17 fireball brass. I even had the decency to leave one, in case VG's brass search brings him this far south.......