Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Brass Shortage??

I was unaware that there was also a brass shortage. I have been trying to purchase a 500 box of 7mm Mag , and to my bewilderment there is a brass shortage . Does anybody know how to get in line to get some or where to get some? I haven't been able to buy 30 cal 165 grain Hornady SP's for 4 years so I am aware of the bullet shortage but was blindsided by the brass shortage. If there are previous posts on this sorry for beating a dead horse.

Kirk

Quite honestly, there seems to be a sporadic "everything" shortage here lately. Hornady has suspended or discontinued half of their bullet line. Hornady introduced (well, standardized) the .17 Hornet and aside from a box here or there, I have yet to see actual brass for it since it came out... or .22 Hornet for that matter until very recently. Powder continues to be intermittently available, and aside from Gunbroker Scalpers and high end Eley products, I haven't seen an actual box of .22 Long Rifle, or any rimfire ammunition for that matter, in a long while.

I will be the first to admit that things are alot better than they were a couple of years ago as far as some powder and primer availability, but the scarcity of particular bullets, brass casings, and any rimfire ammunition bewilders me.

Bottom line, things are still not back to 'normal.'

I am generally not much of a pessimist, but if things haven't gotten back to normal by now.. I'm not sure if they ever will.

I just have a hard time believing that these ammunition companies cant keep up; initially at the onset of the demand surge, sure, but years later?! Come on.

I wouldn't mind some insight from the industry insiders myself.

J23,

Evidently you haven't learned to check Internet mail-order companies for brass and .22 ammo. That's where most of the action is these days.

The main reason for the "shortages" is everybody is buying as much as they can whenever they can when they find it. The manufacturers are trying to keep up, but it's impossible, but they do try to produce at least most of their more popular products now and then.

You have to check Internet suppliers (not people reselling like those on gunbroker, but companies that stock ammo and components) more frequently than every week or month. Otherwise more popular stuff is sold out. I've purchased 300 rounds of new .17 Hornady Hornet brass in just that way in the past couple months, and around 3000 rounds of .22 Long Rifle for under $35 a brick in the past year. Could have purchased more but that's as much as I wanted.

J23. Thank you very much for replying and saying what I have been thinking. I haven't shot my rifles hardly at all, including my 22 for the last 4 years because I have been afraid of not being able to replace what has always easy to replace. There is no other answer other than this is being controlled to ramp up the cost of ammunition or to restrict us from getting it. It is crazy that I can't get 7mm mag brass. It is not chambered in a commando gun. It is a hunting rifle , and there can't be a huge demand to accurire hunting brass??? I feel like I am one of the only people noticing this ????

If Hillary gets the nomination next year, stock up on what you think you will need to weather another storm. The '08 election started a huge panic frenzy and Sandy Hook hit as it was subsiding.

Primers were impossible to find after the 08 election, now its powder and brass, primers are everywhere now.

I stocked up summer of 08 but am starting to run low on Universal powder. Who knows when that will be available at normal prices again?

Captain Kirk,

If you just noticed it, you've had your head buried in the sand.

It is NOT a ploy to drive up prices. It's because so many shooters have been buying everything they can get their hands on since Obama was reelected. There is simply no way for manufacturers to keep up with people buying 5 or 10 times as much as they used to, every time they get a chance.

I resisted doing the same for the first year of the panic buying, because I had enough stuff on hand. But now I've started doing it too, mostly because there are certain items I need for my business.

A lot of the empty brass that used to be available to handloaders is now going into ammo instead, because there are a lot of people who don't handload and they're buying more ammo than they used to either. The factories figure if handloaders want brass bad enough they can buy ammo, but empty brass doesn't do non-handloaders any good.

The other fact is that the usual retail outlets like smaller sporting goods stores are NOT the place to shop for many kinds of ammo or loading components, except for occasional exceptions. Things are getting better, as those who have been stocking up start feeling OK, but it's still going to be a while before everything returns to normal. Apparently having a Republican majority in both the Senate and House didn't calm the panic.

Not when Dear Leader still has a pen and a phone.

There have been certain calibers that are all but unobtanium now and in the past several years. 30-30 and 243 come to mind but there have been others.

I have plenty of .22 LR and primers on hand. Brass and bullets are harder to get. Bergers are pretty easy but the mythical LRABs are like unicorns. Reminds me of Ruger- announce something and that you have no realistic chance of producing.

If you really want to get JB's ire, just declare the scarcity of components is a plot by the manufacturers......

It's kind've like Jorge and somebody praising the virtues of the F18 Super Hornet.

I couldn't believe guys were lined up at WalMart buying 22 rimfire ammo until early one morning (like 5am) I stopped by to pick up some stuff before heading out on a hike. There they were, a half dozen guys standing in line at the gun counter.......unbelievable.....

I really need some H110 though......I'm about out.

Casey

My LGS Perrys in Wendell has had a pretty good selection lately. They posted a picture of seven pallets of 22 rimfire they received over Christmas.

What John says is correct.

However, having to buy stuff online drives up demand as well because of the hazmat charges. I'm not going to buy one pound of powder and pay $27.50 hazmat on top of powder and shipping when the hazmat is the same $27.50 for 1 pound or 10, instead I'll buy the 10 pounds so the hazmat amounts to $2.75 per pound.

Far as I can tell, that has a steep impact on powder availability.

It doesn't account for .22 rimfire ammo shortages though. Our one store that carries ammo got a little bit of .22 in November which they doled out at 100 rounds per customer per visit.

Actually, current availability is the best it's been in at least 2 years.

Have shooting sports increased in popularity enough to affect demand or is this just a continuation of the panic? It's been going on for so long that I'm starting think there's more to these shortages than just panic purchasing.

I suspect part of the upsurge in shooting "sports" is partly due to people who've gotten concealed carry permits, who never even considered it before, but there's also been a general rise in shooting and hunting due to good promotion by the National Shooting Sports Foundation and other organizations.

I do know that some people who've gotten into shooting in the past few years have no idea what, say, .22 ammo is "supposed" to cost. They're happy to buy it for $50 a brick, because it's still a lot cheaper than .223 ammo--which, by the way, is everywhere, often at bargain prices. If the ammo manufacturers are trying to drive the prices up on .223, they're doing a lousy job of it.

But the Obama panic started it, and as I've pointed out before, cell phones and the Internet have helped keep it going on longer than previous panics. If anybody finds .22 ammo or components at stores or on the Internet, they call their friends, or post on various sites, and whatever's there is quickly gone.

TOM's point about hazmat fees on primers and powder is also a good one. I don't order only a pound of powder or 1000 primers off the Internet, for that very reason.

No chit. The boy and I picked up 200 pcs of LC 5.56 brass at the range today, and this was a nice day and it was packed like the day before rifle season.. During the scares it wouldn't have gotten cool before it was in someone's pocket.

Things are getting better in my parts, but still not great. Primers are available, $30+ a brick, 22LR is now around but at least $6.00 per 50 for standard stuff. Powder is hit and miss, never what I am wanting but a substitute. $30+ a pound now. Local stores never did stock much in the way of bullets and brass, so the internet.. Again hit and miss never what I really wanted but substitutes for the most part, then again I buy the odd metric stuff so... I am not hoarding, but if I see what I want I buy now. Just bought 3#'s of Bulleyes, would normally only buy one. First time in 2 years it was available. Checked at an LGS for rifle powder and all they had was 4350, was running low an it works in so many calibers so I said I would take one, they brought out the last two pounds, hmmm bought both.. So I guess now I hoard..

Was in a local store on Thursday and they had quite a bit of .22 Long Rifle (including CCI hollow-points), .22 Magnum and .17 HMR. It had been there for four days, and though some had been purchased there weren't people lined up six feet deep around the counter. Of course the prices weren't pre-panic, but they weren't bad.

I get a little angry when people say it's all due to manufacturers trying to drive prices up because I know so many of those manufacturers. By now many are getting just as weary of the whole deal as shooters are, because they're having a hard time keeping employees when everybody's working overtime. And they're especially getting weary of making and moving everything they can possibly into the market, yet constantly getting complaints.

You're only hoarding if you don't use it.

The last time I bought IMR4895 I picked up two 8 lb. jugs. If anyone had looked at me funny I'd have asked them how many thousand 308 rounds have they shot this year?

The panic buying in the US is also having effects around the world. ADI powders here in Australia are getting hard to get and they are made here. These are sold in the States as Hodgdon's Extreme line of powders. I guess ADI are shipping most of their product overseas to try and supply you guys and there's also a few hiccups with the Australian Distributor of ADI powders. I've started building up my powder stocks and now have enough for several years at the rate I load. My local gun shop has huge amounts of powder on backorder and only gets delivery of a small amount at random intervals. He was told that Winchester PowerPoint .22LR ammo won't be available to 2016. They are manufactured here but the cases are imported from the US and Winchester can't get the .22 cases.

We are seeing a lot more product from Europe now. I have been buying cases from Norma and Lapua that are only $10 more per hundred than Winchester and Remington and much better quality.

Most of the Internet retailers post new shipments to inventory between 6-8pm or soon after midnight. Check at those times. Also some will send you an email when new stuff gets posted to inventory. When you get the email act quickly.