Panic buying is contagious. When Joe Bob goes to his favorite store to buy his yearly box of deer ammo and can't find it, he then goes all over town looking. If he finds something in his preferred cartridge, he buys 4 boxes instead of his usual 1 box. Then he tells everyone he knows that ammo is hard to find, so they run all over town and buy 3 or 4 boxes that they usually would not have. And so demand grows exponentially and pretty soon the shelves are bare. Then you have the hoarders (who think the 10,000 rounds in their closet isn't enough) and re-sellers that line up outside of the box stores at 6 am on shipment day and buy anything they can get their hands on.
That is why there is a shortage right now......
Best explanation ever...
Yes it is. And there are other options.
I don't shoot except for hunting purposes, so as little as 3 rounds per year per rifle is "enough". A box or two if wringing something out. Then it's back to "as little as 3". One to check zero, 2 for the critter. Maybe only one....but I like insurance head shots from a few yards away. There have been occasions, tho....
I have several rifles, only two (excluding .22) in the same caliber. I likely have enough components, reloaded ammo, and factory ammo to last me the rest of my hunting life. I may run out for any particular rifle or caliber, but I have backups. Like the .338WM RU77. I have nearly 40 rounds of 250 gr Hornady RN reloads, MOA. Sighted in. Loaded 'em up as not-worked-up junk loads to get rid of - whoops! - too good for that! Haven't shot the rifle in 10 years or so. That alone should carry me for the next 5 if I use it exclusively. And I have at least 100 or so bullets in other weights for reloading if I need it, all of which I have data for already. If I can find it. That's another 5-10 years or so, minimum. I'm good.... But I might change scopes.....that will entail a few extra rounds.
That said, I too feel the urge to buy when these "shortages" hit. I usually don't, but that plastic slides out awful easy. I can wait, or do without. I have to keep telling myself that..... I will buy a few more pounds of powder first chance I get. I have only 2 of IMR 4350, and 3 of 2878, if I recall the # right, and both are versatile for hunting purposes in my calibers. Haven't reloaded anything at all in 10 years or so....
I had a couple Cabela's gift cards to burn a few weeks ago - went into the Anc. store. Shelves 2/3 empty. Nothing in components or live ammo that I would use in .243, 260, 30-30, 30-06, 7X57, or .338. Only the exotic stuff - Lapau, Rem. Ultra Mag, Wby. , that kinda crap. And some few boxes of ridiculously priced Premiums in various calibers. Ended up buying a couple electronic ear muffs and a candy bar, with 68 cents left over.
Same is true in the local Sportsman's Warehouse.
However, I do have ammo, and some bullets, acquired incidentally over the years, more or less by accident (people keep dying on me) for which I am not chambered. I might have to buy some rifle barrels, and fool the hoarders.....
. I
'm not getting rid of the couple hundred 7 Mag rounds I have. A barrel would go on that current 338 receiver real easy. I have all the tools for the swaps already. 10 rounds for sight in, and I'd be good for years. Or I could pull the bullets and use them in the 7X57. Powder too.
I may screw on a factory "in-stock" take-off 270 bbl on the "Stub" RU77 '06 if I get time this winter to see if it shoots.. Take it back from 17 inch "carbine" to standard length bbl. Make it a little kinder on the ears and recoil.... I have several hundred rounds of 270, and that will make me no-two-rifles chambered the same. Easier on the 30 cal supply, and one more caliber reserve arrow. In case I get short somewhere...
Or I could buy $1000-$2000 (250-500 rounds) of the available exotic-crap ammo, AND a rifle chambered for it. As if I needed another one. But then I'd "need" dies, and more components..... Nah - that's for rich looneys.
I need to go thru what inventory I do have and record it, by caliber, so I know what to jump on in due time, as available......
If it gets real tough, I have a couple ML, and 40 lbs of lead. Need to stock more powder and primers, tho, and molds.
