erich,
All good points.
The other point I should probably point out is that MOST hunters aren't handloaders--probably somewhere around 90%. As a result, during times like these (where some handloaders try to "hoard") companies that produce both primers and ammo are using more of the primers they make in factory loads--especially starting about now, because a lot of hunters will be expecting to buy some ammo for the fall season.
As a more general comment, am always amazed at "shortage" threads like these, which are generally started by somebody who sees some vast conspiracy on the part of ammo and component companies to produce less--usually to drive up prices, though one post I read a month or so ago suggested that somehow Joe Biden was forcing bullet/powder/primer companies to produce less.
During the Obama rimfire shortage, I tried to spread the rumor that Barack and Michelle really liked to shoot ground squirrels, the reason all the rimfire ammo was going to secret government warehouses. But apparently that was too much to believe even for conspiracy theorists.
