Availability of local supplies

Was in the neighborhood of the local dealer that I purchased Powder and Primers yesterday so I stopped in to see what was available.

He had some IMR 4227 powder and others that I would believe to be used for shot guns. Price of the IMR 4227 was only $22.99 a pound. So I would guess that that is reasonable as the last time I purchased any it was $1.00 less per can.

Only primers available were Winchester 209's. Pleanty of shot guns ammo was on the shelf. Small supply of 150 gr Winchester .308 cal also on the shelf. There were small quanities of loaded ammo for rifle but nothing in .223 or 30 cal. I did not see any loaded handgun ammo.

Prices on hand guns did not seem excessive and the same could be said for rifles and shotguns of most any description. The AR's that I could see a price tag on behind the counter were somewhere near MSRP but from one or two that I recognized were not higher than MSRP you find when visiting the manufacturers web site.

Most anything else you would want from holsters on could be found along with targets, cleaning kits, cases etc.

I would any of you out there stopping by your local place found the same thing. However, I don't feel this guy was gouging the customers so I will continue to shop there in the future when supplies are replenishted.

John

My local dealers seem to be ok. The only gouging I see are the SKS and AK clones,but they all have gone way up on those and all tell me that their profit margin really has'nt changed as they are also paying way more to get the stuff. Ammo costs have gone up everywhere,no getting away from that. The one local shop I stop by at least once a week does a brisk business,it always busy,yet he manages to keep a decent stock of ammo. Lots of .223 and .308 bulk and for decent prices. Good selection of single box factory ammo. I did notice this week though that the cheap handgun ammo shelves were bare on 380,9mm and 45. He had some 40 but not much. The premium stuff was still in stock but even those shelves were thin. One lb powder seems to be ok,brass is up and down but he does get a steady restock of most popular calibers. Primers though,thats the tough one around here. The well is dry everytime I stop in but he tells me he does still get them,they just sell out quick. He has put up a sign now for only 1k per customer on primers,trying to give everyone a chance for what does come in.

Two local shops in my No. Ohio area. One is a bit pricey but for a time was the only source for .30 gas checks. He had S&B .30 carbine for $25 a box till it sold out. The other seems to have primers when I get really low for around $30. a K and seems to almost always have the powder I'm looking for. 2 larger outdoors shops within 40 miles are hit and miss.

I'm having a problem finding IMR4895 and have been for quite a while. Local prices on cans of LC 30-06 in en blocs has doubled.

I've been able to make substitutions on some cartridges. For instance I'm now using Hornady 110 gr spire points ahead of 2400 and CCI pistol primers in the 7.62x39. Works fine in a bolt action but don't know how they might feed or function in an AK variant. The 2400 was only $2 more than the last time, but small rifle primers are scarce.

For the most part I'm using all black powder cartridge rifles this summer because I have enough on hand to last a while. I did pick up a couple more pounds of American Pioneer 2f at only $15 per, so that's not bad at all.

No local supplies at all here, hasent been for several years. Closest place is a Walmart 80 miles south. At one time they did have plenty of powder, brass & bullets in stock but last time (Memorial Day Weekend) I was there pickings were pretty thin. Was lucky & caught them just after a truck came in & they had pistol ammo. Picked up 2 boxes of Blazer 45 Auto for 15.97, 1 box (100) of Rem. 9mm 115 gr JHP for 24.95 & 2 boxes of Sierra 223 69gr Hp. They had the most pistol ammo I had seen in stock of several kinds in months (15-20boxes), but it was gone by the next morning, tried to get some 44 special for a friend, no luck. Our local stores are lucky if they can get 4-5 boxes.