Let’s face it, most of us have War Babies that we like to feed on a regular basis. I would like to open a discussion on .30 carbine ammo and its lack of availability. I think the topic shouldn’t be a complaint of the issues (production limits, hoarding, panic buying, etc). It would be more productive to actually discuss the decision making processes everyone uses and how we make decisions about how to feed our beloved carbines.
Let me set some background for a discussion and use my own situation as a starting point - I am sure that it is much like most people’s here.
As a Carbine owner who loves to spend time at the range, I deal with several factors. I have a small stock of factory manufactured .30 carb ammo. I also reload and have a dwindling supply of brass (couple hundred rounds now) that I have long been reloading and is starting to fail due to repeated usage over the years (but at $10 per box). First, everyone knows that ammo, when it can be found, is running $27 or more a box. The market for previous fried brass has dried up. Unfired new brass is running $23 or more per hundred. The use of unfired brass places the cost of a 50 round box of reloads at about $22. I have a couple of pounds of powder and I seem to be able to find 110 gr FMJ easy enough. However, small rifle primers are getting harder to find and I have not seen any (for less than $49/1000) in over 6 weeks.
So this is what I see before me:
1) I can continue to reload the few brass cases that remain, use up the 200 primers I have left and risk not finding more for some time. This allows me to make ammo until components are exhausted at the cost of $10 per box.
2) I can buy new brass, use up the 200 primers I have left and risk not finding more for some time. While I do not know when I will get more primers, this option allows me to increase my brass stock. This allows me to make ammo until I can not get primers and is an investment in brass at a cost of $22 per box.
3) I can swallow my pride and purchase new ammo and shoot it as range ammo. While this puts me at the mercy of locating ammo which is over-priced, this will allow me to keep my basic stock of components for a rainy day. It would also increase my brass inventory. But this is the most expensive option and will cost me over $27 per box.
So what is everyone’s opinion of how to feed a hungry gun?Information
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