Ammo Shortage ? Primers ? See Video's

[MSW2]

MSW2,
I'm sure Covid isn't helping either.
Where was the plant located ?

Somerset West - near Capetown. And in 2018. Yes, covid is being brought in as an excuse for the slow rebuilding progress.

[browningautorifle]

a very low number of posts

Probably that.

[MSW2]

Of course you are...

---------- Post added at 04:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:41 PM ----------



Don't think I read about that one, that can't have been good at all.

Eight people killed. Finding was human error. https://www.iol.co.za/amp/capeargus/news/human-error-part-of-the-cause-behind-denel-explosion-finds-report-35782478
Re-working propellant to meet specs. And some static electricity thrown into the mix.

[Ignatious]

My first post in this forum was in this thread. No issues here.

Glad that I've been around long enough to know some of the back channels for supply of necessities. Modernly, people get freaked when the Blue Rhino is out of tanks. I don't use that over priced distributor unless my tank is almost out of date. I still refill at the place with the scale. It's cheaper too.

And as far as hoarding, I don't consider it hoarding when it's simply planning ahead. This is like the anti's 'why do you need a gun? What are you afraid of?' I'm prepared for a hurricane, doesn't mean I'm afraid of them. Does it mean I'm hoarding? A well stocked pantry is simply a good plan. I certainly don't want to be out among the panicked sheep as they buy out all the ingredients for French toast because the weather man said the 's' word, or especially when a hurricane is bearing down on my town. I maintain Gerry cans of fuel that get rotated, and buy extra of whatever when I see it at a good price. I buy some stuff just for bartering should it come to that. I have not filled the guest room with TP like some people might think when they get an inkling you have stock. When that shortage started, I overheard several people saying 'the preppers are buying everything up, that's why there's a shortage.' I counteracted with 'the preppers already have theirs, it's in the name. It's the panickers that are causing the shortage.' I saw one guy at the grocery store with an entire cart full of meat. Completely wiped out that cooler. OK, if it floats your boat. I left because the lines were ridiculous. Again, the pantry remains at serviceable levels. Grew up in the woods. We didn't go to the grocery store just because we needed some butter. There had to be a list.

I spend a lot of time 'cultivating' people to be independent. They don't realize that's what I am doing. Just planting seeds to get the thought processes rolling and let them see things differently than what they have been taught. Sometimes it just takes a nudge to get someone on a different track. Like talking about hurricane preparedness. Or having some dry goods that can last you a week or two, and some water too. I'm not a prepper despite what it sounds like in my ramblings. We used to call this 'living.'

I will have to venture out tomorrow to see if any of the big boys are restocked with anything. Makes for a nice drive through the country. Nice to hear there's some reasonable prices out there.

[ssgross]

And as far as hoarding, I don't consider it hoarding when it's simply planning ahead. This is like the anti's 'why do you need a gun?

before all this, many of us would buy in small amounts whenever we were at the store. I knew I would always use it, and it's nice to never need special trips out - just like it's nice to always have a second gallon of milk in the fridge (or 3 if you have kids like me). I would also do 1-2 big...biiiiiig Grafs orders a year (in line with bonus schedule) proportional to how much I shoot. I've shot less during covid, and was banned from shooting for several months.
I'm sure many of you bought reasonably like this pre covid, and now like me your normally rotating supply has turned in to a hoard. I figure I have 2.5 years of unworried recreation shooting left. I'm going to start rationing next month to stretch that to 4 years.
If anything, this is the opposite of hoarding, because I refuse to buy at these prices (sans the small rifle primers. I only had 1 brick left and planned to compete high power this summer, covid willing) - I'm not placing any burden on the current market's limited supply, and I placed no excessive demand on the past market's supply either. The have-not grasshoppers will always despise the have ants and blame us for their lack of prudence.

---------- Post added at 09:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:32 PM ----------

I have not filled the guest room with TP like some people might think when they get an inkling you have stock.

I ALWAYS had an extra 18 pack of TP in the attic. Where I grew up mom went to the big store only once a month and if we ran out...we were out. So she always had a bit extra just in case we all got colon-flu at the same time. That small amount of non-hoarding prudence literally saved my behind from the family cloth, by just a day or two.

[vintage hunter]

[DaveHH]

It just seems like yesterday that we went through the same thing. Then everyone was blaming DHS for ordering 40Trillion rounds of whatever. Now I think it is just 6 or 7 million new gun owners showing up. I think that maybe the manufacturers are playing it close to the vest because of the election situation and now that the results are in they are playing it even closer.
It is my understanding that there are no more lead smelters in the US as lead was moved into a danger scale on the level of plutonium. I am not all that sorry for the folks who are out of supplies. The lesson should only happen once to stick and if you ignored the lesson well.......There was plenty of opportunity to stock up on primers, powder and ammunition.

There used to be serious surplus ammunition hoarders. I remember reading about the 1st Cav capturing the regimental cache of an NVA unit west of Plei Me in 1965. It was 68,000 rounds of small arms ammunition. There were guys with a platoon worth of M1 rifles that had more than that in their garage. Probably not many more like that today.

[browningautorifle]

The lesson should only happen once to stick ...There was plenty of opportunity to stock up on primers, powder and ammunition.

That would be correct Dave. I learned and have my share here, we did have lots of warning signs from the past.

[Lee Enfield]

This is my third or fourth famine of this sort in recent memory.

exactly,
since Khaneduh started to become the 3rd world backwater ("no domestic production") we are today, this component shortage occurs every few years - and since US polyticks became commy alternating presidents it has happened with every (2 year!) US election cycle.

I still have a sleeve of LRM that I got in c.1998 when there were no LR primers available for love nor money... (that taught me)

The good news is that since most IMR/Hodgden powders are manufactured in Khaneduh, there is not a (local) shortage of most of the rifle powders I need... and during my current "clean up" I've found several pounds of WW2 surplus IMR4831...

Also there are (or have been anyway as we lost another one in Dec) a number of custom bullet makers locally - so I had 2 guys manufacture Mk7 "type" flatbase .311-.312 bullets for me -

...snip... I've shot less during covid, and was banned from shooting for several months.
I'm sure many of you bought reasonably like this pre covid, and now like me your normally rotating supply has turned in to a hoard. I figure I have 2.5 years of unworried recreation shooting left. I'm going to start rationing next month to stretch that to 4 years.
If anything, this is the opposite of hoarding, because I refuse to buy at these prices (sans the small rifle primers. I only had 1 brick left and planned to compete high power this summer, covid willing) - I'm not placing any burden on the current market's limited supply, and I placed no excessive demand on the past market's supply either. The have-not grasshoppers will always despise the have ants and blame us for their lack of prudence.[COLOR="black"]
...snip....

too funny, I was talking to a friend who is cleaning up the basement - I believe he said that "..so far I've found 2,500 virgin .222 rem brass...) on top of the 1,500 we found when I was there...

[ssgross]

I popped in to cabela's while I was waiting on my wife...scored two boxes of Hornady 308 150 FMJ/BT bullets! Curiously, the glass case has been always fully stocked with Kimber pistols all through the pandemic. Everything else flies off the shelf.
It was a normal day...sometimes the shelves are bare of 30cal bullets, other days there are a few boxes of several types from several manufacturers.
Powder was the same way until 3 months ago. Now there is nothing, anywhere. I find it hard to believe. If primers really are the bottleneck, as extreme as they say it is, I would expect surpluses in the other components. If powder manufacturers have ramped up production like everyone else, but aren't selling to even a big boy like Graffs...then where is all the powder going? it's not going into ammo because there aren't enough primers! Unless everything is equally short.
Black powder supply sure isn't stressed. I may build a flintlock from a kit this year.