Posted on 02/15/2013 12:03:59 PM PST by EXCH54FE
Big time ammo company Hornady released a statement Tuesday commenting on the ammo shortage and shed light on some key questions theyve been asked repeatedly.
The Hornady booth at SHOT Show 2013. This year they introduced Critical Duty ammo.
The current political climate has caused extremely high demand on all shooting industry products, including ours, Hornady said in the statement. Empty retail shelves, long backorders, and exaggerated price increases on online auction sites all fueled by rumors and conjecture have amplified concerns about the availability of ammunition and firearms-related items.
The company asked that you, the consumer, not let Internet rumors on the ammo shortage influence or scare you into paying any outrageous prices. And stressed that if information about Horndays supply doesnt come from Hornady, dont believe it. Here are the rumors they addressed in the statement:
Q: Have you stopped production, or has the government forced you to stop?
A: Not at all.
Q: Did you stop selling bullets so you could only make loaded ammunition?
A: Absolutely not.
Q: Since we cant find your product you must be selling it all to the government.
A: Nope, less than 5 percent of our sales are to government entities.
Q: Why cant you make more? Ramp up production? Turn on all the machines?
A: Weve been steadily growing our production for a long time, especially the last five years. Weve added presses, lathes, CNC equipment, people and space. Many popular items are produced 24 hours a day. Several hundred Hornady employees work overtime every week to produce as much as safely possible. If there is any question about that please take a tour of the factory. Youll be amazed at what you see.
(Excerpt) Read more at guns.com ...
The owner of my local gun shop told me that the hold up was at the border. The US Gov’t was not allowing any imports.
I trust the man at his word, but have not been able to verify his statements.
Chargeing a dollar a round for .223 is nothing but plain old theft. No thanks.
Powder is scarce, but primers are scarcer.
does anybody work at a gun range, or know somebody that does?
a question for them, is a lot more ammo being used
than usual, for this time of year.
if the answer is no, the shortage will end
when everyone cycles thru their local gun store
and gets stocked up.
So am I.
But I think this may mean that I didn't buy enough when the prices were low. I've learned a lesson. Next time there is a shortage, I intend to have enough to make some money selling it if another shortage occurs.
Yes, one per tour. I got a 45 caliber 500gr heavy jacket bullet.
I don’t work at a range, but happened to visit my local one on Tuesday night at 6-7pm. They were limiting customers to one (1) box of 50 rounds per visit.
When we left, there was a line of 5 people waiting to get on the range (with 6 lanes full). On a Tuesday, at 7pm.
I went there a couple Saturdays ago and it was a 2hr wait so I left.
I went to the same range in August, and walked in on a Saturday at 11am with no wait.
Yep, we've been trying to find primers for awhile. I got excited when I went to one gun store and they told me "Sure, they had primers".....one box of 100. (.223) That's it. And even if they had more, they were limiting people to 5 boxes.
DH even heard one of the salesmen at his favorite gun shop tell a customer that Dillon Press is waay behind on orders. Anyone just now planning to learn to reload isn't going to get their equipment from Dillon any time soon.
I would start with a good old RCBS Rock Chucker single-stage and learn how to reload before I got myself all tangled up with a progressive system. That's a good way to get into some serious trouble.
RCBS still makes the best single-stage press, but they don't have a clue how to make a progressive loader. That's why I covet a Big Blue.
The Rock Chuckers are still very much available - even on Amazon! :-)
single stage seems mighty slow to me. We had no problems starting with the Dillon. Got a 550B for DH in 2011. We are on the perpetual search for primers at this point...
Single stage IS slow, but it allows you to cast your eye over the loading block to confirm that all primers are seated, powder is the same level in every case, etc. With practice, you can get more efficient too.
CAluvdubya: DH even heard one of the salesmen at his favorite gun shop tell a customer that Dillon Press is waay behind on orders. Anyone just now planning to learn to reload isn't going to get their equipment from Dillon any time soon.
Don't recall recommending anything just passing along information but, okay.
Dillon's behind in production. Most people think of Dillon for progressive loaders, not single stage.
Therefore, if someone was "planning to learn to reload", they can go ahead and get an RCBS single stage and get started.
And, with 30+ years of experience in reloading, in my opinion that's better anyway, less chance of mistakes (and easier to fix if made). So it's a win-win situation for the person just getting into reloading.
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