A Bit of Nostalgia

[Lapua40X]

Friend of mine who has been shooting for about sixty years showed me a brick of Winchester Large Rifle Primers he's had around a while. Price tag on the box is $1.56 ....
Gasp

 

[hpshooter]

I am currently loading IMR 4350 that I bought new for $7.95 a pound and IMR 4198 that was bought at a combination filling station, grocery store and gun shop in
Christiansburg VA in the mid 70's for $4.00 a pound. Owner bought it in bulk, you took your own container to the shop and he weighed it our on the meat scale in the grocery section.

Guess I will have to quite shooting when it is all used up! Of course when I bought this I was making less than $800 a month and a new '69 Roadrunner cost me $2000 and a clapped out 1966 VW trade in.

It is all relative to your income accurate shooting has never been inexpensive. Although panic buying induced shortages and price gouging did not exist to skew the picture.

T W Hudson

 

[dmoran]

Almost every component has at least doubled in price in the "Obama Era" alone.

In 2005 (10 years ago) I paid $14 a 100 for Lapua 105 Scenar's and thought that was expensive, because Sierra and Hornady's were about $4 cheaper.
Have a 6mmBR Lapua brown box with a price tag on it for $22 and the date says June 2005.

 

[Witchhunter]

I bought a 15 pound can (metal) of 4831 surplus powder for 60 bucks. When I shot that one I bought another one, when I shot that one I had to buy it buy the 8 pound keg and it was still marked surplus. I think it was 35 bucks or so. I thought the world would end when it ran out, by then commercial powder was 7.95 a pound. I thought I was really going to have to cut back on my shooting! I have a few sleeves of primers left that I paid 7/1000 for. then I will start using the ones that cost 9.95/1000.

 

[Steve Blair]

Almost every component has at least doubled in price in the "Obama Era" alone.

In 2005 (10 years ago) I paid $14 a 100 for Lapua 105 Scenar's and thought that was expensive, because Sierra and Hornady's were about $4 cheaper.
Have a 6mmBR Lapua brown box with a price tag on it for $22 and the date says June 2005.

[br]
Copper spot prices have increased from ~$1.50/lb the day Obama took office to ~$2.92/lb today, but they have been as high as $4.50/lb. Lead went from ~50¢/lb to ~92¢/lb today, but has also been higher in the meantime. Although I blame Obama for many things, spot copper and lead prices are not among them. He certainly caused panic buying which led to shortages, but we would have seen similar bullet and case price increases even if he was not elected. There has also been more inflation than the feds admit during the last six years, adding to the problem.

 

[Mr.270win]

I've only been reloading for four years now. I get excited when I'm able to find powder for $28 per lb! Lol

 

[jds holler]

I'm still using cans of powder that are 40+ years old. It's gonna suck when I have to replace them. -- Oh, alright -- I have been buying new stuff lately, and I still say; it sucks. jd

 

[Marksman63]

Come here in Italy and you'll smile. One lbs box of IMR around 50 Euro (55 USD)!

 

[Steve Blair]

Obama DID shut down all of the lead processing plants in the U.S.

[br]
No, that's not true. Doe Run was the last primary lead smelting plant in the U.S. and the EPA regulation which killed it was in effect before Obama was inaugurated. Most ammunition lead comes from secondary or recycling plants, of which there are still many. It would have cost ~$100M to build a plant that would satisfy the regulations and the company did not want to risk that much capital. [br]
Regardless, commodity metal prices are set on world markets and local conditions usually have only brief price effects until supply stabilizes demand.

 

[/VH]

How's this for a bit of nostalgia?

 

[/VH]

Here's a bit more.

Does anyone know who made this primer pocket cleaner? It's the best I've ever used that isn't a uniformer.

...........and yes, those are cigarette burns in the loading bench top..........not my cigarettes but the guy that I inherited the bench, the primer pocket cleaner and several other reloading items from.

 

[rvn1968]

Thank you Steve,I stand corrected. Tom

 

[waldo1979]

Obama DID shut down all of the lead processing plants in the U.S.

[br]
No, that's not true. Doe Run was the last primary lead smelting plant in the U.S. and the EPA regulation which killed it was in effect before Obama was inaugurated. Most ammunition lead comes from secondary or recycling plants, of which there are still many. It would have cost ~$100M to build a plant that would satisfy the regulations and the company did not want to risk that much capital. [br]
Regardless, commodity metal prices are set on world markets and local conditions usually have only brief price effects until supply stabilizes demand.

Doesn't the executive branch elect their EPA administration and thereby dictate policy?

 

[Steve Blair]

Doesn't the executive branch elect their EPA administration and thereby dictate policy?

[br]
It's true that the Obama administration has empowered EPA to be more aggressive and even exceed their authority, but the emissions regulations involved were published, discussed and adopted before Obama took office. Doe Run is still heavily involved in lead smelting and production, both here and abroad. [br]
If following the statutes as written, no administration can "dictate policy" excepting the zeal with which regulations are enforced. Legally, they must still follow statute procedures for adoption of new regulations. This administration has been quite cavalier regarding legal requirements and numerous lawsuits have resulted. It has not seemed to deter them. The sooner we are rid of Obama, the better. Just pray that he lives out his term lest we suffer Joe Biden as president.

 

[M14AMU]

I have 1# powder cans with tag of $1.25!

IMR3031

 

[Titan700]

/VH
Is that Herters ?

 

[Outrider27]

I remember buying primers for $3.65 a brick, so mine are a little newer. I also may be one of the last guys on the block shooting Alcan primers in pistol reloads....

 

[bigedp51]

The sooner we are rid of Obama, the better. Just pray that he lives out his term lest we suffer Joe Biden as president.

I remember as a kid living in California running home to watch the Mickey Mouse Club on TV. I turned on the TV and sat on the floor waiting for the TV to warm up and then receive the first major shock of my young life.

The 1956 Democratic Convention and Adlai Stevenson was preempting my Mickey mouse club...................

I've hated the Democrats ever since and still have my "I like Ike Button".

(I was too young to shoot or reload, but I did play with matches)

 

[/VH]

/VH
Is that Herters ?

Titan,

I sure don't know, I was hoping someone on here did. I've looked on the Internet some and don't think they are currently being made. I'd like to pick one up for small pockets.
I've known this one to exist since the early to mid 70s but he may have aquired it in the 60s or even the 50s. It may well have been from Herters.

 

[/VH]

I remember buying primers for $3.65 a brick, so mine are a little newer. I also may be one of the last guys on the block shooting Alcan primers in pistol reloads....

Outrider27,

I have a little AL-7 powder to go with your primers. The price tags on the boxes show $3.69/8 oz. but I'd sure let you have it for a lot less than that, if you were inclined to stop by and pick it up.

Seems like maybe some of us and our "components" are gittin a little old.