Component Scarcity: Where's the Varget

[lrgoodger]

It's not the people who use it who are causing the problem. It's the profiteers. If they keep everything bought up, it keeps the shortage going so they can maintain their high, gouging prices and make more profit.

 

[amlevin]

It's not the people who use it who are causing the problem. It's the profiteers. If they keep everything bought up, it keeps the shortage going so they can maintain their high, gouging prices and make more profit.

They'll only be successful as long as the factories are behind the curve. Eventually the profiteers will get caught with their pants down. They'll run out of money to buy up stock (a lot was bought on credit cards no doubt), people will start finding what they need on the shelves again, and the profiteers will end up having to dump product at less than what they bought it for.

Just like speculators in Real Estate, Stocks and Bonds, etc. When the supply returns the prices will drop to normal levels and the parasites will die off until the next panic.

Just to add, all those who poo-poo'd the idea of buying in "annual quantities" from online sources due to hazmat scaring them, doesn't seem so bad now, does it.

 

[jo191145]

amlevin

People afraid of hazmat are worse at math than I am ;D

Now if theres a specific powder I may want to try and in no need to stock up on other things gunshop prices aren't so bad for a lb jug. Finding that specific powder is another problem of course.

 

[bozo699]

amlevin

People afraid of hazmat are worse at math than I am ;D

Now if theres a specific powder I may want to try and in no need to stock up on other things gunshop prices aren't so bad for a lb jug. Finding that specific powder is another problem of course.

Spot on Joe!
Wayne.

 

[amlevin]

amlevin

People afraid of hazmat are worse at math than I am ;D

Now if theres a specific powder I may want to try and in no need to stock up on other things gunshop prices aren't so bad for a lb jug. Finding that specific powder is another problem of course.

You must have graduated from the same school as I did. Where they taught us to "just keep fixing things until they're finally broken". 8)

I've quit trying the "powder of the month" hoping for a fraction better performance. I now just take what works great (often beyond my expectations) and stock up on the items that give me that performance. I now use only 4 powders total for rifle and one for pistol. That lets me buy 8" jugs and not worry about either supply or "lot number".

I don't know about your local gun stores but the ones near me (closest one stocking powder and primers used to be 25 miles before a Cabela's opened up) charge enough where even ridiculous online pricing is economical. Almost all charged at least $10/lb more for powder and as much as Double on primers.

With the Cabela's now in town I think the small dealers that were stocking at high prices are going to probably end up out of the reloading component business (or at least bring prices down to a more reasonable level).

 

[CarolinaBrass]

I have been able to get it at palmetto state armory, might want to check them out...other than that I would say do the old backorder from midway or whomever you usually do and wait for it the problems is you have the coupon clipping soccer moms now out there actively searching for ammo deals like .22LR and 1#powder etc or 380auto ammo, stuff like that because no one wants to be caught with their pants down again...ive even heard of people buying it who don't even have a gun....

 

[bozo699]

I have been able to get it at palmetto state armory, might want to check them out...other than that I would say do the old backorder from midway or whomever you usually do and wait for it the problems is you have the coupon clipping soccer moms now out there actively searching for ammo deals like .22LR and 1#powder etc or 380auto ammo, stuff like that because no one wants to be caught with their pants down again...ive even heard of people buying it who don't even have a gun....

I have seen this a lot lately!
Wayne.

 

[CarolinaBrass]

yeah around Christmas time I was calling AR's the new "tickle me elmo" for a lot of people, who didn't have one before, didn't know what they were but who knew they needed to get them because they were hard to find...

 

[DRNewcomb]

For what it's worth, I thought I had hit the "mother lode", but it turned out to be not quite so. An older club member, who used to shoot LR quite a bit but has recently cut back due to health reasons, asked if I'd help him reduce the amount of excess components in his shop. Well, you always answer that question in the affirmative but what got me interested was when he described having six 8 lb jugs of Varget. I figured, "That will keep the local target shooters going for a few months." He also mentioned a huge stash of bulk Sierra 175s.

Well, when I got there, what I ended up bringing home was:
1. About 7 lbs of Varget
2. 8 lbs of Data 2200 (sealed)
3. 11 lbs of WC-750
4. 4 lbs H-414

I'm trying to distribute it among the local target shooters, returning a fair price to the owner. The Varget I'm keeping myself.

I'm going to keep in touch with him. Hopefully, he'll dig more out of his garage in the future. I'm not offering to sell it here, just relating a story. I have no intention of shipping powder.

 

[amlevin]

Hopefully, he'll dig more out of his garage in the future.

You didn't volunteer to help him clean out his garage?

 

[DRNewcomb]

Hopefully, he'll dig more out of his garage in the future.

You didn't volunteer to help him clean out his garage?

Hinted around about it. I wish I had some place to put the lathe and milling machine.

 

[wrangler5]

Related news: My local reloading store has had a 100/day limit on primers, which recently went to 200 (two boxes rubber banded together.) Yesterday they had cartons (1000) on the shelf. When I asked if I could buy more than one, he said yes as long as I didn't clean him out. So I picked up 3000 Remington 7 1/2s, which is more than I have Varget for at the moment.

Now my shortage will be bullets.

BTW, last night I got an email notification from Midway that they had Remington 7.5 primers in stock and they were not sold out when I immediately clicked on the link. I checked again about 10 minutes later, just to see how long they would last, and they were sold out. But compared to just a month or so ago, supply is up or demand is down, or both - at least a little bit.

 

[jo191145]

amlevin

People afraid of hazmat are worse at math than I am ;D

Now if theres a specific powder I may want to try and in no need to stock up on other things gunshop prices aren't so bad for a lb jug. Finding that specific powder is another problem of course.

You must have graduated from the same school as I did. Where they taught us to "just keep fixing things until they're finally broken". 8)

I've quit trying the "powder of the month" hoping for a fraction better performance. I now just take what works great (often beyond my expectations) and stock up on the items that give me that performance. I now use only 4 powders total for rifle and one for pistol. That lets me buy 8" jugs and not worry about either supply or "lot number".

I don't know about your local gun stores but the ones near me (closest one stocking powder and primers used to be 25 miles before a Cabela's opened up) charge enough where even ridiculous online pricing is economical. Almost all charged at least $10/lb more for powder and as much as Double on primers.

With the Cabela's now in town I think the small dealers that were stocking at high prices are going to probably end up out of the reloading component business (or at least bring prices down to a more reasonable level).

Almost the same school. My alma mater was "tweak it until you burn it out". Otherwise known as the ''Church of the Holey Target" ;D

Theres a lot to be said for experimenting if your willing and able to develop theories on what a specific rifle is telling you. We all search for the powder a rifle likes. Why? Because they're not all the same. There are reasons a specific barrel is happy with a specific powder. Education is never cheap. I have my "go to" powders now also. If my theories tell me a new rifle might like X and I don't have it. I'll buy it. Within 15 rds or so I'll know if it was worth it.