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Hoarders? Really?

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I remember thinking about mid term Trump, these are the good old days. Powder and primers were on sale with fee hazmat. I did stock up a bit, but I wish I would have bought more H4895!
Yes, I started reloading just before stuff got scarce before some election, maybe obama. I got what I needed for to hold me over for a while when things were a little scarce, when the got easier I remember sneller and beloit LR primers at cabellas for 24 per 1k if I remember right or maybe it was 29 while most primers were 35-40 per 1k. I pucked up a brik a few times, i have about 3k left. Glad i gave some for back up but i wish i would have emptied the shelves into my cart a few times lol
 
This world has never worked any differently when it comes to commodities or merchandise of any kind, and the folks who have the assets to spend or trade for them. We could wake up three days from now and find that our US dollars are worth about 3 cents. Any of us who love this hobby, and who have the financial ability would be pretty stupid to not keep well stocked with all the reloading supplies, as well as coffee, TP, and whatever else we have room to store.

I've always thought the "Hoarder" accusation was pretty much sour grapes. jd
 
I guess I might qualify as a hoarder because I generally have more than I need, but reading some of these posts, I might be doing it wrong.
Last time I bought primers online, they were on sale, no hazmat, and free shipping at some price point. This only seems to happen every 4-8 years so I have time to save my money.

All these threads that pop up about hoarders, always seem to have people buying all they can at twice normal retail, paying $50 for hazmat, and inflated shipping and handling, all the while complaining about lack of choice and nothing in stock.

So I buy when no one else wants to buy, when vendors are selling at cost or below. Then sit out when components are scarce and people are clamoring for product, not wanting to compete with them or pay high prices. Allowing people who really need components, to buy them.

My wife tells me that she buys all her shoes and sewing materials on sale, so it’s practical, not hoarding. So I just figured buying powder, primers and bullets on sale was the same.

Am I a hoarder or practical?
Should I have a talk with my wife, maybe an intervention for one or both of us?
 
I learned back during the Obama shortage, I got caught with very few supplies on hand. I stocked up on primers, powder, brass, bullets as soon as components freed up again. 2018/2019 were good years to find what you needed at great prices. Then when this last shortage hit I got tired of hearing word hoarder which to me was just a way of the unprepared admitting they should have done more to handle the shortage.

It will happen again. Components continue to be more available, pricing is dropping and those same people who didn’t have what they needed are probably repeating not preparing again. Some may have learned. Then when it gets bad again all those who have put some effort into their planning will be called the H word.

Personally I was able to help a lot of friends and family during the Covid era continue to shoot and enjoy the sport/hobby and I was happy to do it. I have been replacing a few components I’m low on as I can, I try and replace things as I use them and keep a good supply on hand.

Will prices ever get back to 2018-2019? I doubt it. Nobody can say but I doubt we see those prices for a very long time if ever again.
 
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I'm in Canada and back around 2010 ish timeline we were in the middle of a 10 year Conservative Federal Government, and prices were great. Not even mentioning our Canadian dollar was worth the same or more than the USD..
Bought some Russian SKS's for $ 180 - $ 200 each.
A crate of 1,500 rounds of Chinese 7.62x39 mm ammo was $ 250 / $ 300
Primers were $ 30 for 1k
Powder was $ 25 - 30 / lb
Brass was 1/3rd or what it is now.
Bullets were also 1/3 rd or less than today.
and wages were only 10 % less maybe 15 %.

A lot of what I'm loading today is still from the stuff I bought back then. Especially Powders and Primers.
Sure I got some newer powders and bullets, but not as much as the older stuff that you can still buy today except A-max bullets that been replaced with ELD-M.

Nowadays...
A Ruski SKS goes for $ 650 and 7.62 x 39 mm ammo is not easy to come by, especially Surplus crates.
Gotta search the net and call to make sure they actually have what they list on their website
Primers are $ 100 + per 1k ( not easy to find anyways )
Powder is $ 65 + for 1 lb
Brass doubled in price
Bullets are more than double the price

Sorry, I had to vent a little.
 
I slowly bought a lot of stuff when times were good, so I'm a hoarder I guess. Other than match bullets and barrels, I haven't bought much in the way of components since. At some point, I'm going to have to revisit powder and primers, but not any time soon.

More disturbing to me is the lack of attendance at the matches I've been shooting. Seems down to me in my limited sample size. What about you guys that shoot matches? Have you seen the same thing? The only explanation I can come up with is that the cost and/or availability issues have moved some people away from the game.
 
For me, a hoarder is one who stocks up when supply begins to dry up. They see the shelves getting lighter and they scoop up everything they can. That’s buying stuff that someone will come by the next day or week and not be able to shoot because it’s already gone.

Keeping a massive stash and stocking up when there is plenty on the shelf and they’re running sales is not the same thing to me. That’s just having a large personal stash. (Or maybe creating a tremendous fire hazard)

The guys who flip stuff for profit when things are scarce are not my favorite people. I’m not so sure about retailers who do the same - they need to keep the lights on and if there is much less product to move overall then they need to increase margins on what they have to sell.
 
Demand raises prices simple as that, if you have enough stock to last 6 months and not buy a single primer or pound of powder the prices will crash.

The problem with this is you may quit buying but the other guy keeps buying at the inflated prices'

Frank
 
I slowly bought a lot of stuff when times were good, so I'm a hoarder I guess. Other than match bullets and barrels, I haven't bought much in the way of components since. At some point, I'm going to have to revisit powder and primers, but not any time soon.

More disturbing to me is the lack of attendance at the matches I've been shooting. Seems down to me in my limited sample size. What about you guys that shoot matches? Have you seen the same thing? The only explanation I can come up with is that the cost and/or availability issues have moved some people away from the game.
I slowly bought a lot of stuff when times were good, so I'm a hoarder I guess. Other than match bullets and barrels, I haven't bought much in the way of components since. At some point, I'm going to have to revisit powder and primers, but not any time soon.

More disturbing to me is the lack of attendance at the matches I've been shooting. Seems down to me in my limited sample size. What about you guys that shoot matches? Have you seen the same thing? The only explanation I can come up with is that the cost and/or availability issues have moved some people away from the game.
Jim, I'm seeing the same thing at match attendance. Monthly Raton match is down 30%. Use to be, if you didn't sign up within 3 hours when registration opened, you were on the waiting list. Monthly CRC match use to have a morning and afternoon match. He struggles to get 20 shooters anymore. I won't EVER need powder or primers in my lifetime. I bought ahead of retirement when I had disposable income. At the Nightforce ELR match this year, there were 295 shooters from around the world! So maybe it's guys just prioritizing which matches to do. But yeah, definitely down in numbers at the matches I attend.
 
When I was shooting twice a week plus shot gun times were good for prices and supply. An old timer back then said to me if you buy a new rifle or a barrel make sure you buy enough powder, primers, bullets to burn out the barrel. In my case at the time it was a 308, and that meant about 20 lbs. of IMR 4895 and I always had 10-12 lbs on hand.
Now I use different powders for different cartridges and I still hunt and search for what is available and buy it when I can.
Is that hoarding?
 
So I guess the question to ask ourselves should be is it really hoarding or just proper planning? Would you leave on vacation knowing you didn’t have enough gas to reach your destination also knowing the gas stations may all be closed along the way?

I’m tired of the word hoarding being thrown around. Thank goodness I had enough powder and primers available to help some friends out during this period of tight distribution. Personally, I am currently testing alternative powders and sharing what I learn, as I learn it.

Components are neither readily available nor cheap but blaming it on someone else, simply because they prioritized their spending differently than you did, doesn’t make them a hoarder, it actually makes you a poor planner. Now the exception to this would be new shooters just getting into the game. We should all be trying to help them out, but anyone who has reloaded ammo for a while should have seen this coming and been prepared. History does repeat itself.

I’m sorry if this offends you as you read this, but it’s how I feel and if the truth hurts, it hurts. I have just had it with people trying to blame others for their lack of proper planning.

Dave.

Or call me a hoarder if you prefer.
Dave that hoarding bullshit is just an excuse for someone to complain because they didn't have the foresight once again to buy stuff years ago when it was plentiful because they would rather spend their money on their usual case of beer a week. As much stuff as I have and I have 2 lifetimes worth of everything is just a drop in the bucket compared to the overall picture. Ok I have 1K pounds of powder. That means that would supply 125 people with one 8 pounder of powder. You get what I'm saying. 8 pounds isn't going to last at all and 125 lousy people out of how many people that reload. You get the picture. It's just like these clowns who mention about H4198. They state on their thread, Hodgdon would make a killing because everyone who has a 30BR would buy some. Now how many people own 30BR's in the grand scheme of things? Very few. Even if there were 1000 people willing to buy 50 pounds each which isn't feasible because some people don't have that kind of spare money hanging around, 50K pounds of that stuff is a drop in the bucket as far as powder production goes and H4198 is a specialized powder which doesn't sell well to begin with. Some people have never run a business and have no clue that Hodgdon is in the business of making money not making friends to the reloading community.
 
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I slowly bought a lot of stuff when times were good, so I'm a hoarder I guess. Other than match bullets and barrels, I haven't bought much in the way of components since. At some point, I'm going to have to revisit powder and primers, but not any time soon.

More disturbing to me is the lack of attendance at the matches I've been shooting. Seems down to me in my limited sample size. What about you guys that shoot matches? Have you seen the same thing? The only explanation I can come up with is that the cost and/or availability issues have moved some people away from the game.
Match Attendance: Speaking strictly for short range IBS Score Matches here in Maine, there was a rebound last season [2022] likely due to C-19 restrictions being lifted. This year tho,' the numbers are down at both large ones, like State Championships, and for single yardage Matches.

Overall costs are a factor, but I'd say attrition is the primary cause of dwindling attendance. As older competitors give it up, they are not being replaced.

In the last few seasons we had several younger folks compete is some Matches, but only one of them now attends. Meanwhile a couple of long time competitors have thrown in the towel.

We had a 100 yd Match on the 16th and there were 10 HVF, and 3 Hunter Class competitors. Granted the weather was a challenge, but 10-20 years ago there would have been double, or even triple that number.

So far, efforts to curtail this trend have been largely unsuccessful. Too bad. :(

SJ
 
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Match Attendance: Speaking strictly for short range IBS Score Matches here in Maine, there was a rebound last season [2022] likely due to C-19 restrictions being lifted. This year tho,' the numbers are down at both large ones, like State Championships, and for single yardage Matches.

Overall costs are a factor, but I'd say attrition is the primary cause of dwindling attendance. As older competitors give it up, they are not being replaced.

In the last few seasons we had several younger folks compete is some Matches, but only one of them now attends. Meanwhile a couple of long time competitors have thrown in the towel.

We had a 100 yd Match on the 16th and there were 10 HVF, and 3 Hunter Class competitors. Granted the weather was a challenge, but 10-20 years ago there would have been double, or even triple that number.

So far, efforts to curtail this trend have been largely unsuccessful. Too bad. :(

SJ


Just a week or so ago, the 200-300 UBR Nationals in Kentucky was supposed to be a two day event but they were able to wrap it up in one day. I'm assuming that was due to attendance.
 
So I guess the question to ask ourselves should be is it really hoarding or just proper planning? Would you leave on vacation knowing you didn’t have enough gas to reach your destination also knowing the gas stations may all be closed along the way?

I’m tired of the word hoarding being thrown around. Thank goodness I had enough powder and primers available to help some friends out during this period of tight distribution. Personally, I am currently testing alternative powders and sharing what I learn, as I learn it.

Components are neither readily available nor cheap but blaming it on someone else, simply because they prioritized their spending differently than you did, doesn’t make them a hoarder, it actually makes you a poor planner. Now the exception to this would be new shooters just getting into the game. We should all be trying to help them out, but anyone who has reloaded ammo for a while should have seen this coming and been prepared. History does repeat itself.

I’m sorry if this offends you as you read this, but it’s how I feel and if the truth hurts, it hurts. I have just had it with people trying to blame others for their lack of proper planning.

Dave.

Or call me a hoarder if you prefer.

You can't hoard what never shows up.

If you had a river running through your property and then suddenly there was only a cup full of water flowing where the river used to flow, would you be hoarding to go out and grab that cup full?

Or would it be more enlightening to go upstream and find out where all the water went?
 
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