What's going on with Sierra?

[284winner]

More than likely why the 131 BJ became unobtainable

 

[dcali]

I am sorry brother, you are making no sense at all.

I have been saying that production of GOVERNMENT ammo has been essentially privatized (where they used to be nationalized industries). And there are totally NEW customers (Homeland Security) that are using "commercial" suppliers. THIS is where the ammo is going. Not target shooters or "new gun owners".

Ah ok. I thought you were trying to say there was some sort of secret squirrel sink of ammo out there. Yeah, the government is surely buying a lot. There is war sucking them out of NATO at breakneck pace. There are bajillions of new gun owners and shooting has gotten very popular relative to 15-20 years ago. China royally screwed up everything with Covid and their zero tolerance policies. All of that makes for shortages here and there. There is nothing going on with Sierra that isn't going on with the rest of the economy and especially the shooting sports manufacturers. In fact, I would say Sierra has been pretty reliable as a supplier. That's my experience at least.

 

[Newhouse]

Perhaps, Sierra is focusing on their own line of ammunition first. Friend just both some Sierra factory loaded ammunition as he is not a reloader.

 

[D Coots]

I thought Sierra always tended to their needs first and the peon bullet makers got the leftovers???

 

[urbanrifleman]

I thought Sierra always tended to their needs first and the peon bullet makers got the leftovers???

What you're seeing is these companies that were built on supplying niche markets are now doing government contracts and the government contracts are always going to take precedence. I do find it quite interesting.

The only company that I can see that's not taking government contracts is Hornady. Interestingly enough they're the only privately held company. All of the others are corporate entities that are owned by these investment companies. The investment companies are also firmly invested into the companies that they're supplying.

People better wake up. These companies are being vacuumed up into the Borg. Supplying only the Borg. It will simply be a matter of time before they just stop supplying anyone if those investment companies decide that that's what they want to do. And no decisions are not always made on simply what makes money. If that were true most of the government contractors would have been out of business after world war II. It's not capitalism. It's fascism really. It's the merging of the government and private corporations into a single entity and they are controlling the flow of products in every industry. Especially in the firearms industry. You don't have a second amendment if you don't have a way to get a firearm or ammunition.

 

[D Coots]

Follow the money.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Hornady has gained a lot of followers thru this mess by showing up and not being the corporate shill. I know i like em alot better

 

[Jim Ziegler]

I'm not a big Hornady fan, but I will say that everywhere I go the are plenty of Hornady bullets on the shelves.

 

[dcali]

I don't think people realize how small these companies are. Owned by public companies or not, they're not big corporations. They're on the smaller side of "small and medium business".

 

[L.Sherm]

Vista is not our friend!!! Period.
Look what Hodgen is doing buying up all the small powder companies.
Like urban said people better wake up and smell the coffee so to speak

 

[markT]

Anyone ever purchased Sierra bullets from their retail store in Sedalia, MO?
How much is the local sales tax? Looks like Starline is beside Sierra.

 

[wildcatter]

Lapua CEO made it very clear a while back in a live interview, all manufacturers with military contracts are swamped, and from many countries. Until they meet their contract demands, components will be in limited supplies.

This includes most all suppliers of any components to load ammunition. This is not from social media, straight from the CEO of one of the largest component manufacturers in the world.

Patience my fellow shooters, be glad the Robbinets, Bart's, and Hottenstiens of the world still honor their freedom enough not to sign contracts in the name of money, and still supply us with the finest bullets in the world,,,,,, when they can get quality jackets!

And by the way, I thank them for holding out for quality jackets, instead of using inferior components, and producing sub parts bullets in the name of mow money!

 

[Rocky Mt High]

Saw a box of Sierra .243 w 90 gr Gamechangers at a local store yesterday-$55.00 !! I’m in the wrong business…

 

[dcali]

Lapua CEO made it very clear a while back in a live interview, all manufacturers with military contracts are swamped, and from many countries. Until they meet their contract demands, components will be in limited supplies.

This includes most all suppliers of any components to load ammunition. This is not from social media, straight from the CEO of one of the largest component manufacturers in the world.

Patience my fellow shooters, be glad the Robbinets, Bart's, and Hottenstiens of the world still honor their freedom enough not to sign contracts in the name of money, and still supply us with the finest bullets in the world,,,,,, when they can get quality jackets!

And by the way, I thank them for holding out for quality jackets, instead of using inferior components, and producing sub parts bullets in the name of mow money!

The annual output of every custom maker combined wouldn't make a dent in a military contract. Lapua's parent company is a military contractor, and Finland has what you might say is a HEFTY incentive to make sure the eastern Europeans are well armed. The threat (and reality) of Russian invasion is going to trump F class shooters all day long.

Thankfully, some of these companies do sell jackets to custom makers. I wish more did, because they're a something of a pain to get. I'm only aware of three sources - J4, Hines, and Sierra, and all of them are good. But if they decided to stop selling jackets, I doubt their businesses would be materially impacted. They're doing it for the good will and marketing more than the money (and it's not that hard, so why not?). So rest assured there are no inferior components. Customs are good because the dies are made with excruciating care, and the hand pulling means you can feel every single one form and cull any weirdness.

Nobody is making custom bullets to get rich. It's a labor of love, and that's why you get so many good options. Financial corners are cut (meaning, we give up money for quality), and most of us could make a good deal more money doing something else. The unsung heroes are the guys making the dies. Now *that* is dedication.

 

[Tesoro]

Haven't seen them on the local shelves for over 2 years now. They were my favorite, especially the 85 BTHP, 6mm bullets.

Moved on to Hornady but I have to redo the dreaded load development thing again which I truly hate. But as they say in the Army, 'adapt and overcome' but it harder when you are an old fart.

#1530. I spoke to someone inside sierra last year. he said they have the 1530 machine shut down due to higher demand for other bullets. I have about 500 if anyone wants. I have gone to 105's.

 

[SteveOak]

Yeah. Many years ago I was shown this as a 'friendly' warning.

At least at the time, the military also had the option of taking over management of our production to ensure the parts were produced and to their standards.

They still do.

I am working two DX projects.

 

[dcali]

During WWII military production basically went full communist. Central planning and resource allocation is required to produce materiel at the breakneck pace needed to win a major war. Look at waht Russia did on the eastern front. There's no way in hell they could accomplish that without a central authority, and without the Russians, we'd have had to rely on nuclear war to win. The government may not have literally owned the means of production, but they sure as hell controlled it. Possession is 9/10 of ownership, as they say.

BUT... it all went back to normal because communism sucks at almost everything.

This is all still true today. Look how quickly Ukraine and Russia are expending resources. And that's a small conflict in the big scheme of things. Living in a complex world full of warmongering egomaniacs involves putting security ahead of hobbies. I would rather skip (or give up all together) matches than have the guys standing between us and God knows who be short on ammo.

 

[MGMIAM]

Ask the Clarus Corporation who bought them out ?

 

[STS]

Anyone ever purchased Sierra bullets from their retail store in Sedalia, MO?
How much is the local sales tax? Looks like Starline is beside Sierra.
View attachment 1426549

I've bought bullets there several times. The sales tax is 8.7%, state, county and local. Their testing tunnel is quite a nice facility and 300 meters (IIRC) long. And yes, Starline is right next door. Sierra saw the writing on the wall decades ago with the hostile environment in California and pulled the plug and moved. Good choice.

 

[AlNyhus]

For anyone tired of waiting for bullets, the fix is as simple as a set of bullet dies. -Al