JohnV wrote:Since the US started replacing it's military ammunition supplies post Afghanistan etc. ADI powders have been hard to find at my gun shops . I think the US is buying more than it has in the past . It all coincided with projectile and primer shortages and covid may be making things worse . I have a friend in Elpaso Texas and he tells me back in 2021 that is he had no trouble buying Varget powder which we all know is ADI AR2208 . So why did I have trouble buying it ??? The US is a huge market that buys in bulk and if you don't supply their needs 100% they go elsewhere .
I haven't seen any shortage of AR2206H or AR2208 - I specifically asked about both of these four weeks ago when I had to drive to a dealer an hour away to collect some ammo I'd ordered, he had heaps of all the common ADI rifle powders. He did say that he prefers not to tell general customers how much he has as they might just buy the lot and he'll have nothing for his regular customers. Same with primers, he keeps a few thousand on the shelf but most of it is tucked out back to stop a single buyer grabbing the lot.
The local "shortage" might just be that your dealers haven't had time to go and collect a batch from the nearest source.
As far as I know ADI is still pumping rifle powders out as fast as they can. Yes, they have contracts to fill overseas but they are also supplying locally. Because we can't ship powder in Australia it requires that somebody has to go and collect it from wherever the distributor is able to move it to. My dealer had to drive to Melbourne every couple months to collect his powder supplies. As individuals we can legally transport powder, we just can't do it commercially.
Tell your dealer what rifle powder you want and how much and he should be able to get it for you without any trouble. If you can't get it locally and don't mind travelling, order it down here and I'll collect it and hold it until you can make a trip down - but I'm 4-5hrs from the NSW border. If you come down the eastern route there's plenty of Victorian bush to explore to make it worthwhile.