Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Reloading equipment, methods, load data, powder and projectile information.

Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by bladeracer » 10 Nov 2021, 8:14 pm

Bill wrote:
deye243 wrote:
rc42 wrote:
As for Biden's motivations, they are most likely anti-firearms based. They are currently trying hard to make firearms and ammo manufacturers in the US legally responsible for anything that their products are used for so that they can be sued out of existence, with no major foreign supply alternatives they can eventually stop the civilian use of guns by making ammo and guns unobtainable or crazy expensive.

They are already doing that just looked at how many times Remington has been sued


Firearms, ammunition and component sales BOOM when the Democrats are in power, consistent cries of Wolf from the GOP about imminent bans and restrictions has everyone running to the local gunshop. Covid 19 and factory shutdowns have only made the rush on supplies even worse. Record profits being made in the Firearms industry right now.

I tried to buy some 50 cal projectiles and brass today and none in stock with only limited supply sometime in 2022


Time to get a lathe and make your own bullets and brass.
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by Bill » 10 Nov 2021, 8:43 pm

I need soft copper and lead, 500 S&W :drinks:
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by Pitdog85 » 10 Nov 2021, 9:00 pm

At local today which is not really local 90mins away but that’s my local no SK rifle match until next year by the looks. Was able to get a brick of cci standard and quiets as well as some rws r-50.
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by bladeracer » 10 Nov 2021, 9:05 pm

Bill wrote:I need soft copper and lead, 500 S&W :drinks:


Cast bullets are even easier, and half-inch copper rod shouldn't be too difficult to source.
First link on Ebay is 2000mm of 14mm copper rod for $55 delivered from China. .500" pistol bullets seem to be around 1" to 1.350" or so, so 2000mm would give you 50+ bullets, for about a buck apiece. I'm sure you can find better prices, especially if you buy bulk. Then grind yourself a nose profile cutting tool and churn them out. It's surprisingly easy, it's the little .204" and .224" bullets that get fiddly.
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by wanneroo » 11 Nov 2021, 1:39 am

Well here in the USA, the situation is better than a couple of months ago.

Hodgdon powder is available. Depending on the gun store, this or that might be out of stock, but their powders are hitting shelves.

I cannot find Alliant powder anywhere at all, nor any of the Accurate or Western powders.

Primers occasionally come into stock with online vendors, none I have seen in the wild recently that I can recall. However there was a gun store within an hour of me that posted a picture on Facebook that they had plenty of primers, several shelves of primers of different manufacturers. I'm sure after that pic posted, the store was flooded with people and they sold out.

Ammo is sporadic, one gun store might have a bunch of one thing and sold out of other stuff and vice versa elsewhere. Prices are very high but if you are desperate you can find something. You can buy ammo in bulk online but prices are still high.

Bullets can be found, prices are high but there have been some sales. I have bought bullets here and there when prices are good.

Right now we are coming into prime hunting season along with Christmas so immediate demand will be strong. I would expect at least another year of shortages and high prices and it could be years before there is some normalcy.
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by deye243 » 11 Nov 2021, 1:59 am

Once Bitten Twice Shy The Last drought here in Australia taught me a very valuable lesson at a minimum I keep enough components to make 10000 rounds across the calibres I have
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by wanneroo » 12 Nov 2021, 2:00 am

I forgot to mention Winchester powders are available. I bought some 231 and a couple pounds of 296 for my next 300 Blackout project.
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by JimTom » 12 Nov 2021, 9:04 pm

wanneroo wrote:I forgot to mention Winchester powders are available. I bought some 231 and a couple pounds of 296 for my next 300 Blackout project.


Not here in Australia unfortunately. I do have a half pound left though and use it with 130gn Speer HP which seems to work well Sir.
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by wanneroo » 13 Nov 2021, 11:26 am

JimTom wrote:
wanneroo wrote:I forgot to mention Winchester powders are available. I bought some 231 and a couple pounds of 296 for my next 300 Blackout project.


Not here in Australia unfortunately. I do have a half pound left though and use it with 130gn Speer HP which seems to work well Sir.


Some say Hodgdon H110 is identical to W296 these days. I see some of my 300 Blackout data shows identical loads and some shows some slight differences between the two. I don't know if you can get H110 or not.
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by bladeracer » 13 Nov 2021, 12:32 pm

wanneroo wrote:
JimTom wrote:
wanneroo wrote:I forgot to mention Winchester powders are available. I bought some 231 and a couple pounds of 296 for my next 300 Blackout project.


Not here in Australia unfortunately. I do have a half pound left though and use it with 130gn Speer HP which seems to work well Sir.


Some say Hodgdon H110 is identical to W296 these days. I see some of my 300 Blackout data shows identical loads and some shows some slight differences between the two. I don't know if you can get H110 or not.


I don't know who makes H110 for Hodgdon. The SDS for their "ball powders" doesn't say, but has a lot of codes starting with W, so maybe it's all made by Winchester?
"1. IDENTIFICATION Product identifier PRODUCT NAME: BALL POWDER® Propellant SYNONYMS: Smokeless Propellant PRODUCT CODES: WC, WAA®, WMG®, WMR®, WRF®, WPR®, WPT®, WSX®, WCR845®, SPI, SHP, WCUNI, OBP®, SMP®, M38, M47, M48."

Our equivalent for H110 usage would be AR2205, which is not being produced currently. None of the fast powders used in pistols and shotguns - all of the AS, AP, APS series - are being produced by ADI currently.
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by bladeracer » 13 Nov 2021, 12:48 pm

I just found that BALL POWDER® is an Olin trademark, that Hodgdon rebrands as "spherical powder", so H110 is made by Olin who owns Winchester. So if load data is similar to W296 it is very likely the same powder.
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by Blr243 » 13 Nov 2021, 3:11 pm

In regards to original topic , HEADING FOR A AMMO /RELOADING SHORTAGE , Regardless of how much we can’t get stuff , can I bravely state that all our loaded ammo cabinets are in fact , fat and full?
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by bladeracer » 13 Nov 2021, 3:59 pm

Blr243 wrote:In regards to original topic , HEADING FOR A AMMO /RELOADING SHORTAGE , Regardless of how much we can’t get stuff , can I bravely state that all our loaded ammo cabinets are in fact , fat and full?


I don't think that's fact at all, have you tried to buy decent quantities of rimfire ammo recently? Most dealers are lucky to have a case quantity of anything.
As for centrefire ammo, I haven't investigated it as I don't use it, but people have asked me about loading pistol ammo with rifle powders because they can't buy pistol ammo or powders.

A quick check and Rebel Gun Works have _one_ 900rd can of ADI .223 ammo. They do have 103 20rd boxes of PPU 55gn SP, which is excellent at least, enough for ten people to buy 200rds each I guess, but that's not a lot of shooting.

Not being able to ship ammo anymore though means it doesn't help me at all if your local has shelves full of ammo 1000km or more away.
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by Blr243 » 13 Nov 2021, 5:20 pm

I only have one rimfire. It’s a 22 mag. And I never use it. And I have a ton of ammo for it. it. It must suck to live many miles from a major town when there’s a problem with ammo transport... never thought of that before . Spouse I’m lucky being in a major city a close drive to rebels and shooters delight. And Can drive to cleavores if I’m doin a major spend
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by bladeracer » 13 Nov 2021, 5:44 pm

Blr243 wrote:I only have one rimfire. It’s a 22 mag. And I never use it. And I have a ton of ammo for it. it. It must suck to live many miles from a major town when there’s a problem with ammo transport... never thought of that before . Spouse I’m lucky being in a major city a close drive to rebels and shooters delight. And Can drive to cleavores if I’m doin a major spend


I chase up ammo all over the place since TNT bailed on us (I used to order from Rebel's). Lucky to find anybody with a case of anything, most have a few boxes of different types of ammo, making a trip to collect it a pain in the bum. I spent five-hours driving last weekend to collect just 15,000rds, and already used over 1600rds of that.

If I lived within driving distance of Rebel or Cleaver I'd never have any money left for fuel anyway :-)
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by Communism_Is_Cancer » 13 Nov 2021, 6:29 pm

Cleavers is good but always busy and you have to stand around waiting for service. However its prices can't be beat. I think it is the biggest store in the country.
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by Blr243 » 13 Nov 2021, 6:44 pm

As far as spending money on shooting related activities/ sport I’m probably lucky I never go to a range ....easy way to burn up money. Hunting costs enough for me I think
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by bladeracer » 13 Nov 2021, 6:58 pm

Blr243 wrote:As far as spending money on shooting related activities/ sport I’m probably lucky I never go to a range ....easy way to burn up money. Hunting costs enough for me I think


I haven't been to a range, but I would've thought there'd be some degree of standing around waiting to fit in with other people's activities. Can you get through a brick of rimfire ammo in a day at a range? Most of my shooting is just practicing and experimenting to make myself a better shooter overall, and just for the pure enjoyment of shooting. My genuine reason for shooting _is_ the actual shooting.
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by wanneroo » 14 Nov 2021, 9:45 am

bladeracer wrote:I just found that BALL POWDER® is an Olin trademark, that Hodgdon rebrands as "spherical powder", so H110 is made by Olin who owns Winchester. So if load data is similar to W296 it is very likely the same powder.


I just got a magazine off the newsstand, it's a yearly annual sponsored by Hodgdon/Winchester and the load data for 300 Blackout with H110/W296 is exactly the same, same FPS, pressure, everything. I guess if you call Hodgdon they'll tell you it's the same stuff. So if W296 is not available, H110 should work.
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by wanneroo » 14 Nov 2021, 9:53 am

Blr243 wrote:In regards to original topic , HEADING FOR A AMMO /RELOADING SHORTAGE , Regardless of how much we can’t get stuff , can I bravely state that all our loaded ammo cabinets are in fact , fat and full?


You mean our personal supplies?

All I can say is I'm glad I loaded up on all the cheap ammo and components when I did in 2016-2019. Fortunately there is triple reinforcement under the armory floor. :lol:
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by bladeracer » 14 Nov 2021, 10:12 am

wanneroo wrote:
Blr243 wrote:In regards to original topic , HEADING FOR A AMMO /RELOADING SHORTAGE , Regardless of how much we can’t get stuff , can I bravely state that all our loaded ammo cabinets are in fact , fat and full?


You mean our personal supplies?

All I can say is I'm glad I loaded up on all the cheap ammo and components when I did in 2016-2019. Fortunately there is triple reinforcement under the armory floor. :lol:


I had a shelf collapse, dumping 21,000 bullets in one big pile on the floor, a wide and varied selection from .172" up to .314" - over 100kg of bullets.
Highly recommended training exercise as you will be able to recognise virtually any bullet after sorting that out just by look and feel :-)
I started by pulling all the red-tipped ones out, then all the soft-points, and so on, then sorted each of those piles by tip colour, then diameter, then length...finally weighing all the bullets in some of the close batches to ensure no mix ups. Much like doing a 21,000-piece jigsaw puzzle on a rainy day (month!).
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by wanneroo » 15 Nov 2021, 11:15 am

bladeracer wrote:
I had a shelf collapse, dumping 21,000 bullets in one big pile on the floor, a wide and varied selection from .172" up to .314" - over 100kg of bullets.
Highly recommended training exercise as you will be able to recognise virtually any bullet after sorting that out just by look and feel :-)
I started by pulling all the red-tipped ones out, then all the soft-points, and so on, then sorted each of those piles by tip colour, then diameter, then length...finally weighing all the bullets in some of the close batches to ensure no mix ups. Much like doing a 21,000-piece jigsaw puzzle on a rainy day (month!).


Damn, I bet that was one heck of a job. I usually leave mine in the sealed factory boxes until it's time.
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by bladeracer » 15 Nov 2021, 1:25 pm

wanneroo wrote:
bladeracer wrote:
I had a shelf collapse, dumping 21,000 bullets in one big pile on the floor, a wide and varied selection from .172" up to .314" - over 100kg of bullets.
Highly recommended training exercise as you will be able to recognise virtually any bullet after sorting that out just by look and feel :-)
I started by pulling all the red-tipped ones out, then all the soft-points, and so on, then sorted each of those piles by tip colour, then diameter, then length...finally weighing all the bullets in some of the close batches to ensure no mix ups. Much like doing a 21,000-piece jigsaw puzzle on a rainy day (month!).


Damn, I bet that was one heck of a job. I usually leave mine in the sealed factory boxes until it's time.


I would, if the manufacturers would get together and standardise on their box sizes so they would stack neatly :-)
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by Blr243 » 15 Nov 2021, 4:03 pm

And if only federal would stop packaging them primers in those silly big boxes
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by bladeracer » 15 Nov 2021, 4:35 pm

Blr243 wrote:And if only federal would stop packaging them primers in those silly big boxes


I was told a truck driver was killed in a primer explosion, so they went WAY overboard to ensure we're buying ten times more air in the box than primers. Having set the bar that high I can't see them taking the risk on ever lowering it again. It does make them a royal pain.
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by disco stu » 15 Nov 2021, 4:44 pm

I bought some the other day for the first time. Wondered if they were double stacked or something.

Interestingly, the federal were the cheapest they had in stock at $14 box. They had no standard cci or similar and said what they had was probably it for a while, the shortage has finally caught up with them. And here I was thinking we might be coming out of the shortage
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by Larry » 15 Nov 2021, 5:48 pm

Just as an aside it is perhaps also not a coincidence that the lee Hand primer instructions warn against using Federal Primers in the device or at least not placing more than 1 at a time in the loading tray that I normally fill with 100 cci primers.
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by wanneroo » 16 Nov 2021, 2:00 am

I've never had a CCI primer go boom and I've squeezed em pretty hard at times. The Federal ones are notorious for being "soft" so I just avoid them.

I think the primer situation is improving slightly here in the USA. Due to high inflation and high prices I'm starting to see a lot of demand destruction as stuff sits on shelves due to very high prices.
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by bigrich » 16 Nov 2021, 4:43 am

Numerous gun shops tell me there’s lots of containers sitting on docks in California full of projectiles and gear to come to Australia. The cost to get a container shipped to Australia has at least tripled or more. It’s not as profitable for shipping companies to transport to Australia supposedly, I reckon we’re getting price gouged by these shipping companies. The shortage in Australia at the moment is due to these shipping problems from what I’ve been told.
Used to be the federal government actually owned a couple of container ships back in the day to guard against this sort of thing. The ships got old and decommissioned, now we’re at the mercy of gouging from private companies.
Wondering if they are Chinese owned.......
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Re: Is Australia heading for an AMMO/Reloading shortage?

Post by cz515 » 16 Nov 2021, 7:16 am

^^^everything is China fault.

I have heard a rumour that last year Chinese companies bought a lot of shipping companies and now they are purposely charging more to teach Australia a lesson. Plus ofcourse the stevedoring company raised their prices 33% which was after unions got 50% increases in conditions

Solution we need to stop buying imported goods
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