ADI Powder shortages

[bladeracer]

I agree with your overall view of supporting locally made businesses, but Tigershark, as far as I understand, are merely an importer of foreign-made product - bullets, powders, and I believe now primers.

Very probably a locally-owned business but I don't think they manufacture anything do they? We do have a number of local bullet manufacturers that you could support, but they probably can't supply you with powders.

I agree that it's his business and he has the right to employ any strategies he deems necessary to support it. However, I don't support ripping people off. I want to clarify that I'm not saying that he does or did rip people off. I prefer to support Australian-made and owned products whenever possible. I hope that he can continue importing, and I also hope that other businesses can begin importing too. This will help avoid similar problems in the future, which can arise when the market is dominated by only a couple of imports and suppliers. I'm all for small businesses and, to be honest, I hope all goes well for him with his business venture.

Not sure what you mean by the snide remark, I fully support Tigershark, that's why I've regularly updated this forum with his updates about these imports, he's done a wonderful thing that also got a couple of others to make similar imports.

None of my comments have been mean-spirited in the slightest, unlike your responses. I completely understand the business reasons behind these decisions, which should be patently clear from my comments.

I would be absolutely happy for him to simply sell the powders for the maximum prices he can get for them, regardless of whether he requires purchase of bullets as well. It's his business and he has every right to devise whatever strategies he feels will support his business. The facts are that he imports pistol bullets for sale, that is his business. He can't sell his pistol bullets if there are no powders for customers to be able to use his bullets. He made a brilliant effort to address the situation, but there is no great profit in merely selling powder as he still has literal tonnes of bullets on his shelves. So he requires you to buy his bullets if you want his powder. I have _zero_ issue with this strategy, and I hope it worked so well for him that it is what lead him to import further supplies.

I don't believe any of these imports were aimed at supporting shooters at all.

You certainly have a hard on for Tigershark don't you? Do you know how many shooters were grateful to have bought powder AND projectiles from him?
Seen any Tigershark Ballistic being offloaded on the Aussie for sale sites in enormous numbers? They are great projectiles.

Thanks to TSB LGSs have had Vihtavuori pistol & rifle powder in stock and there's been a massive amount of the Argentinian primers in abundance for reloaders.

And again -

I don't believe any of these imports were aimed at supporting shooters at all

What a mean nasty, unnecessary and mean spirted and ill informed public comment from you. You don't think getting Vihtavuori pistol & rifle powders and primers into LGS's supported shooters? You don't think getting Lovex powder with a box of great TSB pills supported shooters? Like seriously WTF?
The guy is running a business, can you imagine the hours and hoops he's had to jump through to bring all these shipments of powders and primers into the country and distribute them out via agents and LGS's?

What do you want from him? You don't think he's allowed to make a profit?

Do you think Coles and Woolworths selling you your weekly groceries are 'Supporting you'? Do you think the crop farmer is growing produce to 'Support you'? The Grazier producing beef is 'Supporting you'? The diesel mechanic working on your 4WD is 'Supporting you'? There all working to make a profit and support themselves.

[Oldbloke]

Here's a thought from left field.

WW3 has been going since 2014, when Russia invaded the Ukranian region of Crimea, many people just haven't been joining the right dots, and saw it as a local European problem with no bleed through to the rest of us.

It changed up a gear in 2019 when China decided that a local zoonosis outbreak was the perfect opportunity to kick off their bid for global domination.

It changed up another gear when Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine, with the full support of China, Nth Korea and Iran, just to name the majors.

The fact that nukes aren't flying(yet) is irrelevant, we are in the midst of a world war, whether we like it or not, whether we acknowledge it or not, the sh!t has finally made it to the business end of the fan.

The fact that we recreational shooters can find any supplies should be greeted with surprised good will, not pissing and moaning about someone, god forbid, actually making a living providing us supplies for our toys.

Perhaps, just perhaps, we want, to throw at paper on the weekend, to defend their lives.

Laz, well said,
I think the WWlll bit is over stated BUT we are certainly headed in that direction.

Yes, China and Russia's recent actions are contributing the the world's tensions and that flows on to powder and ammo shortages, primarily due to government priorities.

I really feel for Ukrain, and IMO we, along with other countries should do more. We are currently assisting with 155mm ammo and perhaps 223/308 and obviously this will put pressure on production of components. IMO we should increase our defence spending by at least 50%. Some ozzies would do it hard. Better that than speaking Chinees tho, that's if you survive the invasion.

I recall reading perhaps 50years ago when I first got interested in shooting that during and for a fair few years after WWII ammo & all components were scarcer than kryptonite. So, IMO we should be happy to get any components ATM.


Stop shooting at paper is my best advice.

Keep them for pests, food or for defence.

My 2 c

Waste not, want not.

[darklazor]

Yeah mate, from my understanding they import everything except the ADI stuff. If I can't buy Aussie then the next best thing I can do is buy it through an Aussie-owned business.

I have never looked into local bullet manufacturers always just stuck to Hornady, might have to look into that one.

I agree with your overall view of supporting locally made businesses, but Tigershark, as far as I understand, are merely an importer of foreign-made product - bullets, powders, and I believe now primers.

Very probably a locally-owned business but I don't think they manufacture anything do they? We do have a number of local bullet manufacturers that you could support, but they probably can't supply you with powders.

[bladeracer]

Yeah mate, from my understanding they import everything except the ADI stuff. If I can't buy Aussie then the next best thing I can do is buy it through an Aussie-owned business.

I have never looked into local bullet manufacturers always just stuck to Hornady, might have to look into that one.

For locally-manufactured bullets I can recommend Bruce Bertram for sure for jacketed rifle bullets.
Scott Driver does some jacketed rifle bullets but don't know how much he's putting out currently, I think he leans toward production to order.
Westcastings have made cast pistol bullets for decades in WA (I was using them more than thirty years ago).
Hawksbury River and Black Widow also do cast pistol bullets.
Woodleigh had a big fire that almost wiped them out but they may be up and running again.
Rexem have some terrific designs that have excellent feedback from Aussie shooters.
Outer Edge make monolithic copper rifle bullets similar to Barnes.

There are probably at least a dozen other local manufacturers of bullets.

And CBE do excellent moulds if you prefer to cast your own bullets.

I also tend to use a lot of Hornady, they're cheapish, shoot great, and are generally readily available. I gave up buying cast bullets preferring to cast my own. I tried Outer Edge but don't like them, though they do shoot very well. I do have some stock of Woodleigh's in various calibres but always found availability spotty.

[Lazarus]

Here's a thought from left field.

WW3 has been going since 2014, when Russia invaded the Ukranian region of Crimea, many people just haven't been joining the right dots, and saw it as a local European problem with no bleed through to the rest of us.

It changed up a gear in 2019 when China decided that a local zoonosis outbreak was the perfect opportunity to kick off their bid for global domination.

It changed up another gear when Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine, with the full support of China, Nth Korea and Iran, just to name the majors.

The fact that nukes aren't flying(yet) is irrelevant, we are in the midst of a world war, whether we like it or not, whether we acknowledge it or not, the sh!t has finally made it to the business end of the fan.

The fact that we recreational shooters can find any supplies should be greeted with surprised good will, not pissing and moaning about someone, god forbid, actually making a living providing us supplies for our toys.

Perhaps, just perhaps, we want, to throw at paper on the weekend, to defend their lives.

Laz, well said,
I think the WWlll bit is over stated BUT we are certainly headed in that direction.

Yes, China and Russia's recent actions are contributing the the world's tensions and that flows on to powder and ammo shortages, primarily due to government priorities.

I really feel for Ukrain, and IMO we, along with other countries should do more. We are currently assisting with 155mm ammo and perhaps 223/308 and obviously this will put pressure on production of components. IMO we should increase our defence spending by at least 50%. Some ozzies would do it hard. Better that than speaking Chinees tho, that's if you survive the invasion.

I recall reading perhaps 50years ago when I first got interested in shooting that during and for a fair few years after WWII ammo & all components were scarcer than kryptonite. So, IMO we should be happy to get any components ATM.


Stop shooting at paper is my best advice.

Keep them for pests, food or for defence.

My 2 c

Waste not, want not.

One thing to remember OB, when talking about whether we are or are not in a world war.

In both WW1 and WW2, neither were World Wars until they were.

Now I know that sounds stupid, but think about it.

WW1 was an Austro/Hungarian, German, French, Russian, British affair.
To begin with.

WW2 was a German, Russian, Polish thing.
To begin with.

The war in Ukraine, was a Russian, Ukrainian thing.
To begin with.

We are in a time of cascading existential threats OB, we need to acknowledge the diagnosis and start treatment, or it's terminal time.

PS
As to your first sentence, Russia and China are the f*cking architects of our current situation, not "contributors".
There would BE no current situation without their deliberate, coordinated f*ckery.

[darklazor]

Thanks, mate. I definitely will look into it. I was looking into casting 12ga slugs there for a while before powders got hard to find, Might have to give Tigershark a ring about some powder and primers. Where else would you recommend trying to find some?

For locally-manufactured bullets I can recommend Bruce Bertram for sure for jacketed rifle bullets.
Scott Driver does some jacketed rifle bullets but don't know how much he's putting out currently, I think he leans toward production to order.
Westcastings have made cast pistol bullets for decades in WA (I was using them more than thirty years ago).
Hawksbury River and Black Widow also do cast pistol bullets.
Woodleigh had a big fire that almost wiped them out but they may be up and running again.
Rexem have some terrific designs that have excellent feedback from Aussie shooters.
Outer Edge make monolithic copper rifle bullets similar to Barnes.

There are probably at least a dozen other local manufacturers of bullets.

And CBE do excellent moulds if you prefer to cast your own bullets.

I also tend to use a lot of Hornady, they're cheapish, shoot great, and are generally readily available. I gave up buying cast bullets preferring to cast my own. I tried Outer Edge but don't like them, though they do shoot very well. I do have some stock of Woodleigh's in various calibres but always found availability spotty.

[Oldbloke]

"PS
As to your first sentence, Russia and China are the f*cking architects of our current situation, not "contributors".
There would BE no current situation without their deliberate, coordinated f*ckery."

Inclined to agree.

IMHO WWlll is edging closer but hasn't started till the west is at war with China and/or Russia.

My2c

[bladeracer]

Slugs you just load into factory loads after dumping the shot out, they shoot pretty good. The shot is usually going to be "hard" shot which is excellent for casting bullets, use soft lead flashing for casting slugs.

I think pistol powders and large rifle primers nowadays come down to finding whoever has them on the shelf and grabbing them, I haven't looked for either for a while now. The importers of the pistol powder shipments (like Tigershark) can probably tell you which dealers nearest you they supply with powder. I don't think pistol primers are an issue anymore, people are using them in rifles because they can't get rifle primers. What area are you in? I called around dealers within a couple hours of me (Gippsland, Vic) last year when the guys at LERAA in NSW were struggling to find large rifle primers for their .303's and nobody had anything. Imports of pistol powders and primers come in and get spread around a small number of dealers. I would ask your dealers if they can put you on a list for when the next supply comes up, otherwise you're mainly relying on luck I think.

I still think it's easier to use powder from 12ga. shells for pistol ammo, and cast your bullets out of the hard shot as well.

Thanks, mate. I definitely will look into it. I was looking into casting 12ga slugs there for a while before powders got hard to find, Might have to give Tigershark a ring about some powder and primers. Where else would you recommend trying to find some?

[wanneroo]

As shooters you may as well accept that you've got a bunch of things working against you.

1. The bureaucratic state hates you, many of the politicians hate you and the media hates you too. They don't like people being able to defend themselves and fend for themselves in regards to food. Goes against being reliant on big government.

2. The world is a messed up place that has put stresses on the whole system of supply. Wars, covid, inflation, labor shortages, etc.

3. There are no primers, and little in the way of bullets and powder being made in Australia and doesn't look like that will change anytime soon.

World is stacked against you which is why back 10 years ago I said enough and set up myself with as much factory ammo as was feasible to afford and also learned to reload and began to stack supplies. Most places in the USA we don't have restrictions on what we can buy and how much, so I have bought plenty. 8 pounds of pistol powder will load over 10K rounds and as long as you store it well, it should last for a while.

IMO every shooter should set themselves up where they have a minimum 3 years supply of whatever they need and aim to keep themselves ahead of the curve, i.e. when they use X amount of rounds, they should purchase more at whatever the cost but always keep 3 years supply on hand or whatever works for you. Myself I could probably shoot regularly until 2035 or longer before I was out.

Also as Lazarus said the world we grew up in no longer exists. The old days of plentiful regular supplies on shelves may be gone where you could just turn up and buy whatever you wanted on the day at the gun store. Therefore see it for what it is and be ahead of the curve in whatever way you can.

[wanneroo]

I recall reading perhaps 50years ago when I first got interested in shooting that during and for a fair few years after WWII ammo & all components were scarcer than kryptonite. So, IMO we should be happy to get any components ATM.

Stop shooting at paper is my best advice.

Keep them for pests, food or for defence.

My 2 c

Waste not, want not.

I know for instance in WW2, the guy that started RCBS began his business by making a swaging die to turn 22 LR cases into .22 cal jackets for bullets.

I'm sure there was some creative stuff going on during WW2 such as that. I would suspect people had to make due with what they had on hand for the most part.

[Jackaroo]

"PS
As to your first sentence, Russia and China are the f*cking architects of our current situation, not "contributors".
There would BE no current situation without their deliberate, coordinated f*ckery."

Inclined to agree.

IMHO WWlll is edging closer but hasn't started till the west is at war with China and/or Russia.

My2c

OB have a read of this - Sign China is preparing for war in 2025 or 2027

https://www.news.com.au/technology/inno ... c05fdab00f

[bladeracer]

I've always felt that whatever I want to be doing in the future is never going to get cheaper than it is today, so I buy bulk. I bought my nailgun nails 75,000 at a time, I buy my ammo and components in a similar way. I doubt I ever considered that I was "prepping" for a day when I wouldn't be able to get things, I just hate running out of stuff

If you have enough supplies for your "normal" usage for five or ten years then when it does become hard to replace it's not too difficult to stretch it to ten or twenty years, or more. In a situation where supply becomes a problem it's very likely the economy is in such a state that you probably aren't going to be enjoying your hobbies as regularly as you are used to anyway.

As shooters you may as well accept that you've got a bunch of things working against you.

1. The bureaucratic state hates you, many of the politicians hate you and the media hates you too. They don't like people being able to defend themselves and fend for themselves in regards to food. Goes against being reliant on big government.

2. The world is a messed up place that has put stresses on the whole system of supply. Wars, covid, inflation, labor shortages, etc.

3. There are no primers, and little in the way of bullets and powder being made in Australia and doesn't look like that will change anytime soon.

World is stacked against you which is why back 10 years ago I said enough and set up myself with as much factory ammo as was feasible to afford and also learned to reload and began to stack supplies. Most places in the USA we don't have restrictions on what we can buy and how much, so I have bought plenty. 8 pounds of pistol powder will load over 10K rounds and as long as you store it well, it should last for a while.

IMO every shooter should set themselves up where they have a minimum 3 years supply of whatever they need and aim to keep themselves ahead of the curve, i.e. when they use X amount of rounds, they should purchase more at whatever the cost but always keep 3 years supply on hand or whatever works for you. Myself I could probably shoot regularly until 2035 or longer before I was out.

Also as Lazarus said the world we grew up in no longer exists. The old days of plentiful regular supplies on shelves may be gone where you could just turn up and buy whatever you wanted on the day at the gun store. Therefore see it for what it is and be ahead of the curve in whatever way you can.

[Jackaroo]

I've always felt that whatever I want to be doing in the future is never going to get cheaper than it is today, so I buy bulk. I bought my nailgun nails 75,000 at a time, I buy my ammo and components in a similar way. I doubt I ever considered that I was "prepping" for a day when I wouldn't be able to get things, I just hate running out of stuff

If you have enough supplies for your "normal" usage for five or ten years then when it does become hard to replace it's not too difficult to stretch it to ten or twenty years, or more. In a situation where supply becomes a problem it's very likely the economy is in such a state that you probably aren't going to be enjoying your hobbies as regularly as you are used to anyway.

Yes, always been worthwhile in Oz to stock up especially if you live in the country when you go to the big city gun shops.

[Oldbloke]

"PS
As to your first sentence, Russia and China are the f*cking architects of our current situation, not "contributors".
There would BE no current situation without their deliberate, coordinated f*ckery."

Inclined to agree.

IMHO WWlll is edging closer but hasn't started till the west is at war with China and/or Russia.

My2c

OB have a read of this - Sign China is preparing for war in 2025 or 2027

https://www.news.com.au/technology/inno ... c05fdab00f

That article mearly repeats what has been well known for 2-3 years. Its well known China has been building its military for anout 10-15 years now. I agree, China is likely going to try and take Taiwan in the next few years. It will be on then, big time. ATM everyone is just dancing.

If Trump gets in it will be on. He has said many times he will withdraw support for Ukraine, Russia will feel empowered and Xi/Chinese will see it as an opportunity.

US can't take on China on their own, let alone Russia as well, that's why they are currently building alliances with so many other countries in the region. It's also why they are building infrastructure here and opening up old bases in the pacific and region.

"That's why the other day I said don't waste ammo shooting paper"

Unfortunately our successive governments for the past 25 years have done SFA and now we have SFA Defence. In addition the infrastructure, equipment and skills/knowledge has also been allowed to run down.

[Jorlcrin]

Yeah mate, from my understanding they import everything except the ADI stuff. If I can't buy Aussie then the next best thing I can do is buy it through an Aussie-owned business.

I have never looked into local bullet manufacturers always just stuck to Hornady, might have to look into that one.

For locally-manufactured bullets I can recommend Bruce Bertram for sure for jacketed rifle bullets.
Scott Driver does some jacketed rifle bullets but don't know how much he's putting out currently, I think he leans toward production to order.
Westcastings have made cast pistol bullets for decades in WA (I was using them more than thirty years ago).
Hawksbury River and Black Widow also do cast pistol bullets.
Woodleigh had a big fire that almost wiped them out but they may be up and running again.
Rexem have some terrific designs that have excellent feedback from Aussie shooters.
Outer Edge make monolithic copper rifle bullets similar to Barnes.

There are probably at least a dozen other local manufacturers of bullets.

And CBE do excellent moulds if you prefer to cast your own bullets.

I also tend to use a lot of Hornady, they're cheapish, shoot great, and are generally readily available. I gave up buying cast bullets preferring to cast my own. I tried Outer Edge but don't like them, though they do shoot very well. I do have some stock of Woodleigh's in various calibres but always found availability spotty.

I've used the Rexem pills in two of the designs/weights for .224, and give them a big thumbs-up.
I've found James(Rexem) really good to deal with, and heard similar from other reloaders.
My overseer is very happy with the 69gn Rexem F-Bomb loads in his Howa 1500 .223(1:9 Tw), and my CTR(1:8 Tw) is happily digesting the 75gn F-Bomb pills, and about the ONLY individuals unhappy about the arrangement, is the local Feral Pork Guild.
Where the larger ones would shrug off a 55gn Gameking SP, the heavier Rexem pills seem to give them severe gravity attacks.

I've previously used Hornady pills most of the time, dabble a bit in Sierra, Speer, Nosler and Barnes for the .308 and the 7mm-08, but the Hornadys have been my go-to projectile for most of my loads these past 20 years.
Now that I have quantity of the Rexem pills, and positive results/feedback from both my overseer's and my own .223, I'm pretty happy to keep using them, and supporting an Australian producer.
[Imported jackets, but assembled in Aus.]

I have also used projectiles from B&T Energetics(Another Australian Projectile Manufacturer), but it's been 9 years, and I think I only messed around with some of the 155gn hunting pills in .308.
I didnt have great success with them at the time, but I now expect it was more likely my needing to tweak the loads a bit more to dial them in, where I ran out of time to do so.
Reminds me that I've still got over a hundred of those pills left to experiment with...Hmmm.
I see that B&T changed hands in 2018, and moved to FNQ to continue production.

[Lazarus]

"PS
As to your first sentence, Russia and China are the f*cking architects of our current situation, not "contributors".
There would BE no current situation without their deliberate, coordinated f*ckery."

Inclined to agree.

IMHO WWlll is edging closer but hasn't started till the west is at war with China and/or Russia.

My2c

OB have a read of this - Sign China is preparing for war in 2025 or 2027

https://www.news.com.au/technology/inno ... c05fdab00f

That article mearly repeats what has been well known for 2-3 years. Its well known China has been building its military for anout 10-15 years now. I agree, China is likely going to try and take Taiwan in the next few years. It will be on then, big time. ATM everyone is just dancing.

If Trump gets in it will be on. He has said many times he will withdraw support for Ukraine, Russia will feel empowered and Xi/Chinese will see it as an opportunity.

US can't take on China on their own, let alone Russia as well, that's why they are currently building alliances with so many other countries in the region. It's also why they are building infrastructure here and opening up old bases in the pacific and region.

"That's why the other day I said don't waste ammo shooting paper"

Unfortunately our successive governments for the past 25 years have done SFA and now we have SFA Defence. In addition the infrastructure, equipment and skills/knowledge has also been allowed to run down.

An interesting simulation run;

https://www.csis.org/analysis/first-bat ... igh%20cost.

[wanneroo]

I've always felt that whatever I want to be doing in the future is never going to get cheaper than it is today, so I buy bulk. I bought my nailgun nails 75,000 at a time, I buy my ammo and components in a similar way. I doubt I ever considered that I was "prepping" for a day when I wouldn't be able to get things, I just hate running out of stuff

If you have enough supplies for your "normal" usage for five or ten years then when it does become hard to replace it's not too difficult to stretch it to ten or twenty years, or more. In a situation where supply becomes a problem it's very likely the economy is in such a state that you probably aren't going to be enjoying your hobbies as regularly as you are used to anyway.

Yes partly I just like to have stuff on hand.

Frankly during Covid it was the hobbies that saved the day. I went from being primed for the best year ever in my career at the end of Feb 2020 to being locked out of work for a year from March 2020 onwards. I had stocked up so many supplies during the Trump years that I had no shortage of reloading projects to do and kept myself pretty busy on my rural spread and doing things locally like riding my mountain bike or kayaking, which cost almost nothing to do. In fact I was quite surprised even after all of that I hardly made a dent in my supplies. I probably overestimated how much I shoot, even with my own range on hand, but I guess that is not a bad thing. It's been almost 4 years now and other than buying some bits and bobs on sale here and there, I have more than ever. If something the duration of WW2 happened, I could continue regular operations the whole time with no stress.

As we have mentioned before about 8 pounds of powder will make over 10K pistol rounds, primers can be stockpiled for decades in good conditions and bullets really don't go bad in our lifetimes. Storing all that really doesn't take much space or hassle.

[Jackaroo]

When (not if) the sh!t hits the fan with China, instantly we are going to be in a world of hurt with supply lines for just about everything we depend on.

[Oldbloke]

When (not if) the sh!t hits the fan with China, instantly we are going to be in a world of hurt with supply lines for just about everything we depend on.

Yep. Waste not, want not.

[bladeracer]

Yes partly I just like to have stuff on hand.

Frankly during Covid it was the hobbies that saved the day. I went from being primed for the best year ever in my career at the end of Feb 2020 to being locked out of work for a year from March 2020 onwards. I had stocked up so many supplies during the Trump years that I had no shortage of reloading projects to do and kept myself pretty busy on my rural spread and doing things locally like riding my mountain bike or kayaking, which cost almost nothing to do. In fact I was quite surprised even after all of that I hardly made a dent in my supplies. I probably overestimated how much I shoot, even with my own range on hand, but I guess that is not a bad thing. It's been almost 4 years now and other than buying some bits and bobs on sale here and there, I have more than ever. If something the duration of WW2 happened, I could continue regular operations the whole time with no stress.

As we have mentioned before about 8 pounds of powder will make over 10K pistol rounds, primers can be stockpiled for decades in good conditions and bullets really don't go bad in our lifetimes. Storing all that really doesn't take much space or hassle.

They wouldn't let us go hunting at all initially, then they relented and allowed us to hunt but only within 5km of home (I think it was 5km), and we couldn't stay out overnight, though I did. People in Melbourne still couldn't hunt, they pretty much had roadblocks around Melbourne to keep the people from getting out.

[Billo]

I think many would now agree that having 1 less rifle in the safe and instead a spare 15,000 primers would have been the wiser decision.

I know I'm now steering all my hunting rifles in the direction of cheaper and more easily accessible components..

I also replace powder as I use it now and keep Max allowable on hand.

[Jackaroo]

When (not if) the sh!t hits the fan with China, instantly we are going to be in a world of hurt with supply lines for just about everything we depend on.

Yep. Waste not, want not.

Our politicians (of all flavours) have killed of local production of just about everything and anything and made us so reliant on the Chicoms.

Australia imports around 90% of its medicines from China (and India).....can you imagine what would happen quickly with that scenario?
Most of our glass frames and glass lenses come from China....its hard to come up with anything that doesn't.

[Lazarus]

When (not if) the sh!t hits the fan with China, instantly we are going to be in a world of hurt with supply lines for just about everything we depend on.

Yep. Waste not, want not.

Our politicians (of all flavours) have killed of local production of just about everything and anything and made us so reliant on the Chicoms.

Australia imports around 90% of its medicines from China (and India).....can you imagine what would happen quickly with that scenario?
Most of our glass frames and glass lenses come from China....its hard to come up with anything that doesn't.

Yeah, globalisation, what a cockshow that turned out to be, eh?
Just like privatisation, sold to the gullible public on promises that private market competition would make our phones and our power and our postal service, etc, cheaper and more efficient.
Like the "trickle down" economics snow job, sh!t runs downhill, but money goes one way, up.

People, the ubiquitous "they," talk about how far civilisation has come.
Cock.
Humans have always been, and will always be feudal.
The only thing that changes is the technology used by the 1%ers to poke a big dry one in our blurters.

[wanneroo]

They wouldn't let us go hunting at all initially, then they relented and allowed us to hunt but only within 5km of home (I think it was 5km), and we couldn't stay out overnight, though I did. People in Melbourne still couldn't hunt, they pretty much had roadblocks around Melbourne to keep the people from getting out.

Well, with where I live and I am sure where some of you live, that would have been impossible to police effectively.

After seeing what I saw I will NEVER be living in a city or around a lot of people.

Fortunately I have a big enough spread and a whole herd of deer on site, so I can do my own hunting if need be without going anywhere.

[wanneroo]

I think many would now agree that having 1 less rifle in the safe and instead a spare 15,000 primers would have been the wiser decision.

I know I'm now steering all my hunting rifles in the direction of cheaper and more easily accessible components..

I also replace powder as I use it now and keep Max allowable on hand.

Primers can last a long time and probably at some of the worst times of shortages are worth their weight in gold.

One of the reason I like 300 Blackout and 308 is I can use a wide plethora of .308 bullets and pretty much make any bullet work either for short range or long range.

I am not a big fan of .223, but recently built a .223 rifle and got reloading dies and bullets. Reason being it is so common here that I may as well have options in the event of the next pandemic, collapse, shortage or war.