Oldbloke wrote:Kez wrote:Oldbloke wrote:Slightly off topic.
I see Sierra Super Roo 55 gn 1000 packs are about available for $240. This is more or less pre covid price.
Qn is, are bullet prices and availability just about back to normal now?
Glad I just read that because I did something stupid thing this week. It's called getting into reloading. Post COVID. .
Can do .223 which is tops. Heaps of places have the Super Roo 55gn 1000 packs for that price and I was wondering if that was new pricing or rip off. You can still get into reloading .223, plenty of CCI 400's everywhere.
Just can't find any large rifle primers in NSW to do my .308 with, and I'm only looking for around 200 given I want to make a 165gr hunting load. Hate to think what volume shooters are going to pay for in the end.
Even now far from stupid.
Tailored ammo.
Generally more accurate.
Make ammo not available to purchase.
You get the same ammo if that's what you want.
Always cheaper in the long run.
An additional hobby to pursue.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13453
When there are no primers or powders available at all then you might have to pay ridiculous prices to find some, like the $1000/kg we saw recently for powder and $500/1000 for LR primers advertised last week. At those prices it becomes smarter to buy factory ammo, while it's still available. It costs me a dollar a shot for .303 currently, with fifty-cent bullets and twelve loads per case (with PPU brass that cost $250/500). ADI rifle powders are still at $140/kg, Alliant are double that and lots of people prefer to use that. Even S&B brass that was for so long a buck a piece is up to $1.30 now. Buying stuff currently I think you'd struggle to load .303 for much under two bucks a shot, and with cheap commercial jacketed bullets closer to $2.50 apiece. The PPU 174gn FMJ factory ammo is available currently for under $40/20rds. It probably makes sense to shoot factory for now and hope primer supplies pick up within a year or two. They might discount the price if you ordered a thousand rounds perhaps. And you can pull some bullets and put your preferred hunting bullets in, or just file the points off, when you want to use them for that.
I'm not the only one currently leaning toward buying a mould and developing some decent cast bullet loads for shooting paper and steel rather than slinging expensive and hard to get jacketed bullets at the butts. Hardcast bullets (for melting into your desired moulds) are up into the $15-$18 per kilo range now, but that's still under twenty cents per 174gn bullet. On reduced loads to around 2000-2200fps, with greatly increased case life, it really drops the cost of shooting. Pressures might even be low enough to allow using pistol primers which are now available. But cast doesn't offer the accuracy, or maximum velocities, or terminal performance of jacketed bullets to suit everything.