Powder prices - Whoo-eee

[gmerkt]

Today I wanted to get out of weather confinement, so in the course of running some errands I checked on powder prices.

I was at Skagit Arms in Burlington, WA. They actually had Alliant Reloder 15 on the shelf, a whole bunch of bottles. Priced at $69.95 each. That's $70, plus sales tax in this state. No wonder they had so many at that price. Or maybe they just put them out and they were gone an hour after I left. I can't bring myself to pay $70 for a single pound of powder. The RL-15 bottle said, "Made in Sweden." These powders formerly were made in NJ. RL-12 was one of my favorites for .30 rifles, but it's been discontinued for many years.

Last night, I looked at Midway, they have single pounds of Varget priced at $68.

North Sound Firearms, also in Burlington, WA, had a couple of the IMR line, I think they were about $55 a pound. The Accurate stick powders are still around $43. They also had some Alliant RL-7 and as I recall, it was $60-something for a one pound bottle.

Late last year, Cabela's had Accurate 2015 on sale for $33 a pound; I bought two. Today, it was back up to $43. 2015 is similar to H-322 in burn rate and is also a short cut stick powder that meters easily.

At this rate, it's going to be cheaper to buy loaded ammo than to reload. Common cartridges, anyway.

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[Camelfilter]

Tack on primer prices too.

Makes it more difficult for folks who hadn't stocked up to make the math work, with time factored in.

Remove factoring in time, still pencils out less expensive. Just. Better ammunition, once skilled, so there's that.

Folks whom had stocked up, even if only primers? Math works easily.

 

[DizzyJ]

Yeah the cost of powder has blown me away. I can't see how THAT large of an increase could possibly be justified?

 

[solv3nt]

Yeah the cost of powder has blown me away. I can't see how THAT large of an increase could possibly be justified?

It's the law of supply and demand. They minimize the supply, and the demand goes up.

 

[Mono1]

At this rate, it's going to be cheaper to buy loaded ammo than to reload.

For a while

 

[DizzyJ]

It's the law of supply and demand. They minimize the supply, and the demand goes up.

Is anybody really buying it for that price though?

 

[nammac]

Glad I stocked up many, many, many moons ago. Actually loaded some last night with a bottle of W231 purchased way back in 1998. That powder is 25 years old and still of good quality.

People looked at me sideways back then when I was stock piling, guess it was a good idea after all…

 

[solv3nt]

Is anybody really buying it for that price though?

They must be. If you can justify one sale for every two at twice the price, then yes.

I mean, if I can find 300 PRC powder and primers, I'll jump in.

 

[gmerkt]

Yeah the cost of powder has blown me away. I can't see how THAT large of an increase could possibly be justified?

I can only go by memory and that isn't always accurate. BUT. It seems to me at this point, that before Covid, a one pound jug of stick rifle powder cost $25-30. Ball powders were in the range of $15 to low 20's.

Is anybody really buying it for that price though?

Prices this high are certainly going to discourage new adherents to the practice of reloading. And many old times are stocked up. It might be that the panic buying mentality will be offset by very high prices. What I mean is, at some point buyer resistance will be encountered.

It's the law of supply and demand.

There are behavioral limits to that situation. At some point, demand destruction starts to set in when prices get too high.

I don't document every purchase I make, but I happened to see this receipt laying around about a week ago. It represents a purchase I made in late 2019, not long before the Covid thing hit:



These were the prices just a little over four (4) years ago. Mind you, the powders shown on this receipt are for ball types, which haven't increased by the same percentage as stick types have.

 

[Nosferatu]

Is anybody really buying it for that price though?

I have. Not much of a choice but to pay current pricing if it's something you need.

I'm not a high volume shooter though, so a pound will last me at least a couple years.

 

[Mono1]

My thinking is that it's the "Pipeline effect".

Powder that is up now is being used as a component in the current manufacturing process.

Retail prices of Factory Ammo that appear on shelves now seem low only because that ammo was manufactured six or more months ago when powder prices were lower.

Hence, if you can get Factory now for what you think is cheap, get it. It won't be that way in six months.

 

[Camelfilter]

Yeah the cost of powder has blown me away. I can't see how THAT large of an increase could possibly be justified?

Yup.

Primers tho, those increases are simply crazy.

Just thinking aloud, without actually checking invoices:

Powders up around 1.5-2(ish+) times what they were. While primers are up 4x (ish)- or more.

Reloaders can try various powders (what's available as an ex), however we all need primers. Minimal options, small rifle for small pistol, magnums in place of normals. Etc. All currently crazy priced tho.

 

[TTSX]

If it's the powder you need, you'll pay. Those guys that scream for H1000 and Retumbo will bend over and spread em for you if that's a condition of sale.

 

[2ndtimer]

Powder Valley has large rifle primers in stock. But $114.99 for a single brick +$22.99 hazmat +$15.99 shipping + 8.7% sales tax is about $155 delivered. Realistically, I turn 69 years old in less than a month. I have a good stock of primers, so I don't NEED them. Kind of sobering to think about it, though.
And the limit is one brick per customer per day.
Edit: And the CCI-200's are sold out!

 

[rgold1963]

Brownells has(had?) Remington LRP yesterday for $89.99/K with no limit. There are lots of 10% off coupons out there as well so quite a bit cheaper than PV but still way too high to justify if you aren't completely out.
Pretty depressing with powder prices being what they are now too. I checked a few old receipts and am seeing 3-4 times now what I paid back in the good old days.

 

[Mikej]

I settled on using IMR 4064 for .30-06 in the Garand and 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser. Happy camper! 4064 became non existent for a time and when it came back, sparsely, it was hovering high $50,-low $60s. I decided to try 6.5 Sta-Bal in the Swede. It works great, is available at a decent price and it's a ball powder. So hopefully I have enough to last a good while in .30-06.

 

[2ndtimer]

Brownells has(had?) Remington LRP yesterday for $89.99/K with no limit. There are lots of 10% off coupons out there as well so quite a bit cheaper than PV but still way too high to justify if you aren't completely out.
Pretty depressing with powder prices being what they are now too. I checked a few old receipts and am seeing 3-4 times now what I paid back in the good old days.

Had is the operative word. Powder Valley still lists multiple large rifle brands available at $114.99 + hazmat + shipping for your limit of 1. At that price they might last an hour or two.

 

[DizzyJ]

I'm glad I stocked up on everything after the obummer debacle.

I remember powder was $30 or less/lb. I usually bought in 8lb+ lots when it was a powder I knew I'd be using regularly.

Primers were generally purchased when free shipping and 1 cent hazmat was offered. Several bricks were known to show up randomly up to a year or so after the orders were put in when backorders were finally getting filled.

Right now bullets get purchased by the 500-1,000 count or more when free shipping and a sale are involved. Who knows when bullets will be the next….. ahem, target.

 

[nammac]

I remember a pound of Unique, Bullseye or 231 being $15/lb back in the mid/late 90's. And buying 115 gr 9mm fmj bullets from the Ft. Benning Pistol & Rifle club for $25/500 back in the late 90's…. Yup, a nickel each… Still have some of those loaded rounds sitting on the shelf.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I almost pulled the trigger on 2k Winchester SRP's for $64.99 each but with hazmat/shipping and taxes was was about $180…
EF THAT!!!