I find the above interesting because I DO have at least 20K assorted primers. Also several 8 lb kegs of powder, but not enough bullets to load that many primers and bullets. Need brass of course, but one way or another....
I was also going through some 50-60-year-old gun magazines and was reading an article by John Wooters that started "Last night I told my wife that I would never let my supply of primers fall below 10,000 ever again..." during the great primer spamdemic of whatever.
Now did Mr. Wooters (a rather well-known gun writer back in the day)
"insert himself into the normal distribution chain and create a little damn where he siphoned off a significant number of primers"? While I don't know about Mr. Wooters, but I sure didn't. I bought mine at then-current prices and the seller was delighted to see me, had much more he was more than willing to sell at that price, told me to come back if I wanted more, and no one was bothered that I bought a tiny amount (it wasn't tiny to ME! In fact, it was a goodly chunk of my monthly income that I saved up for some time for) of what that seller was offering. Same with the powder, "Want more? We got lots more if you want it!"
There was no scamdemic going on, anyone else could have just as easily done the same (in fact I DID encourage everyone I knew to buy as much as they could at that time, in the following months, the months following those, over and over and over, for years, no one did of course) instead of buying a boat, a big-screen TV, or some other useless consumer good(s) that I am sure added wealth to the economy, just like my buying primers did. When the primer supply got "low", I bought more, at going rates and no one seemed concerned I was buying as many primers all at once as they normally sold in...., not sure how many days/weeks/months, but no one seemed to bat an eye, and I was told me to "come back tomorrow if you want more! We got plenty!" So obviously I wasn't creating a "little damn" in the supply chain.
Every payday I went to the wally and bought a brick of .22s, and a box of two or three different CF cartridges I shot at that time. Month after month, year after year. So that wasn't a "little damn" cutting off the free flow of ammo either. And yes, I told everyone else to do the same, and just as communism is evil, and Donald is getting the election stolen from him by the deep state, no one else did.
Now it seems the people who I told over and over and over to buy primers, powder, bullets, and ammo for years, until they were sick of hearing it, are all calling me and saying "Say, you bought up all those primers, powder, and all that ammo.... could you spare a box/brick/whatever at the price you paid for it back in the day?" when I ask why they didn't buy, back in the day, when they told me they were tired of hearing that they needed to go to the store and buy like I was doing, well they either have no reply or get all huffy and puffy about it, when they were making more money than I was at the time. So no, I do NOT feel bad about telling the grasshopper he can pay going rates for it if he wants/needs it.
