Information from Powder Valley

[Brick]

In my email just moments ago:

Industry Update

By powder-valley / 3 Comments

Things have been extremely tough here lately. We have seen our inventory levels drop to an area we haven’t seen in the last 15 years.

As we’ve seen the demand outpace supply we have also seen a significant number of price increases. We are doing everything we can to keep our prices down and continue on focusing on Shooters supporting Shooters. We have seen the price increases level off recently but we do anticipate there could be a couple more since some manufacturers have fought hard to keep their prices down and had forward contracts on metals that have or will soon expire.

I’m going to hit on each component below:
Primers:

We have seen very small amounts of primers. They come and go very quickly. With the small quantities we are receiving it’s hard for many people to even notice we had any for sale because they sell so quickly. We will continue to have extreme limits on primers per individual purchase. We do have reason for a positive outlook and I anticipate seeing improvement on primer availability within the next couple of months. There has been additional manufacturing capacity added and Remington is back online. Foreign primers are coming into the US for OEM only use which will allow for some relief on the US manufacturers.
Powder:

This is the scariest part for us. We are known for powder. Many people refer to us as the Powder Folks. It is tough and stressful to be Powder Valley and literally have no powder. We had been receiving a consistent amount of shipments and those shipments weren’t anywhere close to meeting demand but at least the supply line seemed open. We were able to keep somewhat of a consistent supply to our large dealer and retail networks. However, recently our quantities received from the manufacturers have decreased even more and the outlook on the horizon doesn’t look any better. We anticipate availability to get worse before it gets better.
Bullets:

Generic caliber target bullets are starting to become more plentiful. Demand still outweighs supply on precision long range competition bullets as well as hunting bullets. But, it is good to see inventory available on handgun target bullets. Berger has done extremely well with the manufacturing upgrades they have done over the past several years and supply has been pretty decent. We are seeing only tiny quantities coming out of Sierra. Hornady has been supplying a steady stream of bullets.
Brass:

Brass from big manufacturers has been very sparse. We have seen a pretty steady supply of Starline, however sparse the caliber availability may be. Lapua has been great with their deliveries as most calibers are readily available. Prvi has also been pretty decent.
Equipment:

We chose some time ago to stock only Hornady equipment. We are receiving shipments from Hornady daily and recently the availability of equipment has been much better.

[bogey1]

But ammo is cheap. er

[ExFlyinguy]

I cry a little every time I shoot a bullet

[wanneroo]

Pretty much what I expect. It's probably going to take another 18 months plus for things to return to normal.

What I saw this past year was a lot of irrational buying with hoarders just grabbing everything they can with no rhyme or reason.

Realistically I have enough to keep me busy for years at this point but will pick up some stuff if it's reasonable. Grabbed 2 pounds of powder to top up the stores recently.

At some point just like 2013 2014, people hit financial exhaustion, supply meets demand and things normalize.

[Hanzy4200]

Pretty much what I expect. It's probably going to take another 18 months plus for things to return to normal.

What I saw this past year was a lot of irrational buying with hoarders just grabbing everything they can with no rhyme or reason.

Realistically I have enough to keep me busy for years at this point but will pick up some stuff if it's reasonable. Grabbed 2 pounds of powder to top up the stores recently.

At some point just like 2013 2014, people hit financial exhaustion, supply meets demand and things normalize.

You're on the money there. That is, barring the child sniffer doesn't pull a real stunt. That could push this thing into perpetuity. I'm lucky to have a Sportsman's Warehouse nearby, and they have semi consistently had primers. Only 200 per person, but it adds up. I scored big time at Walmart 2 months ago. They had probably 20 lbs of assorted powder, including Varget, and 4 bricks of CCI small rifle primers. I picked out 4 lbs and 3 of the bricks. Felt like a dick to take any more. That was the first they had gotten anything in almost a year, and none since. Had to thank my wife for nagging me into stopping for diapers that day.