What are you guys hearing? I know its gotta be something more then that dip dunk we got in the White House - sorry if I offended some of ya that voted for him but its a free country. I reload for my .357 but just buying a box of 100 Hornaday bullets is about $12 bucks. I am not even buying anything now for my other calibers - gone are the days of $7.99 box of 9 mil. The one thing I heard from a guy who does recycling of brass from military bases and he said that Obama signed a executive order restricting any recycling of military brass to the public. Apparently the loading industry relys heavily on used military brass but I never have been able to confirm this. Of course calibers like .380 are almost impossible to find around here and I don't know the military using that type of brass.

I don't have an answer to your statements about the reasons for the shortage other than supply and demand. Until someone can provide proof of political interference in the supply side, I suggest it is conjecture only. The major drain is the need to supply the armed forces with battle ammo and practice ammo. Hoarding was another factor. Folks going into the store a buying everything on the shelf. Compared to a year ago, ammo is in great supply. Costs? Once up, they will never return to what once was.

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2005 Titan KC SE, Helwig, True-Track, ARE MX Canopy

Could also be the cost of metal.

I'm sure the cost of the metals does influence the cost of ammo. With two major emerging nations, China and India, taking their share of materials on the global market has raised the costs.

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2005 Titan KC SE, Helwig, True-Track, ARE MX Canopy

I've been a shotgun shell reloader for the past 18 years and have watched the price of lead shot increase from $12 to $45.00 per 25 lb. bag. All the suppliers agree with Red Alert; China and India's growing appetite for raw materials is driving the prices higher.

There was an initial streak of hoarding by those folks who assumed that the Obama administration would propose legislation to restrict ammo sales, etc. To my knowledge, nothing of significance has been passed or proposed which would impact ammo costs and availability.

In my local stores here in WA state, there doesn't appear to be any significant shortages. Two years ago, it was a different matter. Now I can buy any caliber I want, I also have several brands and types available. True, costs are up, but not at the same levels they were two years ago.

Put this in perspective... there aren't any $15K pickups anymore either. I was at a Nissan sale last week and every car/truck I was interested in was in excess of $32K....I didn't buy.

Red

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2005 Titan KC SE, Helwig, True-Track, ARE MX Canopy

Everything has gone up in price....

You know the old adage: "Everything that goes up must come down." And there is another: "For every rule there is an exception to that rule."

Well, prices are the exemption to the adage. There is no rule that says once prices have gone up that they must fall back. If a price falls it is an exception rather than a rule.

That's my long winded version of: Yep, prices are up and they ain't coming back down either!

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2005 Titan KC SE, Helwig, True-Track, ARE MX Canopy