# So, how are the new fangled calibers in the age of the ammo shortage?



## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

So everyone shooting the latest wizbang 3 capital letter cartridges, how is it going with the ammo shortage? I bought some vanilla 270 and 243 the other day that was in stock... heard people desperate for ammo for their new NeedMore or WSMwhatever. No reloading supplies available to speak of... how are you getting ammo?

I saw a report that one major ammo MFG, Vista Outdoors is now backordered by over $1 Billion in presales. At their production rates, thats 3-4 years out to catch up if they stopped taking orders today.

Crazy times...

-DallanC


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I learned my lesson a number of years ago way back in 1992. I try and have more than enough loading components to last me at least 6-8 years as another just in case something happens. 

This year things got scarce back in May and June and shelves have been fairly bare every since for both loading components and loaded ammo. A friend stopped by this past weekend and mentioned that he couldn't find any .41 mag ammo, I happened to have quite a bit of that loaded up so I let him have a couple hundred rounds. I don't shoot my .41 that much anymore so it isn't going to hurt my supply. I am a little low on a couple of powders but I have enough to do any loading that I need to.


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

Crazy times indeed - glad I shoot a boring caliber. This year I switched to a Tikka T3X 7mm-08 and, luckily, nearly everything I shot through it groups great. I found a deal on 140 grain core-lokts and bought 14 boxes at $20 a piece - so I'm good for a while. Nowdays, I prefer a longer stalk rather than a longer shot.


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## brendo (Sep 10, 2013)

I didn’t have a problem finding 6.5 creed ammo for the hunts I had. I don’t shoot rifles much so 2-4 boxes a year is fine for me.


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

Whenever I buy or build a new gun, I typically buy enough components to last the life of the barrel once a good load is developed. 


I will run out of TP way before I will run out of ammo.--------SS


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

I’ve seen a crap ton of 28 Nosler ammo every time I’ve browsed the ammo racks at Sportys. But I don’t have a 28 Nosler.


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## Al Hansen (Sep 7, 2007)

Just finished reloading all I shot this summer. 1896 20 Practical rounds and about 200 .204 rounds. I'm doing ok with components. Wish I had more.


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

I've been thinking I would go down and see what ammo is available and then see if I can find a firearm to match the caliber.

I currently have enough for what I might have to be good for awhile. I hope the boat doesn't sink.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Al Hansen said:


> Just finished reloading all I shot this summer. 1896 20 Practical rounds and about 200 .204 rounds. I'm doing ok with components. Wish I had more.


Wow that is an impressive total. What press do you use? I wouldnt want to even carry 2000 cartridges out to the truck LOL!

-DallanC


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## waspocrew (Nov 26, 2011)

Doing just fine at the moment - I'm a part of several other forums and plenty of guys are wanting to build or buy rifles chambered in 6.5 PRC, but there's absolutely no ammo to be found. If any shows up, people scoop it up and sell for a crazy mark up. If with SS, I like to make sure I have plenty of ammo (or components) for a rifle, sometimes even before buying/building. I ended up purchasing 200 pieces of 338 RUM brass before I even had my rifle assembled, just so I could ensure I'd actually be able to use it. Rifles aren't very fun to just stare at. 

Knowing it was an election year, I started buying components early - currently sitting on 18 lbs of retumbo, 20 lbs H1000, 20 lbs of RL26, 16 lbs of H4350, and 7 lbs of varget. I think I should be good for a while and really won't be affected by the ammo shortage. :smile:


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

Vanilla said:


> I've seen a crap ton of 28 Nosler ammo every time I've browsed the ammo racks at Sportys. But I don't have a 28 Nosler.


Wanna buy mine? Lol


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

256 Newton ammo, even Newton casings, are impossible to find.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

CPAjeff said:


> Crazy times indeed - glad I shoot a boring caliber. This year I switched to a Tikka T3X 7mm-08 and, luckily, nearly everything I shot through it groups great. I found a deal on 140 grain core-lokts and bought 14 boxes at $20 a piece - so I'm good for a while. Nowdays, I prefer a longer stock rather than a longer shot.


"stock" or "stalk"?
.


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

wyogoob said:


> "stock" or "stalk"?
> .


Ah crap - - - stalk. Thanks Goob!


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

CPAjeff said:


> Ah crap - - - stalk. Thanks Goob!


 Never know. Your LOP coulda been too short. :smile:
.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

wyogoob said:


> 256 Newton ammo, even Newton casings, are impossible to find.


Tell you what Goob, I'll take that rifle off of your hands so that you don't have to worry about loading ammo for it

Sent from my SM-J737V using Tapatalk


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Critter said:


> Tell you what Goob, I'll take that rifle off of your hands so that you don't have to worry about loading ammo for it
> 
> Sent from my SM-J737V using Tapatalk


 Ha.....which one? I have a number of them.
.


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

I'm pretty confident I will be able to find ammo for my 6.8mm-06 easy enough as well as the .257-06 I use for antelope.


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## Packout (Nov 20, 2007)

I figure I'd just ask Springville or Waspocrew to load some up for me. ha 
I was looking at a 6.5 PRC in a Mauser, but will probably hold off until I can find some ammo. 

Even in the shortage a guy can find what he needs in the beginning, but probably not easily on a store shelf. If it carries on too long it might get tough.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

wyogoob said:


> Ha.....which one? I have a number of them.
> .


It doesn't matter.

As for brass, it isn't cheap: $5.50 each

https://www.rccbrass.com/product/256-newton/

Back in my wildcatting days when I didn't mind forming brass it would be a piece of cake to take a .270 Win, neck it down and push the shoulder back a bit and then trim it down. But then you wouldn't have the coolness factor of having that .256 Newton head stamp.

A lot easier than when I was making .30 and .357 Herrett round out of 30-30 cases...


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

wyogoob said:


> 256 Newton ammo, even Newton casings, are impossible to find.


Better pick up some scratchers tomorrow before you click this link:

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/881013646

$13 per round... plus $20 shipping. -O,-

*edit: new 256 newton brass:

https://www.rccbrass.com/product/256-newton/

-DallanC


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## 7mm Reloaded (Aug 25, 2015)

Few places only thing left was 7mm Rem. and 270 win. and I don't "needmore".


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

It looks like many members have a "comfortable" amount of whiz bang. That's great! 


I've tried to make it a habit to pick up a component every time I enter a sporting goods store. Even if its just a box of bullets and a pound of powder. Before the world went bat sh!t crazy, (which it does every four years) after seeing what took place four years earlier and eight years before that, I loaded up on all my needed items. 


I'll say this much.... I have plenty for myself and a little extra for the intruders.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

DallanC said:


> Better pick up some scratchers tomorrow before you click this link:
> 
> https://www.gunbroker.com/item/881013646
> 
> ...


$13 PER ROUND? I can buy TSS shotgun shells for that!

I think the highest price casings at RCC are 256 Newtons. :smile:


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

While I was on RCC's site I looked up a few of cartridges of mine. 

The .348 Winchester was up there at $7.52 each. I was surprised that my .30 and .357 Herrett cases were under $5.00


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Critter said:


> It doesn't matter.
> 
> As for brass, it isn't cheap: $5.50 each
> 
> ...


I prefer to have the correct head stamp.

270s have super long necks, trimming takes forever, so you have to saw the necks off, a PIA. I use 25-06s....neck thinning is neglible.

I moved (uh...3 years ago) and haven't unpacked yet. Can't find literally thousands of reloads. :sad:


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I know the fun thing with trimming cases using a hacksaw and a file. 

The .30 and .357 Herrett cases I have need to be trimmed down from the parent 30-30. I got so tired of it that I actually quit loading for them. But I still have quite a few cases for both. I also found a seller on Gunbroker who has done all the work except for the fire forming who sells them for a decent price. But that was a couple of years ago. Who knows what he is selling them for now.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

They make some micro-"table saws" that would work great for trimming brass. Set the fence to the proper size then roll the cases through. I've seen some very cheap from china that could cut thin brass with ease.

-DallanC


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## Al Hansen (Sep 7, 2007)

DallanC said:


> Wow that is an impressive total. What press do you use? I wouldnt want to even carry 2000 cartridges out to the truck LOL!
> 
> -DallanC


On all my rifles I use a Single stage old RCBS Junior Press. Yup. I shake my head sometimes myself. I have a Dillon 550B but I only use it for .45 ACP.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Al Hansen said:


> On all my rifles I use a Single stage old RCBS Junior Press. Yup. I shake my head sometimes myself. I have a Dillon 550B but I only use it for .45 ACP.


Nice, it shows meticulous reloading. I still have a RCBS Partner kicking around.

I upgraded (slightly) to a LEE Turret, really like that press. I love how once you get the turrets dialed in, you can swap between calibers easily.

But, I reloaded many thousands of 22-250 on my Partner. Just do everything in stages and its fine.

-DallanC


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

*ammo shortage?*



DallanC said:


> They make some micro-"table saws" that would work great for trimming brass. Set the fence to the proper size then roll the cases through. I've seen some very cheap from china that could cut thin brass with ease.
> 
> -DallanC


Yer killin me. Forced me to go look for mine....thanks, I found it.

Haven't quite got my reloading bench set back up after the move but I did find my hiking boots. -O,-


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## Airborne (May 29, 2009)

That's a hilarious pic Goob! You have the crazy eyes of a man who moved his stuff! :grin:


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

*There's a big box of calls in there somewhere*



Airborne said:


> That's a hilarious pic Goob! You have the crazy eyes of a man who moved his stuff! :grin:


 Ha.....the stories I could tell. :sad:

I'm thinking of putting about 3 foot of water in the basement storage room. My ammo doesn't float so it should be easy (uh...easier) to find that way.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

wyogoob said:


> Ha.....the stories I could tell. :sad:
> 
> I'm thinking of putting about 3 foot of water in the basement storage room. My ammo doesn't float so it should be easy (uh...easier) to find that way.


HA! True story, from Evinston no less (good lord that place gets cold in the winter):

In the mid 1980s my dad had a side job doing repo'd home maintenance. He worked for a insurance company that insured bank owned homes. Our job was to go in, turn off water and winterize in the fall... remove fire hazards, change the locks etc etc.

Normally we worked along the Wasatch Front... but occasionally we got the odd job further out. Well we got a job in Evanston in the dead of winter and went up. We "gained access" to the home started looking around for things we needed to do.

My dad said "Hey do you hear water running?" LOL... I found the downstairs and took a look. There was a burst pipe and the entire downstairs had hip deep freezing water. The water shutoff of course was on the opposite side of the stairs. I ended up stepping in a 55gal drum liner, wearing it like a sack and carefully wading across to shut off the water.

I'll bet that entire downstairs froze solid. Wish I could have seen the real estate agents face that first discovered the indoor skating rink. :mrgreen:

-DallanC


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I think that I lived in that house only they moved it to Rock Springs. 

While I was working in the oil fields the boss sent us up there to work for a couple of months and said that he found a home for us to stay in. The person who gave us the keys told us to stay out of the basement since it had been flooded. Well, you don't tell a 21 year old to stay out of something. When we looked down into the basement we saw that it was frozen solid with about a foot of ice. Luckily the home had electric base board heat and the water heater was on the first floor. However we made the best of things and kept all of our beer downstairs on the ice.


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## hondodawg (Mar 13, 2013)

Critter said:


> While I was on RCC's site I looked up a few of cartridges of mine.
> 
> The .348 Winchester was up there at $7.52 each. I was surprised that my .30 and .357 Herrett cases were under $5.00


If you need .348 i have some extra. I went a little crazy when I heard Hornady was discontinuing brass and bullets.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

hondodawg said:


> If you need .348 i have some extra. I went a little crazy when I heard Hornady was discontinuing brass and bullets.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I got some 348 brass from Starline a couple of years ago. I have some original Winchester brass that I have been trying not to load up and started searching and then I found that Starline has it.

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## 357bob (Sep 30, 2007)

Reading this got me to thinking, so I looked at Gunbroker for .225 Winchester ammo. $4.20 a round! I have a hundred or so rounds for a gun I used to shoot and was supposed to inherit, father in-law still unsure where it went. Also have quite a bit of once fired brass. 
I’d like to find a rifle but for those prices, I may reconsider.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

357bob said:


> Reading this got me to thinking, so I looked at Gunbroker for .225 Winchester ammo. $4.20 a round! I have a hundred or so rounds for a gun I used to shoot and was supposed to inherit, father in-law still unsure where it went. Also have quite a bit of once fired brass.
> I'd like to find a rifle but for those prices, I may reconsider.


I have a Win 70 .225 and maybe 250 rounds/brass. What a great caliber. I still see a few .225 Winchesters for sell on Gunsmoke and GunsAmerica.

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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

I haven't checked lately but .22WRF used to be available. Just expensive to plink with.


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