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Component availability in re choosing new rifle?

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BringBackThe80s

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Sep 20, 2018
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I am a long-time Tennessee hunter and lurker at TnDeer, but I have taken my many deer over the last 20 years mostly with a bow, some with a muzzleloader, and a few with a shotgun. The only centerfires I own are a National Match outfitted AR in .223 Wylde and some 9mm sidearms. I have some reloading experience but no equipment or components yet. However, I plan to buy this year (1) a light, compact rifle in .243 or 6.5/.260 for my kids to use; and (2) a mountain rifle to take out west, primarily for elk, in .300 PRC, .300 WSM, or *maybe* .338 Norma Mag or .270 WSM (the .270 WSM only if I decide to get one rifle to cover both deer hunting here and elk out west).

A major consideration in selecting new rifles and calibers is whether I can find ammo and/or components this year and for the foreseeable future. When I search for reloading gear and supplies, many components are available while others are nowhere to be found. But until I choose calibers, I don't have manuals or enough familiarity to know which items (particularly powders and primers for precision loads) will be needed or can be substituted for each other, etc.

So, given present supply chain issues, how likely am I to be able to find the equipment and components I will need to start precision reloading any of the following calibers?

.300 PRC;
.300 WSM;
6.5 Creedmor;
.260 Remington;
.243 Winchester;
.338 Norma;
.270 WSM;
.223 / 5.56; and/or
.9mm.

All thoughts about reloading or ammo are appreciated!
 
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Primers are practically nonexistent unless you are willing to pay over 10 cents apiece. This is unlikely to change in the next few months. Bullets, powder and brass are showing up and while you may not find exactly what you want, you can usually find something that will work. Primers are going to be the tough nut to crack.

Reloading equipment was scarce but is showing up on shelves again, but the most popular equipment will take some searching.

.223 and 9mm ammo is easy to find although still expensive. Not sure about the other calibers but the more mainstream you stay, the more plentiful the ammo. Good luck with your quest!
 
skipperbrown said:
Primers are practically nonexistent unless you are willing to pay over 10 cents apiece. This is unlikely to change in the next few months. Bullets, powder and brass are showing up and while you may not find exactly what you want, you can usually find something that will work. Primers are going to be the tough nut to crack.

Reloading equipment was scarce but is showing up on shelves again, but the most popular equipment will take some searching.

.223 and 9mm ammo is easy to find although still expensive. Not sure about the other calibers but the more mainstream you stay, the more plentiful the ammo. Good luck with your quest!
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Thank you! While I would like lower costs, in the context of spending a much bigger chunk on the rifle(s), scope(s), and equipment, I am willing to pay the 10cent primer price. Are primers available if you are willing to pay, or are they just flat-out hard/impossible to get?
 
East Coast Reloading has 5000 Winchester small primers for $700 plus shipping. Those are the only ones I know about that are in stock. Local gun stores sometimes have them in stock and will sell 100 or 200 at a time.
 
BringBackThe80s said:
Thank you! While I would like lower costs, in the context of spending a much bigger chunk on the rifle(s), scope(s), and equipment, I am willing to pay the 10cent primer price. Are primers available if you are willing to pay, or are they just flat-out hard/impossible to get?
Click to expand...
Primers are plain just hard to get. Generally, when online stores get them in stock they sell out in a matter of minutes.
 
BringBackThe80s said:
All thoughts about reloading or ammo are appreciated!
Click to expand...

I don't reload, but I've ben thinking about it lately due to the availability of loaded ammo and looking at shooting in a sport that only allows lead bullets with cream puff loads. It appears to me most any brass and bullets you want are available; they just cost more than they should.

Loaded ammo is a different story. When the market starts recovering I look for .223 FMJ to flood the market. After that .308, 30-06, 243 hunting rounds will become available. I look for the others to stay at high prices with limited availability for a long time.

Same with handgun ammo, I look for 9mm FMJ range ammo to flood the market then .40S&W, .38, .45ACP with good SD ammo like HST and the likes staying at crazy pricing for a long time. .44Mag, .45 Colt, 10mm, stuff like that I think will take a while.

I'd like to bring back the 70's, but the 80's were pretty good also.
 
Out of the calibers you have listed here is what I would look at based on current availability:

For the kids (assuming we are not talking about really young kids) go with the 6.5 CM just because components abound, factory ammo is available in normal times, and they are generally pretty easy to load for. Recoil is pretty modest as well.

For elk, of the rounds you listed, .300 WM is probably the easiest to find brass for. It will kill anything in North America, and factory ammo is easy to find in normal times. You can load it really fast or slow it down a little. I have killed several deer with one and never noticed excessive damage to meat.

As for some of the other calibers you have listed (WSM, PRC, Norma Mag) I would wait until things settle down in the industry a bit. Some of that brass was tough to get before the panic, and is next to impossible to get now.
 
Primers have actually been dropping a lot more lately, if you know where to watch. Natchez had several options this morning with average price being around $75 a brick. Brass for common rounds is not that hard to find either.

Of those you mention, for the kids, a .243 is great. My wife hunts with a .243 as well. I took my .270 to Wyoming, for antelope and mule deer. If I was buying a do all big game, honestly not sure, but would probably lean towards a 30 caliber. I load for .308, but have not had to really buy much lately, I was well stocked before the shortages.

Good luck.
 

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