why no bullets

Just a generic question but every where I go and every supply site I visit, Hornady is kicking butt. Bullets stacked up everywhere. Sierra? Where are you? I use a lot of Sierra. Nosler? Same thing! Others too. Yes I know that there are some bullets available from other manufactures but maybe they all need to see what it is that Hornady is doing and get on the stick.



Or is there something sinister that I don't know?

Oh yeah, I use Hornady so no problem, not dissing the product. I like 'em. I just want other choices.

I've noticed the same. Hornady seems to have everything in stock. Only other manufacturer I know of that has just as good inventory is Hammer Hunter.

You aren't the only one noticing. I'm pretty sure the other manufacturers are sending most of their bullets to ammo manufacturers instead of releasing them to us lowly reloaders. Hornady is definitely controlling the market now though, just have to setup notifications on the others with some of the bigger online retailers and jump on what you can get when the email comes in.

LeHigh Defense (Wilson Combat) has reasonable inventory.

I just bought 500 of the 130 Gr hot core ham'rs. I want the 125 Sierra pro hunter too. Guess what? Out of stock.

??? If they are "Hot Cores" they are Speer.

Yes, they are speer

Agree, thank the lord I like the hornady eldx line of bullets. Nosler has probably lost me as a customer. The two I have found in stock most is by far and away hornady with speer in a distant second.

Interesting. Don't see them on Speer's website. Must be made by Speer specifically for Wilson Combat.

Nosler is getting ridiculous. Ballistic Tips are my favorite hunting bullet. They are never in stock. I probably have a lifetime supply if I only use them for hunting. I used to be able to pick them up cheap on SPS and use them for target practice.

From the Speer Website.
https://www.speer.com/bullets/rifle_bullets/hot-cor_rifle_bullet/19-2007.html

Very similar but not exactly the same.

I'd bet Hornady is picking up a few lifetime customers just based on thier ability to meet demand. I've switched my 308 load from nosler accubond to SST's. They're accurate. Assuming they perform on game as well as the sst's that I load in my 300blk, I'll stick with Hornady.

From 125 nbt’s to SST’s for me too in blackout and reduced ‘06 loads.

The only two jacketed OEM bullets I really ever needed are for 5.56X45 of which I always bought Hornady copies and .30-30 WIN (until I got "enough" stocked up) of which I used a Sierra bullet. That Sierra bullet all but disappeared ... way before the panic.

It's easier to get product out the door quicker when you don't spend as much time on quality control. Kinda like how Polaris dealers have stock but you can't get a Honda.

Are you suggesting Hornady is producing a lower quality product than Nosler or Berger or others that have been unavailable?

The 130 gr Hot Core Ham'r bullet is made by Speer especially for WC, I think a slight difference in the bullets front end shape.

Sounds like it. I think Hornady just ramped up production. I wish Nosler would as well since I prefer them over Hornady. Good thing I stocked up during the Trump years.

Sierra and Nosler have been disappointing for sure. Especially with 7mm bullets.

We are very pleased with the Hornady XTPs. Four deer over the past couple of years DRT. Very accurate as well.

Love their press and customer service

Agreed

I’m a hoarder. No problems.

You’re just the problem.

Seems to me bullets are easier to get than say a year ago. I just bought 1100 for a rifle I haven't purchased yet. I didn't wait for them to be in stock, just went online and there they were. My 7mm bullets are in stock at several places right now. In fact, almost every bullet I load is in stock. It's getting better, not worse.

Maybe so but I’ve had an awful lot for a lot of years. I don’t shoot as much as I used to. And, no interest in selling them.

So you are blaming him because you don't keep an inventory of bullets? Because you expect manufacturers to be reliable enough to keep you in bullets when you buy just a box at a time? He is not the problem.

After Obama years, if you didn’t stock up during Trump’s early years, it’s your own fault. Shelves were full and prices were cheap.

100% correct.

2019 was a great year!

I am glad we have a new bullet Manufactuing company , here in NE Texas. Some don't like mono's but they sure beat not having any. Saw a video a week or so back LEHIGH is producing nearly 400,000 per week.

I’m ok for the guns I have had, but sucks not being able to get stuff for new guns. Nosler can kiss my azz.

I stocked up on lots of stuff after the Clinton induced shortage. Of course the bullets are old school compared to todays but still shoot. Kept a lot of those in reserve.

I stocked up between 2012 and 2018.

I too am part of the problem I guess.

I'm also one of the problematic prepared people. And I'm trying to further prepare thus making myself more problematic.

I think there’s an ant and grasshopper message in here somewhere.

Exactly!

I have a good stock of components, but I don't hoard them. The current state of lack of reloading component availability is directly due to people like him who hoard or purchase just to resell. If people would buy only what they needed, things wouldn't be the way they are. In short, reloaders are their own worst enemy. Additionally, it's normal to expect manufacturers to be reliable, but they can't if others have adopted a "eff you, I got mine" mindset. Powders like H4350 are still a little difficult to find, but I'm not going to keep purchasing it every time I see it because according to my calculations, I have enough to last for 2-3 barrels of my 6.5 CM rifle. I leave it on the shelf for others.

Most reloaders that keep components on hand buy in times of plenty. They have been through times of short supply in the past. They buy in bulk to get the best price. They are not buying much right now. They are not paying today’s inflated prices for short supply items. They are not panic buying. They are not scalping. They are not supporting the scalpers. They are not part of the problem.

I don't get how people don't understand this.

Well said Smokey

The only thing I disagree with is somebody is buying it up. When you see a brick of primers hit the shelf, five minutes later they’re gone, even at $100 a brick. When a pound of $50 Varget gets close to the shelf it’s gone. I feel like that is the problem. Manufacturers have found it doesn’t matter what they price it at there’s going to be somebody buying it. Leave it on the shelves for a while and maybe the prices will go down.

This is true. People that buy up mass quantities to resell are generally not even re-loaders. Look at the STUPID high prices on ammo for sale in two ads that have been relisted on this site at least a half dozen times over the last THREE YEARS.



You could then say the manufacturer is getting more from their product by creating its own shortage. Supply chain issues are not the fault of the end customer.

Racial tension akin to the 1960’s, distrust and lack of support for law enforcement, combined with media and political attacks on the second amendment by the current administration manifested in millions of new gun owners. Market has out paced supply. Hornady appears to be seizing the lions share of the expanding market.

Hornady 100% has placed themselves in the most favorable possible position...They already had a foot up on the competition with new plant they opened up a few years pre-pandemic ... then the crazy happened and they dropped a bunch of money and added another 20% of space to ramp up production (like an extra 30,000 SQFT). They took a gamble and spent the money and it's paying off by raining money down on them as they seize massive amounts of the market.

Mind you, it could have went the other way for them; if it ended up being a short term supply/demand issue and not a more complicated long term issue, they could have lost their a$$e$. Other manufacturers decided to sit and wait to see what happens and ended up doing nothing but watching their market share get smaller and realizing there was nothing they could do about it because ramping up takes time and money....too little, too late. I'm sure most of them are kicking themselves in the a$$ or pretending they did the right thing so that they don't wake up feeling like idiots every single day. For the time being though - they're all making good money.... but it's got to feel like a kick in the balls to realize how much more you could be making if you just showed some balls at the start of all this and took the expansion risk.

I have no doubt we will 100% continue to see the rise of Hornady as the preeminent bullet manufacturer (not that they were small before this lol) and everyone else will fight for the scraps.

According to announcements in the American Riflemen, Norma is building an ammo plant in Savannah, and Fiocci is building another plant in Little Rock. Capitalism at its best.

😃

Some of the newly planned factories are not just Capitalism, it's the import bans. Never been a Hornady fan boy (nothing wrong with them but as a caster and reloader I never really needed them) but if they are filling the gaps, more power to them. Like I said, the only aftermarket bullets I really ever need are for 5.56X45 and I got grosses of Hornady copies when they were less than $0.10 each. The .30-30 "hunting" bullet that is the best is made by Sierra and has been nearly impossible to find for at least five years, way before the "shortage". My Ranch Dog cast .30-30 bullet is likely just as good anyway and I stocked up on the Sierra almost ten years ago.

I think the hoarders buying up all the powders to sell at insane prices tend to be loaders themselves because with so many powders out there, you have to have a working knowledge of the segment to know which powders are the top. There’s what, 4 variations of 4350? I’ve seen plenty of loaders on Discord buying powder they load and selling excess.

You know I have 2lbs of IMR4350 and 2lbs of H4350 that just sit on the shelve because I always find something I like better rather than use it. What are y’all using it in?

Every time I’ve used either of those in a 308 or 30-06 based cartridge I haven’t been disappointed.

Redchevy I don’t load either of those so I guess that is why I haven’t used it.

6.5 man bun.

If you shoot a lot and don't have a few years worth of inventory

you're the problem, make better decisions next time

Lol I guess that is Creedmor.

There's a lot of powder I use for my 6.5 CM.... 4350 ain't one of them. Although, I think I might be the black duck on this one as I know virtually everyone provides load data for 4350 for 6.5CM.

I use it regularly for 338 LM for bullets under 230 GR and it works great. Although, my preference is RL-22 & 26 for 338LM. Started using 4350 when RL became impossible to find for awhile.

Honestly, I tend to use it as a fallback powder for anything I use it for... can't think of a single round where I would choose 4350 over other options for the round. I certainly don't think it's a bad powder though - it provides reliable/predictable performance... I guess I just never found its sweet spot, where it shines.

HenryL, that is me exactly seems like I always find something I like better

Yup