I went online to order some 6.5mm hunting bullets and holy Moses, everyone seemed to be just about out-of-stock on just about everything. I went to all the usual suspects and found the shelves really bare. I'm not looking for something exotic--just the usual hunting bullets. Is this a seasonal thing (end of the year), with more stock showing up in the new year? Or is it perhaps Covid-related? What experiences have you all had with bullet acquisition?
Availability of Bullets
- Thread starter South Pender
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nowarningshot
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Let's go Brandon.
SHOULD have - Could Have -Maybey Have - BUT DON'T Have is Getting Pretty common now ! RJ
It’s the new-ish normal. Google 6.5 bullets Canada and fire up your CC. Buy what you can find and figure out a way to use it. It looks like supply, not price will be the driving factor going forward.
What are the usual suspects? Stock is definitely limited but there are options out there. I've yet to have a problem sourcing any of the match bullets I've needed. The price is just a little more difficult to swallow
Basically everyone that sells reloading supplies in Canada--from the bigger outfits like X-Reload all the way down to the smaller shops. Perhaps match bullets are in better supply than hunting bullets; it's the latter that I'm looking for.
Been a shortage lately of everything. 6.5 stuff I am well stocked up as I shoot a lot of it. Cabela’s shelves are getting empty. I was surprised to even find 30. Caliber fmj for my Garand the other day. Last two boxes and no idea when anymore will be coming in. If you see something you want get as I probably won’t be there next time you want it.
Just a piece of information I received today from a gun shop owner: He said that he's been told by his suppliers that there will be very little supply of reloading components until 2023. He was told that much of the supply of components is being funnelled into loaded ammunition, and that the US market has scooped almost all of the available supply. The pandemic, the effects on the economy from the pandemic, and the public anxiety and general uncertainty about the economy and future in the US has accounted for this.
Edit.Just to add to what's noted above, I ran across the following explanation on the Free Range American website from March, 2021 (The whole article is here: https://freerangeamerican.us/ammunition-shortage/). It sums up what was told to the gun shop owner, and, although it focuses more on ammunition, I think the same factors explain the shortage of reloading components. They are in short supply in the U.S., and the little that's left over finds its way to Canada at some point in dribs and drabs. I've just reproduced the most relevant part of it below:
"The scarcity of ammunition is the result of a perfect storm that initially formed during the first quarter of 2020 as the effects of a worldwide pandemic took hold. In one fell swoop, the COVID-19 outbreak and the restrictions that came with it put the brakes on a roaring US economy. Businesses, many of which were considered financially sound prior to the pandemic, closed their doors for good. The worldwide supply chain snapped like a dry twig as we frantically searched for masks, hand sanitizer, isopropyl alcohol, toilet paper, food staples, and, yes, guns.
"Widespread civil unrest swept the nation by summer, with intensity the likes of which we haven’t seen since the 1960s. Buildings burned, stores were looted, and reports of violence and rising crime rates made national headlines. All the while, some called to defund local and regional law enforcement agencies, and several municipalities followed through. Fear of the virus, fear of food shortages, and fear of riots — real or imagined — gripped many American hearts and minds. Guns and the ammo to feed them flew off the shelves in record numbers — and continue to do so — many going to people making their very first firearms purchase. When talking to these first-time customers from behind the counter where I work, I can’t tell you how many times the conversation starts with: “I never thought I would buy a gun.”
"The storm was upgraded to hurricane status in the face of what was arguably the most contentious national election in US history. Among other polarizing political topics of the 2020 election was gun control. During the presidential campaign, Joe Biden proposed a federal gun registration under the National Firearms Act (NFA) and a $200 tax stamp for modern sporting rifles such as AR-15s, along with magazines with a capacity of 10 rounds or more. Whether these proposals will gain any traction or hold up in the courts is another question. Yet with a pro-gun-control majority now in Washington, firearms owners new and old are paying extra attention. This heightened state of awareness has created fertile ground for misinformation to take root regarding the lack of ammunition on store shelves. The most popular whoppers purport collusion between the big ammo companies to stockpile ammo and drive up demand, as well as a secret directive from the Biden administration to withhold ammo from citizens and only sell it to the military. While these conspiracy theories are certainly tasty to chew on, the truth is as bland as an unbuttered slice of bread."
Edit.Just to add to what's noted above, I ran across the following explanation on the Free Range American website from March, 2021 (The whole article is here: https://freerangeamerican.us/ammunition-shortage/). It sums up what was told to the gun shop owner, and, although it focuses more on ammunition, I think the same factors explain the shortage of reloading components. They are in short supply in the U.S., and the little that's left over finds its way to Canada at some point in dribs and drabs. I've just reproduced the most relevant part of it below:
"The scarcity of ammunition is the result of a perfect storm that initially formed during the first quarter of 2020 as the effects of a worldwide pandemic took hold. In one fell swoop, the COVID-19 outbreak and the restrictions that came with it put the brakes on a roaring US economy. Businesses, many of which were considered financially sound prior to the pandemic, closed their doors for good. The worldwide supply chain snapped like a dry twig as we frantically searched for masks, hand sanitizer, isopropyl alcohol, toilet paper, food staples, and, yes, guns.
"Widespread civil unrest swept the nation by summer, with intensity the likes of which we haven’t seen since the 1960s. Buildings burned, stores were looted, and reports of violence and rising crime rates made national headlines. All the while, some called to defund local and regional law enforcement agencies, and several municipalities followed through. Fear of the virus, fear of food shortages, and fear of riots — real or imagined — gripped many American hearts and minds. Guns and the ammo to feed them flew off the shelves in record numbers — and continue to do so — many going to people making their very first firearms purchase. When talking to these first-time customers from behind the counter where I work, I can’t tell you how many times the conversation starts with: “I never thought I would buy a gun.”
"The storm was upgraded to hurricane status in the face of what was arguably the most contentious national election in US history. Among other polarizing political topics of the 2020 election was gun control. During the presidential campaign, Joe Biden proposed a federal gun registration under the National Firearms Act (NFA) and a $200 tax stamp for modern sporting rifles such as AR-15s, along with magazines with a capacity of 10 rounds or more. Whether these proposals will gain any traction or hold up in the courts is another question. Yet with a pro-gun-control majority now in Washington, firearms owners new and old are paying extra attention. This heightened state of awareness has created fertile ground for misinformation to take root regarding the lack of ammunition on store shelves. The most popular whoppers purport collusion between the big ammo companies to stockpile ammo and drive up demand, as well as a secret directive from the Biden administration to withhold ammo from citizens and only sell it to the military. While these conspiracy theories are certainly tasty to chew on, the truth is as bland as an unbuttered slice of bread."
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Been shortages of Bullets, powder and especially primers in the US, since 2020. The bullets have been the worst up here, 6.5 and 7mm are really spotty. Powders are hit and miss this year, but are showing up here and there. Primers have been reasonably available, but have gone up in price a lot.
Depends what brand you are looking for on bullets, Berger is nearly non-existent, Sierra isn't any better, nosler is occasional at best. Hornady has been relatively available, but you'll have to search persistently, the hunting bullets don't last long. Over the last two yrs, the US has exploded with new gun owners, there are 2.5mil we know of in Cda? NEW shooters in the US in the last two yrs are approaching 15mil. They're making more ammo than they did for WW2, the non-military consumer market for ammo in the US is bigger than all the combatants in WW2.
Depends what brand you are looking for on bullets, Berger is nearly non-existent, Sierra isn't any better, nosler is occasional at best. Hornady has been relatively available, but you'll have to search persistently, the hunting bullets don't last long. Over the last two yrs, the US has exploded with new gun owners, there are 2.5mil we know of in Cda? NEW shooters in the US in the last two yrs are approaching 15mil. They're making more ammo than they did for WW2, the non-military consumer market for ammo in the US is bigger than all the combatants in WW2.
Yeah...I tried them early on. However, his stock is extremely limited, actually just about all the time. And in this case, he had nothing I could use.
redbirddog
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Maple Syrup land Ontario
The metric system.....keep looking. Stock is out there there....
https://www.italiansportinggoods.com/nosler-6-5mm-100-gr-spitzer-264-partition-50-box.html
https://www.italiansportinggoods.com/nosler-6-5mm-125-gr-spitzer-264-partition-50-box.html
https://www.reliablegun.com/en/horn...mm-caliber-264-160gr-interlock-rn-100ct-box-2
https://www.eaglefirearms.ca/norma-264-dia-156gr-alaska-bullets-100ct-66532.html
https://www.eaglefirearms.ca/barnes-0264-127gr-lrx-bt-30228.html
https://www.italiansportinggoods.com/nosler-6-5mm-125-gr-spitzer-264-partition-50-box.html
https://www.reliablegun.com/en/horn...mm-caliber-264-160gr-interlock-rn-100ct-box-2
https://www.eaglefirearms.ca/norma-264-dia-156gr-alaska-bullets-100ct-66532.html
https://www.eaglefirearms.ca/barnes-0264-127gr-lrx-bt-30228.html
Thanks for that, mikeyb. I've wondered about the two round-nose bullets, the 160-gr Hornady and 156-gr. Norma. They both have dreadful ballistic coefficients (the Norma is a little better in that respect), but look like excellent bullets for short-range hunting of really large game. Lapua has one too--their 155-gr. Mega round nose, which has a better BC than either the Hornady or Norma.
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With 6.5 this past year it was pretty much "take what you can get" Buy what you can, when you can, and check dealers often and eventually what you want will show up. For me my go-to for Ground Hogs was Sierra Match-King HPBT, finally found some!! 100 would get me through next years's hunt, but I ordered 300. Within a day, they were sold out.
For flat shooting for deer sized game, something around 130-140 gr. would be ideal. If you are using 6.5 CM, 140 is about as heavy as you should go to still have decent velocity; 150-160 perform better with larger capacity cases and slower powder.
