Powder availability / prices

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sapper6fd

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I've noticed powder is a lot easier to find today than it was a year ago. However, is it just me, or has the price of powder gone through the roof over the same time frame?

Last year I bought 2 pounds of IMR 4227 which I used to reload my own cast rounds in .303 British. I paid $36.00 per pound for it. I'm down to my last 1/2 pound and was looking for more and discovered almost everywhere I looked that its now sitting at $51 per pound! That's absolutely absurd!!!
 
You're not incorrect. Much like .22LR ammunition, the availibility has rebounded, however, a significant price increase has come with it.

I, too, reload .303 British cast loads. Varget was my preferred choice, but can't find it local to Ottawa.
 
inthehizzy said:
You're not incorrect. Much like .22LR ammunition, the availibility has rebounded, however, a significant price increase has come with it.

I, too, reload .303 British cast loads. Varget was my preferred choice, but can't find it local to Ottawa.
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It really ticks me off considering prices in the US have remained relatively the same. Meanwhile in Canada - we get a 50% increase in prices overnight.

What is your load like? I'm reloading 185 Grain (Lee mold) with 26 grains of IMR 4227. Makes for a nice light recoil round.
 
Yep, its sure nice to walk into multiple stores and see a lot more options than the last couple years. Like you stated, the new availability comes at a price. I haven't paid over $40 per pound.....yet. I just cant bring myself to pay these new prices for powder. I know it will happen one day, but it sure sucks seeing how high prices are.
 
We don't have a lot of negotiating power when it comes to a market just like most things coming from the south, a 35 to 40 percent dollar variance does not help..
 
sapper6fd said:
It really ticks me off considering prices in the US have remained relatively the same. Meanwhile in Canada - we get a 50% increase in prices overnight.

What is your load like? I'm reloading 185 Grain (Lee mold) with 26 grains of IMR 4227. Makes for a nice light recoil round.
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Hey fella. I'm shooting 180gr. lead/linotype gas-checked, lubed casting from R&R Bullets (Awesome, BTW!) behind 39.0gr. or Varget from PRVI brass, neck sized only, with CCI 200 large rifle primers. It's a stout load. My LE is a '43 Longbranch No.4 MK.1. I've never measured my grouping, but at 100 yards I pound the 4inch gong consistently with irons.

As stated, I'm on my last grains of Varget and have been looking for a substitute that doesn't break the bank. I only plink with the .303. All I have on hand is IMR 8208XBR, which I could use to reload some 7.62 x 39 Hornady's I have around. At $50ish + a pound, again, the 8208 seems woefully expensive to utilize on my plinker .303 versus any number of more modern, scope hunting calibers I reload for.

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The Outsider said:
As long as the Canadian dollar is in the tank, don't expect powder to come down in price any time soon.
And it cost more in the US as well, I was down in Montana a couple of weeks ago and IMR powder cost $27.99 per lb. as opposed to $19.99 a few years ago.
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^^^^ This thinking other wise is not being realistic
 
Just out of curiousity, what do you guys think is a fair markup from your retailers on powder? Everyone good with the "As much as the market will bare" mentality still?
 
It likely will never go down, stabilize for a bit then slowly inch it's way up, unless they do another strategic "supply dry up"

It is like the stock market , manipulation.

Ask yourself this, do you think the consumption increased that much and that fast to dry up supply with the same production levels?

It is like diamonds , let the supply drop so the retail price can increase.

They still have a way to go to match price with factory ammo, mind you, slowly increase that price as well. ;)
 
The Outsider said:
As long as the Canadian dollar is in the tank, don't expect powder to come down in price any time soon.
And it cost more in the US as well, I was down in Montana a couple of weeks ago and IMR powder cost $27.99 per lb. as opposed to $19.99 a few years ago.
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The Canadian dollar was $0.69 about two/three months ago now the loonie is around $0.80.
 
My most expensive .44mag load uses less than 18 cents worth of powder per. My standard 9mm range load uses about 3 cents worth. Yup, better sell all the guns and take up badminton 'cause the price of powder went up. Probably time to scrap all my vehicles too since the price of gas jumped 11% overnight. And don't even get me started about lettuce.
 
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