I'm going to state the latent but obvious cause of all of this----and the cure... to all the powder and component shortages and the skyrocketing prices.......The cause is an individual by the name of Barack Hussein Obama......and the cure is January 20, 2017......simple as that..
rojogrande
Honestly i think that is the b tinfoil hat theory, but it's clearly not true. People have been buying up powder and components in far greater quantities as of late (yes, in the states that could partially be because ofObama's policies, but I highly doubt that is a large part of the reason. I think there was a small shortage of some sort for some reason, and then people started panic buying and it just snowballed from there.
Pretty much 100% confident that Obama can't stop powder from being sent up here - the companies that sell just know that they have a massive market in the states and if the states can consume (or at least buy) all of the powder they make for consumer sales, them why bother with the expense and hassle of shipping much up here? They don't care if we get it, they care about their bottom line as any company would.
Having said that, I don't really consider this much of a shortage compared to previous ones I've been told about, and I highly doubt the price is going to go back down at all. Stores and companies realize now that they can get 35 to 45 dollars a pound, and even at 45 a pound they can't keep it in stock. Most companies would look at it and say "30 per pound and can't keep it in stock, or 45 a pound and can't keep it in stock.... might as well go 45, maybe even 50 and see how fast it sells".
I think the only theoretical solution would be a large scale boycott, but that won't work as there are always some who decide they want the product and don't care about the cost or think that trying to bring it down will fail anyways, so they continue to buy.
To the guy who said it's cheaper to buy loaded ammo... you're way off there, maybe cheaper to buy milsurp if you're just plinking, but for good quality ammo you can't beat hand loading. I make 308 rounds that are as good as the best match grade rounds, and it costs me 72 cents per round. From most stores milsurp Norinco costs about 70 to 80 cents per round, the cheapest I've seen on the EE is less, but that's the cheapest and crappiest quality ammo compared to my match grade stuff! Want Federal GMM? You're now paying 2 bucks a round or so, and it still isn't tuned to your gun so your hand loads are still better.
I think we're still very far from the break even point.... and even at that point, isn't increased accuracy and quality and the ability to tune the load for your gun worth something too? It is to me!
Oh and my 223 match grade has an even better price per round comparison to match grade factory ammo....
