Match bullet stockpiling, smart? stupid? OCD???

K

kujuak

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Feb 19, 2017
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#1
I shoot a fair amount, other than hunting in the fall , it's my main diversion. In the past when I found a good price on uncommon bullets/ brass for my old lever action rifles (348Winchester, 250-3000 savage, 375Win, etc) I would buy as much as I could afford. Seemed a bit much at the time but now I'm sitting pretty while others are scratching around to find the same items and paying outrageous prices when they do. Got a good price on 185 Juggernauts,15%off retail, , no tax, no shipping. Now do I buy 1,000 just because the price is so good????? I have 3,000 in the reloading room already.I have shot 500 rounds with this load in the past year and plan on increasing my time shooting in the near future as I ease into retirement. Rather look at my reloading room supplies than check the state of my retirement investments, don't trust the markets, the banks, or any government all that much.
I am sure i can get honest advice from the serious similarly afflicted gun cranks that hang out here.

Thanks!
 
#5
You shot 1,000 rounds last year and plan to increase the rate.

What rate will that be when you have seven day weekends and twenty-six weeks of vacation twice a year?

Only adding 1,000 more to the current 3,000 might still be less than a one year supply.
 
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#7
If that's what you are sticking with, buy enough to burn out a barrel at least, maybe two.

Between my 308's and 300win, I'm sitting at about 12k projo's for 30 cal alone.
 
#9
Especially those 'spensive pills that have been hard to get. I don't blame you for stockpiling Juggernauts.

Honestly, we are not talking about some complex manufacturing with many suppliers and some long supply chain. That we see popular bullets go on backorder to me is just bad business practices and things being run wrong. We should not need to stockpile bullets (under normal circumstances) to shoot. If I was in charge heads would roll.

I know I only keep one, full, backup, 8lb jug of powder, and one 500 Rnd box of bullets in reserve aside from the one I'm working on. I stay one ahead more for convenience. I am shooting the 107 SMK mostly because the Berger's were hard to get at one time, and after trying the SMKs and seeing how well they flew I started wondering why I was paying more. I'm much happier now, and not worried supplies won't be available for no reason.
 
#12
No such thing as to many. When 215 gr bergers were hard to find I was supplying 2 friends with them and still had plenty ... of course they got the mix matched lot numbers lol. You snooze you loose
 
#14
I think we're already seeing prices come down. The market is flooded right now. They'll never return to pre-craziness prices, but you can see 5.56, .22LR and other ammo and components starting to drop. The specialty stuff will follow, but it'll take longer, and they won't fall as far IME.
 
#17
At least you can afford it. I just go deeper in debt. A cool 100 bucks on match bullets this morning from midway. Did I need them now. Hell ya they were on sale even though I already have 500 rounds ready to load
 
#20
I'm an old dude so debt fortuantely not much of an issue. What I don't spend my wife/kids/ government gets. Just figuring out priorities. Never bought a $5,000+ rifle before 2 years ago, now I have two and god forbid we talk about $$ spent on glass.Luckily lot's paid for by selling gems from the safe treasured only by me and the similarly afflicted rascals that bought them:D
 
#21
I’m retired and own my home small pension and social security been pretty much steady for some time now. No bad habits but a beer now and then A little debt means I’m still living the American dream. Go Rockies ⚾️
 
#23
I have been buying components for years. 40+.

I now have large quantities of items I have not used in years or will use. As I try to simplify my life it is a chore to get rid of at times.
Don't get me wrong, I like have quantities of items I will or might use but many rifles have gone away and I still have dies, brass and bullets for them.
When trying to sell the stuff most on this site are interested in only the latest and greatest.

Examples, I once was a huge fan and consumer of 22 Hornet ammo and components. I have cases of ammo, brass and bullets. I no longer shoot a 22 Hornet. I no longer hunt elephants but still have a lot of large caliber dies, brass, bullets and cases of ammo. I also stockpiled quality barrels. It is nice to have what you want without waiting. Nice to be able to help a friend out on a build. Still a bad investment. A lot of the stuff is tough to ship and has little value locally.

I have been thinning the pile for several years. Sold dozens of rifles, truck loads of "stuff" and when I ask someone who comes over if they can tell a difference and normally get a "No, not really." Sort of deflates me... :)

Guess the story is buy but move it out when done with that caliber.
 
#24
I shoot a lot of blems, it saves me some money. Shooters Pro Shop is where I buy most of them, but Natchez and Midsouth have them fairly often. I used to shoot surplus powder by the jug, but the medium burners have been nonexistent for quite a few years now.
 
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#25
Yep. Just went through my bullet stash last weekend, and found another box I forgot about. Had a bunch of Hornady bullets in the old cardboard boxes with the steel corners. Think the price on them (.308) was like $8.

It's a sickness. (Don't get me started on rimfire ammo.)
 
#26
I still say you can’t have too much ammo or too many components.
It only takes a small swing in the political arena for availability to change.
Buy when the deals are good and when you can afford it.
I am also guilty of going overboard; I sold my .41 mag and still have ammo for that on the shelf.
 
#27
Skookum said:
I shoot a lot of blems, it saves me some money. Shooters Pro Shop is where I buy most of them, but Natchez and Midsouth have them fairly often. I used to shoot surplus powder by the jug, but the medium burners have been nonexistent for quite a few years now.
Click to expand...
Me too. Ive been waiting on some 105 rdf blems for seemingly ever now though. Im on my last baggie and am conflicted: I could get the normal for 26 cents per on sale from midway right now but I really want the 19 cent blems that shot so well for me again!
 
#29
I've found just buying to stockpile bullets to be a bigger hassle than it is worth. You end up with many different lot #'s. I'd just as soon buy enough of a lot to toast barrels, but that estimation can bite you too, end up with too few or too many to be sold for reduced prices.
I've built 4 rifles this year, and 3 of them are pulling off one lot of 4K 110 sierra's, it's not even going to be close that I have enough, and the rifle with the most barrel life, a Dasher, will end up the one I will need to adjust for.
 
#32
I'm buying the second rifle since moving to AZ. I have been coveting a Savage 110 Hunter 30-06. Then I saw they offered the 280 Ackley. Then I got wise to the Savage 30% discount for current and former LE/Military. Then I saw I could buy the 110 Long Range Hunter for about the same as the 110 Hunter's list price.

I need to cool off a tad, and see if what's a good idea today is still a good idea tomorrow.

Whew...!

Greg
 
#33
Greg Langelius * said:
I'm buying the second rifle since moving to AZ. I have been coveting a Savage 110 Hunter 30-06. Then I saw they offered the 280 Ackley. Then I got wise to the Savage 30% discount for current and former LE/Military. Then I saw I could buy the 110 Long Range Hunter for about the same as the 110 Hunter's list price.

I need to cool off a tad, and see if what's a good idea today is still a good idea tomorrow.

Whew...!

Greg
Click to expand...
Whatcha gonna use it for? :unsure:
 
#34
Not sure, it' an itch I've been wanting to scratch ever since I had borrowed my Elder Brother's two Ruger .280 M77 MKI's some years back.

I did a paper exercise on the HDY 162 ELD-X at my altitude (4350ft ASL) and 2750fps. On paper, it drops to transsonic just short of 1300yd. It'll drop big game, and it'll do other things that exceed the reach of my 260. It's still not a heavyweight. It's mainly a better replacement for my M70 Featherweight .30-06, might be considered an entry level ELR implement.

Seen a day later, my enthusiasm wanes. Some.

Greg

PS, Seen two days later, the cooler head prevails. Maybe.

As you say, what am I going to do with it, really?

ETA: Third day, it's a pipe dream. What I'm leaning very hard toward now is a Ruger PC Carbine. It can share my Ruger American Pistol 9 Pro 17rd magazines, and is probably a good choice for the monthly 2-Gun Combat Matches at my Club Range. Will need a SPARC and and a red dot for the RAP.

I don't handload the 9mm, it's too cheap to buy for all but HD rounds, and two boxes of Federal Premium 147gr Hydra-Shok is sufficient for that. I've been doing my practice with CCI/Independence 115gr Aluminum Case, and so far, no demerits.
 
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#37
Having been through several shortages, not just the last one, I believe in stocking enough components to keep me shooting. I went from keeping a years supply to keeping 2 Presidential cycles stashed back. Maybe a little extreme but I was shooting Federal 210 Match primers that I paid $28/1000 for or less when they were selling for $50 and even $100 per thousand! I watch for sales and buy in quantity, and what I have stocked up was cheaper than current prices.

Some may call it hoarding? Ok, so be it. I also cast pistol bullets. I have enough lead to last my lifetime and probably the lifetime of my family. Most of it was free or very very cheap. Now its much harder to find and usually not free or even cheap.
 
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#38
Without reading 36 comments. A barrel has a 3-5000 round life span, some less. There is nothing wrong about buying that many bullets when you put the barrel on. The appropriate quantity of powder and primers would give you consistent round over the life of the barrel and when accuracy falls off let you know it is time to rebarrel.
 
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#39
I hate changing lot number of components. Powder at least 16lbs at a time, bullets enough of one lot to shoot out the barrel, typically 2k at a time.

I've got 3 new barrels being finished for next season, and each of them has a stack of bullets/powder allocated that's enough to shoot them out without switching anything.

The tail end of this season has been a pain. Barrels getting up in round count, running out of one lot of bulelts so switching to another and redoing load dev, changing powder lots, etc. Then looking at the pile of random components and thinking, is that enough to shoot xyz match? Do I have enough extra to both test/tweak that lot and shoot a match? etc etc.
 
#41
When I do my load development, the primary criterion is component availability (I.e things often go better if one makes a few practical decisions at the very beginning). This generally means that if I'm not getting any, it's because nobody's getting any.

For example, I couldn't find IMR-4064 anywhere these past weeks, but I found some at Brownell's. They didn't gouge me, and I scored two pounds for less than I'd pay, overall, locally.

For times like those, I have some decent factory ammo set aside, and I occasionally rotate some out with practice shooting. It's good but not usually the best, but still better than dry firing.

For example, PPU 55FMJ is not bad 100yd practice ammo, and I use the fired brass to make match loads. Not Lapua, but when I bought the PPU, it was $5.97 for a box of 20, and the loads don't seem to be feeling much difference in the process of becoming practice match ammo.

Two very basic caveats:

I'm 72 and not getting any younger, and also, new technology can invalidate my choices. My answer to these is that a good choice yesterday will still be a good choice tomorrow. I have a stock of Sierra 140SMK's from back before the 142SMK was made available. They shoot just as nicely as they did back then, and for mag feeding, that can have advantages with their shorter bullet length. At my local altitude, they can shoot like a cruise missile.

...Or sometimes, you have to eat your 'mistakes', and even so, they usually still taste pretty good.

Greg
 
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