strange & crazy times... 22 lr, 22 mag, 25 auto, even 32 auto... really ???

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Magnum Wheel Man

New member
does anyone else find it strange that so many mouse gun calibers are suffering from the same shortages as common stuff??? I mean, I get the 9's, & 223's.... but really don't get the 22's, & mouse gun calibers...

I'm finishing up my walk in gun safe, & displaying alot of guns that have been put away for a long time... among those, a bunch of vintage Czech 32 & 380 autos, as well as my several 25 acp's... been trying to put together some ammo for these guns, since they are now fresh in my mind, & can't believe that 25 acp bullets ( for example ) are out of stock for months, as are anything related to 32 acp ( who shoots 32 acp ??? why the demand ??? )

does anyone else find it strange that this stuff is out of stock... primers are bad enough, but when you can't buy 22's or brass for 25 & 32 acps... :mad: strange world we're living in :rolleyes:
 
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Sevens

New member
In my opinion...
.22LR is scarce because everyone who shoots is afraid to use up their center fire ammo, so they are shooting a -LOT- more rimfire. Furthermore, folks ran out to buy ammo (all at the same time) and they keep finding empty shelves...yet they have money in their hands. So they are buying up any/all rimfire they find.

As for .25 and .32, I don't think it's a direct hit on these. This is stuff that is a horribly tiny percentage of the market. Nobody keeps a large stock of .25 cal component handgun bullets. Nobody. So the four guys on the planet who are actually handloading .25 ACP at the bench (like everyone else) simply added a slew of component .25cal handgun bullets to their most recent "panic!" supply order.

Something like, "Gimme primers! Gimme 9mm FMJ! Gimme once fired .45 brass! Gimme 16 pounds of W231!!!"

"Well, we only have 1k primers. 9mm slugs sold out last week. No brass in any size. W231, I've got a single 1-pound and it's $29.50"

"Okay, you got any .25 cal FMJ component slugs?"

"Yes, I've got 22,000 of them, had them since 1986."

"I'LL TAKE THEM!"

No component manufacturer is going to produce a single .25 cal handgun bullet in the next 24 months. They'll use their equipment, labor, time and materials to build 9mm, .40 and .45 cal slugs. It's not like the just press a different button to get those little pills. They have to shut down a machine and re-tool it. That's never going to happen for a round that almost nobody needs or wants.

I ran in to exactly the same problem in 08/09 with regards to 85-100 grain .312" component jacketed bullets for .327 Federal Magnum. I am certain that there wasn't a bunch of panic buying and runs on .32 cal component slugs and the entire American market most certainly did NOT jump on the extremely well marketed :rolleyes: hot new .327 Federal round.

Instead...I went looking for an oddball component that NEVER had much of a supply and no manufacturer in their right mind was going to spend even 10 minutes producing that product for me and three other TFL Forum guys who realkly, really wanted to handload some screamin' hot .32's.

So whatever dusty stuff had been laying on shelves for the last 5 years was in the market...and not a single other slug was to be had. When those sold... the .312" component jacketed slugs simply no longer existed on the market.
 
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Sevens

New member
To add to my story (for anyone still AWAKE)

A nice guy from our little forum here in Oklahoma saw my crying over the fact that I couldn't find any of these slugs and mentioned that me might have seen them in one of his haunts, and said he'd stop by to see if they had any. And they DID, four boxes of them! He bought them and shipped them to me and best I can tell, he tried his dangdest to charge me TOO little for them.

If that wasn't enough, he sent me a little package out of the blue with some .32cal slugs he had casted himself -- absolutely gorgeous bullets in three different flavors, one of them with gas checks on 'em!!!

Lemme tell you, if I ever get a hold of THAT guy, #$%#&$! :mad::eek::D

Thanks, Rusty, if you are still out there!

Heckuva guy.
 
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Magnum Wheel Man

New member
so... I guess my timing sucks... woulda coulda shoulda bought this stuff 6 months ago... just wasn't ready to put together ammo for those old guns at that time...

I do realize I'm sorely short of small pistol primers... I have 10 chamberings that expressly take small pistol primers... not counting the 32 & 357 magnums that I'd load with SPM primers, or 22 Hornet, 32-20 & like, Contenders & revolvers that I'd use small rifle primers in those anyway...

guess I'll just go back to polishing my brass :eek:
 
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Sevens

New member
Naaa, if you have small rifle primers, you are in good shape. At least one company has stated in the past that their small rifle non-mag and their small pistol magnum -IS- the same primer.

As long as the firearm you are using has enough jam in the hammer/striker to slap that little puppy and you can re-work the load, small rifle primers can be used across the board.

There are some folks who no longer buy small pistol non-mag primers ever, and use small rifle for everything.
 
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Magnum Wheel Man

New member
I know I'm better off than alot... I do have quite a few small rifle primers ( should use up that big huge box of Federals just to get rid of it anyway ) got several boxes of Remington, & CCI & another box of Winchesters as well as a couple boxes of Remington Bench Rest, that I've been saving...

BTW... anyone know or have a list of small rifle primer cup hardness ??? realistically I'm going to have to use some, may as well know which are the softest...
 
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Sevens

New member
I don't believe there is a list...and it's probably drifted over time.

It's been the experience of many that Federal makes the softest cup on the market, bar none. CCI has always had a reputation of a very hard cup.
 
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stu925

New member
I've been known on occasion to shoot both .25ACP and .32ACP. A couple times a year I take out Dad's Walther and Ortgies and shoot them. As far as a shortage goes, it's only natural that it would carry over into other components/cartridges once the panic started. Seems like people bought up everything they could find once the supplies started drying up. I don't shoot enough of either caliber to warrant me reloading them though so you can have my share of the components for them.

Stu
 
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recon14

New member
I too would like to reload for my wife's .25 ACP Baretta. It's a small, little in your face weapon but is sooo easy to stuff in your pocket. Thats probably the main reason I still have it. I just don't know if I can justify buying components and especially dies for something I shoot so infrequently. Anybody have any .25 dies they want to get rid of real cheap??
 
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spacecoast

New member
Nobody keeps a large stock of .25 cal component handgun bullets. Nobody.
Click to expand...

Don't be too sure of that, I have 1500 such bullets (Magtech 50 gr. FMC), stockpiled over the last couple of years when I ran across deals. :)

Midway has .25ACP brass in stock by the way.
 
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Sevens

New member
Ahem, we could quibble the terms... but in my world, 1,500 ain't no stockpile. That's a long weekend! :D
 
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Magnum Wheel Man

New member
yes... I have many, many 1000 - 45 caliber bullets both in weights & profiles for 45 Colt & 45 ACP... I don't shoot much 45 ACP any more, but am just finishing up a conversion on my old 30 carbine blackhawk to 45 auto / 45 Autorim, since I just bought a couple 1000 new old stock 45 Autorim cases... good thing these are older cases with LP primer pockets, since I have more of those primers than SP... guessing I'll be shooting this new build quite a bit this summer :D at least more than something requiring SP primers... at least till those loosen up...
 
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spacecoast

New member
but in my world, 1,500 ain't no stockpile.
Click to expand...

Maybe, but in my world (and many others I suspect), when the only .25 is a 100 year-old Colt that gets a box of ammo through it maybe once a year, that's a lifetime supply.
 
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Magnum Wheel Man

New member
agree 1500 is alot of bullets "normally" for the ol' 25 auto... I have 2 ( including a nice lil Colt & a Berdinelli ) & I think I found a source for a barrel, if in which case, I'll be switching my Ruger Single 10 over to an 8 shot 25 ACP ( machinist buddy has already checked the timing can be easily switched to 8 rounds, & he has no problem building custom single action cylinders, or adding a firing pin bushing moving it to center fire )... once that gun is completed, 1500 bullets for a gun I'll shoot alot, plus the other 2 lil autos, wouldn't seem like "too many"
 
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M

Magnum Wheel Man

New member
Stopped by Cabela's the other day...

they had LP magnum primers on the shelf...

went up to one of the counter guys, & asked for "the straight dope on the primers" got a very rude reply ( guessing he's been asked 40-50 times a day or more since things got tight )

but...

yes, they are getting shipments...
no, they don't have a delivery schedule, they come when ever they come...
no, I can't put my name on a list... just check back everyday to see if they have them...

I found out E-bay is not the place to buy reloading stuff,,, dies are selling for twice what Midway typical prices are... I was looking at a primer pocket uniforming tool, Cabela's had a Lyman in stock, ( which will screw into my RCBS case prep center, & has a universal case mouth adaptor rather than a caliber specific type like RCBS uses ) for 1/2 what they were selling for on E - Bay

Hoping Midway is right on Lee die delivery date, & I can get my my 25 & 380 acp dies by the end of the month...

hmmm... wish I lived closer to Cabela's to check for primers

BTW... Midway is starting to get stuff in... just ordered 500 more 32 acp cases, & 500 bullets, mixed between XTP, s & FMJ... got my 32 acp dies a couple weeks ago, so I'm in business for the 32 acp... if I could get some replacement primers ( still not loading small pistol, until I can get replacement for what I'd use out of my stock )
 
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