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Brit ammo going the way of the Dodo
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bubba ho tep View Drop Down
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Points: 169 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bubba ho tep Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 03 2021 at 8:32am
I replenish my 303 brass when a buddy comes over with his lewis gun.  He only shoots privy partisan new ammo in it. And since he does not reload...it's all good . Finding click band indian/paki ammo is always good for the boolitz but nothing else , although my garden likes the cordite raked in the soil !.
    Please do take the advice and give the brass to someone that will put it to use. You may even find a web board local to you to swap it for loaded 303 or something else you seek. My local scrap dealer only gets berdan and or worn out brass. Even when I cull out gobs of 40 cal and 380 I give it to my local smithy whom resells or trades it , same with rifle calibers I do not load for. Waste not , want not .
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Canuck View Drop Down
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Just reported on a social media site that Canadian Tire in Belleville, Ontario, selling Federal 303 British 150 grain for $71.99/box of 20. $3.60 per round.....
Castles made of sand slip into the sea.....eventually
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anyone tried the wolf steel cased 303 ?
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Originally posted by Canuck Canuck wrote:

Just reported on a social media site that Canadian Tire in Belleville, Ontario, selling Federal 303 British 150 grain for $71.99/box of 20. $3.60 per round.....
This my thinking on the price gouging. Make the ammunition so unobtainable that you can no longer afford it and make the primers nonexistent for the civilian market that your rifles,shotguns, and pistols become wall hangers. In the U.S., you will still have the right to, "Keep and Bear Arms" you just will not be able use them the way they were intended to be used. Just a bunch of fancy baseball bats...
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Seriously guys.
Lee Whack-A-Mole.
You can do it safely & with better accuracy than factory. Yes, you'll need a few things, a set of powder scoops (Not vital, but they give you access to many more powders)
A 6" dial caliper (cheap plastic is fine.)
A rubber, or hide mallet. (no sparks & you won't beat up the rods.)

I have taught absolute beginners with zero knowledge of reloading to do it & do it well, on a Picnic bench in the Ozarks!
It will load 2 rounds every 3 minutes withing a day of starting off.
At those prices you'll pay for it in less than 50 rounds & it will last for ever.
Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Points: 4495 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Honkytonk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 05 2021 at 4:24pm
Totally agree. Although reloading components (powder, primers, projectiles) has gone up in price, I can still load ammunition for way less than store prices. My reloading station(s) is from the '60's, but not counting brass cleaning, I can easily load 40 rounds in an hour. If you asked me 2 years ago if it was cheaper to reload, I would say no... 
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Points: 13318 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote A square 10 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 05 2021 at 7:27pm
i found powder for my 4570 this past week - its been allusive for months , i now have all the needed components to work up my loads , i found my small pistol primers first part of the summer and im now able to load all of what i need for a couple years of shooting , im kinda happy im not looking for other calibers these days , it was easy getting started everything was on the shelf , 
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britrifles View Drop Down
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Points: 5109 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote britrifles Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 07 2021 at 5:16am
Perhaps the component and ammunition companies are enjoying these high prices and don’t really have the motivation to meet the demand else it will result in competition and a return to lower prices.  I think this is especially true with primers.  
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I think they're just swamped with new gun owner demand & short staffed because the the Fu-Flu still.
Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Marco1010 View Drop Down
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Talking with my work Chemists about it.
Lead azide and lead styphnate which is used in the production of detonators & primers is in world wide shortage at present. 
 Much of this is a by-product of industrial processes that use lead.  industry world-wide is trying minimise / eradicate use of lead in anything (such as paints/ fuel/ etc). Even third world countries have cut back on using lead.   Its not economic to make it just for the ammunition industry, therefore not much to be had anywhere.

Similar scenario to the United Kingdom having a Carbon Dioxide Shortage Crisis at present.
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britrifles View Drop Down
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Points: 5109 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote britrifles Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 07 2021 at 3:18pm
Funny how lead bullets (and lead batteries) are plentiful, but primers are not.  Something else is going on particular to primers. 
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Points: 7698 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Goosic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 07 2021 at 4:34pm
I am not attempting to disagree with your assessment Marco1010 but,  I highly doubt that primer manufacturers are having a difficult experience locating the necessary components to produce primers. As britrifles stated. The vast majority of bullets are made with lead cores as well. The economics of trying to reduce the amounts of lead in the process of bullet manufacturing is not conducive to the ammunition industries especially when you consider the numbers created for military use. Something or someone else is creating this primer shortage for the reloading market. I have been fortunate enough in the past year in a half to find rifle cartridge cases, powder, and bullets. Primers on the other hand, have become damn near impossible to find. The same can be said for percussion caps for my Colt Navy revolvers...
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Points: 13318 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote A square 10 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 07 2021 at 8:30pm
something is happening behind the scenes tho - why do we no longer have a single lead smelrter in this country , and now we no longer have a black powder producer ? guess we will have to go back to making our own , 
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Points: 388 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Marco1010 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 07 2021 at 11:09pm
sorry guys. Its not a lack of lead smelting as such, if it did it would be simple.
these chemicals come from quite a different process. Normally these are a common by product of making lead additives that go into petrol. Almost no countries make leaded fuel these days , so producers have to get it from elsewhere. as its not common any longer , the price goes up and availability goes down, and very few factories exist any longer to make it.  this is common in the global commodity market.
Just Like Vinyl factories, of which there are only 2 in the world left and one is out of action till late 2022 due to a fire.
Ironically your ban on importing russian ammo might work in your favour as it will encourage some in the US to set up production to meet domestic USA demand.
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he!!o all. Just joined this forum today because I just acquired a 1940 No. 1 Mk.lll rifle along with an unopened box of 48 bullets which I think are milsurp. I will enjoy reading and learning from all on here. I have some pics but don't know how to post.....................Daniel
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Points: 170 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dragunov Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 11 2022 at 6:51pm
I acquired a small bit of .303 ammo and OF brass over the last two weekends. A good buddy that collects and horse-trades Pre-64 Winchesters let's me have a spot to place a 5" x 8" file card on his table at the local gun shows. I just let it be known on the card that I am looking to buy or trade for .303 ammo, brass and  .311/.312 bullets. New Year's  weekend I got 154 rounds of WW2 Brit ammo and 21 pieces of brass. This past weekend I traded into 69 Remington and PPU pieces of brass, and 61 loaded factory JSPs. It pays to advertise .... someone out there has stuff to unload. You just gotta seek it out.
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