16ga.com ~ View topic

Joined: 28 Sep 2014 Posts: 241 Location: Kingsland, Texas

Just started reloading shotshells recently & have like everyone else had issues with finding powder. Found a little out of the way gun shop that has more powder than I have seen anywhere, but the price are questionable. Here is a list of what they have let me know from 1 to 10 (10 being too high) how the price in this market stacks up;
(1 lbs.)

Green Dot $29.50
Longshot $35.50
IMR 7625 $38.00
titewad $36.00
Win AA lite $33.99

some of what they have but I didn't get the price

Red Dot
LiL'Gun
Titegroup
Steel

Joined: 26 Apr 2010 Posts: 3177 Location: NCWa

Maybe that's the new price of things, but the last time I saw powder (a few months ago) at Bi-Mart and Cabela's; those prices are about $5/lb more than I recall.

Member Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 3438 Location: Illinois

I have seen higher--Some would jump at the chance just to have some--The highest per lb I HAVE SEEN IS $39.99 Evil or Very Mad

some scalpers are ASKING $300 per 8 pounder Mad

about a mo ago , the Alliant truck pulled in and was cleaned out in 2 days . Got 6* of powder at 17 dollers per . Louie's down in bath has had a few diff powders and they've been 24 bucks after tax . Any more than that , not so good,(EXCEPT)Hodgdons - haven't seen ANY of that in a yr . I would see where that could be jacked up .

Member Joined: 08 Oct 2012 Posts: 371 Location: Indiana

Indiana gun club had 1 pounders of longshot last saturday when my wife a i went there to shoot for $19.25 we grabbed 6 while we were there.

Joined: 12 Sep 2010 Posts: 1973 Location: Maine

He's gouging, somewhere between a little and a lot.

Browning...1977's quote on Longshot is the "right" price, i.e., somewhere around $18-20/lb. I can see going as high as 16gaDavis' quoted price of $24.

But all this misses the point: does it even make sense to reload today?

To keep things in perspective, consider this math (which I'm keeping easy).
Choose a generic 16 ga load of, say, about 17.5 grains of Green Dot, a Win or Fed209-type primer and an ounce of shot.
There are 7000 grains in a pound. With this generic load (and no waste) you get 400 shells' worth of powder from that pound of GD.
Current going rate for primers is about $40 per thousand. For those 400 shells your pound of GD will load, that means you spend $16 for primers.
Shot, say an optimistic price of $40 a bag. You get 400 shells @ 1 ounce per shell from that bag.
Let's say you don't have to buy hulls because, like me, you save all your hulls.
Wads, about $12/250. (Maybe optimistic, maybe not.) That works out to $19.20 for 400 shells

So, to load those 400 shells, it costs:
$40 for shot
$16 for primers
$19.20 for wads
plus the cost of powder, makes $75.20 plus powder for 400 shells.

That works out to $4.70 plus cost of powder per box of 25, or 47.00 plus ((10/16)* cost of a pound of powder) per flat

Since Cabelas runs specials on 1 ounce Herters' 16 ga - currently on sale for about $55/flat - if the cost of powder is more than $8 per flat you lose money reloading.

To find the maximum per pound price of powder where you don't lose money, that would be $8* (16/10) = $12.80 per pound.

It gets worse when you have to buy hulls.

We can have a good back-and-forth about whether my price quotes are totally accurate (I haven't priced wads lately), another discussion about the load chosen (FWIW, most Longshot loads use a LOT more powder than the 17.5grn I posited) and another, entirely different discussion about the relative merits of reloading for specialized loads that might work better in your gun or particular application.

But the long and the short of it is that for ordinary shooting purposes, you're better off buying factory shells, waiting on the market, buying shot and components only at sane prices, and letting the powder prices come back to sanity. This is not to say that it's a bad idea to have a couple pounds of powder, some shot, primers and wads around just in case ammo dries up again or you want to make some special loads. It is a good idea. But one has to keep things in perspective, and looking at the dollars and cents is a good way to do that.

D-I-M , I can beat the wad/primer thing by about 25% , but sort of immaterial here in NY . There are some ballsey dealers who will mail in ammo ,but normally NO mail ins . ...Just at the local Walnut store which has a RUNNINGS right next door . NO 16's at all, 0 . There is a Bass pro and Gander in diff 40 mi directions , a sometimes thing there .Shoot mostly 28/410 during the warm mos. They are WAY cost effective to load . So , it would trip my trigger to order stuff but except for reloading , we are dead in the water . ( even Louie's used to carry more shells , but not 16 )

Member Joined: 16 Nov 2006 Posts: 1338

Joined: 07 Sep 2014 Posts: 419

16 Gauge Dave,

What stores do yo9u think may have powder near you? I need to fly up to Cooperstown tomorrow and then Fort Edward on Tuesday. How far are you from either of those towns?

Dave in Maine, you make a good point. For us clay shooters we like to believe that the better target grade ammunition is better than the regular target or field grade and over on Shotgun World a number of guys have patterned Rios, Federals, Gun Club and Estate lower priced target ammo against Remington STS and Winchester AAs and the results supported that the premium ammo was more consistent, though most guys shooting for fun could not care less.

Since I purchase Winchester AAs in 12 and 20 at about $84.95 a flat, plus sales tax and for the less sold 28 gauge and .410 around $114.95 a flat plus sales tax, I figure that something as rare as 16 gauge target loads costing between $85 and $115 a flat would be OK for me to get what I want. Now the question is, do I load as good as the AAs or Remingtons?

Thanks, Bob

Joined: 28 Sep 2014 Posts: 241 Location: Kingsland, Texas

Reloading makes sense to me mainly because I enjoy it as a hobby and I find very relaxing. I guess if I were to solely base this on economics I would sell all of my firearms and eliminate the need for any ammunition factory or reloaded. Since that is not very likely and I am going to pursue what I enjoy. Like most hobbies I would like to keep the cost within reason & and that was the purpose of my OP. Just trying to get a pulse on regional prices & availability.

One other thing that aggravates me is I can't walk into a sporting goods store any more and enjoy the wide selection of available ammunition that the other gauges offer. I have been hunting & popping clays for over 40 years now with a variety of 16 ga shotguns. I like having that odd ball gauge but I guess there is a price associated with being a little different. My pain doesn't stop with shotguns I also reload the FN 5.7 X 28 MM, but hey that is a whole different forum. LOL

1916 Fox Sterlingworth
1947 Remington Model 11
2014 Browning Citori Superlight

Unfortunately , here in NY it is so spotty finding powder . Beikirch's in E. Rochester is a major distributor for the North East , and with what becomes avail , we on see SOME . And this area is a plethora of shooters .Beik's usually have some FEd shells . Sometimes they have stuff and I hear they have RedDot and promo ... Louie's in Bath has had a variety of powder when orders arrive . I got my 410 there - a little high , but not bad . He had Green Dot and Unique there , last trip - don't know if they've gotten more or have sold that out . Most of the few other places are fretty gougy . Few shells at Louies , and usually a few at Bass Pro or Ganders . NEVER know what tyheyhave for sure at any given time .... Have been giving them plenty of crap now that things can't be ordered into NY - so they HAVE to carry them . We'll see if it has an effect !

I'm treasurer of our club and have the most recent invoices for the piggy back orders of reloading supplies here in front of me. These are for supplies actually delivered in December. All are 8 pound jugs.

Green Dot - $111.49
Red Dot - $111.49
Tightgroup - $116.91
Unique - $111.49
700X - $125.91

You'll pay more in a shop because we get distributor price by piggy backing on the club's target orders. But those prices still seem very high.

Joined: 07 Sep 2014 Posts: 419

We buy trailer loads of Clay Targets at my home club, so maybe we can piggy back on that. I know the club does not want to be directly involved on powder and primers any more. Can you say what distributor you are using?

Thanks, Bob

Everything goes up sooner or later. The 'price' is whatever the market will dictate. Saying someone is 'gouging' means nothing. If you do not want to pay that then do not buy it. Simple as that.
If I was actually in need of a certain powder (or anything for that matter) the acceptable price is whatever I would be willing to pay for it. When does the higher price become become the 'normal' price?
Not all that many years ago gas was $1.50 per gallon but people are still buying it at $4. What is the regular price then? The news stations were excited in our area when it dropped below $3.

Joined: 28 Sep 2014 Posts: 241 Location: Kingsland, Texas

Excellent point !
Paid $1.99 a gallon today never thought I would see that again