I don't normally talk politics but what I observed the last couple days is a direct result of it. I am working a local gun show here in middle Ga. this weekend and talking in general with most all the ammo vendors they are all telling me they have been contacted by their suppliers that stocks of ammunition are quickly becoming depleted. Also one person who sells components said the same thing. I saw powder from one guy at anywhere from 80.00 a pound to 150.00 a pound. Primers at least what he had left were 150.00 @ thousand. AR platform guns and handguns were being purchased at an alarming rate. I am afraid we as shooters and gun owners as a whole are once again in for a long hard ride...


JMH

Only those who didn't learn from multiple times that the same thing happened are getting caught with their pants down. If you're one of us older guys and have gone through all this multiple times and never learned from any of them, then you probably deserve to get caught short and pay dearly. That might hurt some guys feelings, but it's just a fact.
I remember when primers went from $7 a thousand to $10 a thousand, and every payday I bought another thousand to build up a supply before they took another big jump. Same with powder when I could buy it for $10 a pound, and I figured I better buy a pound at least once a month or more if I got a little OT. Learn from these price hikes, or pay the price later.

I attended a small local show yesterday and the only thing that I noticed that had risen in price was primers. There was no powder there so I can't say what it's status is. After covid I swore that I would not get short again and started buying twice the amount of components that I thought I might need. I don't have to worry about the current nonsense because I'm sitting on a good three years worth of powder and primers. 22s are another matter. I've got about 3000 rounds on hand but since I shoot a minimum of 50 rounds a week I'd like to double that number and will start to do so.

I finished up the show today. I sat across from a vendor who was nothing but AR platform guns. He was selling one particular model for 369.00 tax included out the door. He had brought 25 of that one model and he sold out yesterday. He was staying at a local hotel so he called someone in Atlanta and had them bring him some more during the night about an hour and a half away. He set up those this morning and sold most of them. It was the craziest thing I have ever seen. It was the same way with handguns. He had two people doing the 4473's and constantly on the phone with background checks. Talk about a volume dealer. In the last 5 years I have done quite a few shows at this same location and I have never seen anything like what I witnessed the last two days. I don't know about anyone else but it scares the hell out of me.



JMH

We all have a right to be concerned...
At least 1/2 of the country has lost sight of the value of freedom and their collective minds.

jhm wrote on Nov 8^th, 2026 at 6:54pm:

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?  Only the Shadow knows".

If you need it, if you can afford it, you better buy it.  Decades ago, not long after GCA '68, I set myself up to be more or less self sustaining.  No, I can't make smokeless powder or primers but I have a surfeit.  I can make black powder and flint abounds.   

Maybe it was the way I grew up, mostly without much more than food, clothing and shelter and the clothes were hand me downs from cousins.  Wife and I worked hard, were reasonably successful and so far as is possible neither of us is going to be left without.  I guess we were 'preppers' before it became a fad.  Not the kind that have 10 years of food stocked up but in the way we grew up, raised by Depression Era parents.  Winter is coming.

marlinguy wrote on Nov 9^th, 2026 at 10:00am:


That's my plan also. No kids to get first pick, what remains upon my passing goes to a small local gun auction company - small but with a national presence, and an excellent track record due to their extreme honesty (plus the owner is a friend). You may see some select pieces get offered here starting in the near future but the bulk of my stuff, non-single shot oriented, goes to auction. 

I'm not as old as some folks here, 73 in fact, but I feel older than most due to my battle with leukemia. So it goes. I'm not out of the game yet - heck I'm still buying stuff and shooting as much as I can. 

I'm actually debating whether or not to add a semi-auto something-or-other to my collection as I'm feeling a little edgy about the possible "zombie" uprising. Or not. I view such ownership more as an expression of gun rights than as a real need. Consumables like powder, primers, and .22 ammo on hand are way more than sufficient to see me through to the end. I learned that lesson looooong ago.

As far as defense against zombies goes, the current "behind the kitchen door gun" is a vintage Marlin 1894 .32-20 stuffed full of hot jacketed handloads. Picture Groucho Marx at the end of "Duck Soup" as he sprays bullets (at his own troops) saying "look at them run, look at them run".