I'm just getting started with reloading (thanks in part to a new LCR .327) and have a question about component prices as I consider buying the components I can get now or waiting it out until we, hopefully, go back to better market conditions.
Sorry if my questions are too basic for this group. Feel free to tell me this is not the place for this post.
I've mostly been looking at components on Midway and Brownell's. What I've been seeing is:
-most powders at in the $30-40 per pound range depending on brand and quantity
-Winchester primers at 8-9 cents each with CCI No. 41 5.56 and No. 34 7.62 primers at 12 cents each
-.355 XTP's for 22 cents/bullet, .312 XTP's for 25 cents/bullet and .357 XTP's and FXT's for about 28-29 cents/bullet
-Hornady flat tail soft point .308's for 35-36 cents/bullet
-New Brass: .327 Mag at 35-40 cents/each, .30-06 at 70-85 cents/each, .357 Mag at 20-40 cents/each (I already have more 5.56 and 9mm brass than I will need in the next decade if I practice like I should)
Some prices are product on clearance (edit: and some currently unavailable).
I only know what 9mm factory prices were like pre-pandemic (17 and ~35 cents per round for my preferred budget WWB115gr FMJ's and JHP's, that was great). So my question is, are these prices worth jumping on now (were there's stock) or do you more experienced members suggest waiting it out? I'm in it for the long-term, so I'm generally able to wait the market out if necessary. Except for .327, I'm probably willing to buy at somewhat silly prices there because I have no stock.
Your wisdom is much appreciated.
So,,,,, everything you said is correct, smart, and logical.... I have reloaded for 35 years,,,, I have also been collecting components for that amount of time,,, I drilled an ammo can put a valve stem in it,, and a pressure guage... I bought sleeves of 5000 primers at a time,,, when full,,through an oxygen absorber packet in. I sealed it with oil on the rubber gasket,,, then evacuated it with an air conditioning pump,,, and then took it to a friends tire shop and had him fill it with Nitrogen to 10 PSI. So far,,, no leaks after 15 years,,,, and no oxidation, since there is no oxygen in there. I have openned them to use,, after 10 years,,, they were not even tarnished,,, or you can use them as you load them,, and not worry about that.... but I had the dubious distinction of being in the Marine Corps and in LA for the LA riots,,,, I will never be caught without ammunition, nor the ability to reload them again
Even after all those years of collecting,,, I can reload my 9mm for about 30 cents,,, So if I can buy ammo under 30 cents a round (more like 50-60 cents a round now) then it is cheaper to buy them than reload,,, for rifle the target price is about 75 cent per round,, my large rifles,, 3006, 270, and 300 Wby and 338 Win,,, I just buy the brass and reload it myself.. My strike price on 22 is anytime it is below 8 cents a round. Which at the moment Walmard has Federal 22 in a box of 325 for $21,,, so I buy $100 bucks of it a month.. Take your time,, watch facebook market place for sales offering "reloading junk my dad had" adds and be quick about it... buy cheap and store for the future,, cause it isnt going to get cheaper,,,, leftists are NOT going to see the err of their ways,,,, the Buffalo are never coming back,,, and the only thing about the good old days,, is that they are gone...