Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Ammo shortage

TorqueMaster said:
Hrmmm.
I came here to mention that even air rifle pellets have dried up from many stores as well. A recent search turned up a single pack of lower quality Daisy .22s (of course I was after .177) and no CO2 carts at a wally world, and a severely diminished selection at Bass Pro. Found some a bit overpriced, wrong style, but better than nothing for winter plinking.

Not sure the air rifle exists that will "match" a .22 LR, but yes, it would be expensive. But for some small game, squirrels, rabbits, the .22 LR has way more energy than required -- many an off-the-shelf air rifle has the power and accuracy needed to get the job done.
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I agree and I think airguns are great. A pretty decent one can be had for a $100. You can find plenty of airguns and pellets available online still.
I own a gamo co2 handgun for practice, a crossman/sheriton .20 and a .22. Had many others in the past including .177s. I much prefer the .22 over the .177s. I've squirrel and rabbit hunted with them. My nefew now hunts with a .22 PCP. $$$
A .22 long rifle has more energy than required but not enough to matter. We seldom use them because they louder. We usually use .22 shorts and longs (not long rifles) CBs (comical bullets) and have even used BBs (round bullets)
They do make big bore air rifles too. Some shooting .45 cal slugs weighing over 200 gr. They've been using them on big game for years. They too are more expensive and have less performance compared to powder guns.
 
MuddyMo said:
I agree and I think airguns are great. A pretty decent one can be had for a $100. You can find plenty of airguns and pellets available online still.
I own a gamo co2 handgun for practice, a crossman/sheriton .20 and a .22. Had many others in the past including .177s. I much prefer the .22 over the .177s. I've squirrel and rabbit hunted with them. My nefew now hunts with a .22 PCP. $$$
A .22 long rifle has more energy than required but not enough to matter. We seldom use them because they louder. We usually use .22 shorts and longs (not long rifles) CBs (comical bullets) and have even used BBs (round bullets)
They do make big bore air rifles too. Some shooting .45 cal slugs weighing over 200 gr. They've been using them on big game for years. They too are more expensive and have less performance compared to powder guns.
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I own the scoped Gamo .177 air rifle, bought it to take care of those nasty little red squirrels.
 
TorqueMaster said:
Hrmmm.
I came here to mention that even air rifle pellets have dried up from many stores as well. A recent search turned up a single pack of lower quality Daisy .22s (of course I was after .177) and no CO2 carts at a wally world, and a severely diminished selection at Bass Pro. Found some a bit overpriced, wrong style, but better than nothing for winter plinking.

Not sure the air rifle exists that will "match" a .22 LR, but yes, it would be expensive. But for some small game, squirrels, rabbits, the .22 LR has way more energy than required -- many an off-the-shelf air rifle has the power and accuracy needed to get the job done.
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There are. Look up PCP (pre-charged pneumatic) air rifles. They come in a range of calibers from .17 to .50 (maybe .68 or .75 too) and have no problem getting a slug close to the speed of sound.

They are multi-shot (usually 20-50 shots on a charged tank) but I think they are all manual action (work a bolt or the like to load the next slug, not semi-auto). If you're enterprising, you can use a reloading press or hydraulic press to swage your own slugs, or you can buy them. I think commercial bullets work fine in them as long as they are the right size. I'm sure you could also cast them if you had a lead casting set up.

The large ones (30 or 35 cal or larger) can take down a deer just fine.

You can recharge the air tank at home. There are high pressure hand pumps, foot pumps, and electric pumps. But you have to use a high pressure pump or a two-stage re-compressor fed by a normal pressure pump since they run at about 3000-4000 PSI.

Also they are not cheap. Expect to spend $600-1500 for a decent one.
 
Seems everyone is buying up all the ammo when they can find it thus creating a "shortage" for others who end up doing the same thing when they see ammo they buy it all just perpetuating the situation...
Speaking of pcp air rifles, I have a Kral Puncher Breaker in 22, great rifle for smaller game. I have a scuba tank that refill from, each refill from the tank probably get 60ish shots before power drops off and you can get many refills from the scuba tank before that needs refilling. It will put a pellet through 3/4 plywood like a drill, plenty of umph for whatever small critter, but I am mainly a target shooter, enjoyable rifle!
 
zeemang said:
Seems everyone is buying up all the ammo when they can find it thus creating a "shortage" for others who end up doing the same thing when they see ammo they buy it all just perpetuating the situation...
Speaking of pcp air rifles, I have a Kral Puncher Breaker in 22, great rifle for smaller game. I have a scuba tank that refill from, each refill from the tank probably get 60ish shots before power drops off and you can get many refills from the scuba tank before that needs refilling. It will put a pellet through 3/4 plywood like a drill, plenty of umph for whatever small critter, but I am mainly a target shooter, enjoyable rifle!
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That's part of it. People are worried about all sorts of things, much of it political and doesn't need to be detailed here, and they're buying all they can as soon as it hits the shelves.

But there's also a significant shortage of primers. I understand that a lot of that was caused by covid scare lockdowns. So primer supply is still trying to catch up. Limited numbers of primers means limited numbers of produced loaded cartridges.

And this video from federal/CCI:
https://yewtu.be/watch?v=E5zNNk130V0&local=1
 
Haven't really checked but does anyone know if black powder is still readily available for muzzle loaders? Many have to go back to colonial days.
 
MuddyMo said:
You can buy wheel weights from them that are far easier to deal with.
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Back when I was into casting and reloading, I found wheel weights at about every intersection while riding my motorcycle. I cast them for my .38/.357s, my .44s and .45s, I used straight wheel weights and never had any problem with leading in my barrels. I had about twenty pounds of lead bars by my front steps and my cousin knowing that i was a silversmith wanted to know if they were silver.
 
T-Man said:
Haven't really checked but does anyone know if black powder is still readily available for muzzle loaders? Many have to go back to colonial days.
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You can still get black powder but the substitute's have a lot of advantages.
 
MuddyMo said:
We usually use .22 shorts and longs (not long rifles) CBs (comical bullets) and have even used BBs (round bullets) guns.
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Lewis and Clark had a large caliber air rifle with them when they explored the new territory. I used to use CBs in my Remington 513 heavy barreled target rifle. They didn't make any more noise than an air rifle but they would go through about three inches of wood. I had my cousin convinced that I had a built in silencer on the rifle.
 
I haven’t been able to find range grade ammo for my 300 Blackout for almost a year now. Been paying up to $1.24 per round because all I can get is the good stuff and at that price I can’t afford to do much shooting. Have 500 rounds of stash but I hesitate to use it.
 
jordanmills said:
All lead is, to some extent. But battery lead brings all sorts of especially nasty stuff to the party.
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It's true, lead is toxic, particularly at 1,000 FPS. That said, I don't eat the stuff. If I melt it, it is outside with good ventilation. I've been casting sinkers with my buddies since I was a kid. I'm pretty grey now. Lead fishing sinkers for marine and deep lacustrine use are heavy, expensive and getting more expensive. I've reclaimed lead from auto batteries. There was a fair amount of lead in them. There's a reason why dead auto batteries are still heavy. All the plates don't deteriorate completely and at once. I'm very careful with the acid. Limestone neutralizes it. Yeah, dead battery plates have a crust. I skim it off and reserve it in another container because it entrains some lead and can still be reclaimed in a second melt.

I like to reload as well. Among others, I reload .45 LC. That's generally a pretty heavy slug. Like some have said, you harden the slugs by adding wheel weights to reduce barrel leading. Reloaders have favorite formulas for this and I'll bet some are online. You can probably trade cast bullets for primers. If you lube then them so much the better.

I'm kinda a DIY type. I was also swaging my own 3/4 jacketed pistol bullets using my old Corbin swaging dies in an RCBS "O" type reloading press. They take dead soft thick lead wire in the gilding metal jackets and make fine hollow points and semi-wadcutters.
 
Rock Jock said:
It's true, lead is toxic, particularly at 1,000 FPS. That said, I don't eat the stuff. If I melt it, it is outside with good ventilation. I've been casting sinkers with my buddies since I was a kid. I'm pretty grey now. Lead fishing sinkers for marine and deep lacustrine use are heavy, expensive and getting more expensive. I've reclaimed lead from auto batteries. There was a fair amount of lead in them. There's a reason why dead auto batteries are still heavy. All the plates don't deteriorate completely and at once. I'm very careful with the acid. Limestone neutralizes it. Yeah, dead battery plates have a crust. I skim it off and reserve it in another container because it entrains some lead and can still be reclaimed in a second melt.

I like to reload as well. Among others, I reload .45 LC. That's generally a pretty heavy slug. Like some have said, you harden the slugs by adding wheel weights to reduce barrel leading. Reloaders have favorite formulas for this and I'll bet some are online. You can probably trade cast bullets for primers. If you lube then them so much the better.

I'm kinda a DIY type. I was also swaging my own 3/4 jacketed pistol bullets using my old Corbin swaging dies in an RCBS "O" type reloading press. They take dead soft thick lead wire in the gilding metal jackets and make fine hollow points and semi-wadcutters.
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Doing it outside would help a lot. I wouldn't reuse battery lead based on what I've read about it, but you do what you feel safe with. You probably know a lot more about casting than I do.
 
KT is successful today!

Excuse His Highness for being a bit excited :excited: :excited: but He managed to find some ammo today that was searched for for over 2 months! Some 00 Buck 12 gauge. Only bought 2 boxes due to the price and left 10 boxes on the shelf, but this is enough....building a stock of ammo is a bit like CRHing, search a lot for a few rewards, but well worth it.

A couple of places KT stopped at today had NO ammo, and one place had 1 box of 28 gauge. Felt sorry for that box but did not buy it! :laughing::laughing:

But the Royal Pawn Shop, after some diligent searching turned up the 00 buck and a box of 7 1/2 shot, bought it just to have something for recreational shooting! And yes, you can tell from the pic that the 00 buck is 10 rounds to the box, but with 20 rounds total, that is enough to arm several of the Royal Home Defense long guns!

Anyway, if a person is persistent, there are small caches of useful ammo to be found. Also found some .38 pistol ammo and a couple of boxes of .45, but due to having been a reloader in his Former Royal Life, KT does not need those calibers.

Enjoy the rare photo! :laughing::laughing::laughing:
 

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Nice score your Highness ! I 'd bet that if you went back to that store six months from now that box of 28Ga. would still be there . Of all the shotgun users I've ever come across I only new of one who shot that gauge and he shot a lot of Skeet . Here's a box of shells I own that you probably haven't seen in awhile . Good ole' Winchester compression formed , ( not unusual to get ten reloads or more ). I just keep it for nostalgia or if I were to come across an old 16 ga. at a giveaway price ( very highly unlikely ). The box is probably worth more than the shells .:lol:
 

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Soil Surgeon said:
Nice score your Highness ! I 'd bet that if you went back to that store six months from now that box of 28Ga. would still be there . Of all the shotgun users I've ever come across I only new of one who shot that gauge and he shot a lot of Skeet . Here's a box of shells I own that you probably haven't seen in awhile . Good ole' Winchester compression formed , ( not unusual to get ten reloads or more ). I just keep it for nostalgia or if I were to come across an old 16 ga. at a giveaway price ( very highly unlikely ). The box is probably worth more than the shells .:lol:
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Boy Howdy! KT sure likes that pic and that box! Turns out KT inherited his father's Remington Model 12 pump...in 16 gauge...shot lots of squirrels with that gun! KT also inherited some 2 boxes of shells for it, but has had to retire it as shells are too scarce for it. Certainly was an all round fine gun, improved cylinder. I still love the way it looks! It has a scratch on the stock, where he leaned it against a barbwire fence and went to climb over...he got straddle the fence. Looked down and discovered he was also straddle a hornets nest on the lower wire:shock::shock: He took off running, and peeling off his clothes until he was down to his scivey shorts.....Then slowly crept back through the woods, finding and shaking out each piece of clothing as he found them. :lol::lol::lol: Finally when fully clothed he returned to the fence to find the shotgun laying on the ground, with the scratch on the stock where it was flipped off when he made his quick retreat! Just that scratch reminds KT of his telling of that adventure! And of course no squirrels for the pot that day! :laughing::laughing:

And KT loves that phrase on the box..."All new plastic shells"....much of the ammo KT inherited with that shotgun was paper shells and most of it was no good...over the years it must have absorbed too much moisture to ignite...that or the primers went bad....last time KT went hunting with it was in high school and wound up chambering the 3rd shell before He got one to fire! Very patient squirrel! :laughing::laughing:
 
KingTotsalot said:
Boy Howdy! KT sure likes that pic and that box! Turns out KT inherited his father's Remington Model 12 pump...in 16 gauge...shot lots of squirrels with that gun! KT also inherited some 2 boxes of shells for it, but has had to retire it as shells are too scarce for it. Certainly was an all round fine gun, improved cylinder. I still love the way it looks! It has a scratch on the stock, where he leaned it against a barbwire fence and went to climb over...he got straddle the fence. Looked down and discovered he was also straddle a hornets nest on the lower wire:shock::shock: He took off running, and peeling off his clothes until he was down to his scivey shorts.....Then slowly crept back through the woods, finding and shaking out each piece of clothing as he found them. :lol::lol::lol: Finally when fully clothed he returned to the fence to find the shotgun laying on the ground, with the scratch on the stock where it was flipped off when he made his quick retreat! Just that scratch reminds KT of his telling of that adventure! And of course no squirrels for the pot that day! :laughing::laughing:


And KT loves that phrase on the box..."All new plastic shells"....much of the ammo KT inherited with that shotgun was paper shells and most of it was no good...over the years it must have absorbed too much moisture to ignite...that or the primers went bad....last time KT went hunting with it was in high school and wound up chambering the 3rd shell before He got one to fire! Very patient squirrel! :laughing::laughing:
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Two great historic accounts KT , I really enjoyed them . Your Dad must have had reoccurring nightmares over that assault by those angry Hornets .:shock:

Very patient Squirrel ! :laughing:

Those paper shells must have gotten too much moisture for sure . Kept in a cool , dry place those babies last for many years . I used to like to hunt with those old paper shells , I loved the smell of those freshly fired ones .:yes:
 
I just picked up a 1976 Ruger New Model Single Six (Centennial edition), in 22 mag only... I debated it as I have a ton of 22lr - no magnums tho! Actually bought a Wrangler instead of this one first, then kept thinking about this one and went back for it :lol: Got one box of ammo with the gun, but I’m going to buy a 22lr cylinder for it... and keep my eye out for some more WMR’s.! I have about 4K of each caliber I own otherwise.
 

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GroundSweeper said:
I just picked up a 1976 Ruger New Model Single Six (Centennial edition), in 22 mag only... I debated it as I have a ton of 22lr - no magnums tho! Actually bought a Wrangler instead of this one first, then kept thinking about this one and went back for it :lol: Got one box of ammo with the gun, but I’m going to buy a 22lr cylinder for it... and keep my eye out for some more WMR’s.! I have about 4K of each caliber I own otherwise.
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Sweet pistol and appears to be very well taken care of . I love putting holes in paper with a 22 . Those Wranglers look like a fun gun also .If they hadn't closed the local pistol range down I would probably get one . No place to do
any kind of shooting around here anymore . Can't even shoot a pellet pistol
in your own back yard . :(
 
GroundSweeper said:
I just picked up a 1976 Ruger New Model Single Six (Centennial edition), in 22 mag only... I debated it as I have a ton of 22lr - no magnums tho! Actually bought a Wrangler instead of this one first, then kept thinking about this one and went back for it :lol: Got one box of ammo with the gun, but I’m going to buy a 22lr cylinder for it... and keep my eye out for some more WMR’s.! I have about 4K of each caliber I own otherwise.
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Of course while at the Royal Pawn Shop, KT also looked through all the handgun cases, only one had any revolvers. KT has a American palm revolver, single action .22 mag, that He purchased 15 years ago and paid $125 for it used and picked up one box of shells for it. Saw one today in the revolver case, priced $259.99 used. And a High Point .22lr revolver for $179.00 plus tax....darn near bought it, may go back and get it as a .22 plinker. Only pistol they had less than $250!! But today KT saw no .22lr at any store! Until His Majesty sees some .22lr available back on the market, it can sit in that case! :lol::lol:
 
Soil Surgeon said:
Sweet pistol and appears to be very well taken care of . I love putting holes in paper with a 22 . Those Wranglers look like a fun gun also .If they hadn't closed the local pistol range down I would probably get one . No place to do
any kind of shooting around here anymore . Can't even shoot a pellet pistol
in your own back yard . :(
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Thanks man. The Wrangler is fun, lacks the quality and refinement evident in the single six but the price reflects. That is a shame for sure SS on no place to shoot down there (SoCal?). I’m very lucky to have NF land about 20 min away to shoot on, and my backyard is fine for pellets, arrows and BB’s.
 
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