In a recent article in the Manteca Bulletin, Dennis Wyatt examines how a recent ammo shortage is affecting the ability of the Manteca Police Department to properly train its officers.
On a similar note, my friend Ken Brown is a wholesale distributor of several brands of quality firearms and related products. A few weeks ago, I asked Ken how his business was doing and he replied “hectic,” and then explained how frantic the search for ammo and guns was so that he could service his clients.
Ken took out his iPhone and showed me a picture of rows upon rows of empty shelves at a store in Visalia. Whether we like it or not, the ammo shortage is real.
So what can we do about it? Some folks spend hours a day on the internet trying to find ammo while others drive to every store they can think of to search the shelves for ammo. Neither of the above is a particularly good answer, but one solution that I have found is to reload your own ammo. I think I began reloading when John Kennedy was president, and thus have been at it awhile.
One of the reasons for the shortage, in my opinion, is government interference. For example, in the Peoples Republic of California, you must submit to a background check to buy ammo. The local gun store takes your information and then sends it off to bureaucrats in Sacramento to determine if you are worthy of buying ammo.
Fortunately, reloading components are exempt from the state requirements. You can walk into your local gun shop and buy a can of gunpowder, a bag of shiny new brass cartridges, a box of cast bullets, and a reloading kit to get you started. You simply select the items you want, pay for them and can then go home and load your own rifle, shotgun, or pistol ammunition. An additional bonus is that you didn’t have to get the blessing of some government bureaucrat.
There are several other reasons for reloading your own ammo. You can load exactly the cartridge you need and not have to settle for what little you can find on the shelf. Some ranchers I know have suffered significant loses to their flocks of sheep or their cattle herds from renegade coyotes, mountain lions, or bears.
If your livelihood is threatened by a coyote killing your sheep a 110-grain bullet in a 25 -06 is an excellent solution to that problem. If your dairy herd in Fort Jones is suffering from bear with a taste for fresh beef, then a 200-grain bullet from your 7-millimeter might be just the ticket. I think you get the idea.
Reloading is also a great way to save money. The 25 -06 round I mentioned above will cost you about $2 each from your local gun shop, if you can find it. But if you are a reloader you can produce that round for about 30 cents. To top it all off, via reloading you can produce more accurate loads so that you might be able to reach out and nail that rogue coyote at 300 yards or more.
There is also a great deal of satisfaction in reloading your own ammo and knowing that you can produce exactly what you want so that you’ll have it when you need it.
If you think you might like to try reloading, stop by your local gun dealer and check out. They’ll be glad to help you.
Until Next Week,
Tight Lines
