I'm just going to guess at this. I'm thinking the past is a very good indicator of the future. We had a pretty nasty blip back in the Klinton years, when our primers went from $7.99 or so up into the $20s. For whatever reason, I stood on principle and when the price dropped into the teens, I bought a bunch. Since I don't reload as much as I did back then, I just would pick up a sleeve here and there when the prices seemed good.

When this ammo shortage started, I took inventory. I was most concerned with 22 rimfire ammo, but my second concern was primers. I started counting and realized I had about 20,000 of them, evenly split between large rifle and small pistol. No small rifle, few large pistol. But I'm too stubborn to pay $30 and up for them, so in the short term, I'll do without.

My strategy has always been to haunt gun shows, looking for bargains. I can still find them on bullets. It just feels good to buy old boxes of brand name bullets for $10 a hundred. But I guess everyone is smart about primers and prices.

I'm leaving in a few minutes for the gun show. I have nothing really in mind to buy, just looking and taking my chances on bargains, again.

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Dick Burg