. As has been discussed previously powders for reloading are in somewhat short supply. We all kinda know that. It seems that the Ukraine war is creating shortages in the supply of nitrocellulose...significant shotage even for Russia. China is the largest supplier(about 45% so I have read) of Nitrocellulose in the world..the US has about 25% and the rest is spread over many countries..Mainly produced from cotton,,,the easiest and wood fiber...more expensive and time consuming. It looks as though the supply of powders is getting thinner esp in Europe and becoming even a problem here in the US. Europe needs our Nitrocellulose. So I think this will mean...if these wars keep going in Europe and the middle east we are going to have less reloading powders available. Hoping things get better...but the supplies in the world are really low right now
Been Reading Some Disturbing news
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Whatever the reason......
Honestly I don't buy the war in the Ukraine being the cause. There have always been wars going on, mostly involving the US. It never put a damper on reloading until the suppliers decided that they wanted it to be in short supply so the could sell less for more. Primers are the same.
ANYWAY, I do hope this lets up, but I fear that any political shake up is going to just make things get worse.
Honestly I don't buy the war in the Ukraine being the cause. There have always been wars going on, mostly involving the US. It never put a damper on reloading until the suppliers decided that they wanted it to be in short supply so the could sell less for more. Primers are the same.
ANYWAY, I do hope this lets up, but I fear that any political shake up is going to just make things get worse.
cellulose and nitric acid, and then dry the cellulose. there is no 3rd step. except don't blow up. it's a pre Civil War tech process. aka gun cotton.
we tried it for a side air bag inflator propellant at work for a while. never got it to work right.
we tried it for a side air bag inflator propellant at work for a while. never got it to work right.
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AJ
US Veteran
Hope all the wars go away. However, I do not see that happening. So, buy what you can when you can and stock up for that rainy day that is coming!
OutAtTheEdge
Member
Give this Guns Magazine podcast a watch/listen. Roy Huntington discusses this exact issue pretty well.
Not just the war in Ukraine...and Russia Was low on stocks of Artillery. Gun cotton is made with cotton..pretty easy. A whole lot more work in wood cellulose...but more available raw material. A lot of WWII powders were made with WWI cannon powder. And we had a "few" more companies making powder back in the day...including the gummit
Ammo and component "shortages" are another new normal, apparently. Ammo makers have discovered another new business model and I'd not be surprised if anti-gun entities weren't working behind the scenes to encourage them.
I got caught short when the last kerfuffle started in 2020. Lesson learned.
I got caught short when the last kerfuffle started in 2020. Lesson learned.
I’ve been seeing powder running $70+ per pound for some powders, most around $50. Makes sense the Chinese are the largest producers of gun powder, they’ve been at it for 1300 or 1400 years. 
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Another case of the US loosing production capability. Not rocket science, one can “ determine” this cause on their own…..
scattershot
Member
It worked in the 70’s for gasolne, sugar, chocolate, coffee, etc. The powder/primer,folks re catching on, too.
DWalt
Member
I don't understand the "nitrocellulose shortage" talk. Insofar as I know, the smokeless powder manufacturers make their own nitrocellulose which is converted to smokeless powder further down the production line. Making the nitrocellulose is only the first step of many.
I recall a book article from the mid 80s talking about one of the major powder makers for reloaders in the US getting deliveries of huge stockpiles of artillery propellants from as far back as WW2 and dissolving it and using that as the basis for formulating their powders. Seemed like they had a vast resource available at the time. Well in WW2 it was practically impossible to get brass for cases for civilian use, they say. But I got to say that there must be some conniving going on. Used to be alot of our powders were rebranded or just named imports and I wonder how that is working out. Mostly from Europe. But does Mexico or South American ammo, or whatever, use locally made propellants that they could export? Or is there some stumbling blocks in place now?
BTW I have not priced propellants for muzzle loaders recently and I do know that percussion caps are a rare item in some areas now, hard to get. Then again if you got a flintlock, you might be all set. That may be how they force us back to that, LOL.
STORMINORMAN
Member
For quite a while the ONLY primers that were routinely available were basically percussion caps and/or shotgun & black powder primers...
Cheers!
According to my Speer #9 manual....
Vernon Speer got his start making bullets jacketed with rolled out .22 brass cases in WWII because of the shortage of guilding metal. Wish he was still around. Finding ways AROUND shortages instead of creating them.
Vernon Speer got his start making bullets jacketed with rolled out .22 brass cases in WWII because of the shortage of guilding metal. Wish he was still around. Finding ways AROUND shortages instead of creating them.
The US is palnning to get production to 50K 155 shells a month in short order, so there will be a pinch on inputs for a little while.
In a few years when nations have refilled their magazines, there will likely be a huge glut. I'm still shooting up WWII surplus powder.
In a few years when nations have refilled their magazines, there will likely be a huge glut. I'm still shooting up WWII surplus powder.
Lots of crackpot conspiracies, once again. I'm not worried about it.
venomballistics
Member
It's an excuse
The real game is Vista outdoors rolling production capacity into government contracts instead of civilian markets.
They'd rather stock the arsenals of Hanoi than put a box of shells on a shelf for you to buy.
The real game is Vista outdoors rolling production capacity into government contracts instead of civilian markets.
They'd rather stock the arsenals of Hanoi than put a box of shells on a shelf for you to buy.
More than half of Alliant powders are supplied by European companies these days. They used to make all their powders. I think all the Reloader powders come from Europe. European production is mainly going to ,ilitary contracts ADI powders are made overseas. and they are a large military contractor. What has happened to us is exactly what I have seen posted here in the past many times. We are victims of the Global economy. Think...we hardly even make the strategic metal STEEL here any longer...and how about lead...no lead mining in the US anymore...the greenies have shut down both steel and lead and working on OIL
