Up until the mid 90's I loaded on a "As Needed +1K" principle. Then in 94 I bought a brick of primers a week. In 2007 I lost my job and cashed in about 125K primers. And when things got stable for my family again, I started replacing my stash, a case at a time! In 2012 I lost that job and cashed in my reserve of bulk lead, about 700 pounds in ingots. I still have not found a replacement.
I shot Cowboy Action to the tune of 5k to 8k a year including my adult kids and practice, I found buy bullets better time wise then casting, I bought my bullets by the 10k per caliber (38, 44, 45, 45-70) after my stroke, I found I didn't have patience for the rule Nazis, and only shoot informally now and haven't gone through my last batch of 5500 45 Colt rounds, so my reserves have held up well. But when there is a bargain, still count me in!
Ivan