FINALLY found some powder.

Officially ending a powder drought that has lasted longer than a year, my father ran into some IMR 8208 XBR down in Arizona yesterday. Finally! He scored 4 pounds of it.

This is the first time we’ve seen any Gen 2 powder available for over a year.

I still would like to get some Varget, but I just couldn’t hold out any longer. I need to load hundreds more rounds for the p-dog shoot this year and May is coming up FAST.

I’ve never tried XBR, but I’ve heard good things about it in varmint-class loads, so we’ll see how it does. The biggest challenge was to get enough of one powder so my ammo is only split between two different powders instead of 4 or 5.

I still cannot wait for this drought to be over. It’s just such a hassle to never know what’s going to be available and then going to different loadings, etc.

Hopefully others are finding supplies for reloading are becoming easier to get. It’s been a long drought.

Grouse

Ive still been looking for Varget in my travels but haven’t seen any. I will let you know if I do.
DT

I’m starting to think that its more in relationship to where your at or a black cloud lingering above you. Powder has been pouring in around here…no pun intended. I’ld offer to pick you up a few pounds, but Haz. transportation from here to there isn’t worth it.

Have you tried to order thru a Scheels or other sport shop at the worst of it I ordered 8lbs Varget thru Scheels it took 2 weeks to get it had to prepay.

Quote:

---

I’m starting to think that its more in relationship to where your at or a black cloud lingering above you. Powder has been pouring in around here…no pun intended.

---

To some extent, I think it’s true that right place/right time plays a role as I’ve heard guys in the SE and SD/MT/ID/WY are seeing powder everywhere. Being in the most populated part of MN probably plays against me as there are more people and relatively few retailers who stock reloading supplies.

My dad spoke to the owner of the gun shop in AZ where he found the powder and the owner said that powder is coming available, but it’s wildly inconsistent as to what and when. So he might get 2 cases of one type this week and then he can’t get it again for 2 months. Nothing seems to be consistently available.

I have “notify me” alarms set on over a dozen websites for powders of all kinds. I haven’t gotten a single notification, so while it might be better in some areas, I’m guessing the national picture on average is still that supplies are very short.

Hopefully the fact that you’re rolling in it in eastern WI is a sign that overall the situation is improving.

Grouse

Quote:

---

Have you tried to order thru a Scheels or other sport shop at the worst of it I ordered 8lbs Varget thru Scheels it took 2 weeks to get it had to prepay.

---

Unfortunately, I don’t have a Scheels near me and I see you cannot order powder through their website.

I have placed 2 backorders for Varget, one about 4 months ago, one back in January. Neither has produced so far. Since no one will comment on how long a backorder will take to fill, I’m a little wary about putting out any more backorders or I’ll find myself sitting on top of 36 or more pounds of powder…

Which, actually, doesn’t seem like a bad problem to have. From where I stand now at least. Granted when Mrs. Grouse found out that I had just spent almost a grand on powder, she’d probably burn some of it with a little target practice. Bonus points if you can guess who’d be the target.

Grouse

Grouse, i agree your location is probably working against you. As you stated, high density of people and low # of retailers is a bad combination. I checked with 3 places today out of curiosity, and 2 of them had varget in stock. The store that was out is located in a unique area with very little competition and they draw people in from miles around. They sell out about as fast as they get it. BUT, they are getting it in – the demand is just that high.