2024 cap update, bad and the bad

[kyron4]

Knap your own flints. If you don't have wild flint nearby, it can easily be bought. Lead can always be had, but you might have to pay for it. Round ball moulds last a very long time.

True, but the point being we all like a certain amount of "convenience" when it comes to our hobbies.

 

[flatcreek]

On the bright side, we aren't in 3' of snow with no prospects of a warm bed or bath for several more months and we didn't just risk our lives for 9 months trapping beaver only to find out the pelts will bring less than half what they brought last year. Not to mention we still have to pay off our stake from the trapping company that is raising prices on flints, caps, powder, and lead while paying us less and less for risking our lives.

So it is, as it has always been.

 

[Okie Hog]

There is no shortage of#11 caps. Those caps are in the hands of scammers and scalpers who will continue to charge outrageous prices so long as smoke pole shooters pay those outrageous prices.
Meanwhile shooters look to soothsayers for relief.

 

[Sam squanch]

And in the meantime, you tube “experts “ who pretend to know all about the cap shortage might be the ones hoarding them to drive the demand and price up. Like the gun show vendors I saw telling people “ yeah, Biden is going to sign something next month to BAN that, better get NOW ! “

 

[ETipp]

There is no shortage of#11 caps. Those caps are in the hands of scammers and scalpers who will continue to charge outrageous prices so long as smoke pole shooters pay those outrageous prices.
Meanwhile shooters look to soothsayers for relief.

Really? Is that why the manufacturers themselves have stated they are only producing a fraction of what they used to produce each year? CCI has said they only tool up for manufacturing caps on a limited basis. Other ammo or powder manufacturers have flat said that big government contracts are their main focus.

There’s no doubt scalpers out there, but when the manufacturers themselves tell us they are only producing a small amount, that’s telling the true story.

If scammers and scalpers are doing what you contend, then they are bypassing the distributors. Because many stores cannot get caps.

 

[Sam squanch]

The fat government contracts are another way to keep the manufacturers supplying ONLY the government! Joe average shooter and gun hobbyist will slowly be priced out of the sport. That’s the idea, in my opinion.

 

[ETipp]

The fat government contracts are another way to keep the manufacturers supplying ONLY the government! Joe average shooter and gun hobbyist will slowly be priced out of the sport. That’s the idea, in my opinion.

Yep. We are small taters compared to big government contract. There’s a lot of war and/or fighting going on around the world right now.

 

[TxGR]

There is no shortage of#11 caps. Those caps are in the hands of scammers and scalpers who will continue to charge outrageous prices so long as smoke pole shooters pay those outrageous prices.
Meanwhile shooters look to soothsayers for relief.

You forgot "hoarders," like the folks who bought many thousands of caps, "enough caps to outlast me," or "several lifetimes worth," etc.

Demand drives prices, high demand creates shortages, hoarding makes shortages worse, shortages make price gouging possible.

You're right of course, there is no shortage for those who have enough caps to "wear out my entire percussion collection and then some."

 

[TxGR]

Is Ethan at "I Love Muzzleloading" presenting himself as a know-it-all with all the answers on the perc cap supply?

I don't think so. He had direct contact with somebody at CCI who told him they only do perc cap runs once a year. Ethan relayed the information he was given.

Companies talk to content creators because they have larger audiences. They are a free mechanism to get their message to their customers. If I were CCI, I'd rather speak one-on-one with Ethan, answer his questions, and let him make a video summarizing our conversation where thousands of customers can hear the answers, rather than have hundreds of phone calls and thousands of emails asking the same question over and over again.

To be sure, there are some insufferable, pretentious, condescending content creators (Everything BP, T.Rex Arms, TFB for example); others are odd personalities portraying a caricatures (Garand Thumb, Kentucky Ballistics), some who just shill for companies (Sootch), etc. but almost all of them are providing decent information, or they aren't successful. Personally, I prefer more even tempered, humble presenters who don't pretend they know everything, but in fact know quite a lot (Duelist1954, Hickcok45, Paul Harrell), but others can't stand them. Each channel appeals to different audiences.

Ethan seems like a stand-up guy providing his first-hand experiences and information. He was affiliated with the NMLRA for a while. He's relatively young, and I think he tailors his content to those new to the hobby. I think that's a good thing.

 

[Gun Tramp]

You're right of course, there is no shortage for those who have enough caps to "wear out my entire percussion collection and then some."

And lest we forget, it's a hobby.

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

There is no shortage of#11 caps. Those caps are in the hands of scammers and scalpers who will continue to charge outrageous prices so long as smoke pole shooters pay those outrageous prices.
Meanwhile shooters look to soothsayers for relief.

Good to see ya back...Oak

 

[kyron4]

Ethan seems like a stand-up guy providing his first-hand experiences and information. He was affiliated with the NMLRA for a while. He's relatively young, and I think he tailors his content to those new to the hobby. I think that's a good thing.

This.

Ethan is good people and a valuable resource for all thing muzzleloading within the industry. Ask anyone under 30 who just got into BP shooting and I guarantee they will say they saw a YT video and it peaked their interest. While some people just hate anything and everyone on youtube, no matter how informative, I guess they can read their 200 year old muzzleloading books by candle light , cause you know electricity, like youtube, is the devil.

 

[TDM]

Well, even without inflation and constant attacks on the 2nd Amendment, another factor with supply problems is that we are but a niche in the ammo and shooting world. It’s easy to feel that what we do is widespread when you spend time here on the forum, but that’s not the reality. I love to see younger folks embracing the hobby because 10-15 years from now there will be a lot fewer active shooters.

 

[Widows Son]

I watched that video, and i disagree with one thing he said. Ethan said if you were in Walmart and saw some caps, to just buy a few tins, and leave the rest for some other fellas. Well, that is a nice gesture, and it is exactly what I did last fall. I got plenty of caps, so I just got 3 tins for $5.62, leaving 17 on the hook. Not 30 secinds later, a low grade poltroon that I recognize from his table at the local gun shows, swoops in and takes all the remaining caps. Saw him in December selling those caps for $35 per 100. I should have bought them all and gave them away, and that is exactly what i will do next time. Buy caps when you can, and pass them out to your muzzleloading friends. If you don't, those scurvy buzzards are surely going to, and they will sell them for 700% mark-up.

The merchant should not sell so many to 1 customer. This modern ”every man for himself” attitude is going to lead to a scary future.

 

[oldramrod]

I always check the supply when I am at a walmart. I buy two tins for each shooter in the family if they have them, when I find them. Never taking the last two. I always leave some for the next guy/

 

[COTNTOP]

Last spring a Walmart worker called me and told that they had caps. When I got there they were already gone and showed up in the local gunshop for $15 a tin. This year will be different, gonna have the employee buy every tin for my friends and I.

 

[flconch53]

Last spring a Walmart worker called me and told that they had caps. When I got there they were already gone and showed up in the local gunshop for $15 a tin. This year will be different, gonna have the employee buy every tin for my friends and I.

There are plenty of caps out there right now. They are not cheap like they used to be. I bought 10 tins of CCI and 10 tins of RWS at the Alifia. The RWS caps are 250 in a container.

 

[Frontier's]

I'd rather be a hoarder, than be a fool running around like a chicken with its head cut off, looking for something I should have stocked up on long ago.

Guys that buy 1 or 2 tins then say.... That'll last me for years!! Are now the ones looking around like a lost puppy, because none can be found.

 

[sqqy14]

Why so few Walmarts get caps?

 

[flconch53]

Why so few Walmarts get caps?

Loss leader