Due to all the craziness going on right now, is there a shortage of BP weapons and stuff, as there is with modern firearms and ammunition? I know the modern firearm and ammunition market is nuts, with almost everything gone and crazy prices.
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Is there a current shortage of black powder arms?
- Thread starter HandyAndy
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There’s certainly a shortage and lag on imports from Italy. They were kind of the epicenter for a while and got hit pretty hard with covid. I couldn’t say if there’s any kind of domestic retail shortage but probably so considering disruption of supply chain. I have a gun that‘s kinda lost in the mail at the moment. 
Some BP loading stuff is hard to find in some places such as caps & powder. As for guns themselves, this forum has quite a few in the classified section right now.
It’s a bit annoying, but there’s still a tracking number so it’s out there somewhere. It’s a little hard to be patient but we just have to manage our expectations right now unfortunately. My package is a longarm in a wooden crate, so it would have more handling complications than a BP pistol. You’ll probably come thru fine.
Allot of stuff is in short supply, not necessarily from high demand but from slowed production.
Sidney Smith
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I went ahead and bought extra powder since I figured there might be problems with supply. I bought a can of 2fg one day about two weeks ago, and was told it was the second to last can of 2fg that they had. I went back two days later and bought a can of 3fg for my .32 caliber even though it's not finished yet. This way I have enough powder to hold me over for a little while.
Have noticed delays in receiving items lately, but the delays seem to be at the shipper, not the carrier. More than one supplier has used the line ‘delivery ‘x’ days after shipment’, with that shipment date not being firm. Once in the hands of the carrier, delivery has been on time or even early. Had early deliveries on two packages this past week.
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I noticed back in March that the Italian guns were disappearing at an alarming rate from vendors displays, and let's face it Italian repros are about 90% or more of the new black powder guns available.
So I went on a little spree, picking up some C&B revolvers I had been looking at for a while(made a thread on them a while back). I am glad I did, as in looking for a couple of more, I see they are "out of stock" now, although there do seem to be some "expected by" dates appearing.
So I went on a little spree, picking up some C&B revolvers I had been looking at for a while(made a thread on them a while back). I am glad I did, as in looking for a couple of more, I see they are "out of stock" now, although there do seem to be some "expected by" dates appearing.
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No shortage in my gunsafe.
In fact the only shortage is in space for more.
In fact the only shortage is in space for more.
Of coarse it doesn't help that fewer companies are selling traditional MLs these day.
Col. Batguano
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ML'ers of all persuasions have always been a small slice of the firearms market. 5%-8% at best, and sell slower proportionally. When there is a limited supply in the "other" stuff, even if only 5% of the prospective purchasers roll over to ML'ers that's enough to wipe out the available supply of "commodity guns" like Traditions, Lymans, T/C's etc.
The custom stuff won't really get affected by these short term runs or interruptions in supply, because the base price is 4x-8x higher, which is a different market. For that stuff to get affected it takes a more fundamental market shift in consumer tastes. That's the sort of thing that is typically more affected by investment markets (like the stock market) as high ticket "discretionary luxury items" are usually paid for with things like capital gains.
A case in point to that was driven home to me when I was in a car dealership a few years ago looking at getting a new Suburban. They had an $85,000 Corvette on the floor and I asked the salesman if they sell a lot of them. He told me that they ONLY sell when the stock market is on a tear (he said his dealership sells about 10 a year then) and when it's not, (or down) they are lucky to move just one. By that logic and extension, a $4000-$7000 flintlock long rifle can't be all that much different.
The custom stuff won't really get affected by these short term runs or interruptions in supply, because the base price is 4x-8x higher, which is a different market. For that stuff to get affected it takes a more fundamental market shift in consumer tastes. That's the sort of thing that is typically more affected by investment markets (like the stock market) as high ticket "discretionary luxury items" are usually paid for with things like capital gains.
A case in point to that was driven home to me when I was in a car dealership a few years ago looking at getting a new Suburban. They had an $85,000 Corvette on the floor and I asked the salesman if they sell a lot of them. He told me that they ONLY sell when the stock market is on a tear (he said his dealership sells about 10 a year then) and when it's not, (or down) they are lucky to move just one. By that logic and extension, a $4000-$7000 flintlock long rifle can't be all that much different.
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There is a shortage of alot of products at the present time. Factorys sit idle or half staffed while workers collect unemployment checks. I suppose Black Powder Guns could be one of those products.
Think about it from a manufacturing point of view.
Muzzleloading supplies are a very small part of the overall market. Manufacturing companies that make supplies for all kinds of firearms are going to have backorders upon backorders for the more modern stuff right now. Most of their big customers are going to be shouting for modern orders to be filled. This will push the manufacturing companies to schedule all available processes to produce the modern stuff. Smaller orders for the muzzy stuff are going to get pushed out further and further.
I think we'll see it get more and more scarce as time goes on, until they can start catching back up on the modern stuff.
It will be even longer if someone perceived as anti-gun gets elected this November, that almost always pushes people to feel like they'd better "stock up".
Trying to say this without being political at all, it is simply a fact. Remember what the shelves looked like about a year into Obama's 1st term? Now think about how the shelves looked about a year into Trump's.
Muzzleloading supplies are a very small part of the overall market. Manufacturing companies that make supplies for all kinds of firearms are going to have backorders upon backorders for the more modern stuff right now. Most of their big customers are going to be shouting for modern orders to be filled. This will push the manufacturing companies to schedule all available processes to produce the modern stuff. Smaller orders for the muzzy stuff are going to get pushed out further and further.
I think we'll see it get more and more scarce as time goes on, until they can start catching back up on the modern stuff.
It will be even longer if someone perceived as anti-gun gets elected this November, that almost always pushes people to feel like they'd better "stock up".
Trying to say this without being political at all, it is simply a fact. Remember what the shelves looked like about a year into Obama's 1st term? Now think about how the shelves looked about a year into Trump's.
The custom guns are planed years in advance. Mike Brooks for example stated a while back that he was booked out 5 years and doubted he would be taking many new orders because, well, he’s Mike.
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I can say that there was a shortage of parts for M/L. Ordered parts for a new build in February. Received most of the parts, minus the lock and trigger. Received a the lock in March. Then, two weeks ago, the trigger finally arrived. This all started to happen just as the China virus scare started and everyone went into a panic mode.
Col. Batguano
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Without getting too far astray from ML'ers, the stuff that is really selling these days is / are the lower-end stuff. Kel Tec, Taurus, et al. call it <$300-$350 price point. And the small concealed carry stuff. You can add another $100 or so there for things that are well made. That's the night stand sort of deal. To those folks, a gun is mostly a commodity. Better made modern stuff is in the $700-$900 range. Those guns aren't really the "recreational" guns that ML'ers are. They're insurance policies. Do most people buy more insurance than they consciously need? Well, yeah, but they sleep better knowing they have it. They put it in the drawer and forget about it until the time comes. For most, ML'ers are not their "go to" gun for when they NEED a gun. They're the guns people go to when they WANT a gun, and I would guess that 99%+ of ML'er owners have something else. The exceptions would mostly be those that are legally barred from owning something more modern.
Manufacturers are in business to make a profit. If Biden wins, gun and powder companies will make a fortune, for a while. If Trump wins it will be more business as usual: assuming nothing major changes in the Senate.
When, if, BP becomes more profitable, it will be made in greater abundance. Same for Italian reproductions, and larger U.S. companies. High end U.S. makers will stay in demand. My view, anyway. OH, and as I have opined before. Be able to make your own BP! Too many variables to be able to say what it will be like after November. Whew!
When, if, BP becomes more profitable, it will be made in greater abundance. Same for Italian reproductions, and larger U.S. companies. High end U.S. makers will stay in demand. My view, anyway. OH, and as I have opined before. Be able to make your own BP! Too many variables to be able to say what it will be like after November. Whew!
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