Buying Reloading Components In Bulk

Several USPSA competitors in the Columbia Cascade Section (NE Oregon) are using VihtaVouri (VV) powder when they reload ammunition. This is popular not only for Open Guns (usually .38 Super or .38 Super Comp, or Major Nine), but also for Limited, L-10, Singlestack Divisions (eg: .40 S&W, .45 ACP, etc.)

I use VihtaVouri N35o for .38 Super, VV N320 for 10mm (loaded to .40 "Slow and Wimpy" performance level), and VV N330 for .45 ACP. I've used other powders for 10mm and .45, but I like the VV for a lot of reasons: not a lot of smoke, reliability, consistant measure, grain shape and size, and I have good load specifications worked up for all 3 calibers. I suspect these are the reasons why many of my colleagues also choose VV.

There's another reason why I use VV: Price.

Yes, that may come as a surprise for those of you who have tried VV, but my 'secret source' is a local shooter who buys bulk and passes the savings on to his friends: Big Dawg.

I've written about Big Dawg before, and posted many videos of him in competition. As his name implies, Big Dawg (BD) could hardly be described as "petite", but he moves with an economy of motion which belies his bulk and he is deadly accurate. More important, he is a true gentleman and, as I said, he passes on bulk powder savings.

Of course, that can be ascribed to simple economics: If he can get a 110# order by soliciting others to pay for most of it, he can get a good price on the powder he needs.

Right now, he can sell a 4# order of N320 powder for something like $86, which works out to $21.50/lb.

Going prices for the same powder (less the Hazard Material -- "HazMat" -- fees) run around $29/lb. for small orders.

E. Arthur Brown Company lists VV N320 at $29/lb for a typical one-pound bottle of pistol powders. Here is a list of their VV gunpowder offerings, mostly at $29/lb., and also includes (as an extra charge) the "HazMat" fees. Best deal of HazMat adds $42 for a six-pound order, up to $51.94 for a 32-pound order.


MIDWAY also offers some VV powder. Here is VV N550 at $53.99 for a 2# bottle. (They don't mention a HazMat fee, but they do note that it is "Discontinued by the Manufacturer".)

An English website offers some VV N320 (which I have arbitrarily chosen as a standard) powder at 31.25 english pounds per pound, plus a 15% VAT. The English Pound is currently approximately 1.6 times the American Dollar, which makes the price of the order of $47/#.

Here's what Big Dawg currently has in stock:

3 - 4lb - N320
2 - 4lb - N350
3 - 8lb Tightgroup
4 - 5lb Silhoutte
3 - 4lb N330
3 - 4lb N340
4 - 2lb N540

UPDATE: later in the night ...

Well I sold most of the in stock powder Saturday. All I have left is ;

2 - 4lb N350, some N330 & N340.

I am waiting to fill a back order & will try to get some N320.

I'm not trying to sell Big Dawg's stock here, although if anyone is interested in purchasing some VV powder from him I will forward requests to him until March 15 as long as there isn't too great a volume for me to act as a 'broker'.

What I'm trying to do is to encourage shooters to consider banding together in sort of a cooperative venture to minimize their individual reloading costs.

What you need to do this, ideally, includes the following group resources:

• DEALER: Find a local person with a dealer license, who operates more out of his home than from a 'brick-and-mortar' store.
• SUBSCRIBERS: Find enough local reloaders (subscribers) who go through a large volume of reloading components during a relatively short time period. USPSA/IPSC competitors reload a LOT of ammunition, and are always looking for a way to save money.
  
• DISTRIBUTION: Establish a method of distributing the orders. Usually, this is someone who will pick up the entire order, and bring the product to (for example) local matches where the SUBSCRIBERS can pick them up. This minimizes shipping costs .. all of which inevitably include secondary HazMat fees.
• BROKER: If the DEALER is not able or willing to distribute, or pay for the oreder, you need to find someone to "Broker" the deal. This person must be able to either front the entire cost of the order, or collect payment from subscribers before the order is placed. He may pick up the bulk order from the DEALER and transport the product to a central distribution point (eg: USPSA matches in the near area)or other arrangements may be made.

A lot of the process described above depends on trust. The subscribers trust the dealer and the broker, who in turn depend on the subscribers. Much of this is subjective, but it's not unreasonable to require that the subscribers pay cash-in-advance. In this case, the subscribers trust the dealer and the broker.

Sometimes this trust if broken.

I once (several years ago) was a subscriber to a [brand name] bullet order exceeding $1000; my part was less than 1/5 of the order. We ordered through an out-of-state dealer whom we had ALL ordered from individually for years.

In the actual event, the Dealer was (unknown to us) in a very difficult personal and financial postion. The Dealer left town with no warning, taking our money and making no effort at all to even order, let alone deliver, the product.

We contacted, the [brand name} bullet manufacturer, who reportedly had never received an order from the Dealer.

I mention this only as anecdotal evidence that the element of trust is important, and if you choose to attempt establishment of a Cooperative bulk purchase ... do be certain that the people you deal with are worthy of your trust.

The couple of hundred dollars I wrote off on this purchase was actually less than the amount of money I SAVED over several years of bulk purchasing power.

One of the best ways to avoid breach-of-faith failures is to use LOCAL dealers and brokers. These would (idealy) be people that you know, people that have no hidden agenda, and generally reliable. It probably goes without saying that it helps if you know them personally, and know where they live. They may skip town, but it's less likely if your trust is supported by personal knowledge of their day-to-day financial and character assessment.

Think about it. Consider that Bulk purchases offer significant monetary savings. It may take some effort to put together a 'consortium' of buyers, but as much as the time you spend reloading ammunition is only a part of reloading, the time spent putting together a bulk reloading components order is probably a write-off.

I mention only buying powder in this article, but obviously the savings on a bulk order can be available when buying primers, bullets and cartridge cases as well. As long as you order from a single manufacturere, or manufacturer's representative, you stand to save money even when your powder order includes several powder, cartridge, bullet or primer 'types'.

The thing about gun-owners and those who support their sport is that most of them are people you know personally and (as long as you deal with people in the same geographic area) peoplw whose reputation is worthy of your trust.