At this point tooling marks are looking pretty good😤

I do have a question that has probably been answered elsewhere but...are the chamber and throat on the RAR predator still running short? If so, that takes one of the cheaper ones off the table. No fun to reload for something you can't move the bullet out until you find the sweet spot. Off to work...

That is an excellent point and is true. It is like there is no pride or principle in their products anymore. But I've noticed that is pretty much the mindset these days. I guess age is catching up with me.

^^^^^^This I've been farming 40 years,sourcing parts to keep equipment running is getting harder every month,certain oils are in short supply,Def is in short supply. Parts for tillage and planting equipment have been on order for weeks/months at times.

My wife has been a RN for 35+ years at the local hospital,one of her jobs is education for the pediatric floor,she says with out traveling nurses filling in,the place would be a complete train wreck...especially on the adult floor.

I put money down on a new 223 varmint bolt gun Feb 2021....It's the least of my worrys right now.

the usa is in the chitter. thanks democrats.

Not trying to make excuses but think back to when the whole country was locked down but for essential workers. I don't think that gun manufactures work on the essential list. Then the government starts handing out all these payments and people had some extra money laying around. and instead of using it for rainy days they went out and bought lumber to do home remodel project, decks or what ever. then there are us hunters that went out and bought a new gun or suppressors, reloading supplies and ammo. Then some states started opening back up but some states still are in some sort of lock down. We all know which states they are and with some of the larger firearm manufactures in those states having to implement a covid mitigation plan has slowed production down. Then not being able to find enough workers to fill the spots that have been vacated by people that think they will die if they go to work cause they could catch covid. Plus the new models are being released and manufacture now. It doesn't surprise me that there are not any on the shelves. It is going to get nothing but worse as the year goes on. I have seen what the prices are doing on manufactured steel for grain bins and crop inputs the last 6-8 months. Bin prices are up close to 60% crop inputs are up 50% or more. And with the Febuary DOT licensing changes for truck driver taking affect. GOOD Luck getting your stuff moved around the nation the next 2-3 years or longer. Even with the 2022 and 2024 elections coming up it will take years if not decades to straighten the election of 2020 out and get this country back on its feet. But I hope it doesn't take that long. Sorry but if you didn't see the writing on the wall that is not the gun manufacturer fault. It is all of us conspiracy theorist fault.

A question has cropped up, "If you were out to destroy the U.S.A.,
would you do anything different?"

You think between people off work with Covid and 8.4 million new gun owners just last year alone might have anything to do with it? Remington being shut down didn't help either. It looks like 223 ammo is getting easier to find these days and prices are coming back down. That might be a good reason 223 rifles are harder to find and they are cheaper to shoot than a large caliber rifle. The market is flooded with AR 15's. Last show I went to they were on every table and not moving. Not everyone wants an AR 15 and a crap load of people already have one or more. Not everything has to be blamed on politics. I think there are lots more reasons we are seeing a shortage. Granted, I don't know the answer but I think it will settle down before to long. How long is before to long? I don't know that either. I also think we have done a lot of this to ourselves. As long as people are asking stupid prices and WE keep paying it, then WE have no one to blame but ourselves. If a guy can buy a rifle for $300-$400 dollars and sell it for $800 or more, he's gonna keep on doing it. Stop paying stupid prices!!!

nope. what is going on is working just fine.

I'd guess when new rifles show up from the manufactures there going to be a lot higher priced then before do to increased prices for raw material,labor,transportation ect,ect,ect same with reloading supply's....it could very well be the new normal:(

People like myself that don't have money for expensive rifles are likely going to be priced out of our hobbies. But I still refuse to pay prices that I know are a gouge. Better to save my money for the gouge likely to start soon at the grocery store. Man, you guys know how to bring down a lunch break.😊

We don't have to be totally priced out of our hobbies. Just cut back a little, get rid of firearms we don't shoot a lot or hardly ever, and buy wisely if that's possible. I recently sold two rifle and a shotgun. Bought one rifle I wanted and had money for a new barrel. I had dies, brass, bullets and powder for it on the shelf. I look but don't buy a rifle that dies are expensive and brass is near impossible to get. I also don't want a cartridge that you have to go through a bunch of steps to make a cartridge. Ackleys are fine if the components are available. Just me and how I'm getting through tough times.

That is great advice. I am trying to do just that. I guess I should just put all these old shotguns on gunbroker. But I hate to be one of "those guys".