Good news! CCI Blazer .44 Special ammo is back on the shelves! After a 3-year drought!
Bad news!
A little over a month ago I said I was going to transition from a .44 revolver, some version of which I’ve carried every day for over ten years, to a conventional 9mm autoloader. I offered several reasons but I may have neglected to mention the reason above. That ammo, the cheapest .44 Special available, was $35/box in 2019. And I paid it, though I practiced with handloads and doled out commercial ammo like the foulest miser. I’m not enough of a sucker to plop down $70 a box for the same stuff, and not even get reloadable cases out of the deal.
Ball 9mm is pretty cheap. Premium social loads are a LOT cheaper than 44.
I feel your pain Joel. I have given up on recreational shooting entirely except in 22LR bc of the costs. It’s painful but it is what it is.
Here in West Oz, the Federal primers I prefer for my competition pistol are simply unavailable.
The only options now are stuff I’ve never heard of at TEN TIMES the prices of three years ago.
As to powder, the only manufacturer in Oz simply shut down the ENTIRE pistol powder plant, with no plans to re-open it.
When I count the coincidences, I can only conclude that the shortages are enemy action.
I see 9mm for $20 or less for 50 rounds . . . plus shipping.
If you’d be satisfied with 9mm and Ian finds you a gun.
There are new 9mm pistols for $400.
If you’ll tell me what FFL to send it to, I might have a 9mm here that needs a home that I can donate to your cause.
Appreciate the thought, CZ, but Ian is talking up a new Arex Delta Gen 2 with an optic that he was impressed with. Just a matter of time, since he doesn’t get out here that often these days.
Mmmmmm, new toy https://arex.us/arex-delta-gen-2/
Permit me to display my ignorance: the Blazer cases are not reloadable because … they’re steel?
They’re aluminum. And also Berdan primed.
Damn, and I thought what I was paying for ammo in Ontario was pricey.
Yep, Joel, it’s time to switch to 9MM. This whole paying an arm, leg and half a torso for .44 ammo is silly.
Are you still reloading .44, or are you giving up on it entirely?
I still reload, of course. .44 is still my go-to caliber, so that’s what I practice with and reload. Expect that, come the day I get a 9mm, I’ll start reloading that caliber and .44 will go to the back of the shelf.
You can find 44 mag online for less than that – not $35 for a box of 50, but you usually have to buy quantity. My go-to site has 44 Mag – 200 Grain SJHP – Fiocchi – 500 Rounds for $575, which is $1.15 per round plus shipping. That’s about $43.50 per round plus shipping – which won’t be 30 bucks per 50 rounds….
It is hard to beat the price of 9mm right now.
I keep 357 magnum for my bedside gun, and 38 special +P for my pocket gun – both revolvers because I like the simplicity. But 9mm is good for when I’m not sleeping, or working in the yard. And the choice of guns is amazing