No_0ne

  Consider for a moment what would happen if every reseller in the US suddenly stopped.  The demand doesn't go away, in fact it probably worsens, for several reasons.  As mentioned many times, all current and future (over the next 18-24 months) production is already pre-sold or contracted, no more production capacity will come online during that period. The demand level is still there, any ammo trickling in will be snapped up immediately, you still won't be able to shop at your convenience, except that you are also in contention with those who are willing to purchase the ammo now for the "inflated" prices, who's sources will have been removed from the market. Thus the flow of product is constant, but the one, reliable source of availability is now out of commission.  Like it or not, the resellers are providing a service to their consumers, namely the ability to walk up and purchase rimfire ammunition without stalking the aisles of WalMart stores and other retailers.  If they weren't providing a viable service, their business model wouldn't be as successful as it apparently is, and the whole practice would cease.  I don't think anyone who can read is actually still in "panic" mode, preppers excluded of course (who seem to be somewhat easily excited anyway), however many have seen the necessity of stockpiling some amount of .22 for future consumption, or maybe just peace of mind.  Until their wants are satisfied, or until they move on to some more attainable goals, demand will remain extraordinarily high, supply will remain constant, and the price that current production is sold for is essentially irrelevant to this equation, as is who provides the service.

Blunderbuss.  Lots of smoke and noise, wildly inaccurate, of limited range and utility ...

I have many decades of careful observations of finely-crafted rear ends functioning as designed ...

I don't think Midway is accepting orders on the Bucket O' Bullets anymore, I presume they no longer think they will get enough in to fill existing backorders.

First mistake:  Riding horses.  These beasts have (insane) minds of their own, and are still pissed off over being subjugated, tamed, domesticated and sometimes castrated by man. Second mistake:  Going into the woods, which are crawling with deadly poisonous, man-chasing homicidal snakes, not to mention panthers, cougars, bears (probably lions and tigers too) and other creatures who have been irreversibly drawn to manmeat by the foolhardiness of other equally careless individuals who have forgotten the real reason why early hominids left the trees and learned to build condos. Third mistake: Living in East Tennessee. :)

  Yes.  This year's production is already pre-sold, as the CMP alert implies.  Next year's run will go to fill backorders, and perhaps begin to slowly replenish distributor supplies, assuming orders don't continue to pile up at the rates of 2012-2013.  I think your estimate of 2 years wait on easier availability is pretty conservative, I also think price increases are in the very beginning stages for rimfire ammo.

  A Tolkien fan!  Well played sir.

     Nah, two thirds of the state is on the right time, CST.  You folks living over there on the wrong end of the state are the ones who need to get with the rest of us...

Don't feel alone, almost everyone has a hard time visualizing very large numbers of anything.  Our brains simply can't comprehend a billion, we have no practical experience or visual references to go by.  When we hear that 1.5 billion rounds of 22 are produced each year, the average person thinks something along the lines of "1500000000 rounds!  We ought to be drowning in 22!" The number of estimated gunowners in the United States is usually quoted at 100 million.  If you divide the total yearly 22 production by the estimated number of gunowners, it comes out to 15 rounds per owner per YEAR.  Therefore, when you blow through a brick on Saturday afternoon, you just used up 33 years of your allotment in one range trip.  I'm continually amazed that there was ever any 22 available to purchase.   The resellers aren't creating the situation, nor are they exacerbating it, regardless of our feelings about the practice.  The level of demand is real, the resellers are simply taking advantage of the fact that 22 ammo is priced ridiculously cheaper than it should be, considering the demand levels and shortages.  Raise the prices to what market conditions will bear (and that's obviously what the resellers are charging, as their product is still moving) and the demand will eventually lessen.   Finally, consider the new shooters that everyone agrees are now in the market.  They have no prior experience to draw on, the prices they see are the ones that are "normal".  Per round, other ammo is still mostly more expensive than 22.  If a new shooter sees a box of .45 on the shelf for $25, then sees a brick of 22 at a gunshow for $75, all he has to compare is that the .45 costs him 50 cents per round, while the 22 is "only" 15 cents per round.  For him, that's a no brainer ...

Much good info here.  Another thing to consider regarding your fiancee, an A1c reading of 7+ is considered "diabetic", but most folks won't "feel" anything wrong until they get to about 10 or so, thus she probably has had elevated levels for a long time, and the recent diagnosis is just now bringing the problem to light.  High blood sugar readings often lead to weight loss, so many people "feel" like their diet is healthy, they are basically eating whatever they want and are still slowly losing weight.  Some teen girls are known to purposely stop taking their meds, in order to lose weight.

I have yet to find the chart accurate for anything I've tried, but admittedly I am very much a "noob" at reloading, and haven't tried all that many different loads.

Inline fabrication has been around for a while, and apparently make some very good products.  There are several good videos on YouTube, that showcase their products and also some from consumers reviewing and demonstrating them.

Your second paragraph is a fine rebuttal to your first, and the antifreeze example is another argument against a company getting into the rimfire ammo business.  The math isn't hard to do, most companies have legions of accountants who do these calculations everyday.  The return on investment and return on capital expenditures must show not only a potential for sufficient profit, but also a stable environment in which to do future business.   Suppose you, as an businessman, decided to drop however many millions it takes to set up a new rimfire manufacturing plant.  The cost is enormous, as rimfire ammo is not made on individual loading machinery, but is a multifaceted process that takes many machines, and is labor intensive.  Any new plant will run a deficit for the first few months or even years, as workers are trained, lines are set up and tested, etc.  So now, here you are, say 5 years in the future, with your new, small rimfire plant in which you have invested several million dollars, and yet you are predicting that demand, supply, and pricing will all return to "normal" by that time.  Where is the profit potential?  This is a formula for bankruptcy, if you aren't very careful, and as you know, people who have excess cash on hand aren't the type who go into new businesses without knowing that the profit potential is assured, stable, and likely to grow in the future.  A 2 year artificially created "shortage" of rimfire ammo supplies doesn't fit the scenario for building great wealth or a successful business.  In addition, rimfire production is known to be a low margin, high volume, risky and difficult product to produce.  The current manufacturers have survived mainly because the plants are old, and paid for, workers are in place and lines run relatively smoothly.  Still I've heard more than one industry rep decry the low return on investment of rimfire production, and basically no company has been willing to expand their lines because of this.   From an economics standpoint, the best way for manufacturers to meet the current demand, with the production capability on hand, is to raise prices, probably quite drastically, until market forces equalize.  After that, if the new demand levels remain fairly high, then they will have generated enough excess profits to maybe consider increasing capacity to meet the new demands of their consumers.  If not, they have made a better profit than in the past, sold their products, and don't have new, costly, overproduction capacity to act as a drain on company finances.  My belief is that we will see a slow return of ammo on the shelves at big box retailers and local gunshops by the end of 2015, assuming no new "panic" incidents occur, accompanied by a gradual increase of the "normal" .22lr price to 8-10 cents per round.

As was pointed out in another discussion on TGO about the 22lr shortage, the entire 2014 run has already been sold in advance.  That means there is no chance of catching up this year.  2015 is doable, if the demand falls back to pre-panic levels, if not, then expect the current conditions to continue ...

As an experiment, I took the baffle that came with a Hornady powder measure I have but don't yet have the press set up, and put it in the Lee Pro Auto Disk.  It did help with the consistency of the drops, I'm loading 3.9 grains of Titegroup in 9mm and so far the charge is holding constant.  The baffle is very close to the size needed for the Lee measure.

   I have to disagree with one of your points.  The T53's, or any Mosin variant for that matter, were never made with chrome lined bores. I think you are referring to the Arsenal 26 SKS's made by China in the 60's.

The Lee disk measures are known to have trouble with the smaller amounts of flake powders.  The manual specifically says not to try loading 4cc and smaller charges of flake out of any of their disk measures, including the adjustable charge bar.  I do load Titegroup in 9mm, but have found that extra care with cleaning, static removal and checking the cases more often for both weight and volume are important.  Some have reported that a baffle will help, I haven't made one yet but plan to do so.  I have never been able to make my microadjustable chargebar work with Titegroup, and stick to mostly plinking loads in the disks.

  Hoarder! ;)

 It will cost more than a small fortune if you truly intend to obtain one of each variant.  A Finnish m27rv sold Friday morning for $3400 at Empire Arms, and that's not an inflated Gunbroker price, many collectors were kicking themselves for not being able to type "I'll take it" fast enough.  There are other variants more costly than that one...

The stock looks to be in typical condition of many of the T53's.  As for import markings, if it has any they should be on the receiver, if one of the more recent imports, or on the end on the barrel between the bayonet mount and the front sight.  Regarding the bayonet "ears", all the T53's had the double ears, as that modification was adopted by the Russians near the end of WWII production of the original M44 variant, and the T53 was a Chinese copy of the M44 (many of the earlier Chinese carbines were produced by surplus machinery provided by the Russians).  They are widely available, mostly today from nations that were given these rifles at a later date by the Chinese.  It is the least expensive Mosin carbine on the market as most collectors value the original Soviet m38 or m44 more highly, but the T53 does have it's own aficionados among the collecting world and are ofter bought by shooters due to their inexpensive prices and availability of cheap surplus ammo.

This can't be true, because it says right here on the internet that it's all the fault of the government and their co-conspirators, the Wal-Mart resellers ...

Good ole Voldemort ...

  NRA has a radio station?

  It's called a single engine private pilot's license ...

AIM has Wolf Gold in stock, good ammo and reloadable cases for under 40 cents per round shipped, and you don't have to deal with CTD!  :popcorn:   http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.aspx?item=AWG223FMJ55&utm_source=AIM+Surplus+Main+List&utm_campaign=52eec012d7-02072014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6870497a6a-52eec012d7-18140801