I went to a gun show today and was mainly looking for powder and bullets since I don't have a local supplier. I couldn't believe what I found. Hardly any of the dealers there had any black powder substitutes and the ones that did had it marked up about double the price I see if for in online stores. I would be willing to pay a little bit more at a show to keep me from having to pay shipping and haz mat fees on the powder but one guy was asking 31.50 for a pound of Pyrodex RS. I was also looking for some .44 XTPs and nobody had any. I talked to several of the vendors and they all said basically the same thing. Bullets and powder both are "harder than hell to get your hands on".

Is anybody else having trouble with this or is it just my geographic location? I want to shoot but am out of supplies.

First off.. some of those people at gun shows I swear do not go there to sell. With the prices they have their stuff marked, I bet they take 99% of it home, and usually they pickup a few more items themselves. I have been to many of them. Once in a while there will be a table where there is a motovated seller and their prices are reasonable. A lot of them collect. My friend worked gun shows for years, and I used to help him out, sitting at his booth while he wandered around. He'd get a deal on some old military rifles and triple (or more) the price he paid for them and try to sell them off. The reason their powders and stuff are so expensive, a lot of them are like you and I. They purchase it at standard prices (maybe a little less), pay the hazmat, then they want a profit. So they crank their prices up hoping to catch people that do not know the value of the stuff.

It must be your geographic location, but you didn't list it so it's hard to tell... There aren't any store at all that sell muzzleloader supplies near me. The closest place is Bass Pro Shops in Savannah, GA and it's about an hour away. Their prices seem to be on par with most other places I have seen. I'll be good on powder for a while though. Midway USA was having a sale on Blackhorn 209 for $24 a can and I scooped up 10 cans. Even with the HAZMAT fee it was still way cheaper than the $35 a can Bass Pro wants. You may just be better off tofind the cheapest place you can online and then just buy several cans of your favorite powder to make paying the fee worth while.

IMO your best deals at a gun show are the people walking thru the door wanting to sell.As far as muzzleloader
supplys go,well cayugadhas summed that up already.

I make a list and make the drive to Williams. I have never had a problem getting reloading powder there orhand gun bullets, For both hand gun and muzzle loader. I did at one time have trouble buying the same brand and type of sabot from them every year. MMP bulk solved that problem. I have no trouble with any type of primers or caps either.
Rifle bullets are usally in stock an on a shelf too. Not unusal to walk out of there with a couple hundred dollars worth of primers, caps, bullets and powder. It is normally a twice a year trip though at most.

T 7 I buy at Wally world at the end of the season usally 6 to 7 pounds at a time. I have 11 pounds on hand now.

Al

I live in SW Kansas (near Garden City). I am about 4 hours east of Colorado Springs, 4 Hours West of Wichita, 4 hours north of Amarillo. Look at a map and you will see that there are not many cities big enough to support many businesses at all in any direction from me. The only time I ever have a chance to go to a major outdoor sporting store is when I go to one of those cities.

I am going to Colo. Sprgs in about a month so I guess I will try and buy up then.

Wow, Thats pretty salty for a pound of RS. I was at my local Miejer store today and in their sporting goods section (if thats what you want to call it) they had RS for $14. Think I'll pick a couple up this week when I'm back in town.

You'll want to stop in Manitou Springs. Theres a store there called The Mountain Man. This store stocks the real black powder and subs, Along with a lot of bullets and round balls.

Hey MD54. Thanks for the heads up on the store. I will check it out. We stay in Manitou a lot when we go out that way. I can't go shoot again til I get some more powder and we have been having awesome weather for Feb.