Despite all the expected shit-talking regarding this situation, NES at its core is a solid community for those who stick around and make friends. Between all the ball busting, we help each other out. Another way to make connections is to be active at your local club and/or participate in competitions. I know if I were running out of primers and was having trouble loading up for upcoming matches, there are a few folks who would sell me a sleeve or maybe even a box at a normal price if not at their cost. I'd do the same. The good news is that it seems I'm seeing more classifieds 'bumps' with price reductions for various things. If the worst is not over, I think we are at least at the peak. Have lots of patience and make some friends- you'll do OK getting what you want.
I just acquired (2) MEC presses, 20GA and 12GA. John gave them to me because he's not loading those gauges any more, (he's focusing on 28 and .410).
I've got a shipment of 20GA hulls coming in next week. Private sale through a Mewe group. At the same time, a friend of a friend is dropping off a couple hundred hulls on his way to Savannah because "friend of a friend".
A buddy up in CT is holding onto 3K of primers for me. A mutual friend told me a couple of months ago that Joe had some for sale at non-rape prices. I pinged him, told him I'd be up in May or June and asked him to hold onto some for me; they're sitting on a shelf with my name on them.
I'm bringing a couple hundred extra .38SPCL and (2) BuckMarks up with me after talking to my friend Mike. He's low on .38 and looking for a BuckMark. He's cash poor, but we'll work something out.
It's all about friends and networking - some IRL and some via the internet. Sometimes they overlap, as in when I met Dave Draper up at Mass State IDPA.