Has anyone found a reliable source for surplus powders or any other reloading components surplus? Is the military really using up the ww2 stockpiles that used to be sold off as surplus? Can smokeless powder be made safely by a home reloader?
Welcome to Bartlett Reloaders - Jeff Bartlett is a good place to start, then remember that Google is your friend. And can you safely make smokeless powder at home? You have to be kidding! Absolutely not, no way, forget it, don't even think about it, let alone try it.
Most surplus stuff has been bought up by reloaders or hoarders due to the panic.
The "military is using it up" has been a past time gibberish statement used by gunstore owners to make people think it's someone else's fault for a shortage or a lazy owner not searching various vendors/distributors for things customers want. I do not know where folks keep hearing or making crap up like that, but hey, I'll let them believe whatever paranoid fantasy they want. The government doesn't store components, they store ammo, manufactured ammo. Lake City stores powder.
Smokeless at home? VERY dangerous (gun cotton is horribly flammable) and can endanger your life and others. This isn't a "its mildly dangerous, you guys are exagerating", it is a VERY dangerous thing, best left to folks with experience/equipment/proper insurance, namely, gunpowder manufacturers.
unless you just like watching things go up in smoke, your house, yourself and family, just spend the coin like the rest of us and buy factory smokeless