AK Mike, something to considder is that many retail outlets, and mail order places like Tommys, don't run on a very big profit margin, and usually use "Just in time" stocking to prevent warehousing costs (which would have to be passed on to the consumer). I'm in retail (Gunshop manager) and IF we make a 15-19% margin on most guns and accessories, we're doing good. At only 13%, we're not gonna be able to keep the lights on or the doors open for very long. The gun, and especially the mail order market is just THAT saturated. That said, getting stuck with as much of the 77gn stuff that Tommy got stuck with, it's a big financial burden that DOES NOT fit in the budget. To do a current GP for the ammo would likely take a merchant that is committed to having the stock (if everyone bails) because he knows that he will be able to move it, or has the financial "Surplus" to commit to it up front on his own and is willing to loose it if the stock can't be moved.
As far as getting the components to roll your own, like has been posted before, the recipes are well known, as is the process.
RVO and several places will process your brass, and that includes SEALING AND CRIPMING the primers, which seems to be one of the things that everyone wants now-a-days. Also, watch the common reloading places (MidwayUSA, MidSouth Shooters, etc) as they constantly run across huge lots of brass already primed with sealant and crimps. I just got 5k from Midway last week. Bright, shiny Win!
I have some of the Nosler bullets, 77 gn w/ cannelure (thank you SHOT Show). I ground one down, and it seems to be about the same jacket as the Sierra MK. It may be a little thinner, it's difficult to measure on a reverse engineered item and the specs of jacket and core composition are often proprietary information, but the cannelure is rather pronounced where it presses into the core, which probably is part of it's wounding characteristics, but, as was posted by someone else, the accuracy just isn't there when compared to the SMK.
According to Sierra, and other online defense review sources, Sierra has agreed to cannelure and catalog the 77gn MKw/cannelure as a constant run item, which has always been the military's choice of bullet (at least the Naval units that I'm associated with). New deliveries of the 262 are supposed to be loaded with the SMK when the supply of the Noslers are used up.
I'm active duty Navy, and as a registered competative HP shooter, I'm issued BH 77gn, and have been for years. It dried up to a trickle pretty much as soon as hostilities started, because it was all going to units in country. Our match rounds in the early days of the BH was commercial purchase, and then when the military contracted for it, it came with crimps and sealant. Current match lots (that I have gotten, at least) do not have cannelure or case mouth crimps. In fact, they resemble "BLEMS" that BH has for sale from time to time. Call 'em and see.
There are at least 2 companies making cannelure cutting/pressing tools. They work.
I'll agree, reloading isn't for everyone. It's a hobby in and of itself, and one with the potential to blow your equipment (both hardware and software) all over the range if you get it wrong. It also involves a healthy input of $$ to get the equipment to start, not to mention the time to prep and load. Recovering the cost of your equipment to break even will take less time when you're reloading something like the 77gn rounds than it will if you're just loading 55 or 62gn pulls and surplus powder for plinking rounds. Who knows, you just might end up with something MORE accurate in your rifles!
The other alternative is going with, as already mentioned, something that's close. If TSHTF, or TEOTWAWKI comes about, all that will matter is that you have SOMETHING to get downrange, in general.
For match shooters or true accuracy buffs, commercially loaded ammunition or rolling your own is part of the cost of the game. You don't see NASCAR drivers complaining about the cost of a gallon of gas or the price of tires, do you?