Natchezz has em, 3 minute ago.

At 33.48 a thousand they can keep them. Primers are starting to show up again and maybe the shortage will be over soon.

The shortage may be loosening up, but I doubt primers will ever be under $30.00 per thousand. I think they could sell every one they made for $40 per thousand if they wanted to.

Just my opinion.

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Eric

Thanks for the heads up. I just bought a couple K. no one else has them. If it loosens up later OK, but I have a comfort level now. I'm waiting on my 3K from Cabela's. Powder Valley is out still. Bruno's is $49. per and they still don't have any. You snooze you loose.
It does not matter if they are $19.00 if they don't have them. I was down to my last 3000

I found a carton marked 1995 ,I date them for rotation. It was $15.00 What do you think they will be next year?

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Fe Feo Fuerte

The dealers that have them for more than $30 a brick around here aren't selling very many. We're seeing them everywhere around here, but not at good prices. They'll be back soon as the dealers get hungry, which they certainly weren't this past year- they had all they could handle!

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Lost it all in a boat accident

I really like the Wolf primers I tried them when the American firms stopped supplying. I'll stick with them.

In my area, you can get any primers you want except small pistol. Today I saw some small pistol magnums, so that may be changing.

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You're shy a few manners.

You lose. Have them in Salt Lake for $29.95/1000 last saturday.

Escalating costs of primers is legitimate concern, as is scalping. The closest retailer is 25 miles (one way) from here. In good times they have a very limited selection. The major retailers from here are 50-80 miles one way, and their prices egual or are greater than Natchez (except they don't have any).

Have not seen Fed small pistol (100) primers on any shelves(or websites) for quite some time. Wasn't about to go dry on small pistol primers for matter of principle, or 15-25 bucks extra (per 5000).

No matter, Natchez is now out of em.

If I want Federal Small Pistol Primers I will just go to the shelf and use up some of the 3000 that are there. If I run out, I will go open the box of 5000 that have been there since June of last year.

I can do the same thing with Federal Large Pistol too, only there are just 2000 on the shelf.

Or, like Nathan says, I'll use the Wolf that are there too. Same quantities all around along with 4000 Wolf Small Rifle Primers!

I was shooting in competition every Thursday but some things have happened that I shoot a lot less now so those primers are lasting pretty well!

Plus I have been working on just a few caliber specific projects lately. Less rounds but still shooting!

If they stay at or above $30/1000 it will be our fault. If we refuse to buy at those prices they will have to drop the price. I have yet to pay more than $23.95/1000 and didn't like that price. I refuse to pay $30+/1000 and hopefully other reloaders will too. (but I highly doubt that will happen considering I saw some people paying over $100/1000 on Gunbroker last year)

High prices are our fault in the long run. Stop panicking and refuse to be cheated and we will win in the end... (IMO of course)

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

Ditto ! I also refuse to pay those outrageous prices and agree that if everyone stopped hoarding the supply would get back to normal rapidly.

I'm hoping the price comes down, but I doubt it will plummet. Here in my area of Ohio. The gun store has tons of primers for 37.99 and 39.99 and of all brands, where they used to only carry Federal.

My local gun shop also has quite a few primers for $39.99/M. The irony is his cost is the same as when he was selling them for $27.99/M. I believe it is not the manufacturers who are jacking up the prices - it's the retailers. I am holding out until they reduce the prices.

I agree with you completely, there was a time earlier this summer when I did not see a primer in my range/gun store for three months of any brand. I am there every Tuesday and now they seem to have an endless supply at the new higher price. I have enough loaded ammo to last me until next fall, but I will not hold my breath waiting for prices to be reduced, until the shooters slow down with demand. Maybe a lot of us are like me and have an ample supply and will not need to buy for a while.

unfortunately I'm low on sp's so I'm gonna have to 'bite the bullet' and buy some (2K) to have set back in case of who knows what.
should have stockedpiled a spare 2K back pre-obama when priced were 24$ K.

I'm just going to guess at this. I'm thinking the past is a very good indicator of the future. We had a pretty nasty blip back in the Klinton years, when our primers went from $7.99 or so up into the $20s. For whatever reason, I stood on principle and when the price dropped into the teens, I bought a bunch. Since I don't reload as much as I did back then, I just would pick up a sleeve here and there when the prices seemed good.

When this ammo shortage started, I took inventory. I was most concerned with 22 rimfire ammo, but my second concern was primers. I started counting and realized I had about 20,000 of them, evenly split between large rifle and small pistol. No small rifle, few large pistol. But I'm too stubborn to pay $30 and up for them, so in the short term, I'll do without.

My strategy has always been to haunt gun shows, looking for bargains. I can still find them on bullets. It just feels good to buy old boxes of brand name bullets for $10 a hundred. But I guess everyone is smart about primers and prices.

I'm leaving in a few minutes for the gun show. I have nothing really in mind to buy, just looking and taking my chances on bargains, again.

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Dick Burg

Why does everybody want Federal primers? Are you all using lightened springs? My revolvers are sprung so that they fire everything. I still have some of the old plated Winchester primers. I make sure all of my revolvers will fire these, since they seem to be even more stubborn than current CCI. I buy whatever primers I can find at a good price.

Dave Sinko

Did someone say they only want Federal primers? Seriously though I do have a couple of lightened revolvers which I do try and get Federals for them just to make sure. They are fun guns not carry weapons, however I have used other primers with good results. Now for the rest of my small collection I get what ever is available.

Slightly off topic but you guys seem to be in the know. I can use any brand of primers in any of my Smiths, 'K' frames, 'L' frames, 'N' frames, autos, no problem.
Regarding primers for shotgun, I bought 1000 Nobel Sport to try them and my Browning BT 100 will not fire half of them, they work fine in the Remington 1100's. The firing pin spring must be a little on the weak side, but it will work fine with Winchester or Cheddite. The cup must be harder on the Nobel, the strike is lighter on CCI as well.
The question is, in your experience, do the Federals seem to have a softer primer cup than other brands? If so I am sure that it would carry over to the shotgun primers as well.
Thanks

The Federal pistol primers are known for being softer, can't say about shotguns.

Thanks for the reply, I am sure they would use the same primer cup material for Pistol and Shotgun. It's worth a try.

I've got only one revolver that NEEDS Federal primers, it is a stock M625JM. It came from the factory with such a light hammer fall that it wouldn't fire anything but Federals from the start. I even put an extended C&S firing pin in it and that didn't cure the problem. It would fire Winchester's at 90% and Wolf the same. Never even gave CCI a thought as their reputation is to be the hardest around for pistol primers.

I put extended firing pins in every frame captivated Smith's I have.

With the Mickulek I put a spent primer under the strain screw. Now it fires all primers. I still only use Winchester and Wolf. Fires 100%, now.

+1 For 33.48 a thousand they can eat them.

The only thing sadder in 2009 than BHO as president is some of the price gouging dealers and distributors we have seen taking advantage of the firearms public.

Plus 1 on the spent primer idea. I have mod 15 that someone filed too much off of the strain spring screw. I flattened out the inside of a primer cup, capped the screw with it and now it also serves as a brass shoe pushing on the spring.

Sometimes it isn't a matter of need, but a matter of want. Almost all the loads i have worked up over the years use Fed primers, and am not interested in rechecking them with other brands of primers.

Even though pistol rounds using small pistol primers show the least variations due to primers, and Winchesters small pistol primers being a good substitute.

Some people may consider buying a case (5000) of primers hoarding, others may consider it extremely practical and cost saving (shipping cost)

I just got back from Maryland and a visit with son #1 and family and reread my post above.

I need to qualify my statement about the M625JM. It would fire every primer single action but not in double action.

Those of you that know how a Smith & Wesson revolver action works will understand why. Suffice it to say this: The hammer doesn't travel as far when you use double action.

If you want to take a short test on this and how it plays into numbers across a chronograph, take the same load and shoot it both ways over one.

You will find out that some target loads will have as much as 100fps difference in velocity from one style of shooting to the other!

I refuse to buy Federal primers because of their packaging. The box they come in is so large it takes up way too much space on my primer shelf. I can store 4X Winchester and possibly 6X CCI boxes in place of 1 Federal box. With Remington primers I can store 8X boxes in place of 1 Federal box. I just don't have the room with all the primers I keep in stock.

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

that doorbell just now was UPS delivering my Small Pistol primers from Natchez

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Fe Feo Fuerte

I purchased CCI small rifle and pistol for $25.99 at small gunshow last weekend.