....and probably paid more than I should have.

My buddy texted me from Scheels Sporting Goods this morning. They had a large stock of CCI small pistol primers for $70 per thousand, limit three bricks. After considerable internal debate, I had him get me two bricks. I hate to overpay so much, but I just got back into reloading a couple years ago, and wasn't wise enough to stock up on components when they were available. I was buying from my LGS as I went. My buddy just loaned me a brick from his considerable stash, but I hated to take advantage of that, even though he has a lifetime supply stashed away. I just decided screw it, gotta pay for my lack of foresight. A couple thousand will last me a couple years. Now to find more Unique and bullets....

By the way, as he stood in the reloading area, he saw person after person walking by carrying three bricks, so I'm not the only one willing to overpay.

Attached Images

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I don’t know much, but it’s still a better use of funds than eating out

as a store owner once told me
"you have to have it in stock before someone can tell you your price is too high"

It was likely a great idea to suck it up and buy the primers. I don’t know any better than anyone else, but things are not likely to improve any time soon. I have been trying to get organized to reload for rifle, and have been fortunate to find both small and large rifle primers locally. Their price also was $70 per K. While I am not a happy camper paying that much, it beats the profiteers price of $200 or more per K.

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NRA Life Member, Patron

Good for you. The price of primers may be twice what it was a year ago, but it's impossible to put a price tag on the pleasure derived from an enjoyable hobby like handloading.

That's a good sign ... primers are returning , a vaccine is being distributed ... maybe we shall survive this whole mess after all .
I'm glad you scored primers and NO you didn't buy too many ...
Stock them high and stock them deep...whenever you can !
ATTABOY !!!
Gary

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Certified Cajun
NRA Member

Around here no one has a single primer for sale, let alone 3 bricks. At least your post gives me hope that if they are available where you live, soon they may be here as well.

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What could possibly go wrong?

Probably the only primers I need. Down to my last 1100. Wish I had a Scheels around me.

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Watch & Pray

Guess I got lucky when I recently snagged 3000 federal SPP and 2000 SPM @$23. Last week I scored 2000 SRP and 2000 LRP also @ $23.

Beggars can’t be choosers, but to my mind Scheels is taking advantage of a crisis - $70 is approaching gun show prices. $50 is the highest I’ve seen in retail stores. I know they can charge what they want as long as there’re folks willing to pay. However, they take the risk of looking like Dick’s, the unpopular sporting goods store.

Edit: As a regular shopper and the Reno, NV, Scheels, I just remembered Scheels is real good at price matching (as is Sportsman’s warehouse) as long as the business your matching is a brick and mortar store and they have the same product in stock.

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213th FBINA

I am led too believe that if people are paying $70. per thousand for primers they don't have a place too get them any cheaper. How can it be gouging if they are the cheapest place in town. Larry

If you think $70 is bad, check GB

At this point, I'd pay the $70 and bought the limit.

I'm not out, but I don't see things getting better in the foreseeable future.

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GOA
USA Shooting Supporter

I buy primers in case lots of 5,000. Just finished a case of 5K small
pistol magnum primers. I always put the price and date on box.
Date was 1/13 and price was $140 including tax. It pays to plan ahead!

I swooped-up a bunch of LP Primers just before the panic, as that's pretty much all I loaded for (.45 acp/Colt, 44-40, 44 spl).

Didn't ever think I would be single staging 9mm, but we're here.

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Watch & Pray

Single stage is all I do so I'm not burning thru 1K anytime soon. It's too cold to shoot outside much now. Might be a good thing.

I have plenty loaded for warmer weather. 35 degrees doesn't do much for precision shooting.

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That's just somebody talkin.

I bought enough just before the last 2 crises hit. As doom set in I just adjusted my shooting by taking out calibers that I didn't shoot much. When the crises were over and prices / availability came down I stocked up again.

After each crisis my required inventory got bigger.

Last Spring I was watching the 11:00 news and the reporter said "pandemic". I got up early the next day and ordered primers and powder online. It was even on sale. I didn't need any, in fact I had a 3 year supply already. It took up 3 months of beer money and it took a couple SS checks, but now I can shoot all I want and I shouldn't have beer and shoot anyway.

I paid $30 for the primers. It will be a cold day in hell when I pay $70. I'll dig up some worms and go fishing instead.

The only reason the price is that high is because everyone is panicking and willing to pay the price. If we all got worms instead the price would come down as quickly as the supply went up.

That is a great price these days. Look on Gunbroker. Prices are crazy. You should sell 1k on there and make enough to pay for the other 2 plus. There is auction on the now where someone has 5k small rifle primers for sale and they were at $1500. a few hours ago with 4 days left. Makes me think I should put my primers in the safe.

I picked up a 1000 the other day that was the limit my local reloading shop put on them. these are great people they said sorry for the price as they went up a little. I paid $36.00 for that 1000, these people get my business even if they are 30 miles away and only get primers in once in a while. Next possible shipment hopefully in 3 weeks. my fingers are crossed and my wife will be taking the ride with me so we can get 2000.
If we all stopped paying the crazy over the top prices they would drop as fast as they went up.

If we all stopped buying primers now, who's to say they won't be taxed up to $100+ by the time they become available again?

Do you feel lucky? I sure can't say I do.

I purchased some LR primers this week at a local Mom & Pop store @ $40/K out the door.

$70 is no bargain, but again If I walk in a store today and find some SP or SR at that price I'd pay it.

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GOA
USA Shooting Supporter

Reading all these comments, I feel a bit better about paying $70. So thank you all.

When I was talking to my buddy on the phone, and was hesitant, I told him I was disappointed in Scheels for price gouging. For those who don't know Scheels, their stores are immaculate, they appear to have a strict dress code for their staff, all of whom are always extremely friendly and helpful. Their selection of sporting goods of all kinds is incredible. They are not cheap, though. At any rate, I told my buddy I was disappointed in them for price gouging, that I thought they would be above that, and he said maybe they're not gouging. Maybe to get that many primers, they had to pay more to their supplier, and their markup is that same as when they were selling them before the shortage. Guess we'll never know.

Thanks again.

If primers were available locally for $70 per k, they would be gone in less than 24 hours. Even at that price you can still load cheaper than commercial ammo.

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The American dream is alive

...on what I require, but I found a couple boxes of small pistol magnum that I've been wanting to try a few days ago. 5 bucks/100. I've seen worse. Got my two box limit.

However, I just recently got into AR 15s and only had a box and a half of small rifle primers. Used that up quick. Now I'm buying commercial ammo.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Does anybody else end up with odd lots, a bone pile as it were, of primers or bullets when loading even lots of 50 or 100, etc., and you come up short on brass by one or two? My primer box has a bone pile of odd leftovers. I was scooping around in it the other day and ran into a box of 100 CCI small pistol magnum's with the weathered price sticker showing $1.79. I've been reloading since 1972, so the box dates from the last 50 years, specific date unknown. Hard to get perspective until I remember buying a 29-2 new in presentation case for $178.

Those are my thoughts exactly.

The only primers I've seen locally in the last few months are some CCI #41 SRP's that are priced at $15/100, with a limit of 300/customer. Even at that price I buy my limit every time I'm in the store.

Any primers I could find at $70/1000 would be snatched up immediately. I'd consider them a bargain.

Funny how shortages affect other decisions - I recently decided after several years of resistance, to get on the 6.5 Creedmore wagon. Looking for new brass, the most reliable vendor who had any in stock (Brownells) only had the small primer version. Now, I would have normally preferred the large primer cases, but I had recently scored a real deal ($20/k) on a thousand Federal small rifle match primers, so I took this as a convergence of signs that I was to buy the small rifle Creedmore brass, and did so. I dunno...

$70 is obscene. The dealers are ^&%$ us up and down. If you walk in a store today and pay that price, when its only to add to your already adequate inventory, you are adding to the problem.

They are out to make profits to pad their own pockets.
Remember Cheaper than Dirt ****.

Right now they are worth $30. The governments are broke and can't afford to provide money to the sick and elderly. If the price goes to $70 ($30 for primers and $40 for tax) I'll happily pay it. In the mean time the dealers at $70 can go suck a dead fish!!!

Maybe they are only worth $30 to you, but obviously they are worth far more than that to a whole lot of users. Some people are asking $275 for a brick of small pistol primers, and getting it. You can imagine those people would be ecstatic to get them for $70 (and would probably grab 4 or more if they could at that price).
Remember, too, that many of these buyers may well be new to shooting or hand loading and weren’t familiar with the “good old days” of 2019 when primers were readily available at the $30 or so price. Good for you if you had the experience or foresight to stock up when you did, so you can wait out the current short supply triggered by excessive demand. Just don’t be too critical of those who weren’t as fortunate.
And for a dealer charging $70 a brick, in a free market, prices rise as demand increases, especially when supply stays constant. Rising prices make products available to those willing to pay the higher price. That’s how a free market works. Again, no need to rail against the sellers, if they price it too high, no one will buy, and eventually prices will come down.

You bought WHAT???

I would like to think that the fact they were available is a good sign that the manufacturers are catching up on ammo manufacturing. Otherwise, those primers could have just as easily gone to the production line for ammo loading instead of into component sales.

If I didn't have any I would have bought a couple three bricks too. When I'm shooting a lot a brick will only last 3-4 months.

Got to give my LGS a shout out..

Last week I bought 2000 LPP.. $49.95 per 1000.. felt I overpaid..

I sold 1000 SPP last month to a guy in need for $50.00. I felt bad selling at that price, today I realize I did him a favor.

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Goal Life Member
Traveling Man

Delete............

A friend came by today and he just bought 2K small pistol
primers for $90 per thousand! This was at a country wide
hardware chain that has tons of reloading components and guns.

If they have tons in today's market they're the exception.

I went by Academy Sports in Cartersville Ga. today.

They had 4 handguns. Two of which were Ruger single action revolvers.

Zero long guns, nothing!

They had a couple of boxes of shotgun shells, and one set of Hornady 40 S&W dies.

People are buying anything and everything.

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GOA
USA Shooting Supporter

Went to Scheel's for the second time this week. Again, no primers but they did have some .22 ammo. A box of 500 Thunderbolts was $46.00 out the door. I felt like an idiot paying that much for the same thing I bought at Walmart and the LGS for $18.00 a year ago but bought on impulse.

Seems to me that if the ammo manufacturers are producing at record high levels, prices should be the same or lower, not 200 - 300% higher. Somewhere in the supply chain some distributors and stores are taking serious advantage of the situation. We'll probably never know who though.

$70 is more than double last year but who knows with politics going forward. It may just be a bargain.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

I gave a friend 1000 last june, told him to just replace them when he finds some. I knew $30 wouldnt cut it, maybe not even $50 going forward. I expect the new normal someplace around $50, but then we may not be allowed to reload at all after the new admin sets in.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO