nationwide primer shortage

Baldur

Baldur

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Folks,

I am new here, and as I mentioned in another thread, somewhat new to reloading.

Unfortunately for me, just as I'm getting going I've hit a brick wall with primers.

I just don't get it. No one has any.

I visited all of my LGSes. None. One of the guys looked at me like I was stupid for even asking.

I have scoured the internet. None. What's really odd, is that I've even talked to a few online places. They won't even take backorders, because they have no idea when they may get more.

Oddly enough, Cabelas of Canada has them in stock, but won't ship to the US.

Does anyone have any idea what's going on? Other components are scarce, but attainable. I've been able to look around and get brass bullets and powder, but what's the deal with friggin primers?
 
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Went to local gun show yesterday-Primers are back! The were lots of small pistol primers at 40.00 per k, large pistol, large rile were a little cheaper...small pistol primers have been the hardest to find.

Every conceivable brand of powder, bullets, etc were available.

I used to live in Anchorage and understand the supply chain issues in the area.
 
I found primers on the shelf of a local store just yesterday. first time I've seen them in about 5 months. They would only sell me a single box of 100 though which they say is the limit per customer per day. I can understand that they are trying to give everyone a chance but, this same store will allow you to buy up to 5 boxes of ammo when it comes in. since they usually only get about 5 boxes in a shippment it means that they will allow one guy to buy up al lthe 9mm or whatever it is he wants. I personaly think if they're goint to limit primers to one box they should do the same with ammo. Oh well, at least I actually found some in stock.
 
Primers are cheap so the meatheads buy them by the tens of thousands and the manufactures cant meet the demand.
 
Why? Money!
Now that there was a shortage some reloaders are willing to pay $40 or more for 1000 primers. Personally I was upset paying close to $30/K but because we panic every time the shelves get lean they can push the prices up 30% or more every time they pull this trick on us. I have not bought anything overprices since this started!! That includes 22LR ammo which is the worst price gouging of everything I've seen. ($60+ for a brick of 500 rounds! NOT ME)
 
A lot of the cost depends on where you live also. I live in BFE. Even before the shortage I was accustomed to paying about $35 per thousand. The option was to make a 250 mile round trip to the next closest supplier to save $5. In my pickup that's about $60 just for the gas and I'd have to buy at least 12000 primers just to reach the break even point savings wise. Plus i'd spend half my day off doing it. For me to pay $40 per thousand today would be reasonable. I consider it to be the price I'm willing to pay to not have to live in or even near a real city.
 
Last edited:
RussellD said:
Went to local gun show yesterday-Primers are back! The were lots of small pistol primers at 40.00 per k, large pistol, large rile were a little cheaper...small pistol primers have been the hardest to find.

Every conceivable brand of powder, bullets, etc were available.

I used to live in Anchorage and understand the supply chain issues in the area.
Click to expand...

40 bucks is a total rip off .
 
I remember having a fit when they hit $12.00/K, up from $10.00/K. When I started reloading, they were $8.00/K. That was only about 25 years ago. Powder was $8.00/lb for Winchester, & about $6.00/lb for Hercules.
 
Yep, I also had a fit when I had to pay more than $5 a thousand - I moaned and groaned when they went from 8 to 10 Then I said I 'd swear off shooting altogether when they hit $15.

Yesterday at the gun show the cheapest I saw was $50. I didnt buy any but afterward went over to a retail store and reluctantly bought a brick for $35. If they go back to 30 or less I'll start stocking again for the next drought.
 
Last gun show (early April), primers were selling for over $100/K. I thank God I laid in a goodly supply of reloading components and .22 RF ammo long ago. However, the gun control/gun ban battle is about to heat up again, so I don't look for the ammo/primer shortages (and extortionate prices) to moderate to 2012 levels in the near future, if ever.
 
Primers are starting to show up again and the price will slowly drop. Patients is in order as far as you can hold out and then buy in quantity over time for what you need and also to hold you through the next panic that will come.
 
don't plan on primers being much under 30.00 even later. have already had two raises at the factories since this started. probably one more this calendar year yet.
 
Primers are starting to show up with more occurrence. My LGS got in 10 bricks of CCI Small Pistol Primers and 12 bricks of Winchester Small Rifle. They had a note that said limit 500/customer per day. I asked the owner if he'd sell me a brick, and we walked over to the shelf together, and he looks at the 10 bricks on the shelf then the sign above that says CCI Primers $33.95/brick. He then proceeds to take down the sign and then says he has to check his computer first. After some web searching he tells me, he'll sell me a whole brick but the price is $42.00 ($44.10 OTD). Stated he has to pay the hazmat fee, as a reason for the price change. He apparently isn't spreading that over the other primers, and the 25-30 lbs of powder he got in too. I was politely, and kindly returned them to the shelf.
 
Primers and powder have gotten hard to get around here also. Glad I had my stash. Maybe we will see it start to come back soon. I know it will be more expensive than it used to be but maybe less than what we are seeing now.
 
It's nice that some of you are finding them but it sure isn't happening in my area. I haven't seen anything but a few boxes of shotgun primers for sale in months. Every so often I waste half a tank of gas driving around to see if any of the gun shops in a 20-25 mile radius have primers, bullets or powder. The odd can of obscure rifle powder shows up occasionally and Sportsman's Warehouse is getting a few boxes of Barry's plated handgun bullets (at double the price they used to be a few months back).

I've had two shop owners say if things don't improve pretty soon they are going out of business. Stores can't stay open if they have nothing to sell. Maybe that's what the gun grabbers have decided to do. Cut off production of ammo and reloading components and shooting comes to a halt. No ammo, no shooting, no gun shops, no 2nd Amendment to worry about.

Dave

PS: As for prices getting back to where they were...our dollar is being devalued every time the Fed turns on the printing press. Nothing is going down in price, for who knows how long.
 
Tips on finding Primers.

1) When you ask for help you MUST indicate where you are located. You'll also want to have the Private Message feature turned on. Many of us may know of a local source in your area and steer you to it.

2) Attend the local Gun Shows and go on the earliest day it's open. Yeah, you'll typically pay more than normal retail but when you need primers 50 bucks per thousand is affordable and may tide you over until some become available from more economic sources.

3) Don't walk away from primers that are priced a bit higher than normal. I was in a outdoors chain in NE Ohio last weekend and they had primers in stock for 40 dollars a box. Typically this chain usually just murders Gander Mountain, Bass Pro Shop, and Cabela's on price but in order to get reloading supplies they are paying a premium. So, primers that were 27 dollars per thousand last October are currently 40 dollars per thousand.

4) Take family or friends with you to get around purchase limits. By doing this you can pick up 2 or 3 thousand primers per caliber in one trip.

5) Check with sources like Midway or Natchez EVERY SINGLE DAY. When they do get stock in it won't last long. Natchez recently received 10 million Tula primers in various calibers and they sold out in perhaps 30 minutes. I don't know exactly how long it took because I got home at 5:30 and the notice that was sent to my email at 2:30 merely alerted me to check and find they had sold out. 3 hours and 10 million primers sold.
 
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