Adventures in Primerworld

[shil]

After a 120-mile round trip and the major part of an afternoon, I got ONE brick of small pistol primers for $80.00, the last one in the store. When, oh when, will this madness end?

 

[Electraclyde]

Thats one brick more than I have been able to find in well over a year.

 

[Telecaster]

Did you time travel? That's about the price of a brick two or three years ago.

 

[CH4]

$80 is a great deal if you had other tasks to check off your list to help offset your fuel costs.

Last weekend's show in Reno had primers for $130 to $200. SPP were going for closer to $200.

 

[AlHunt]

Primers are all over ammoseek right now, 33 listings. $90++ per thousand and shipping. But a little watching and you should be able to score primers for what you just paid plus the gas. I hate it too but high dollar primers are better than no primer, especially if they "dry up" even more.

 

[stanmerrell]

Before Christmas I was able to get a box for $40, at a local retailer. I think the problem is that profiteers have now formed an almost permanent market outside of the old supply chain. Until we stop buying at places like GB, things won't go back to normal.

 

[SMSgt]

Fools rush in...

 

[lrrifleman]

After a 120-mile round trip and the major part of an afternoon, I got ONE brick of small pistol primers for $80.00, the last one in the store. When, oh when, will this madness end?

Might that have been in Christiana?

 

[scooter123]

I'm a Skeet shooter and in an average year I'll go thru 7000 rounds in practice and competition. Last weekend I had some catching up to do so I loaded 14 boxes in 12, 20, 28, and 410 gauges. That's 1400 primers used up in one weekend. When I started loading my own in 2018 Cheddite primers were 28 dollars per thousand, now it's 80 dollars per thousand if you can find them. As for small pistol primers, I learned after Sandy Hook and have a stash that will last the rest of my life. Unfortunately I did not anticipate a shortage in shotgun components so I have to spend time every day checking the status of components at some selected suppliers.

 

[flyfishinjunkee]

I can't imaging spending a day chasing an overpriced box of primers... I'd either stop reloading or stop shooting all together!

 

[thadheth]

We had a yard sale a couple of weeks ago. Just for laughs, I put out 2 boxes (100) of Remington small pistol primers priced at $5/box. The hunting knives sold, the 12 ga. shotshells sold, but after 2 days, the primers remained unsold. Lots of traffic at the sale, but apparently no reloaders.

 

[Green Frog]

I can almost understand the difficulty of catching up with the demand for large and small rifle and pistol primers, but the shotgun primers? They aren't selling that many more shotguns than before, and traditionally shotgunners have used them in large volumes, so logically there should have been a bunch of them in the pipeline. While I don't believe in conspiracies and such, I'm wondering, where did I put my tin foil hat?

Froggie

 

[Transamconvert]

I happened to be in a LGS a couple weeks ago that doesn't normally carry any reloading supplies. They had about 30 bricks of Remington 1 1/2, must've got them from an estate or something. $65 per. I didn't know whether to pass or buy them all, so I got 10. At least it will keep me going for awhile here and who knows when if ever they'll be cheaper than that especially with 10% annual inflation going on.

 

[len917]

After a 120-mile round trip and the major part of an afternoon, I got ONE brick of small pistol primers for $80.00, the last one in the store. When, oh when, will this madness end?

Was that Cabelas?

 

[Old Gunner#1]

Tucson has been out of primers as well. I picked a thousand of small pistol, large pistol, and large rifle for $410.00 and was just happy to have found them at a gun show.

 

[vonn]

The price of ammunition is so high and availability sketchy so I have been very selective on using my reloading supplies for range trips. I don’t expect prices to come down anytime soon or perhaps never.

 

[Rlg#17]

Not any time soon I believe. I’m thinking the days of 2-3 cent primers are done…. They are out there, but high. $120/1000 seems to be the going rate. At auction figure $150-200/1000.

Targetsports has them @$600+shipping for 5000. So like $642 delivered. If you find any at $80, buy all that you can carry. I found some at Cabelas a month or so ago. $8/100. They let me buy 300 small, and 300 large.

I hope I’m completely wrong and people can say to me I told you so!

Regards,
Rick Gibbs

 

[TIMETRIPPER]

Can truly say I haven't bought any new primers in over three years. I bought 4 thousand small rifle primers at an auction two years ago for around $40. This was just before Covid hit big. They were mostly older stuff and in partial boxes. Been using them for small pistol loads and haven't had any problems. I've also paid $60 to $70 per thousand for old stock magnum large rifle primers. I prefer to use them in my large capacity old black powder cases like the 38-55, 45-70 and 50-70.
Whenever I'm in a store or gun shop I look, but never see anything to buy. The gun shows have them but I'm not yet that desperate to buy.

John

 

[robvious]

$150 per thousand was the going rate at last weekends gun show.. not a large selection but they were there..

 

[shil]

Might that have been in Christiana?

No. Hamburg Cabela's. Website showed CCI small pistol "in stock". I scored the last brick. A staffer told me that the website would probably still list "in stock" tomorrow. He explained that the website availability only records what goes through the registers. It does not count theft (horrors!) or what may be "set aside" elsewhere in the store. I made the drive anyway prepared to be disappointed.

 

[shil]

Was that Cabelas?

Yes it was. The Hamburg PA store.

 

[DR505]

The only place I could find them in Boise (Cliff's) wants $200 for 1k SPP. They can put them you-know-where.

 

[Cleandean]

I ordered Tula primers for loading Sm. Pistol. 1000 a few years ago. Cuz my stash on Federal smalls was running real low. Best price I guess , thinking it was $53 . Haven’t tried any yet .
I think they will be a bit shabby on ignition due to all my Smiths have some lightened triggers. Not the mainspring so much as the rebound springs having a couple of coils cut.
Hard Tula primers was their bad rep. / as I found that out after the order .
Maybe if I get a lot of duds … I will load some light loads for my .223 TC/Contender… so the loads will at least ignite.
Any body have some decent luck with smalls made by Tula ?

 

[Nevada Ed]

I'm a Skeet shooter and in an average year I'll go thru 7000 rounds in practice and competition. Last weekend I had some catching up to do so I loaded 14 boxes in 12, 20, 28, and 410 gauges. That's 1400 primers used up in one weekend. When I started loading my own in 2018 Cheddite primers were 28 dollars per thousand, now it's 80 dollars per thousand if you can find them. As for small pistol primers, I learned after Sandy Hook and have a stash that will last the rest of my life. Unfortunately I did not anticipate a shortage in shotgun components so I have to spend time every day checking the status of components at some selected suppliers.

If the 209 shortage keeps up.....................

I will be forced to start using all my steel duck loads for trap shooting !!

I feel your pain.

 

[Duckford]

I hope the prices correct and most of these scalpers are sitting on a million primers they paid mint for and have to choke on them when prices normalize.

Hope they go broke and die in a gutter.

 

[fordson]

I posted this on another thread last week: $200/brick of primers, $70/pound of powder at a LGS. Ridiculous.

 

[shil]

Insane! Could those prices be the reason those shelves are relatively well-stocked?

 

[gwpercle]

After a 120-mile round trip and the major part of an afternoon, I got ONE brick of small pistol primers for $80.00, the last one in the store. When, oh when, will this madness end?

Hopefully right after the next presidential election ...
If not ...then never .
This will be our new normal .
Gary

 

[Rlg#17]

I ordered Tula primers for loading Sm. Pistol. 1000 a few years ago. Cuz my stash on Federal smalls was running real low. Best price I guess , thinking it was $53 . Haven’t tried any yet .
I think they will be a bit shabby on ignition due to all my Smiths have some lightened triggers. Not the mainspring so much as the rebound springs having a couple of coils cut.
Hard Tula primers was their bad rep. / as I found that out after the order .
Maybe if I get a lot of duds … I will load some light loads for my .223 TC/Contender… so the loads will at least ignite.
Any body have some decent luck with smalls made by Tula ?

We bought some the last go round when things went south. They are extremely hard primers. Our unlimited pistols didn’t like them at all. It was literally a 50-50 chance that it was a light indent misfire. Stock guns did “ok!”, but just okay. I had bought a bunch so I didn’t load anymore and took them to a gun show and put them out on the table. I sold every sleeve for more then I paid for them even after advising them of the light indent misfire situation.

Fiocchi runs in everything we have. Revolver, unlimited, semi-auto, but have become unobtanium! Federal runs in everything we have also, and TS has had them. Good luck with those Tulas.

Regards,
Rick Gibbs

 

[Nick B]

Did you time travel? That's about the price of a brick two or three years ago.

More like 30 bucks 3 years ago .