Primer Shortage, slightly different question than normal...kind of

[pps]

Have any of you talked with any of the distributors regarding when stocks may begin to trickle in? I corresponded with a person from Powder Valley and all he said was a frustrated, "I wish we knew"

I noticed they even quit listing prices of 5000 primers. I wasn't reloading in the 1990's and would also like to know how the present "shortage"/hoarding compares with what happened after the Slickster was elected.

 

[pps]

Have any of you talked with any of the distributors regarding when stocks may begin to trickle in? I corresponded with a person from Powder Valley and all he said was a frustrated, "I wish we knew"

I noticed they even quit listing prices of 5000 primers. I wasn't reloading in the 1990's and would also like to know how the present "shortage"/hoarding compares with what happened after the Slickster was elected.

 

[Paul5388]

Bass Pro in Shreveport, LA had primers at $34/1000, which is over 3 times what they used to cost. I think the 1990s shortage saw the prices go up to $18/1000 or so.

I think there are many more people into gun gaming, CAS and etc., now and that puts a pretty big drain on a lot of components.

 

[Black_Talon]

Originally posted by pps:
I wasn't reloading in the 1990's and would also like to know how the present "shortage"/hoarding compares with what happened after the Slickster was elected.

I was shooting a lot of IPSC back in the early-mid 1990's and primers were actually harder to find back then. There was no online supply available. There was no internet, no computers, no online ordering, no easy access to what we take for granted these days. All you could do back then was to visit/phone all the local places, and call all the not-so-local places to see if there were any in stock. If you were lucky you could find a couple hundred in stock and only have to drive an hour or so to pick them up.I can't begin to tell you how much gas and time I wasted back in those days, looking for the Precious Primer.

Now all you have to do is sit in front of your computer, send a bunch of emails and wait for a reply. When you get a hit, you fill in an online order foram, and a week later they show up.

 

[andyo5]

I just bought two 1000 piece boxes of Winchester small pistol standard primers at $30.99 per box. The box I am currently using has a price tag on it that says $13.99. Now, THAT'S inflation.
Actually, I think that the real issue is that recent competition from China for all sorts of metals has driven up the price of products that contain metals.

 

[Littledragon777]

I think the hoarding going on is the biggest problem right noew. Folks are buying 20,000 or more at a time with not giving it s second thought. We just a gun show in these parts last week and primers were gone in the first few minutes after the doors were opened. I asked one of the lucky buyers how many he had on hand and he told me he had purchased over 75000 since the middle of December. Money must not have been a problem. I used to shoot a couple hundred rounds a week and thought that was a lot of pistol primers to go through but since the hoarding started I have cut down to 50 rounds a week until I can get new supplies of primers and bullets in. Who knows when that will be , hopefully sometime this year.

 

[Catshooter]

The shortage with SlickWillie was that he asked in an open letter the primer manufacturers if they could make a primer with a one year shelf life.

They took a year or so to respond (?) and while they did in Tacoma Washington the price went from $7.50 to $18 a thousand. There was one main guy at our show who allways brought in primers. 250,000 every show. During the drought, he would sell all of 'em in about three hours, and that was with a limit of 5K per person.

Looking at todays prices I'm sure glad I finished my stocking up about two years ago.


Cat

 

[sar4937]

Where I live the is only one local source for reloading outside of Cabelas. I'm pretty sure that when the first supplies trickle in that the friends and best customers will get the word first. And create a second shortage. Among those I shoot with, everyone is running low and would buy whatever became available so they could continue in matches this summer. I expect that by July, myself and others will have to drop matches to compete in Area Three USPSA this summer.

 

[pps]

This sucks. I have 15k left for small pistol and small pistol magnum. I was going to get a 22 hornet contender for grins and giggles. The small rifle primers are VERY scarce. Brass for 22 hornet is nearly as scarce.

Man this is annoying.

 

[DCT]

You can use small pistol primers in your hornet, some say they get better results with small pistol primers. They work great in my hornet rifle.

 

[pps]

Originally posted by DCT:
You can use small pistol primers in your hornet, some say they get better results with small pistol primers. They work great in my hornet rifle.

That is a nice bit of information. Thanks.

 

[rickn54]

Check out this link, someone just bought 1000 primers for 115.00 on Gunbroker. http://gunbroker.com/Auction/V...m.asp?Item=123991145.
Primers may be scarce but they are not that scarce.

 

[Wheelgunner840]

$115 for 1000 primers? Whoever bought them for that price needs to get their head examined! Can supplies be that low? I just bought a bunch (not saying how much a bunch is

) from Midway a month or so ago. I haven't checked lately. Did their supply dry up as well?

At $115 per 1000, I could make a serious profit if I sold what I just bought. About a 500% profit! That's just crazy.

WG840

 

[DougE]

Originally posted by rickn54:
Check out this link, someone just bought 1000 primers for 115.00 on Gunbroker. http://gunbroker.com/Auction/V...m.asp?Item=123991145.
Primers may be scarce but they are not that scarce.

That's insane ......... I picked up 1000 SP primers locally the other day for $26 ( they were remington primers but what the hey ...... they were reasonably priced ).

 

[andyo5]

Originally posted by rickn54:
Check out this link, someone just bought 1000 primers for 115.00 on Gunbroker. http://gunbroker.com/Auction/V...m.asp?Item=123991145.
Primers may be scarce but they are not that scarce.

Uh, check out that auction again, Rick. He bought TEN boxes for $115. So he paid $11.50 per thousand. Not bad! But they look to be several years old.

 

[Skip Sackett]

Here is my take on the situation with the availability of all components.

First off, the shaky economy. Companies aren't going to spend capital money to increase the capacity to produce product at this time. Their money is going to go to maintain their equipment not purchase new.

At to that all of the folks that just bought a firearm. The "evil black" type. Whether handgun or rifle they all take ammunition. Some of us "roll our own", some purchase theirs already made. Both take components. Where do you think the real money is? In a $30 box of 1000 primers or in a $30 box of 50 rounds of ammunition?

I can tell you what I think, especially when I can load the same box of ammunition for less than $5!

As soon as folks quit buying 223, 9mm, 40S&W and 45ACP by the case loads, components will show back up on the market.

I am running about 15,000 primers on hand at this time. That should get me through this year and part of next. I have some money stashed for getting some as soon as they become available again en mass.

This is my opinion, which obviously I feel is pretty good BUT, if you take it and $5 to the local Starbucks store you can get a real nice cup of coffee!

 

[rickn54]

Originally posted by andyo5:

Originally posted by rickn54:
Check out this link, someone just bought 1000 primers for 115.00 on Gunbroker. http://gunbroker.com/Auction/V...m.asp?Item=123991145.
Primers may be scarce but they are not that scarce.

Uh, check out that auction again, Rick. He bought TEN boxes for $115. So he paid $11.50 per thousand. Not bad! But they look to be several years old.

No, the auction clearly reads "10 boxes of 100"

 

[Littledragon777]

You would have better odds of finding a needle in a haystack than finding primers and now a lot of bullet sizes also. Probably won't get better anytime soon. One thing you can count on is you will pay out the you know what for these components if and when you start to see them available again.

 

[Skip Sackett]

if ........... you start to see them available again.

Dragon,
I don't want to be hard-nosed here but, this is the same attitude that has caused the recent problem.

They are going to have a real up-rising if they ban components. I don't think they are that stupid. I could be wrong though, have been before.

They are going to be available in great quantities in the near future. It would seem to me to be cyclic.

"This too shall pass" seems to come to mind.


FWIW

 

[yellowf4]

People are in panic mode right now and this "president" is being blamed for everything that has been in process of failing for the last several years. Every time he opens his mouth the stock market crashes 300 points...that shows a lot about where the country is for sure.

People are scared. but remember, commodity prices went through the roof 2-3 years ago. Copper was over $4 instead of .20-.30! These shortages are part of this. Every material cost skyrocketed and lead was a big part of it. no lead, no bullets...New dem in office, panic on the streets in our community and no guns or supplies available until fears are quited with time and actions.

I was in Sportsmens Whse yesterday and the shelves are all bare! EVERY supply is sold out. This is the worst I have seen, but luckily for me, I have a lot of supplies in inventory. I will not, however, justify the hording by doing it too. I will wait and not reward greedy vendors. These are not your friends and that mentality should be remembered when and if prices and stock goes back to normal. It is the only way to send the message properly.

Unfortunately, it is going to take a long time to settle. I was working in a gun shop when slick was in office and people did the normal "democratic in office, he hates me and my guns, we gotta horde EVERYTHING' mode. It took several years to get people releaxed enough to see steady supplies again. I hope this calms down soon but the likelihood of that is poor now, worse with the state of the economy.

I am not a fan of the current "president" nor the Clinton flunkies that now are all over his staff. These are bad people for sure, but they are what we have. I will try to support this presidency as an American, holding out hope that maybe he can turn it around, but as I tell the kid, "I will always love you, but I don't have to like you. And right now kid, I don't like you."