Scheels has gone off the deep end....

[ken158]

I know an individual that works in accounting at a small ammo manufacturer and she told me their primer costs have gone from $14 per brick to $73 per brick in the last two years. I did not ask of they bought direct but that is an inside look at primer costs.

 

[smoothshooter]

There are primer manufacturers all over the world. Seems they should be attempting to flood the US market, but I don’t see that happening anywhere. I am just happy to have a fairly substantial primer inventory of all sizes.

Part of the reason for the high prices is that the dollar has been drastically devalued over the last year or so.
Something like 40% of all the paper currency in circulation in the U. S. has been printed in the last two years.

 

[reddog81]

That may be, but even long time reloaders can’t recall a drought this long. We’re in the third year of it and it isn’t letting up. I started reloading after Newtown. Components were scarce but I got them, and not for any more than they should have been. It was hard to get them but not impossible, and the prices were normal.

Even IF it stabilizes, I bet primers will be $80 a brick.

Did you try buying any .22lr in 2013, 2014, or 2015? They were going for up to $100 a brick at time. By 2018 you could have bricks of 500 mailed to your door for under $20.

The current situation is exacerbated by the fact that the supply chain problems are worldwide and not just limited to the US.

 

[margethatcher]

gift from chad

I cleaned up this thread.

Last time I checked, politics was still a banned topic.

Consider this a gift. Points only going forward…

Oh thank you thank you thank you "Chad"

 

[IAM Rand]

Bit the bullet and bought some powder. Hate paying the extra fees but, ended up getting 8lbs of Titegroup for about $250. About $33/pound is better than what is on GB.

 

[BrovoEchoSierra]

This too shall pass, as it has in past times. The question that begs for an answer is when, and what will be the new normal price?
With the cost of everything else up, at least double or more, the case of primers that I gave $150.00 for in December of 2019 will probably cost me at least double that to replace, after the madness settles down.

I can hold out for a couple more years, if I am willing manage, and or rearrange my shooting habits.
While I prefer to shoot 38's, I have moved to 44 and 45's because I have more primers for large, than I do for small.

A spot of good news, at least where I live. There is currently plenty of rimfire ammo at Wal-Mart in my community, so I buy a 325 pack when I have an extra few bucks in my pocket.
I like to shoot my K-22, Ruger Single Six, and for now I can get ammo for them.
Federal Auto Match, is however up from 13 bucks, to 22 bucks for 325 rounds, like everything else about double what it used to be.

 

[Green Frog]

With all due respect, no one alive right now has seen this before. The world economy shut down for almost two years. That has never happened on this scale in our lifetimes. There is not an item that we consume that has not been, and continues to be, affected. It's going to take some time for things to settle. The laws of economics are like the laws of physics and will bring everything, including primers, into equilibrium. In the meantime, each of us individually decides the value of what we consume.

When I first started reloading, primers we’re selling for $7.50-$8.50 per thousand. Then we got worried when they were hard to find, but six months or so later they were about $14.50/thou. This lasted until the next big scare when the price closed in on $20.00/thou. That was a little longer of a “drought” but things settled in for a while. I’d been buying at under $25 until this latest scare, and bought one last thousand for $42.00 just as it began. After things “settle down” I hope they get somewhere near that last figure for the new norm, but as long as it’s taking and with all the social and market forces at work, I wonder.

 

[smoothshooter]

When I first started reloading, primers we’re selling for $7.50-$8.50 per thousand. Then we got worried when they were hard to find, but six months or so later they were about $14.50/thou. This lasted until the next big scare when the price closed in on $20.00/thou. That was a little longer of a “drought” but things settled in for a while. I’d been buying at under $25 until this latest scare, and bought one last thousand for $42.00 just as it began. After things “settle down” I hope they get somewhere near that last figure for the new norm, but as long as it’s taking and with all the social and market forces at work, I wonder.

The New Normal may very well end up being at least 8 to 10 cents apiece a couple of years from now, when they can be found.

 

[gnystrom]

Think about not being able to purchase ammo or components online.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

At $.125/each primer I don't feel too bad paying $.37/rd for ammo dropped on my doorstep. I resent the $30+ "tax and insurance" that was added in but everybody is charging it now, otherwise "online ordering" was fixing to disappear. Life is good, indeed. Joe

37 cent ammo must be cheap FMJ 9mm........Lots of us shoot bigger stuff....Lots bigger stuff.

 

[kbm6893]

Did you try buying any .22lr in 2013, 2014, or 2015? They were going for up to $100 a brick at time. By 2018 you could have bricks of 500 mailed to your door for under $20.

The current situation is exacerbated by the fact that the supply chain problems are worldwide and not just limited to the US.

Yes I did. Prices were high. But ammo was on shelves. I haven’t seen a primer in my local shop in over 2 years. And those $100 bricks of .22 were down to normal within a year. This current trend has never happened.

 

[smoothshooter]

Think about not being able to purchase ammo or components online.

I’m sure that’s coming. Just a matter of time.
Am surprised it’s even legal now.

 

[smoothshooter]

Then I'll tell you I'm giving up shooting and reloading for good. Enough is enough.

I’m almost at that point myself.
I will always have guns and ammo, but I have cut back my shooting to almost nothing. Including .22 LR, I’ll bet I have not fired over 200 rounds in the last 2 years.
I got my ammo well before things got crazy, but when I get to thinking about replacement costs, it makes me want to just sit on what I’ve got because who knows what the future will bring?
Right now, I am not seeing anything on the horizon to look forward to.
Bad Times A’comin’ !

 

[bob1956]

At the Concord NH Gunshow last weekend Federal SRP $149.00 per K. Just wiped the sweat from my brow and kept walking. I did notice a lot of people carrying them in the show!

 

[pharmer]

At the Concord NH Gunshow last weekend Federal SRP $149.00 per K. Just wiped the sweat from my brow and kept walking. I did notice a lot of people carrying them in the show!

The wife and I were at the Lakeland show 5/21, CCI primers were $160/K. Joe

 

[smoothshooter]

With all due respect, no one alive right now has seen this before. The world economy shut down for almost two years. That has never happened on this scale in our lifetimes. There is not an item that we consume that has not been, and continues to be, affected. It's going to take some time for things to settle. The laws of economics are like the laws of physics and will bring everything, including primers, into equilibrium. In the meantime, each of us individually decides the value of what we consume.

But what good is it if primers drop back down to even 3 cents apiece if shooters can’t afford to buy them because they have to spend almost all their money on gas, groceries, rent, prescription drugs, utilities, and pet food?
The time is coming when a a availability of ammo and components will be among the least of our worries.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I know process are extremely high for primers but $149/k and $160/k is just wrong. Online they can be found from about $60 to $100/k. Its unfortunate loaders were buying at those prices. It only encourages them to keep the prices high.