I was intrigued by the title of this thread, "The New Normal".
Paul in Nevada observed:
"My fear is that the manufacturers have written off the handloading market and are happy to see us relegated to a tiny niche market of precision shooters and collectors of obsolete firearms. In other words, people who will buy at essentially any price."
I, too, am concerned about this.
Once upon a time, every shooter I knew reloaded. It was part of the sport. For some of us, it was the most enjoyable part.
But today I think it is even worse than this.
The vast majority of folks I see at ranges today simply come out with their plastic 9mms and AR or AK rifles, indiscrimately hose some close range targets, then pack up and leave their mess behind. They seem perfectly happy with bulk pack mediocre quality factory ammo, much of it from backwards third world countries. Handloading, being both time and thought consuming, isn't a real good fit when the objective is instant gratification of base instincts.
Factor in the poor shooting and safety etiquette that seems to be part of this "new normal" and it appears that our "sport", if you can even call it that, seems to have changed.
But concerning the prices of components, it doesn't make sense that quality domestic made primers should be priced close to that of match grade 22 LR ammo.