Primers on GunBroker

[kevin c]

Gunbroker final auction prices on small pistol primers are as bad or worse; $300-400/K is pretty common, and I've seen the equivalent of $500-600/K on auctions clearly marked for lots of 500.

It's true that some sellers set minimum bids or buy-it-now prices that high, but most set no or low minimums and it's the bidders who are driving the prices. Maybe GB represents the extreme response to limited local buying opportunities on a commodity that still has some availability nationwide. On my state's gun forums the price is hovering around $80-100/K, but recently ads offering SPP are fewer and are asking higher prices and ads wanting to buy or trade for SPP are up.

[Bmi48219]

One thing I’ve come to learned since joining this forum is to keep enough components on hand to weather extended shortages. Loaded ammo, and primers are virtually out of reach. I haven’t looked at powder yet. Plated and jacketed projectiles are going up / getting scarce too. Reminds me of the 1970 gas shortages, and even the shortages ended, gas prices never came back down to pre-shortage levels. I don’t see ammo & components ever returning to 2001 prices either.

[wyowillys46]

Inflation and the increase in money supply from these stimulus bills guarantee that the prices of components (and all other goods) will increase.

[Kraschenbirn]

Last night I browsed through the on-line catalogue of a "Firearms Accessory" auction currently being run by a local auction house. With a week remaining before close of the sale, bids have already surpassed the ridiculous...without adding on the auction house 15% commission or HAZMAT (if required)! Note: If one goes through the whole 20 pages, there are some prices on some 'vintage' and/or 'oddball' ammo and brass. Anyone who might be interested can drop me a PM and I'll provide a link to the catalogue.

Bill

[Bmi48219]

Reloading components & ammo; historically gasoline, N-95 masks, etc.
When panic, crisis or other real or imaginary events cause a price to skyrocket; the post-event price seldom, if ever drops back down to near pre-event levels.
Paper towels are 50% more expensive since Covid hit. Ok, there will be a period when demand exceeds supply and the public is gouged by profiteers. The cost to make paper towels doesn’t double. But once supply catches up with demand a 50% price increase is simply taking advantage of a bad situation.
Even without the additional costs proposed new regulations will incur our mutual pastime is going to be more expensive.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Bmi48219,
Don't forget to add the AR-15 to that list. Those prices have risen and have fell, a couple times in the last 20 years. Not long ago (2019), those prices were at the bottom. Now our country is poised to possibly see record high prices for a AR-15. I predict by June, some of us will be wishing we'd bought a few at the bottom price.

[Bmi48219]

JonB, without a doubt you’re right.
I can see raw materials prices rising some and manufacturers costs to be Covid compliant adding a little. But only a blind optimist would argue the increased prices of ARs isn’t a result of a panic driven demand.
It’s like car dealers charging 20 to 30% above MSRP for a 2021 Corvette because they are in short supply; when the MSRP includes a good profit to begin with.
I wonder if component manufacturers are jacking up the wholesale price or if it starts running wild at retail level.
During the first oil shortage in the seventies I worked on a project in an east coast refinery. From the roof of the unit we were repairing you could see several dozen tankers anchored off shore. I asked the refinery engineer if they were sitting there because of the shortage. He said they were waiting for their turn to offload. Some had been there months. At some point you have to preface “shortage” with “contrived”.

[Shawlerbrook]

I am glad I have what I have and wouldn’t sell for any amount of profit. Hope I am wrong, but I doubt things will ever go back to primers at $30/1000 and $30/# powder.

[farmbif]

I want to sell 1000 primers for $1000.
I could have that Cessna 172 in no time

[Winger Ed.]

That fuel shortage then was artificial.
After the price jumped way up, it was suddenly over.

There's a big storage tank farm East of Dallas with a bunch of those tanks that the lids float on top of the fuel.

A news story from back then showed a tank farm in Houston where all the lids were full up at the top.
A few days later, I was going by the one near here, and noticed they were all at the top too.
But the local gas stations somehow couldn't get any to sell.

[Murphy]

I've watched as the prices have climbed for reloading components. I sometimes sit and wonder, $350 dollars for 1K of primers? Bricks being broken in 500 lots because some can't afford to go that high, but they can go as high as $200. And yes, I've seen 500 primers go at that price and slightly above.

I'm thankful my needs are met and I'm comfortable with the supplies I have on hand. I've only made a couple of purchases since all of this started back months ago. Thankfully, one online purchase on Gunbroker was well within reason, and another was from a board member here.

Murphy

[perotter]

Even with primers at $350 a K and powder at $100-200 a pound, if ones using their own cast bullets it's still cheaper than buying loaded pistol and most rifle ammo.

Fortunately I don't need to buy primers or powder now or maybe ever.

[Loudy13]

I disagree. There is a big difference between someone who has "researched the requirements" and someone who paid the fees, taken the class, passed the tests, received certification, and has shipped 1,000's of HM packages over the years. Some people should stay in their lane rather than make assumptions and cast ominous warnings to those they do not know; no matter how well intentioned they may be. And yeah, I did feel like I was being called an idiot and the insinuation was definitely there that I was somehow doing something illegal. Not cool.

DeeJay maybe you should relax, you may have felt like you were being called and idiot and then you replied like a horses *** and proved it. If your feeling get hurt every time someone on here throws out a suggestion or caution your in the wrong forum. "have fun with your BB gun" childish!

Have a nice day

[Walla2]

My local Sportsman's Warehouse has not had primers for a long time. Yesterday they had 3000 or so CCI large pistol primers @$2.69/100 and Federal large rifle match, about 3000. No price under those. Hope springs eternal.

[Desertbuck]

This recent shortage has definitely gotten crazy! Don't think I'll be buying factory primers again anytime soon. I started making my own again. Saving what factory stuff I have for a rainy day. Also spent a little bit of cash on stocking up on a lifetime supply of chemicals necessary to make the Frankford arsenal H42 compound that I settled on and learned to make with the help of members of this form.

[perotter]

This recent shortage has definitely gotten crazy! Don't think I'll be buying factory primers again anytime soon. I started making mine own again. Saving what factory stuff I have for a rainy day. Also spent a little bit of cash on stocking up on a lifetime supply of chemicals necessary to make the Frankford arsenal H42 compound that I settled on and learned to make with the help of members of this form.

Yup. Better to spend the time solving the problem than spend the time just complaining about the problem. Plus solving this problem brings peace of mind.