Primer cost

[robertbank]

These shortages last at least a couple of years. If someone only shoots 1000 rounds a year then they should have at least 2K primers on hand. Personally I'd say have a case on hand.

In a normal year I'll shoot somewhere around 25-30k of pistol ammo a year. I try and keep at least a two year supply on hand. When things get back to normal I'm going to work on having a 5 year supply.

I also don't think that primers are going to settle in at $60/1000. Announced price increases have them at $38-$40/1000 right now.

A shortage will always drive up prices. When the shortage is over prices will drop. I wouldn't doubt that about a year after things return to normal we're going to see all kinds of free shipping/free hazmat offers just to move primers out of the warehouse...just like last time.

I hope you are right. That would put them around $5.00Cdn for US brands. Tula et all would then be around $4.50.

Take Care

Bob

[762 shooter]

I don't understand the logic.

If you buy 100k primers and you shoot them it's OK.

If you buy 100k primers and keep them you are a " hoarder ".

762

[762 shooter]

Loaded rounds will always be more expensive than hand loads.
762

[LAH]

Am I a hoarder? I buy stuff on sale so I don't have to at retail or inflated prices. I plan to use everything I buy, not just enjoy looking at it. I purchased 50,000 SRP at a rock bottom price not long before the current shortage. I now have 32,000 left. I really don't consider that hoarding. I call it planning. And I know there are those who send more rounds down range than I. So, a 100,000 primers..........not as many as one may think.

[imashooter2]

Hoarding... Folks that only shoot a few hundred rounds a year don’t recognize the logistics required by those that shoot many thousands a year and wish to continue doing so through times such as we are experiencing right now. I tend to ignore their shrill screams and carry on with my plans.

[robertbank]

The line up for folks with $7,000US in their pocket to buy 100,000 primers forms on the right. Even at $40.00 per thousand most with families are not going to rush out with $4,000US to buy the 100,000 primers. Guys who shoot 2K per year hardly need a 50 year supply of primers. Guys who are in their early 30's don't have the money and guys in their late 50's shooting 2K rds per year are delusional of they think they need a 50 year supply.

Take Care

Bob

[Markwell]

We are new to this forum but not cast bullets or reloading, being an OLD pre-USPSA/IDPA practical shooter and serious Prairie Dog/gopher shooter. We are now a year and a half into our forth (or fifth?) "ammo crisis" and fortunately can continue shooting as much as we want. Much of the invective here is the same as on other forums; "you don't need that much" or "you don't understand why I have so much". Trust me, there are "shooters" and then there are all the other gun owners. The shooters we know, having seen this movie before, have prioritized and planned for this (and previous similar events) and are not the problem. Buy cheap (and when available) and stack it deep is not just a cliché it's a lifestyle choice.

[LAH]

Most the sleeves [5000] I purchased were 80 bucks or there 'bouts. 20 sleeves would be 1600.00. At the time I could have 50 pounds shipped from Powder Valley for about 1.5% of the total order. It was the same with 6 jugs of powder. At current prices I wouldn't do that plus at 70 I don't feel the need.

[GL49]

We are new to this forum but not cast bullets or reloading, being an OLD pre-USPSA/IDPA practical shooter and serious Prairie Dog/gopher shooter. We are now a year and a half into our forth (or fifth?) "ammo crisis" and fortunately can continue shooting as much as we want. Much of the invective here is the same as on other forums; "you don't need that much" or "you don't understand why I have so much". Trust me, there are "shooters" and then there are all the other gun owners. The shooters we know, having seen this movie before, have prioritized and planned for this (and previous similar events) and are not the problem. Buy cheap (and when available) and stack it deep is not just a cliché it's a lifestyle choice.

Good post.
I also bought cheap and had them stacked deep. At my age and by some of the definitions I'm one of the hoarders, with more than I need for my own use. I purchase when they're plentiful and at an "on sale" price. Yep, I sure don't need that much. Now all the guys at work come to me 'cause "Larry's got primers he'll sell". I sell them at the same price I paid, I don't see any reason to gouge my friends. They've learned their lesson and they'll plan for next time, like I do. I guess I'm part of the problem, creating more hoarders, but you can also compare it to the grasshopper and the ant.
Did you know the ant must have been a hoarder? Seems to me he just planned for the future, like some of us do.

[cwtebay]

I guess I am in the ant classification. I have always figured purchasing a few hundred primers here and there, a couple of pounds of powder, maybe some lead, jacketed bullets, brass....to be a good diversion for me. Some call it "retail therapy". I have never been accused of being a hoarder, but I've also never been caught with my pants down. I don't understand how someone wouldn't keep at least a reasonable supply of historically difficult to find items that they enjoy. I also don't understand how someone decided that February 2020 was a perfect time to start stashing away for a hobby that they have never even explored. I went to a house this week for a "sale". The new resident had definitely overextended his means storing everything from AR's to reloading components (most of them not even compatible with the firearms he owns!!!), to seeds and fishing supplies, canned goods, flour, toilet paper to the ceiling, and on and on. He has roughly 200,000 primers of various types for sale - he wants a flat $500/1000 for them, AR's at $5000 apiece for entry level.
Ironically, he had a "garden" with plants that appear to be more appropriate for 1000 miles south of him, a bone thin cow and bull that will be his beef factory, and an Amazon order chicken coup. And a Mark 7 Evolution reloading press(still looking like the plastic wrap on the handle hasn't been broken).
He is struggling with finances so a mutual acquaintance took me there after a gunshow. His preferred payment is Paypal, he has around 500 gallons of gas stored, and has fenced his property with barbed wire that it looks like he just unrolled it on the ground.
Point being - that's a hoarder. Has no business with any of what he had for sale - meaning no knowledge of what he had gathered. I do not deny his right to have purchased it, nor his right to use it as a commodity as a means of survival.
I do believe that this gentleman is not an uncommon tale though - and I believe that his ilk are likely to keep component prices high.
To the fellas that have a couple hundred thousand primers and powder/brass/bullets to go with them? Good on ya!! You probably know your obsession, and have been through this is the late 2000's. That's your business, not mine, not anyone else's. And chirping on the internet about how awful someone is - it's just that - chirping. I have found that it's often from someone that decided to wait, and is now jealous of someone else's foresight - poor grasshopper.

It amounts to your opinion on wearing a mask or vaccination or the COVID in general - you do you. Stop trying to decide that your rights don't stop where someone else's begin.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[uscra112]

Was anybody buying anything?

[jaguarxk120]

Today at a show SE Michigan primers were $75/K. NO I did not buy any,
if and when the run on guns slows down primers will be in greater supply.
With all the new guns sold today and those buy's purchasing cartridges
for those guns, primers and powder will be in short supply!

[imashooter2]

If I needed primers, I would buy a couple thousand at $75 per. But as we’ve been discussing I can wait for better deals.

[BigboreShooter]

I shot 9,939 rounds in 2020! Half of them center fire. I’m 66 years old .I have in excess of 40k in primers. Am I a hoarder?

BigBoreShooter

[Four-Sixty]

So, if you've worked hard, been responsible with your money and bought only 2 firearms a year for 20 years you could easily own 40 firearms.

If you wanted to leave them to your children, and ensure they could actually enjoy them (after having lived through several component droughts) doesn't it seem reasonable to have a boat load of powder and primers?

[LAH]

So, if you've worked hard, been responsible with your money and bought only 2 firearms a year for 20 years you could easily own 40 firearms.

If you wanted to leave them to your children, and ensure they could actually enjoy them (after having lived through several component droughts) doesn't it seem reasonable to have a boat load of powder and primers?

Very reasonable.

[Bmi48219]

The Biteme 2 year ban on Russian guns & ammo isn’t going to help primer supply any. Or ammo supply either. Domestic ammo manufacturers have ramped up production but I’ve heard they use a lot of foreign supplied primers.
There are other non-Russian manufacturers that can boost output to fill the ammo shelves here but doing so will require primers too.
I watched one guy that mentioned Russia is the sole supplier of 5.45 mm ammo. He advised selling your 5.45 weapons while prices were still good.
Some ammo is showing up sporadically, but most is in the commonly used calibers. I’d imagine cartridges like 41 mag, 38 S&W, 38 Colt, 32 short & long and the like are pretty scarce and will be for a while.

[Catshooter]

Those who have little to no imagination find it quite easy to criticize the thinking and planning of others as they literally can't imagine why someone would think the way they do. They find it easy to yell "hoarder" or some other derogatory term (that they don't even understand) without any thought that there could be something outside their universe.

Quite common. Unsightly, pathetic and sad, but quite common.


Cat

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Our lgs has been getting them. Some powder too. I picked up 800 spp last week over 4 days. Got a couple thousand from Brownells a couple months back. So I'm holding steady. I really only need pistol primers these days as I have a lot of rifle, shotgun, .22 and 9mm ball ammo on hand. I wish I would have ordered about 20k of pistol primers back in January of 2020 when i started to get cagey about things. Never thought it would get this bad. But things do seem to be improving slowly.

[LAH]

I wish I would have ordered about 20k of pistol primers back in January of 2020 when i started to get cagey about things. Never thought it would get this bad. But things do seem to be improving slowly.

Hang in there Charlie. Like you I'm seeing improvement.