Out of Control Cost Of Powder And Primers At LGS

[Soundguy]

Look at Sandy Hook... PRI.er prices never went back down after that. I was buying wolf primers at 2.5cents before.. After.. 4.5-5... Powder on average went up 3-5$ as well..never went back.
Low prices were for a surplus sales market... There are no surpluses available now..and many new shooters and reloaders came into existence the last 2 years.. None of the existing suppliers wanted to tool up more output... Remington was a ghost town, many imports stopped ( when was the last time you saw new S&B primers on the shelf... No wolf/tula.. ) and newcomers to the primer business won't be tooled and in production toll next year, and word is that their bulk pre sales are probably filled for 24mos out.
Surplus pre-covid-biden prices are gone..train left the station... That's my prediction.
I remember 1.2c primers at retail 12$/1000 from long ago... Anyone notice that prices go up..but never go back?... At least not for consumer level sales. If you can buy a palate full..sure... Deals were available... That's not the average user.

[JoeJames]

Look at Sandy Hook... PRI.er prices never went back down after that. I was buying wolf primers at 2.5cents before.. After.. 4.5-5... Powder on average went up 3-5$ as well..never went back.
Low prices were for a surplus sales market... There are no surpluses available now..and many new shooters and reloaders came into existence the last 2 years.. None of the existing suppliers wanted to tool up more output... Remington was a ghost town, many imports stopped ( when was the last time you saw new S&B primers on the shelf... No wolf/tula.. ) and newcomers to the primer business won't be tooled and in production toll next year, and word is that their bulk pre sales are probably filled for 24mos out.
Surplus pre-covid-biden prices are gone..train left the station... That's my prediction.
I remember 1.2c primers at retail 12$/1000 from long ago... Anyone notice that prices go up..but never go back?... At least not for consumer level sales. If you can buy a palate full..sure... Deals were available... That's not the average user.

I can beat you on that. About a month ago I found an old sleeve of Winchester Large Pistol primers from my storage bin - Walmart = $1.14 tag on it = $11.40 a carton.

[Soundguy]

Nice..yeah..thats similar to what I found.. Winchester lpp. With 12$ price tags on them. Light blueish purple on white tag..kmart maybe?.. But for sure a couple decades+ old.

[Soundguy]

I remember 1k bricks of 22lr for either 8.99 or 9.99 at Kmart..

[JoeJames]

I remember 1k bricks of 22lr for either 8.99 or 9.99 at Kmart..

I must either be a little bit older, or started shooting a bit earlier; for I remember $7.00 a carton for Remington GB's.

[Soundguy]

Good price!

[farmbif]

if you think shooting is expensive dont even think about flying or sailing for hobbies

[imashooter2]

A poster on another board told me (regarding a gun purchase) you didn’t pay too much, you just bought too soon. Prices go up over time. Live long enough and you can brag to the newbies about how you bought primers in 2022 for just $400 a thousand.

[Soundguy]

Yup... I remember when my brand new colt anaconda was 400$.... Wish I had taken a 2nd mortgage on the house and bought a bunch of them and pythons.. Then sold them the last 10ys.

[fatelk]

Look at Sandy Hook... PRI.er prices never went back down after that. I was buying wolf primers at 2.5cents before.. After.. 4.5-5...

It was different here. Prices did come down, especially after 2016. I was buying primers for 2.5 to 3.5 c easily in 2018. I’m still kicking myself for not buying more.

[dswancutt]

It was different here. Prices did come down, especially after 2016. I was buying primers for 2.5 to 3.5 c easily in 2018. I’m still kicking myself for not buying more.

Same here. Feb 6 of 2019 a case of Winchester small pistol from Brownells cost 2.6 each. A month before, I bought two cases of CCI Large for 2.9 cents a primer.

[David2011]

if you think shooting is expensive dont even think about flying or sailing for hobbies

Amen! I worked on aerobatic aircraft and have owned about 18 boats, but that includes a few dinghies. OTOH, tooling around the harbor in a dinghy is great fun.

I went to a gun show the Saturday after Barry Obama was elected. One vendor sold out of the $20,000 worth of 5.56 ammunition he brought by noon.

Near the end of the great .22 shortage of 2013-2015 or so I went into the LGS and asked if they they had any .22 ammunition. The clerk, barely old enough to have a job, cheerfully said that they had plenty; $8.99/box. When I declined, he asked if I thought that was too high. I explained that 3 years earlier it was under $2.00/box. He was incredulous. The same store had powder at mostly under $30/pound at the same time so I bought from them regularly. Just not .22s.

[rbuck351]

If you don't think they are going to drop in price, you might as well go buy right now. Govt deficit spending IS inflation, and the federal reserve dumping new money into the system is inflation. That has been some 6 trillion over the last two years making the dollar worth around 50% less than two years ago. That combined of raw material shortages and worker shortages and supply and demand has put the cost of power and primers where they are. If our govt continues to spend lots more than it takes in, prices will continue to rise.

I lived in Nome Ak for 6 years and found that things were much more expensive there and often not available until the next barge came in. It taught me to buy stuff when available and stack it deep. I will be shooting primers at an average cost of $15/$20 per thousand for the rest of my life, my average powder cost is around $12/$15 per pound and I will be giving my son a bunch of both when I finally take a dirt nap.

When I first started reloading primers were $.79/$.89 per hundred. I remember buying surplus 4831 for $.67 per pound and normal powder price was around $3 per pound.

[reddog81]

It was different here. Prices did come down, especially after 2016. I was buying primers for 2.5 to 3.5 c easily in 2018. I’m still kicking myself for not buying more.

Yep, Winchester and Federal had 25% rebates in 2018 and you could get primers from powder valley for $28 to $32. Rebates were only valid for 5,000 primers from each company. I utilized that deal.

[Mal Paso]

The Sales before it hit the fan were driving me crazy. I think a keg of 2400 was down to $119 and 5,000 unit cases of Federal LPP were $120. I had to turn it off, the cupboards were full. Should have realized I would get into other calibers. Hindsight is 20-20.

[imashooter2]

Member Slughammer told me that there were primers on the shelf in the Delaware Cabela’s today. Federal SPP, $100/M, LPP only $90/M. No sales tax in DE, so that would be out the door. My stores allowed me to leave my car in the driveway, but it is always nice to hear of primers on the shelf somewhere.

[rintinglen]

This current component pickle I think has been worse and longer due to the perfect storm of an election cycle with unfavorable gun rights results, the pandemic and supply chain issues, social unrest and maybe even the war in Ukraine with its drain on matériel.

My impression is that experienced reloaders that have gone through a few shortages stock up if they have the financial resources to do so, but this has been dragging on so long that some are now looking at the last dregs of what they have. New reloaders were caught unawares and are starved for supplies.

All that being said, I have the feeling that even when supply chain and other issues are resolved and components finally get directed back to the reloading market, prices will stay high and availability still tight for a while because of pent up demand as those caught short swear “never again” and buy well beyond current need to create their own stockpiles.

Afterwards, maybe as much as after the next presidential election, assuming no new jolts, availability may be back to normal. With inflation, though, I doubt we’ll ever see $25/K or $15/# again.

I second this opinion. Inflation is real and while prices may decline some, I suspect that 6¢ 44 special loads will be a distant memory when things stabilize.

[WRideout]

I broke a promise to myself not to quote the price of gasoline in 1968. Now I need to make another promise not to quote the price of primers in 2005.

Wayne

[farmbif]

Amen! I worked on aerobatic aircraft and have owned about 18 boats, but that includes a few dinghies. OTOH, tooling around the harbor in a dinghy is great fun.

I went to a gun show the Saturday after Barry Obama was elected. One vendor sold out of the $20,000 worth of 5.56 ammunition he brought by noon.

Near the end of the great .22 shortage of 2013-2015 or so I went into the LGS and asked if they they had any .22 ammunition. The clerk, barely old enough to have a job, cheerfully said that they had plenty; $8.99/box. When I declined, he asked if I thought that was too high. I explained that 3 years earlier it was under $2.00/box. He was incredulous. The same store had powder at mostly under $30/pound at the same time so I bought from them regularly. Just not .22s.

flying is lot of fun but spark plugs $50ea for the cheap ones, tempest-the good ones $130ea x8, a pair of magnetos --oh about $3400, new plug wires--about $180 x2
just part of a simple 2000hr tune up.
folks complain about gas price, avgas is about the $6.70/gal
bottom line is it costs a lot to go out and have fun these days no matter what the hobby

[jonp]

The Sales before it hit the fan were driving me crazy. I think a keg of 2400 was down to $119 and 5,000 unit cases of Federal LPP were $120. I had to turn it off, the cupboards were full. Should have realized I would get into other calibers. Hindsight is 20-20.

When it was on sale I bought 4 kegs of Promo for $96 each.