Where Are All The Primers?

[Rockindaddy]

A friend called several weeks ago and asked if I had primers. So I asked and he said he was out! Told him I had plenty as I bought them when they were on sale over the years. Told him I was down to 40,000 various rifle, pistol and shotgun primers. I gave him a bunch so he could keep loading and shooting. Started looking around and saw that primers are $30~$40 a thousand. Wow! Started to read up and found that there are a couple of new primer factories starting up. That's a good thing. Started digging through my stash of primers and found a pack of CCI large magnium pistol primers with an outlandish price of
$1.39 !! I can remember when they were $ .49 a hundred. Started loading for my $35 Trapdoor Springfield when I was 16 years old. Powder and primers were cheap. Making lead styphnate paste and filling the small brass cups and adding an anvil to make a primer is a process I watched on a video. The paste has to cure in the primer cup. It is quite ingenious to watch the primers being handled and packaged. Hopefully they will be more plentiful and the price will come down.

[jdgabbard]

I'd like to know where you're finding primers for $35-40 a thousand today. Try $100ish, sometimes more. I haven't seen primers at that price in several years....

[Shawlerbrook]

I assume the $35-40/ 1000 primers are listed on the internet sites we never heard of and only take Venmo or Bitcoin as payment .

[BLAHUT]

Just saw and bought a brick of shotgun primers for $60.00/1000, I don't need then, well maybe a hundred or two, just to have, so if friends have a need, I can share ??? Have seen small rifle primers, price ?, I need and want Large and magnum rifle primers, haven't found any yet. Did find some 5744 so I picked up 3 lbs. so to have on hand or incase someone needs ???

[Willie T]

I have seen more primers showing up locally in the last month. For close to 3 years now I have been shooting out of the stash I accumulated in good times. I have been able to refrain from buying the $100+\brick plus shipping and hazmat that has been what is available. My stash is down to around 35,000. In the last month or so I have started seeing them locally again. Prices are coming down some. Still about double what they were prior to this latest cycle of shortage. In the last month I have started to peck away at replenishing my stash. I have bought 5 bricks from a LGS. $77/brick out the door. I think they will come down some more as supply catches up and may have started buying early. When I see where prices settle, I will fully replenish my strategic reserve in preparation for the next shortage, which will surely come again. For the young and new reloaders that got caught with their pants down during the current shortage, these cycles repeat themselves. When supply catches up prices will settle to whatever the new normal is going to be. At that time prepare yourself for the next shortage. Remember who the price gougers were during the time of short supply and give your business to the outfits that did their best to take care of their customer base as best they could.
Willie

[daengmei]

Early summer last year I asked a local gun shop about selling him what I had. He of course said he had to look at them and the current wholesale price for him was $35-45. Any primers on his shelf were normally $120 or more. I would make $10 or so for a thousand, he would make $50 or more. That was my last trip to that store.

[dverna]

A friend called several weeks ago and asked if I had primers. So I asked and he said he was out! Told him I had plenty as I bought them when they were on sale over the years. Told him I was down to 40,000 various rifle, pistol and shotgun primers. I gave him a bunch so he could keep loading and shooting. Started looking around and saw that primers are $30~$40 a thousand. Wow! Started to read up and found that there are a couple of new primer factories starting up. That's a good thing. Started digging through my stash of primers and found a pack of CCI large magnium pistol primers with an outlandish price of
$1.39 !! I can remember when they were $ .49 a hundred. Started loading for my $35 Trapdoor Springfield when I was 16 years old. Powder and primers were cheap. Making lead styphnate paste and filling the small brass cups and adding an anvil to make a primer is a process I watched on a video. The paste has to cure in the primer cup. It is quite ingenious to watch the primers being handled and packaged. Hopefully they will be more plentiful and the price will come down.

No good deed goes unpunished. Hope I am wrong.

[barnabus]

Early summer last year I asked a local gun shop about selling him what I had. He of course said he had to look at them and the current wholesale price for him was $35-45. Any primers on his shelf were normally $120 or more. I would make $10 or so for a thousand, he would make $50 or more. That was my last trip to that store.

the very reason i dont buy anything from a lgs

[pergoman]

The way I see it, primers will not get much below $80 per thousand anytime soon. They are 3 times what they cost a few years ago but so are a lot of other things. Cans of Progresso soup is on my grocery store's shelf at $4.39 today. It used to be a dollar. Pasta is $1.59 per pound when it was $.89 just a year ago. Bush' beans were $.99 3 years ago and are now closer to $3.
I'm still buying primers and shooting as much as ever. Our years are limited and I believe in doing what you can while you can.

[M-Tecs]

A friend called several weeks ago and asked if I had primers. So I asked and he said he was out! Told him I had plenty as I bought them when they were on sale over the years. Told him I was down to 40,000 various rifle, pistol and shotgun primers. I gave him a bunch so he could keep loading and shooting. Started looking around and saw that primers are $30~$40 a thousand. Wow! Started to read up and found that there are a couple of new primer factories starting up. That's a good thing. Started digging through my stash of primers and found a pack of CCI large magnium pistol primers with an outlandish price of
$1.39 !! I can remember when they were $ .49 a hundred. Started loading for my $35 Trapdoor Springfield when I was 16 years old. Powder and primers were cheap. Making lead styphnate paste and filling the small brass cups and adding an anvil to make a primer is a process I watched on a video. The paste has to cure in the primer cup. It is quite ingenious to watch the primers being handled and packaged. Hopefully they will be more plentiful and the price will come down.

The eastern China bug, the Floyd riots, copper prices, politics and panic buying lead to this. Current going rate is $80 to $120 per thousand. The prices before all of this $30~$40 a thousand when ordered in bulk from place like Powder Valley.

[405grain]

Primers don't even exist around where I live. Luckily I stocked up when times were good, but in about a year or two I'll be either out or on starvation rations. When they do come back I'll be stocking away two bricks a month, and won't stop for at least a year. 24,000 primers is about the minimum that I'd expect to cash, and a lot more would be better.

[Evoken]

I have been able to buy about a brick a month or so from our local reloading shop. They are staying consistent at 70$ a brick.
I did pay the 100$ fee for a few brick from a couple different places a few years back just to sure up my stock. I figure the iron is useless if I don't have anything to feed it, so it is what it is.
If prices come back down to 50$ or less I will surely stock up. I am seeing many components become more available in my area at least.

[Half Dog]

Cheddite has kept me shooting. I guess they are too busy to add rifle primers to their manufacturing process but 209 primers aren’t hard to find. When other 209 primers become available I’m planning on staying with Cheddite.

[45workhorse]

Just saw and bought a brick of shotgun primers for $60.00/1000, I don't need then, well maybe a hundred or two, just to have, so if friends have a need, I can share ??? Have seen small rifle primers, price ?, I need and want Large and magnum rifle primers, haven't found any yet. Did find some 5744 so I picked up 3 lbs. so to have on hand or incase someone needs ???

I saw 5744 the other day in Charleston SC, $60.00 a pound! NO it did not follow me home.
$30-40 I can deal with, not happy but I can deal with that. The store had the biggest selection of powder i had seen in a long time. Sportsman Warehouse.

[reddog81]

The way I see it, primers will not get much below $80 per thousand anytime soon.

I got an email Thursday for $63 per thousand for Servicios Aventuras Small Pistol Primers . Once people stop panic buying at inflated prices the prices will continue to fall.

[Kraschenbirn]

I got an email Thursday for $63 per thousand for Servicios Aventuras Small Pistol Primers . Once people stop panic buying at inflated prices the prices will continue to fall.

From where? SA aren't my first preference (had 2 FTF out of 100 yesterday) but will do for practice/plinking.

Bill

[Shawlerbrook]

I do hope I am wrong, but primers will never get below $50/1000 and probably more likely to be around $60-80/1000. And if November 2024 goes bad be prepared for more triple digit gouging and continued scarcity.

[littlejack]

Just this last week, Sportsmans Warehouse had Fiocci small pistol primers. First time I've ever seen any. There was a 2 tray limit per day, but, these are in 150 count boxes, another first for me. I managed to hit them four days. So, I wound up getting 1200 primers. Price figured out to be $5.66 per 100. That's not bad these days.

[reddog81]

From where? SA aren't my first preference (had 2 FTF out of 100 yesterday) but will do for practice/plinking.

Bill

Tacticalstuff.com. Only “stuff” is a word that will get an infraction if used here.

[376Steyr]

Where are all the primers? They are going into 9mm and 5.56 ammo. We won't see plentiful primers until the ammo makers clear up their enormous back-orders for loaded ammo. I see the price of bulk 9mm is steadily declining, so this is at least a hopeful sign.