Inline FabricationLee PrecisionLoad DataRotoMetals2
Titan ReloadingReloading EverythingWidenersRepackbox
MidSouth Shooters Supply
Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst 123
Results 41 to 47 of 47

Thread: Where are you buying primers?

  1. #41
    Boolit Grand Master
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Northern Michigan
    Posts
    8,901
    Quote Originally Posted by wade View Post
    $600 a 1000 primers in canada
    That work out to $450 in real dollars...LOL
    Don Verna


  2. #42
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Beattie, TX
    Posts
    254
    You guys need to look into reloading your own. I shoot all I want for $3 per thousand. Yeah, it's time consuming. Yeah, there's some upfront cost. Yeah, there's a lot to learn but you will never again be hostage to the primer manufacturer's greed.

    https://aardvarkreloading.com/

  3. #43
    Boolit Master elmacgyver0's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Posts
    1,975
    Quote Originally Posted by mvintx View Post
    You guys need to look into reloading your own. I shoot all I want for $3 per thousand. Yeah, it's time consuming. Yeah, there's some upfront cost. Yeah, there's a lot to learn but you will never again be hostage to the primer manufacturer's greed.

    https://aardvarkreloading.com/
    I have everything to do this except for the loading plates.
    Just have not got around to making any yet.
    I have the chemicals and lab equipment.
    Still have some primers so it hasn't become an issue yet.
    Do you know if someone sells the plates, I'm kind of lazy.

  4. #44
    Boolit Grand Master


    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Aberdeen, South Dakota
    Posts
    7,136
    Quote Originally Posted by gc45 View Post
    There is no justification from a business sense for the price of primers to have risen so much; it is that Covid allowed this and now, Covid is falling off but manufacturers and retailers have learned many will pay their higher price no matter the cost...Supply is good you say, but demand is greedy and inpatient.
    Exactly. There is crazy inflation, shortages of nearly everything, and labor issues, but still, there no other product out there right now that has gone up in price as much as primers have. I guess Gasoline has, but that's a little different. Right at this moment I'm seeing Federal small rifle primers for $95. In 2019 those same primers were about $32 per thousand. That's basically a 200% price increase. There's simply no justification for it. I know not too many think highly of Expansion Ammunition, but between their new primer plant, and all the imported primers showing up, this will probably come back to bite the big 3 (really just big 2 now) in the ass unless they get their prices down soon.

  5. #45
    Boolit Grand Master


    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Aberdeen, South Dakota
    Posts
    7,136
    Quote Originally Posted by mvintx View Post
    You guys need to look into reloading your own. I shoot all I want for $3 per thousand. Yeah, it's time consuming. Yeah, there's some upfront cost. Yeah, there's a lot to learn but you will never again be hostage to the primer manufacturer's greed.

    https://aardvarkreloading.com/
    I've looked into it plenty. Stockpiling when the prices are good makes way more sense. How fast can you load 1000 primers? Can you even make 100 in an hour? I don't know about you, but my time is worth more than $5 an hour. That looks like a bigger rip than paying $100/1000 primers. And all that to end up with a primer that is not as good as new. I'd protect my life with my flintlock before I did that, which I do like flintlocks.

    To make that a practical option is going to take improvements. Someone is going to need to come up with a machine/press that can cut and shape new primer cups and anvils, and it's going to have to be better than the tap-o-cap die for making percussion caps. That with a machined accompanying tray so you can fill at least a few hundred at a time like a real manufacturer does it. If you can't load 1000 primers in 1-2 hour its basically a waste of time to me. That might sound odd coming from a bullet caster, since some of the same logic can be applied to cheap jacketed bullets. The difference is a dirt cheap casting setup you can be casting thousands of bullets quickly. I'm not about to sit there and finagle tiny little primers for an hour and get 50 sub-par primers, that's ridiculous.

  6. #46
    Boolit Master

    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Fl.
    Posts
    1,565
    Quote Originally Posted by mvintx View Post
    You guys need to look into reloading your own. I shoot all I want for $3 per thousand. Yeah, it's time consuming. Yeah, there's some upfront cost. Yeah, there's a lot to learn but you will never again be hostage to the primer manufacturer's greed.
    I watched several segments on the aardvark site. I’m not going to go into purchasing the ingredients in big enough quantities. You may be able to produce non-corrosive primers around $3 / 1,000. The last screen on the non-corrosive clip carried a statement that the suggested purchase quantities were enough to load ‘tens of thousands’ of primers. I guesstimated the ingredients list totaled around $100. So yeah, 4 or 5 cents each for the ingredients.
    But how much does all the lab-type equipment set you back? Again, I didn’t add it up but it looks like an easy $200-$300 for the recommended equipment. Amortizing the equipment, after 20,000 loads your overall cost has to be bumping 8-10 cents each. My math could be screwed up.
    If (or when) primers become forever unavailable yours would certainly be a very useful skill and investment, same as casting boolits.

  7. #47
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Location
    Wilmington NC
    Posts
    1,441
    Quote Originally Posted by P Flados View Post
    The only "primer" purchase I have made since Biden won the election was primer reloading stuff. I spent less than $250 and have loaded probably more than 20K. My EPH-20 is working right at 100% in my favorite guns. I put a lot of time into it. This is not a big deal as I am retired and with Covid life has been a lot more "stay at home" than I expected.
    As noted previously (and quoted above), the cost per primer with EPH-2x is very low. Using my guestimates above, I am at around $0.0125 per primer including non-consumables.

    Consumables only for SPP/SRP are less than $0.005 per primer at current prices. I was lucky on timing for my initial purchases and my actual cost of consumables is about half of the above.

Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst 123

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check