Wow, that's a lot. Where did he get them from that was willing to give him a huge discount for such a large order? Also, what time was this? Pre-SH, or post? Some more details would be appreciated. I'm a first-time reloader and am having a hard time getting an order of 24k primers filled, much less four times that amount. :O
First of a I'm in Canada and the USA requires export permits and Import permits for anything firearms related.
This prevents Americans from easily getting their hands on reloading components or ammunition from Canada.
The other thing is that American companies which sell firearms, ammunition, and/or reloading components to Canadian or other international distributors have agreements in place which they still need to respect.
I know for a fact that regular shipments are coming in from some bullet makers and all brands of .22LR are readily available.
The only thing that is hard to find that I'm interested in is .224" 55gr FMJ bulk projectiles.
I can buy boxes of 100 for $16.95 and I can even get a 5% discount if I buy 10 boxes but that's more than the $100.00/1,000 I'm used to paying so I don't buy any.
Our club brought in 1,000,000 rounds of Remington UMC .223 ammo and is selling it at $8.95/20 with no bulk discount which is still higher than the $7.00/20 we were paying for PMC before Sandy Hook but at least there is still ammo to shoot for now.
We also have access to Chinese ammo and Non Corrosive Norinco M885 is available for $499.00/1,600
One Canadian distributor who shall remain nameless told me he has an allotment of 40 AR-15 rifles per month. 40 rifles is not a huge number but in a small market it keeps things rolling.
As far as the 100,000 primers is concerned this was in February and the primers in question are Sellier & Bellot which say Made in Czech Republic on them.
I bought 5,000 for $126.00/5,000
I will buy another 5,000 in large pistol this week when I go by the range.
I hope this answers some of your questions.