Has the shortage ended in your area?

[coloradokevin]

I haven't heard much about the primer/component shortage for a while now, and decided to start checking my local Sportsman's Warehouse again last month (back before the 2009-10 Shooting Obamination they were always my favorite reloading store). I had been checking various stores on about a monthly basis, and hadn't had much luck on primers ever since the election-induced panic started this shortage.

Anyway, for my past three trips to Sportsman's, the primer selection has been fully stocked. They even started selling primers by the individual 100-pack again! I'm not into the hoarding thing, and I'm glad to see that the pieces I need are available again. One unfortunate part of this restock is that primers are now selling for $36-38/thousand, which seems about ten dollars higher per thousand than I used to pay!

Just wondering if the tide has turned nationally (in your opinion), or if this is only a temporary regional fluke?

 

[dakotasin]

it is much improved, though availability can still be sporadic on specific items locally for me.

locally, powder has shot up $5 - 7 per pound, and primers are running into the $40 - 43 range per 1000. however, if i travel 90 minutes, powder is still available at around $23 per pound, and primers are about $32 per 1000.

 

[pcwirepro]

Utah is looking pretty good. Plenty of stock and selection on powder, average of $17.00/lb.
Primers are the big story here. Everyone has them by the pallet (CCI, Win and Fed) @ ~ $30.00/1000.
Brass is still hit and miss.

 

[dc.fireman]

Northern Virginia - powders still readily available, at the same prices. Some equipment has run kinda low occasionally (tumblers, dies, misc. hand tools, shell holders), primers on the other hand, are starting to show back up, but still somewhat difficult to obtain in the more popular sizes ( lg. and sm. rifle, sm. pistol), the primers which are available are running in the 30-33$ per k range, up from 20-25$ pre November prices.

My one downfall has been the loss of a very good reloading guy at the store where I get my stuff. He retired from the military, and the shop hasn't found anyone who reloads to replace him as of yet. I've been trying to help them along in the right direction as far as ordering stuff goes, but I'm still pretty new to it myself, so I've only been able to help them with some of the more popular stuff to replace what they're selling.

-tc

 

[EddieNFL]

I'm not into the hoarding thing, and I'm glad to see that the pieces I need are available again. One unfortunate part of this restock is that primers are now selling for $36-38/thousand, which seems about ten dollars higher per thousand than I used to pay!

I haven't bought locally for a couple of decades. At those prices I'll continue to buy in bulk for save $10.00 per K. I'm a hoarder.

 

[LiveLife]

It has improved locally and I am glad to see my preferred brands of primers back on the shelf. However, many stores are still in the "shortage" mode and keeping the prices marked up.

I shoot a lot and most other reloaders/match shooters I know order in bulk online and share the HazMat/shipping charges. Gun show vendors have steadily provided primers at $28 - $36 per thousand, depending on the brand (Wolf vs Winchester).

 

[HOWARD J]

S/E Michigan--gun shops are in pretty good shape.
Still can't get 380 new cartridges...................unless you want to pay $35 for 50

 

[Ky Larry]

There are still no cheap bullets. Only thing available in my area are the very top dollar Hornady, Sierra, and Burger bullets. I haven't seen Hornady Spire Points, Sierra spitzers, or bulk Remington or Winchester bullets in almost 2 years. Maybe when Sportsmans Warehouse reopens we'll get some bullets we can afford.

 

[Nanook]

I was in Bass Pro yesterday, and they had quite a bit of powder and primers. Now, they didn't have every single brand and type of primers, but they had some on the shelf behind a locked door.

CCI small rifle were $35 per 1000. I bought the last bottle of Varget they had in stock, but there were plenty of other powders on the shelves. They even had 8 pound containers available. (Unique, Red Dot, etc.)

The man working the counter said it has been getting better the last month and a half or so. I didn't think to check for bullets.

 

[420Stainless]

Most popular powders have been available. Still haven't seen anything other than shotshell primers at local stores or even a gun show last month. Ammo is becoming more common, but still not in variety.

 

[jr_roosa]

Phoenix: primers are still hit-and-miss, but there is always something in stock. Powders are a little better except for Varget and other high demand powders. Bullets are almost always stocked in the calibers I check (.451, .357, .308), but there may be some gaps in the lineup. For example they may only have 168gr MatchKings but no 175s. Brass is less well stocked in what I am usually looking for (.357 mag, .30-06).

Basically, if you bring your reloading manual and an iPhone you can find components to load almost anything, but if you want something specific you usually have to compromise on one or two components.

I'm waiting to get another 1000 each of federal large pistols and winchester large rifles, and I can crawl back into my hole for a few more months.

Presonally I can't wait until Powder Valley is back to full stock.

-J.

 

[Runningman]

Nope not at all. A couple months ago things were looking better. Right now locally there is no primers, no jacked pistol bullets, not much pistol powder. Mostly just some rifle powders & rifle bullets.

 

[Redneck with a 40]

Its eased up here in Colorado quite a bit, the gun show's are fully stocked with powders and primers, primers are running $32/1000 and 1 lb powders are running $25/pound, which isn't too bad.

 

[sig2009]

Wolf primers were $22.99 per 10000 three months ago at the local show. Last month they were down to $17.99 per 1000 and he had 100,000 on his table and powder is $14.99 to $21.99 per lb.

 

[Rule3]

SW Florida is still pretty much nothing. Ammo is a around, even some Wal Marts have ammo now but Bass Pro and such have no handgun primers and a just a few large rifle.

 

[LiveLife]

... no jacked pistol bullets ...

Yeah, I haven't seen jacked bullets of any sort in a long time ... Now if you are looking for jacked up bullets, that's another story.

 

[shootinxd]

no spp,no 40cal berrys,no 55grn fmjbb except for soft points

 

[1SOW]

San Antonio area, TX: Nope, primers are scarce and usually VERY limited when they show up.
Federal SPPs are rare.

When S.W. went bankrupt, our two shut down completely. I miss them.

 

[NotSoFast]

Primers and powder are becoming less scarce. I'm still having trouble finding .357 magnum brass though. Starline brass says they won't have any until about mid-June.

 

[Sapper771]

East TN : Locally, most powders run $30 per pound. Primers are $37.50-$39.99 per 1K. I order my bullets online because the store sells 100 count FMJ bullet packs for $20 (RIP OFF !!!!). Within the last 3 months, the local store has maintained a healthy stock of primers and powder, except W231/HP-38 and titegroup. When the scare was in full gallop, they only had shotshell primers, and we actually had to surf from shop to shop to find primers. I found one store during the scare that only had Large pistol magnum primers, so I started using them in my standard 45acp loads with no issues.

If I drive an hour north, powder slips down into $22-$25 range and primers stay the same price. I was at a shop yesterday and I actually found one can of HP-38!

I wish prices would go back down, but I don't see any sign of it happening.

 

[Presto]

I have been able to find everything in stock lately. It may not be within my budget to buy it, but it is available! My local shop had more W231 than I have seen in one place in a very long time. They had eight four pound bottles and about that many one pound bottles that I could see. There was only one container of Bullseye, though. It was a four pound bottle for well over $90. I passed on that one. The other powder prices were in line with this too. Primers are around $40/1000 for any type you want. For these prices, I'll just wait until I have a large enough haz-mat order to make the $25 fee worth paying.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Has the shortage ended in your area?

NO!!!

 

[Afy]

What shortage?

 

[Jesse Heywood]

Things are still tight here in Kansas. The only primers at this weekend's guns show were Winchester large pistol and large rifle. $35. The gun shop usually has a few boxes, but rarely small pistol. Powder is still short, but has improved. There are still empty spots in the shelves, just not as many.

 

[the_right_reverend]

Powder is somewhat plentiful ......some of it is a bit pricey.... manage to accumulate around 60 lbs in the last 6 months..... depending on the dealer primers are around in most flavors in the $30 to $35 range accumulated 12000 in the last few months