A friend called last night and said he had seen the most pistol primers that he had seen in over a year at Cabela's in Kearney, Ne. Said he bought a thousand SPP for $89.00. I'm glad to see them showing up but think I'll wait a while.
Primers
- Thread starter e rex
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kerreckt
Member
If someone pays $89/k for spp why will the price ever come down? Keep buying at high prices and the prices will stay high.
AJC1
Member
Need to fill the need first. Many have not had availability in a long time.
Airborne Falcon
Member
Some people are completely out of primers and need primers in order to continue enjoying their hobby/craft.
There will be no supply glut of primers for years. Only a supply glut will cause a drastic price decrease and, even then, prices are unlikely to fall more than 10% below current prices for years ... especially off the shelf prices.
Then there is the "I wish I had bought it at that price" regret. Example? I wish I had bought Amazon stock at $385.00 but I didn't at the time because everyone said it had peaked and it was overvalued. It's now what, $3514.00?
Or I wish I had bought that '63 Vette back in '85 for $6800.00 rather than the new Bronco. What's the Vette worth now? $200k? I still own the Bronco but ...
Oh, and I wish I had bought more gold in December of '96 at $370 an ounce but nooooooooo, instead I bought all that surplus x39 and x51 I could get my hands on from Cheaper than Dirt and .... ohhhhhhhh, errrrrrr, wait. I actually made a proper balanced investment between the two that year.
Point being, imho, primers at the price the OP paid for them, was able to put hands on them and actually take them home without paying hazmat or shipping .... OP made a solid investment imho.
Just my 2 cents.
scott511
Member
$89 per 1000 primers sucks, but it's cheaper than buying 1000 rounds of loaded ammo. Of course that only works if you're not paying outrageous prices for the other components.
I believe that this is the correct way to think about it. I'm seeing more and more primers in the $60-65 range...which I consider pretty reasonable... on-line, but by the time you add shipping, HazMat, and tax you're looking at $85+.
Bullets have usually been available (maybe with a short wait) and powder is also...depending on what you're willing to load with
I am loading for the next 4 months shooting. I was able to get a thousand primers a couple of months ago. $110 including the hazmat and shipping. My only regret is that they would not let me order 2 boxes. I am betting that 5 months when from now when I can get back to my loading equipment primers with still be $75 to $80 and very scarce in my area. Now...if you do not "need" primers right now then wait and see. Nothing wrong with that approach if you have that option. At 79 I do not often favor the waiting around for years to see if it comes down approach. I am lower on time than money. I bet a lot of other people feel that way too. In other words, do not count on me to try to lower the price for you by trying to "wait them out". That ain't gonna work anyway. Coming up I have 4 months with an essentially free indoor range and some free time and I need some ammo. I have to load it now. Paying another 6 to 8 cents a round seems like the thing to do. Range ammo was $1.00 a round last winter.
I was lucky enough to snag 1000 cases back at the start of the scarcity. I have 1000 bullets coming this week from Acme. I just missed getting enough pistol primers at the start of things. I did not foresee the total scarcity of primers that we have now. I also did not have good range availability at that time and was not shooting much. My bad. I am good for shotshell components though. My good.
I was lucky enough to snag 1000 cases back at the start of the scarcity. I have 1000 bullets coming this week from Acme. I just missed getting enough pistol primers at the start of things. I did not foresee the total scarcity of primers that we have now. I also did not have good range availability at that time and was not shooting much. My bad. I am good for shotshell components though. My good.
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Be patient, it could be sooner than you think, get past Christmas, then the start of a new year, folks are broke, economy gets worse...........interest rates go up.......folks said the same thing last time, be patient, ease up on the doom and gloom, the glass is half full.
Brownells recently had an item that was 2k CCI primers. You were still limited to one item...but at least it contained 2k primers
If I were to sell all my primers at $89.00 a thousand, that would be the best investment I ever made!
But, since shooting is very important to me, all those primers are going to pop in my pistols and rifles!
It should be obvious I am a complete failure when it comes to money management.
But, since shooting is very important to me, all those primers are going to pop in my pistols and rifles!
It should be obvious I am a complete failure when it comes to money management.
Airborne Falcon
Member
I getcha brother but it's different this time. This time it's global and supply chain related plus there's minimum 4 x the demand, perhaps more, than there was during both the 2008-2010 shortages and the 94-96 shortages. Probably, conservatively, 3 x more gun owners based upon FBI numbers and ... at least 3 x more reloaders, if not more. RSBS, Lee, Redding, Dillon are all producing components, dies, presses and related equipment 24/7 ... with so many of their products coming from overseas.Be patient, it could be sooner than you think, get past Christmas, then the start of a new year, folks are broke, economy gets worse...........interest rates go up.......folks said the same thing last time, be patient, ease up on the doom and gloom, the glass is half full.
On top of all of that primer, powder and pill makers have been pushed beyond their production capacity/capabilities limits. Although I agree with you 100% that supply in those areas does seem to be easing (particularly bullets) it's just that prices are not really dropping.
I hope you're right walkalong ... I hope prices on primers drop somewhere back to near what they were in January of 20. But the economics of it, the supply/demand issues of it, ... and now we're entering into double digit inflation for at least the next 36 months ... I just don't see it happening. The numbers don't add-up for it to happen.
I took a picture of local gas prices here where I live on inauguration day, and posted it to FB ... $1.64 a gallon for regular. Today, ten months later, the price here officially doubled ... today. $3.28 a gallon. (It was waaaaaay worse than that in South Florida where we just returned from over Thanksgiving with the kids and grandkids in Jupiter.)
If we take a snap shot of primers right now at $89.00 per 1000 ... IMHO it will look like a deal this time next year.
I hope I'm wrong. I usually have a really good feel for these things for some reason (which is why I had 100k primers when this thing hit and am now down to under 50k) .... and this time is different than anything we have ever faced before. Neither the firearms industry nor the shooting public, neither one of us collectively, were prepared for what we are currently experiencing.
Like in the movie, I'll bet you a cold drink.
Airborne Falcon
Member
Deal!
You're on. Big Cool Hand Luke fan here.Also, just this past Black Friday this much more pressure added to the market ....
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/...friday-week-saw-687-788-gun-background-checks
If you are going to shoot them up, that isn't an investment. As far as the vette, yeah, that would have been an investment, but who knew? I bet you got more use out of the Bronco....
I was called a fool for buying primers from BassPro for $4.50 per sleeve 18 months ago. I bought all I could at $45 per 1000pc. Those were the days!
Things would’ve returned to somewhat normal but when Americans watch their cities burn with virtually no repercussions, demand for ammo tends to go ape.
Prices on everything could still come down though with the coordinated fear mongering about the new virus variant, more shut downs and ridiculous Fed policy. Nothing will surprise me at this point.
Things would’ve returned to somewhat normal but when Americans watch their cities burn with virtually no repercussions, demand for ammo tends to go ape.
Prices on everything could still come down though with the coordinated fear mongering about the new virus variant, more shut downs and ridiculous Fed policy. Nothing will surprise me at this point.
Airborne Falcon
Member
.... but I didn't shoot it up. I still have a lot of it.
Yeah, the old boy has been a good ole vehicle. They call it the white rocket around here because it looks like the one OJ's buddy was driving, Al whatshisname. It's still going strong with almost 400k miles.
I was called a fool for buying primers from BassPro for $4.50 per sleeve 18 months ago. I bought all I could at $45 per 1000pc. Those were the days!
Things would’ve returned to somewhat normal but when Americans watch their cities burn with virtually no repercussions, demand for ammo tends to go ape.
Prices on everything could still come down though with the coordinated fear mongering about the new virus variant, more shut downs and ridiculous Fed policy. Nothing will surprise me at this point.
Yeah, perception is reality for a lot of people and the media keeps pushing these shtf teotwawki narratives .... demand will continue to climb.
More and more violent criminal assaults caught on video every day ... cities and suburbia are in full blown social decay, the border has completely collapsed, things are outta wack. Perception is reality.
Time will tell on supply demand. This component shortage and high prices ... I get it, I do. It's not really about us reloaders/handloaders it's about the new owners demand for ammo, or so they claim, but whatever it is - it is a real thing that only keeps growing.
All the while component makers have not upfitted or increased actual production capabilities. They have added shifts but not more machinery, equipment or square footage. Plus so much is now contracted to overseas providers. Much of the powder that hit the market today has been stranded off shore for months. As I was told it was two ships that were unloaded on the 21st and 24th.
We're THAT dependent on outside sources for producing powders?
When I was a kid there was a huge Hercules production facility in Brunswick, GA. One of the largest in the world. Hercules had provided powders through two world wars, Korea and Vietnam.
Now it's all overseas.
We have sold our souls to the devils.
I believe the 70 to $90 dollar range for a thousand primers isn't going to come down it's demand and inflation. I had either a fat finger or Natchezss screwed up my order a few years ago. I ordered 9,000 spp and I opened the box and they sent me LRP!. At the time I was not happy but Natchez sent me the 9,000 spp at cost and I am still sitting on a lot of those LRP. I went to a gun show at the time and tried to sell some of them for $30 per thousand no takers. Very glad that it worked out like it did.
Might have been, time will tell. If they don't come back down to at least that, I'll eat my hat too.I bought all I could at $45 per 1000pc. Those were the days!
JFrank
Member
I was told by one of my suppliers that they will come down but not where they were.
Same with powder…
Same with powder…
higgite
Member
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JFrank
Member
Probably not.
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ballman6711
Member
I think primer prices (along with powder prices) will drop. When and how much is anybody's guess.
In the meantime, I'm buying all the powder and primers I NEED as I find them AND IF I can stomach the price. In the last two years I have bought 4K primers and about six pounds of powder. I don't plan on buying any more for awhile unless it's a really good deal as I don't need any more.
Those 454 Casull dies on the other hand....
chris
In the meantime, I'm buying all the powder and primers I NEED as I find them AND IF I can stomach the price. In the last two years I have bought 4K primers and about six pounds of powder. I don't plan on buying any more for awhile unless it's a really good deal as I don't need any more.
Those 454 Casull dies on the other hand....
chris
I think the last order of 10k I picked up before the increases started were $30/k. Felt a bit guilty when I let a friend have 1k for $60/k...he was really happy. I almost got another 10k, but didn't know where I was going to store them. Federal primers take up a lot of room...you can store 20k CCI primers in about the same space as 1k Federal SPP.
I'd be delighted if they came down < $40/k. The biggest expense right now is Shipping and HazMat when they limit your purchases...it isn't bad when you can spread that expense over 10k-20k primers
Zendude
Member
Availability is my primary concern whenever my current supply gets low. I can adjust my reloading volume based on price, but if there’s little availability, my volume will be essentially zero.
I start considering paying market value for primers when my supply gets close to 5k
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