Where do you buy powder and primers?

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twolf

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Hello all,

I am getting back into reloading as I will once again be entering shooting competitions. I would like to know where everyone buys there powder and primers from? Also, if you have any favorite powders for 9mm.

I have been looking online but so far have accomplished :banghead: !

Thanks all.:D
 
My last order of powder and primers was from Powder Valley Inc. - good prices and service. If you're only ordering primers, however, you need a place that will not charge you the $20 HazMat fee.
 
Powder and primers, I buy at my local gunshop. By the time you add in shipping/hazmat fees/handling fees/etc I've found that it's cheaper just to get them locally.

Bullets and brass I order in bulk from Midway USA.

As to my favorite 9mm powder, my preference is for Accurate #7. I came across a couple 9mm loads in a manual for it, and where I had some on hand from loading some light .357 Magnum rounds, I thought I'd give it a try. Results are not exceptional compared to other 9mm powders, but they're not bad either.
 
Gunshop usually. It avoids the hazmat fee.

There's a gun show coming near me in a couple weeks, I'll probably buy a couple thousand primers there.
 
I used to buy at gunshows, but now there is a requirement for the show promoter to purchase a permit from the county. The show promoter doesn't want to spend a few hundred dollars, so the county managed to castrate th gun shows. Some of the vendors do have powder and primers in the trailers outside of the building, but that might not last once the county figures it out.
 
Powder and primers, I buy at my local gunshop. By the time you add in shipping/hazmat fees/handling fees/etc I've found that it's cheaper just to get them locally.
Click to expand...

Depends where you live I guess - no one here sells powder for what you can buy it online for. Also, Powder Valley has powders like H-108 at 8lbs for $54 IIRC, a very good magnum powder at half the cost of H-110.

Typical around here is $20 to $25 per pound for powder in gunshops!
 
For powder and primers I go to the local dept store. Powder runs 15-18 per pound and primers were 20% off a couple weeks ago putting them around 14 per 1000

Bullets I buy bulk thru Midway or BHSS

My partner and I have decided on W231 for our 9mms and I like it for the 38/357 too, tho AA#7 comes in at a real close second. Next time we need powder for the 9s we'll invest in an 8lb keg and save a little cash.
 
I buy the powder at one of the local drug stores. They have a great selection and good prices. Actually better than the local gun stores. I've bought a couple of rifles there too.

For 9mm I like AA7. W231 also. For bullets I usually order through Midway when they're on sale. I've had real good luck with the 124gr for 9mm.
 
I buy all of my powder and primer from a local shop. Before I found this place, I purchased everything at gun shows. The gun show prices were only decent if multiple vendors were selling reloading components. Competition kept the prices down.

For 9mm, I use Winchester Super-Field (WSF). I used to use 231, but my brass would wear out at 5 loadings. It's just a tad too fast for my taste. AA7 is a good powder, but it takes a lot of powder to use it. Vihtavouri 3N37 is good stuff too, but it's pricey.
 
Hodgdon Tite-Group?

How is Hodgdon Tite Group? Hopefully, it is good. It looks like to me it takes very little powder to load the cases and is good for all practical handgun calibers. It was only $16 at my gun shop for a 1 pound can which I thought kinda weird but, then again no weirder than me actually buying it from them. I had looked at IMX 700 cause it came in an 8 oz can and figured if it was no good, I'd not have that much into it but they wanted 7.3 grains in each case where as Tite-Group and others only need 4.3 grains. This usually means better quality powder, right?
 
No, it doesn't have anything to do with quality; it has to do with how fast the propellant burns. One that burns slower takes a bigger charge. A propellant like Titegroup, that takes a very small charge, burns very quickly. As such, it can make fine target speed loads in a wide range of cartridges; but it is not a good choice to try to achieve peak velocities or accuracy in almost any cartridge. An excellent powder for what it does; but no powder does everything equally well.

PS--You should read a good deal more of reloading material than you have before you start stuffing cartridges. I'm not trying to be snide or a jerk; but you need to understand this sort of thing to do the process safely and well, and the way to do that is by reading at least a couple of quality reloading manuals.
 
got them

Ive got Hornady's relaoding guide and Lee's 2nd edition which is awesome. That is how I found out about the lighter grain requirements for Tite Group.

Also, I have no intention of using unproven or experimental loads yet. I will take their loads and subtract 20% to start with as they recommend then go up from there.

For some reason though Alliant has a disclaimer that says there fast burning powder does not work well with high end guns like Sig and Glock (No.3 specifically). Go figure????
 
Those are great manuals. Make sure you read all the introductory material, not just the charts. They'll make clear the kind of issue you ran into above.

And I don't mean to suggest that Titegroup isn't a useful powder; it is, and I've used it myself.

I think you must be misunderstanding the information from Alliant. What caliber are you talking about here? The gun (Sig & Glock) would not be a limitation, though Alliant might make a recommendation that you not use a high speed powder in a certain range in a certain caliber. What exactly did you read on Alliant's sight or package?
 
Am mailordering primers in bulk, for the ones used consistently. Up here, this is cheaper than buying in store, even adding in hazmat and shipping. Am soon going to start mail ordering powder. For a minimum of choice in powders or primers, have to drive 60 miles one way. Gas ain't cheap anymore, and it takes too much time. When do find a particular powder locally, chances are it has been sitting several years already.

Graph and sons has free shipping for bulk orders. Natchez has pretty consistent sales on primers.
 
When I see it for a good price at the gun show, I get i there, powder tends to run about $3-6 less a pound and primers are $5-7 or so less. But when there is a lull in the show, I buy it at one of two shops around here that have about the same price.
 
I buy from the local gun shop. His prices are usually about $2 cheaper for the 1-lb cannister of powder and 1000 lot of primers than any online source, and no hazmat fee. The savings is even more if I buy bigger lots. But, being new to the reloading gig, I buy in 1-lb lots right now to find one I like to settle on.
 
couple hours drive from California

I live in Virginia so it would take me an hour or two to drive to California.:evil:
 
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