Author Topic: Primer supply getting better? (Read 1039 times)

LaOtto222 · « **on:** October 18, 2009, 06:14:43 AM »

Evidently the primer supply is finally getting caught up a little. I was in a local Gander Mountain and they had 2K Remington 7 1/2 and 5K of CCI BR4 primers setting on the shelf. I asked if there was a limit on them and I was told I could buy as many as I wanted. Just a few weeks ago they would only sell you 200 at a time/day. At $4.99/100 ($50/1K), I passed. They wanted the same price for both the Remington and CCI primers. Normally the CCI are about $1/100 more than the Remington primers. I think they are charging a flat $4.99 for any primers they get in. My wife was along and encouraged me to buy some, but I told her that I refused to pay that kind of price for them. I will wait a little while longer, pay hazmat fees + shipping and still save a bundle on 5K worth of primers. Gander Mountain has always been a little high on their prices - but this is just gouging. They are not going to get my business at that price and I will not soon forget it either.

burntmuch · « **Reply #1 on:** October 18, 2009, 06:42:18 AM »

I just bought 2oo remington Small rifle the other day at gander 4.99 for 100. Had to. Ive been waitng on loading for my 357 max. These were the first small rifle primers Ive seen in some time.

buck460XVR · « **Reply #2 on:** October 18, 2009, 07:11:53 AM »

.......after 4 months my local gun shop finally got small pistol magnum primers. Bougth two cases of 1000 for $32 each. Life is good.

Graybeard · « **Reply #3 on:** October 18, 2009, 09:50:10 AM »

I don't think the supply has improved it's just that at their price no one is willing to buy thus the reason they have them and want to sell no matter to who.

I stopped the other day at a gun shop about as big as any around here and all they had was Federal and they wanted to sell me only 100 each. Since I've not really ever used Federal primers in my loads and couldn't buy thousands of them to work up new loads I passed. I didn't ask price. I called another large shop in a nearby town and they had no primers at all. I checked with Midsouth online and all they had were shotshell primers which for some reason have never seemed to be in short supply around here.

Pretty much no one of the online suppliers have them in stock so I don't think the supply situation has really improved at all. Where they are all going is a mystery to me I do not think it's still shooters and hunters stocking up any more. Places that get in from a quarter million to perhaps several times that at a time seem to sell out in hours of each delivery. There is something going on and I don't think it's us.

stimpylu32 · « **Reply #4 on:** October 18, 2009, 10:02:16 AM »

I tend to agree with GB , something is a-miss , most of the local shops are getting a few k of one or the other now but nothing like it was a year ago , when a big chain store or wholesaler gets 50k to 100k and its gone in less than 24 hours , something stinks .

Were their going I have no idea but they are indeed going somewere .

stimpy

LaOtto222 · « **Reply #5 on:** October 18, 2009, 10:15:37 AM »

It has got to be getting better, unless like you said there are people buying them up and stashing them away until later and going to sell them at a premium price. Midway has a mail list you put in your interest in and when they get primers in, they send out an e-mail. I tried about three times to buy primers that way with no luck. I called within 3 hours of getting my e-mail one time and they were already sold out. I can not set by my e-mail all day waiting on them to drop me a line. There has got to be some people that are doing nothing but waiting on an e-mail and buying massive quantities. Who is doing it and why is beyond me. I ended up buying 5K Wolf small rifle primers as an emergency supply, just in case I will not be able to get any thing else when/if I do run out. It just chaps my butt to think there are people that are buying way more than they will ever need. Maybe it is the Gander Mountains buying them at retail and then reselling them at a premium, i just do not know. All I know is there has been one heck of a lot of primers made and a massive amount imported like Wolf and S&B primers and the supply is still way short of where it should be. I was just hoping that those type of folks finally got their fill and supplies were starting to turn the corner.

burntmuch · « **Reply #6 on:** October 18, 2009, 11:10:53 AM »

All I know is this whole situation sucks. Im just now getting the hang of reloading. Finally got a 100 yard range outside my back door. Now I cant find primers

buck460XVR · « **Reply #7 on:** October 18, 2009, 11:19:51 AM »

Quote from: stimpylu32 on October 18, 2009, 10:02:16 AM

Were their going I have no idea but they are indeed going somewere .

I think a lot of them are going "bang". Same place I got my primers they sell guns. The owner say's they have sold more guns in the last year than they had in total for the previous three years before that. He also claims his ammo sales have increased by the same amount. That means that many more guns are going "bang". The little local gun range I shoot at used to be barely used except for the month preceding gun deer season. Now it's hard to go out there anytime, even during the week and not see someone shooting......most times it's a new member shooting a new gun. Locally there has also been the startup of several different new shooting competitions......one can find some sort going on every weekend now, whereas even two or three years ago you'd be hard pressed to find two or three a year. Altho it is good to see this increased interests in shooting sports, it's taking it's toll on us reloaders, both in supply and on our pocketbook. I also believe the hoarding is still going on also......and I'm one of them. Because my local shop was only minutes away and untill last January always had every kind of primer in stock, I used to buy a few hundred at a time and did not worry when I used the last box. Now I buy them by the case and start to get worried when I'm down to only 500. Sometime in the near future I believe things will get back to normal.......basic economics dictate this. Once companies get their production up(and most already have), I believe that it's only a matter of time when stocks on shelves will once more be abundant and prices will go down as supply starts to exceed demand.

Either that or they're being abducted by aliens.

BTW....went to a gun show today and saw several cases of the same primers as I bought last week. They had the same handwritten stock number written on the side of the box also, showing me that the vendor had bought them at the same place as I had. Only difference was, he wanted $13 a case more. Once again, greed rears it's ugly head.

GameHauler · « **Reply #8 on:** October 18, 2009, 11:21:37 AM »

What chaps my hide is I have a 204 Ruger barrel that has been sitting
in my safe for the last 6 months that I have not been able to shoot once.
My local shop has not been able to get SM Rifle Mag primers and even if Midway
or some big online had some I am not in a position to make a large enough order
right now to cover the Hazmat fees.

CyberSniper · « **Reply #9 on:** October 18, 2009, 07:00:13 PM »

The situation remains bad here also. ( San Antonio Texas )
As mentioned by others, a couple of the local shops here will only sell you 100 primers per day.
Primers are being rationed by the suppliers.
I know one small dealer that has seen no primers since March of this year.
Others are getting very few at any one time.
Powders have been showing up sporadically, but at least they have been showing up.

Supply and demand, or else maybe "the gouge factor" has created some odd deals too.
I saw 50 rounds of .45 auto ball ammo selling for almost $6.00 less than 50 rounds of .380 auto ball ammo at
an on line dealer site.

JustaShooter · « **Reply #10 on:** October 20, 2009, 02:24:07 PM »

Primer supply is back to pre-hoarding levels here in my neck of the woods (NE Ohio). My local shop has been keeping primers out on the shelves, no limits. Couple of weeks ago he was down to about 5k assorted flavors, last week the shelves were full again. I didn't check prices this time, but last time I checked they were going for less than $40/1000 at this shop.

Just a Shooter

Graybeard · « **Reply #11 on:** October 20, 2009, 06:09:49 PM »

Well I spoke with one of my industry insider contacts the other day and the primer situation IS NOT getting better and isn't likely to any time soon. Most primers being manufactured are going to ammo makers and government ammo suppliers on contract. There is but a tiny fraction of the supply being fed into the reloading market segment. He didn't expect that to change any time soon.

One thing I found out that I didn't realize is that suppliers that take back orders for powder and primers are likely to have thousands to tens of thousands or more primers setting in their warehouse committed to buyers who are still waiting on other items they have on back order to come in. Folks try to get as much as possible in a single shipment to spread the hazmat fee out and it results in hundreds of orders being held pending receipt of one or two other items to complete the shipment. Taking all such companies to do this into account I wonder how many hundreds of thousands or millions of primers are setting waiting to be shipped due to this situation.

But from what he knows as an industry insider talking directly to his counter parts in primer manufacturing companies it sure didn't sound like it's gonna get better soon. When companies even those who place orders in hundreds or thousands of cases at a time get stock in it has nothing to do with a percentage of what they ordered. They might have ordered say a half million but when the arrive they might not have even ten thousand. It's bad and not getting better soon.

Heavy C · « **Reply #12 on:** October 20, 2009, 06:30:28 PM »

Thanks for the update GB. Did your friend happen to mention if the manufacturers of the primers had ramped up production, or are they still at pre-hoarding levels? My hunch is they haven't changed production levels.

Graybeard · « **Reply #13 on:** October 21, 2009, 12:11:46 AM »

We didn't discuss that but based on comments I've read from magazine writers doing tours of the facilities and with my contacts inside bullet manufacturing plants I believe all the various companies making products to support us shooters have ramped up production to the extent they can. I am convinced that production at all the various ammo, component and firearms makers plants are at the highest levels ever and they still can't keep up.

I've spoken with my contacts at Hornady, Nosler and Sierra and all have confirmed that. I just recently saw a comparison of NICS checks over time and it would appear that firearm sales are at least double what they were prior to obamination being elected.

What I don't understand is just who is buying up all the ammo and components. Personally I'm not convinced it's just regular average Joe shooter/hunter like us.

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #14 on:** October 21, 2009, 01:12:24 AM »

I know availability sure isnt getting better here!

CyberSniper · « **Reply #15 on:** October 21, 2009, 01:53:57 AM »

Quote:
What I don't understand is just who is buying up all the ammo and components.
Personally I'm not convinced it's just regular average Joe shooter/hunter like us.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've been saying that since March of this year.
You can't "panic buy" what's not there to buy to start with.
Charges that panic buying and hoarding are the cause don't hold water after the supply
is no longer there to start with....

HL · « **Reply #16 on:** October 21, 2009, 02:37:07 AM »

if anyone here uses or wants to use Wolf small rifle mag primers, Powder Valley has them in stock for $25.50 per brick.

That is the only place I found that has any primers in stock.

LaOtto222 · « **Reply #17 on:** October 21, 2009, 11:49:51 AM »

Widener's Reloading and Shooting Supply has them too - but they a little more expensive $29/1K or so.

1sourdough · « **Reply #18 on:** October 22, 2009, 02:50:03 PM »

I bought 2k LP win primers yesterday. They were $34.99 per 1k. I have a fairly good supply now, nothing excessive. I may get some more LR primers when I see them at an O.K. price. One of my previously favorite shops was up to $50+ something per 1k of primers. I've been weening myself off that shop.

2506Rem · « **Reply #19 on:** October 23, 2009, 04:30:01 PM »

Has anyone seen any Federal 210 or 210M primers anywhere? I used to load cci 200 in my 22-250 and sold it. Am sitting on 500 of them but they don"t fit into the loads I'm shooting now. Thanks Kenny

carbineman · « **Reply #20 on:** October 25, 2009, 03:18:31 AM »

My local Scheels store has had some irregular shipments of primers, mostly small and large pistol, but I have manged to purchase 7000 this past summer. You do have to check often as they are usually gone in a day or so.

rugerman · « **Reply #21 on:** October 25, 2009, 03:38:23 AM »

I went to a gun show in Columbus, Ga yesterday. Not much reloading stuff there, some small rifle pimmers, large pistol & small pistol magnum primmers also in short supply, powder also in short supply mostly 8lb jugs very little 1lb size stuff available. Lots of black guns (it is a military town) prices kind of high now it costs $10 to get in. But hell its better than going to the movies or mowing the lawn.