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At least in my area (Oklahoma) primers are starting to show up kind of sporadically. I scored a brick (1000) of CCI SPP for $69.99 +tax about a week ago at the local Bass Pro. There was a limit of one brick per customer and they had a pretty good supply. A shooting buddy went to a local gun show and bought 1000 for $90.00 and another guy found some Muron (sp?) primers at a local gun store.
Are you seeing primers showing up in your area?
I am in Northwest Ohio and they have been somewhat available in my area throughout this panic buying session. At my LGS, they only allow you to buy 1 sleeve of 100 at a time ($10-$13 depending on what you are looking for). Just recently, they allow 3 sleeves, but price is still the same which is still way too high right now. I’m still sitting on a small supply for my reloading needs so have not had to buy much at these inflated prices. Hopefully things will get back to normal soon!!
A couple weeks ago I found small and large pistol primers at Sportsman\’s Warehouse, Columba, SC, for $43 per brick. CCI and Federal were both on the shelf and a limit of 1 each. My wife and I got 2k each and my son and a friend came right on over and got 2k each. I had plenty of each, but my son and another friend had been looking for some desperately. My son wasn\’t happy with the price and my friend was real happy. I told my son to get them and I would take them at that price, as it doesn\’t look like price is going to return to pre-pandemic levels for some time. I still have several full cases of primers in inventory, but my wife and I go through about 250-300 rds a week between the range and tactical training, so that inventory won\’t last forever.
The following week my wife, son and I picked up CCI large rifle and Federal small magnum rifle primers for $48 per brick, with us getting another batch of 3k of each size.
Some are finding a few at Cabelas in Augusta and Charlotte, but the store in Myrtle Beach has seen very few. They have a limit of 500 primers daily per customer and my friends are telling me prices run from $6.99 to $12.99 per 100.
I felt very fortunate that we are retired and able to hit Sportsman\’s on the days shipments arrive.
I doubt we will ever see pre pandemic prices again. Between inflation, political pressures on the firearms industry, and the cost of materials needed to make the primers I think we will be happy to see prices in the $60 – $70 per 1000 from this point forward. Would not surprise me if the new normal settles around $75-$80 /1000.
Just glad I bought a large supply when they were cheap and plentiful during the Trump years.
Similar market conditions unfolded during the Obama years. The same pricing, panic buying and sporadic supply was abound for years. It took one election to alleviate the market and bring things back to normal. IF the mid term elections shape up in favor of constitutional loving free Americans, we should see some relief.
Primes will go back down to reasonable prices again. The biggest reason for high prices is the very short supply. I have a lot of friends in the industry and the biggest issue is they cannot get enough brass to make as many as they usually do. Couple that with an increased demand and you get stupid high prices. There will be tons of primers in stock everywhere as soon as brass is more available. Theres a ton of new companies starting to make them so supply is eventually going to outpace demand.
Jacob is right, to a degree. Sig has started making primers. The embargo on Russia has cost us the Murom (Wolf) primers, but importers are getting lots of other off-shore sources coming in. Ultimately supply will come back. But ultimately inflation, supply-chain issues, and cost of raw materials will cause a slight rise. I remember the days long ago of $56/case of 5000 primers. Realistically, when things settle out, I see 5¢ to 6¢ primer costs. I’d definitely be a buyer once more at 5¢, no questions asked. For now, I’ll survive off my 20,000/size stash. It’s getting loaded for stockpile though, not as much shooting right now. Current project is loading 500 7.62NATO with the Hornady 150gr FMJs from RMR. Those will go in an ammo can rather than shot at the range. When prices hit 6¢/primer again, I’ll be shooting them up…
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