Primers are still way over priced

[Dusty Stevens]

I get that material prices have gone up. My question has been, why is my local shop getting very few and able to sell them for $60-70, but Midway and Brownell's are $100, and some of these other folks are $120? Since when was the little guy getting a price advantage?

The little guy dont want to be labeled as a gouger. The big players dont care because everybody forgets

 

[jelenko]

because everybody forgets

Or looks the other way when the big guy has something they need.
I don't think it's actually everybody - but almost everybody. Some don't forget.

 

[jelenko]

So, I don't know what's going to happen or when if it does.

But, we should have a party when small rifle primers are $50/K or less.

 

[FNSafari]

Not much has inflated like primers.

They know people need them and people keep paying for them so why lower the going rate?

If/when the other primer manufacturer(s) in the works start producing, we might see some relief. The situation now is basically a monopoly for powder and primers. Till people stop paying, prices will stay or keep creeping up. Competition is the only other way it'll change.

Gasoline in my state is double what is was when Biteme was sworn in. Been on a meteoric rise ever since.

 

[FNSafari]

I think all the primers are going to the cases of 9mm and 223 these guys are dumping at the ranges

Right. I can't believe people are still doing 30 round mag dumps at .75 a round. What the ell????

 

[jackson1]

I'm lost here. Shooting at my club (trap, skeet, pistol, and rifle) is now a tiny fraction of what it was pre woo han flu. I keep hearing about guns selling like crazy the past few years, but around me, nobody does much shooting. Would think at some point supply should catch up with demand and reloading components return to the shelves. Prices have increased. Look what you pay at the gas station and the grocery store. Cannot believe how short the supply of jacked bullets is. Got to make a tin foil hat. Darn it, could not find tin foil at the Piggly Wiggly. Just kidding.

 

[Newhouse]

A friend who was traveling today found some CCI 400 at a local store for $69.99/K.

 

[Newhouse]

A friend who was traveling today found some CCI 400 at a local store for $69.99/K.

 

[JayHHI6818]

Local store primers are $11-18 per hundred.
Hate to judge people but $450 last week I saw one 8 lb of Varget ($268) at gun store in same city as listed for this 8 lb

 

[Dave M.]

I get that material prices have gone up. My question has been, why is my local shop getting very few and able to sell them for $60-70, but Midway and Brownell's are $100, and some of these other folks are $120? Since when was the little guy getting a price advantage?

That is a solid argument unless they have old stock they bought at a lower price. I think material pricing likely accounts for a 65-75% price increases, but not what we are seeing today.
dave

 

[CJ6]

So, I don't know what's going to happen or when if it does.

But, we should have a party when small rifle primers are $50/K or less.

IF they get that cheap again.....I'm RESTOCKING the stock pile......

 

[jelenko]

Yeah. Same here!

 

[Doom]

 

[CJ6]

View attachment 1320647

I believe the same letter came out last year at this time.....Roughly the same info and percentages...

 

[STS]

That is a solid argument unless they have old stock they bought at a lower price. I think material pricing likely accounts for a 65-75% price increases, but not what we are seeing today.
dave

I'm not sure the math works out on that. We were paying $30/K or 3 cents per primer. The manufacturer sold them to a wholesaler who took a cut, and the retailer made a profit too. So the manufacturer might have wholesaled them for $20/k. I would bet a pretty good sum of money that the raw materials cost for that primer was not over 1/3 of the manufacturing cost and likely less than that. That's less than 1 cent for the raw materials cost. Even if material cost doubled, it's still only another $7/k in cost. That's a long way from the $50 to $80 per thousand price increase that we are experiencing now.

 

[Pyscodog]

A Tulsa store had an 8 pound jug of CFE223@$399.99 and tax. All Hogdgon, Reloader and Alliant was $69-$79 per pound. I sure hope this isn't the new normal.

 

[hpshooter]

"I'm lost here. Shooting at my club (trap, skeet, pistol, and rifle) is now a tiny fraction of what it was pre woo han flu. I keep hearing about guns selling like crazy the past few years, but around me, nobody does much shooting."

Same at our club. My experience with new panic or fear driven driven gun owners is that 90% of them buy a firearm and several boxes of ammo. They get enough training to pass their resident states concealed carry requirements, fire only enough rounds to pass any required proficiency standards and then carry the firearm or keep it in the bedside table drawer and don't practice. They are not shooters, re-loaders or competitors in the sense most here are. My opinion is based on putting 1500 people through the NRA basic pistol/revolver class in the years following our states change to a "shall issue" state. I gave up my instructors certification years ago primarily due to the lack of follow through of people taking the course and not practicing or pursuing advanced training or even club level events.

20 million new firearms owners X 2 boxes of ammo=40 million boxes of ammo and this consumption has been going on for awhile and is continuing. The profit margin on loaded ammo in all likely hood far outstrips the margin on components. If you owned Vista where would you concentrate your production and components? I would be pleasantly surprised (amazed actually) if us re-loaders accounted for 15% of the total primer output from all manufactures that would include primers in loaded rounds for civilian, federal, state and local agency ammunition purchases.

As always, my opinion is worth what you paid for it.

 

[Ray123]

I used to reload 222 Remington for less than 5 cents a shot, powder, Sierra bullets made in California, and CCI primers,...less than 5 cents for the whole cartridge except the brass and much of it free resized 223. Bought lots of primers in 2019 to nov 2021... the price kept inching up I bought 7000 BR 4 for $42.99 per thousand and 23.99 for regular SR, SP, LR...bought a bunch. Also have a few thousand that regular price was $10 per thousand and shot the last 200 Alcan 75 cent and CCI 88 cent primers. Problem is one company Vista Outdoors owns many of the primer manufacturers. The good news maybe...I heard ...that an old ammo manufacturer in Texas is going to set up, just to manufacture primers...this is America after all if there is a demand...someone will step up to fill that demand..

 

[Ray123]

Yes just checked out the rumor on line, you'll have all the primers you need by 2023...100 million invested and 400 employees primer plant going up in Texas...according to the online rumor check it out to confirm. ???

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Yes just checked out the rumor on line, you'll have all the primers you need by 2023...100 million invested and 400 employees primer plant going up in Texas...according to the online rumor check it out to confirm. ???

Its not a rumor we talked about it in the main forum a couple months ago