Primers... Any luck buying from your LGS ...or online ??

Have ANY folks out there been able to score pistol or rifle primers recently?? I keep seeing & heading "not until next Spring at the earliest" etc., but I naively remain optimistically/stupidly hopeful.

 

Yeah... that's what my local shop(s) have been telling me. They say that, basically, they've all sold the equivalent of 18mos worth of ammo in less than 6mos. What sucks is that a few are engaging in unscrupulous price-gouging for ammo. That's a damn shame... like a few gas station owners who jerked up the price of gas to $4+ a gallon when 9/11 happened. That's OK though. I've got a good memory, as do many other local shooters, and we'll remember that when things settle back down.

 

Will they settle back down is the real question that effects price and availability.

 

What I mean by this is.
How much are the first 100,000,000 boxes of .308 worth, compared to the last 100 boxes when you can't get any more for a year?
The price is always all the market will bear, since if it won't sell its too high, and if it's too low, there won't be any to sell.

 

Price-gouging, by definition, is only a term applicable to goods/commodities/services that are necessary for survival. I’m sure it would be an interesting debate concerning whether or not the box of ammo you bought at the higher price is essential to survival.

Also, to be price-gouging, the price must be set higher than a competitive market would set it. I’d be interested to know if prices like these are common anywhere that ammo is available. I’m considering a firearm for home protection and right now the first consideration is which caliber is most likely to have available ammo.

 

I was at a local store the other day and decided to walk pass the firearms area.
They were setting out some 9mm ammo.
Took my 2 box limit. Paid for it and took it out to my truck. Went back to get more and it was already gone. I been telling people always check when in the store. You might get lucky and grab it when you can. I saw people who couldn't get ammo for deer hunting a few weeks ago. That was 2 days before the season started.

 

Local Cabela's got in a pallet of 9mm and they were bringing it out 1 case per hour and selling it @ one box per customer, then repeating the process the next hour. Went through the entire pallet in less than one business day.



I recently bought a nice 8-shot S&W .357 and am trying to get a couple of compact 5-shooters in the same caliber AND a lever action rifle, primarily for the sake of simplifying my ammo requirements, making a conscious effort to reduce needs to just 1 or 2 calibers. Hard to go wrong with .357 as it is an extremely versatile round that can cover a LOT of ground - especially if you roll your own. Plus you have the benefit of also shooting .38 in the same firearm, which makes it even more practical.

 

I couldn’t get reasonably priced 9mm in the stores, so I ordered from HSL in Utah, it is reloaded ammo and I had zero issues with it. I think a 1,000 rounds was shipped for @ $190. Keep in mind this was in the summertime.

 

Have recently bought some at a LGS...2 hrs away

Selection has been limited....small pistol are rare to find

Early November...they had 4 cases of Fed SR..(20K)

They sold them in the 45 minutes I was in the store..I didn't need any

I did buy large pistol & LR magnums though

I have plenty of my own SP & SR in my stash...

I use many Rem 7.5's in my p/dog removal tools...this is 20 Vartarg....

 

That's a mighty tall order since politics is what is driving the whole damn thing - on BOTH sides. And we all know what crowd is (pardon the term) gunning for us pro-2nd Amendment folks. However, in the interests of playing nice, I agree that we should try and be as tactful as possible, and so I offer my apologies if I ruffled anyone's feathers.

Speaking of what's behind this whole mess... I am hopeful that the thousands of first-time buyers and especially those who used to look down their noses at gun owners - but have now 'jumped the fence' and purchased one (or more) firearms - will be mindful of what it's like to suddenly be a target of the haters... and act accordingly going forward. Only a strong unified voice of opposition aimed towards the grabbers & haters can change things for the better.

Any way we slice it, it's going to be a long while - apparently - before ammunition & components become readily available again. I just hate that I let myself get caught with my pants down; able to obtain everything except primers for reloading purposes. It's like entering a NASCAR event with everything you need to race - except tires. The car and pit crew and so forth - no matter how impressive & top of the line - won't do you any good without those doggone tires. :-/

 

Consider yourself LUCKY.

They're harder to find than hen's teeth. Wish you were closer to your LGS. I'd be willing to pay you to pick up a few hundred of S & L pistol OR rifle primers. I just keep stopping by my shops and asking. (Maybe I can plead with my cousin to sacrifice a few handfuls?) What sucks is that I finally got off my duff and got around to buying some .45WinMag brass to feed my dormant safe queen ...and now I can't load 'em! Live and learn, I s'pose.

 

can not ship primers/powders

only through a certified UPS or Fed Ex haz mat account

 

Yeah, I know. But a guy can dream, can't he?

Guess the Wildey-beast will have to wait patiently for a while longer...

 

Gray area, I found a place that sells shotgun hulls(cut down and primed), its legal as you can ship loaded ammo no hazmat fee, so I guess you could do the same with brass

 

9.1 billion rounds produced per year in the USA by ammo manufacturing. Us handloaders are small potatoes.

 

Indeed. Handloaders are being pushed to the back of the proverbial waiting line. Why would suppliers marginalize a handful of their limited supplies when EVERY SINGLE ONE they can crank out can be plugged directly into live ammo that's selling like hotcakes? In that respect I can't blame them. I may not like it... but I can't blame 'em. LOL