Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Do you think primer prices are ever going down?

I wouldn't mind spending a nickel a primer but $100+ per thousand is ridiculous. Think we are ever going to return to sanity?

There is not a lot of incentive in the industry itself to lower the prices.
And then there is us consumers...so many of us...for so long...have been dealing with no supply or substitutions, we are still buying far more than we need, it's just human nature, stock up Fudd, hard (er) times are a comin'.
And then there are the speculators...or gougers...buying everything they can get their filthy hands on...hoping to make a killing.

I suspect that in the not too distant future we will look back at today's prices and think they weren't so bad after all.

Thing is, that hardly anybody factors in, these days in particular, is the component manufacturers DON'T need the consumer reloader to make bank. With all the war fronts on fire right now, and the speculation of even more to come, all they need is a solid government contract. You will pay what the market will bear, you will tolerate shortages, and that's all there is to present reality.

Alas, you may be right.

Before the Clinton primer shortage in the 90's primers had been priced at $12 per brick, suddenly dealers started pricing them at $20 per brick when you could find them. I remember going to a gunshow, seeing that and thinking "no f*cking way am I going to pay 20 bucks for a brick of primers!!!"

Yeah, well....

Like Yogi Berra said, it's hard to predict stuff, especially about the future so who knows, there may be light at the end of the tunnel that isn't a train.

After the Obama I or II shortage there was a glut of primers on the market and prices fell dramatically. Sportsman's Warehouse was trying to clear them out as low as $24/brick when the "normal" price before that particular shortage had been around $29-32.

So you never know. I sure hope to God they fall some. If/when I run out of my "bought at a good price" stash, I can talk myself into maybe buying them at around $75/brick but still can't swallow $100 per, and in many cases a lot more than that.

We will have to wait until after Trump is back in office, and things cool down in the foreign countries. The last thing I heard from a couple store managers is prices are going to rise again. So we may be looking at high prices for a few more years. 2 if we are lucky. After a change in administration, that the country really needs, I'd imagine prices will drop back down into the $60/brick area. It's just a waiting game, but that is my prediction. We can come back to this thread in 3 years and see that I'm right too.. Like I always say, those that think this is the "new normal", are part of the problem.

I bought a brick of large rifle primers from midway a week or two before Christmas. $148 shipped, I was not happy about it. I didn't really need them either. But want if...those are the last ones?

CCI 200's are $99 a brick in my neck of the woods. I actually bought some CCI34's a couple months ago, for $67/brick. You guys paying that high of prices, are also part of the reason prices are so high.. It will be a few years, before prices come back down. Trust me on that one..

Nope. Perhaps around the edges a bit, but today is the new reality.

They have come down some, and more are available than previously. Who knows what the next year or so will bring? Better to have some than not IMO, so if I was short, I’d pop for some and use them judiciously, just as I do with .410 shells for clays, or save them and shoot cheap factory more often, or .22s. You can get 9mm for $.25 and .223 for $.50-.$60 if you shop around and look for sales and free shipping.

One never knows, but based on my normal amount of rounds shot per yr pre-shortages, and also including what I load for others, if I stick to even that (which overall I haven't shot as much the last several yrs,) I'll likely never have to buy another LR or LR magnum primer again, and that's what my goal was when I realized this mess was upon us.

I got fortunate and was able to build up on what I had to make sure I was at that level before prices got completely wacky. Paid $45 a brick for a bunch of them. Way more than I was paying before, but cheap now.

I hear you, I was not happy about it. I do not know of any gun shop within 150 miles that has any LRP , powder is over $60 a pound if they have it. It is a sellers market right now.
The world being what it is, the future availability of arms and ammo is questionable.

I stocked up on 9mm and 223 when i could get 124 grain 9mm for 10 cents, 55 grain 223 for 21 cents, 62 grain for 27 with free shipping. Primers were cheap too but i didnt need any. Sad that i just opened my last brick of 7 dollar 550 22lr packs from wallyworld in 06.

I dont look for prices to drop much under the 60-70 buck range based on price increases since 90’s. Hell CCI BR series went from 32 bucks to 55 bucks after Obummer but people still buy em.

Beans ,bullets and band aids the 3 B's get them while you can.

No!... not significantly anyway... $75-$100+ a brick is the new normal... buy them if you need them... or wait for a possible? slight price drop...

Not as long as folks continue to buy them as soon as they hit the shelf.

I am inclined to believe that the rules of supply and demand are not true factors in this case.

I feel like ammo component suppliers have gotten a taste of the covid inventory model. Trickle inventory out keeps demand up as well as prices. Make more money with less overhead. Some car manufacturers are still doing the same thing also.

A dime for a primer,

But Powder prices can be .50 cent for a center fire round,

Some jugs are approaching 400$ or even over 400……

Thing is, every single time I go to a range or shoot clays,

Lots of people are there,

The demand for components is huge.