Those hoards, however many there actually are, were acquired before the current situation arose and have nothing to do with the current mess. It’s long been known that ammunition producers get first crack at the primer supply, many also being the makers of the primers they use. Once the ammo situation stabilizes, the primer supply will increase, and prices will drop a bit as well I suspect. Ammo is already becoming more readily available, and prices are coming down. Primers are popping up here and there, and sometimes stay available for some days, a sign that the desperate have gotten enough to feel somewhat secure. Once they’re commonly available, the supply will continue to increase, barring another upheaval of some sort.
A year ago, everything associated with handloading was scarce, a natural consequence of the scarcity of ammo market. I had a hard time putting together a set of dies for 9mm, which I never bothered to load when prices were low. Now, I’m loath to use primers that will cost $.10 to replace when good factory ammo is down to $.30 each. OTOH, those same primers serve very well in other rounds like .38 Special, .357, and .22 Hornet, for which factory ammo has never been really cheap, so will be reserved for those unless I run out of cheap 9s.
