Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Beating a dead horse

If I needed to “branch out”, I’d look into something that used SR primers, which seem to be the ones most available. That includes some rounds like the Creeds when using SR brass, the Grendel, and the .350, besides the usual smallbores. Saw SR primers this morning in fact.

Recently I was compelled to straighten out/organize my reloading supplies. At the same time, I took a casual sort of inventory. I was pleased and surprised to see that I probably have enough primers to last me the rest of my life. Human nature being what it is, however, if I saw some for sale for less than $50 or $60 a brick I would grab them.

Powder and bullets seem to be coming back pretty well.

I have to think that part of the lag in primers returning to the market with the other stuff is the fact that they're somewhat trickier to make. The impact extrusion type of dies used to bang out cases and bullets are a lot more straight-forward to build and maintain than the tooling to punch out primer cups and when you get into punching out the primer anvils, you're on a whole different planet with regard to punch/die clearances. Now you throw into the mix the assembly operations in which you're combining mechanical parts and processes with extremely unstable and volatile chemical components. Yes, I know priming compound is in slurry form and somewhat stable during the charging of the primers, but accidents can happen. Also, I would guess that cleanliness is paramount in making primers. You don't need a little bit of priming compound building up and drying out somewhere on your high-speed machinery. I would think that primer-making operations require a bit higher functioning employee than does running a bullet or case making press where the worst that can happen is someone loses a finger. (Of course, today they've taken a lot of the fun and adventure out of manufacturing, it's not like when I got in the game years ago and a lot of the old (and not so old) guys had somewhat fewer fingers than they were born with.)

I was in a lgs yesterday and the shelves were positively groaning under the weight of bullets (including Sierra's) and powder. Alas, no primers, unless I was willing to pay usurious rates which I wasn't. I'm still good for a while but there will come a day when I won't be, God willing, and I hope to hell this nonsense will be resolved by then.

I got the same notification from Midway, except on Winchester Small rifle primers.My best guess is that winchester isn't supplying them anymore because they are putting them into ammo.Who wouldntrather sell a $40 box of armor over a $10 box of primers?

Define usurious.

If I didn’t have any, and the aforementioned factory ammo wasn’t available, usurious might be a pretty high number.

Neither “if” applies, thankfully.

That’s my guess, and not just Winchester. All the components and ammo are being made by a couple or three conglomerates. I figure that will be the case until ammo sales start to drop off.

Just as before, there may be some discounts coming when the supply chain overflows. Already seeing good .22 ammo for about $4 a box. I’m probably set for life unless I go bat-crap crazy target shooting, so I’m not actively looking for the little bangers. Gary needs them more…..

If you want to see availability increase and prices drop, quit buying at any price at every opportunity for awhile.

I don't have much in the way of components, but then I don't shoot much, and haven't re-loaded in years (but I can - for awhile!)

Between my store ammo and low shooting rate, I can hunt for years, using the avaulable calibers and ammo I do have yet before "having" to reload, so I'm good.

Besides, those 81,000 new IRS agents need training, don't they? They might have to hold you up at gunpoint for their bite, if threats don't work.

I did buy 3 boxes of Herter's 30-06 at Cabella's in Anchorage last week, at under $30/box. Maybe should have bought them all (dozen or so). No primers or decent powders are yet available in Alaska, as far as I can see - at any price.

Might have to buy a gun to handle all that BMG powder that isn't selling.....

Funny funny ha ha.

The old rascal is notoriously er… frugal, so I just wondered what his drop-dead number was.

I get it - you were asking him to define the PRICE at which he declares it to be "usurious" not the definition of the word.
I read it as the latter and it always annoys me when folks ask others to do their research for them.
Thus, my smarty-pants response.
My bad Pappy.
Rex

No offense taken, really. “Funny funny ha ha” is an expression I remember from some old tv show I think, but I can’t remember which. Apparently that info has popped off the stack, never to be seen again…….


One of the synonyms that came up on your search was rapacious. That fits.

"Too highly priced" isn't the same for everyone. Pretty much determined by income. $100/brick for primers just isn't in my budget. Prices are going up way faster than my (relatively) fixed income is. A lament I'm hearing a lot from retirement age+ shooters.

Mule DEER
You failed to mention the Trump shortage!