The great primer shortage

IMHO The guy's that are sitting a garage full of toilet paper are the guys that have 10,000 primers( and don't own a press) 20,000 .22 LR., that they couldn't use in two life times. Relax give it 6 mo.s after the zombie apocalypse fails to show up, and supplies will return.(just stock up 1 year before he next election) and you should be fine
 
Flintlocks for the win!!!

Seriously, I had a decent primer stash going into this. I’m still ok, but I can’t take a multi year drought either. Glad I have tons of black powder, lead, and caps. I doubt flints will ever be regulated, or bought in panic. So I have a fall back hobby.
 
If everyone is willing to pay exorbitant fees for these primers, when the dust settles, the cost will be $100/1000; cases will climb to 75 cents to $1.00 each, no matter what caliber; powder will be at least $50 a pound unless they sell it in 12-oz canisters and bullets will be above Nosler's typical prices for 50 rounds per box.

That will be the new wave of gun control.
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No this is a free market full of speculation right now. We have no idea what kind of gun control may come, but primers and powder isn’t on anti gunners radar (thank goodness). This is not any regulatory scheme. This is average consumers buying out of fear, speculation, ill preparation, and (in the case of guys who buy just to flip on armslist) greed. Sanity is still out there in full force. I’ve spotted some stupid prices on Armslist, but my local area armslist also has a good number of people selling 9mm less than 50 cents per round. They’re still making money selling part of their stash, but I would believe they’re charging reasonable (for the times) prices. I was afraid ammo prices would never go to normal after ‘08-‘09. They eventually did. They also did after Sandy Hook, which was even worse (it took a couple years though). They probably will again, so long as the senate doesn’t flip parties and the mid terms go well for the more pro 2A party. We might not get the low prices of last year again, but we may and prices will certainly go down from where they are now.

Wanna see free market in action? Look for 6.5 carcano ammo on gunbroker. It isn’t a gun control conspiracy. It’s the fact that a ton of surplus carcanos just hit the market at a cheap price, people want to shoot those rifles after purchase, the round is an obscure round with only a couple of companies making limited runs of ammo for it, all the ammo is dried up with little hope of any new ammo being produced for a while due to the common caliber panic shortages, and only a couple of sellers have a handful of boxes. Seriously, it’s amazing that such an obscure and unimpressive round to feed a poorly made rifle is going for well over $3.00 per round at auction. It will approach the price of .50 BMG before long at this rate.
 
The big problem with these surges is that prices never do return to where they were. They will get more reasonable but somehow the companies need to pay for the added investment of new facilities built to meet increasing demands. All these costs are passed on to the consumers.
 
I'm hoping that since the Forbes article indicates they are not making such investments during this go-around, that it won't happen. It's certainly the case that primers that were in the $20-25/k range before the runs late in the last decade all settled in about $10/k higher afterward. But CCI did build a new primer line during that situation and other companies added facilities, too.
 
I walked into a sport shop last week and was looking for powder with no luck. But he said, that there was a box of 1000 large pistol primers. I bought them thinking that this might be the last time I might find such an opportunity.
 
The last time I bought primers was earlier in the summer when the shortage started getting mentioned in the press. Checked my stock and ordered 5K Large Pistol primers. They weren't cheap but way less than what is being charged today. I only have one pistol that uses them, a Colt 1911. So I should be good for this run if it ends within five years. Probably have 50K primers and other 100 lbs. of powder. The run during the Obama Adminstration got my attention. I'm not shooting much due to Covid. But sleeping well at night since it's like money in the bank.
 
I guess this primer shortage really is a thing. I walked into the store yesterday and the shelves were bare. Never thought buckshot would be in short supply, ever.

Guess it's a good thing I learned from the Obama years and continued to stock up between 2014-2019. I have enough components to last me through this crisis, perhaps shooting every week or so.

It almost feels like I'm sitting on gold. I ain't selling though. ;)

Oh and projectiles, holy ████. I uncovered twice as many as I thought I had. It's nice to be prepared in times like this.
 
It looks like the shortage will last at least as long as the pandemic persists--or everyone in the country shoots everyone else 1000 times over again.;)
 
Like others who have learned from past gun panics , i too am sitting on a well deserved stockpile of reloading components and loaded ammo. Im just a casual weekly shooter at my gun club and im noticing a definite increase of spent .22lr casings on the firing lines vs centerfire as compared to say 6 months ago. This tells me shooters are running very low on ammo and now forced into conserve mode.
 
Seen a couple guys shooting pellet rifles at the range lately, got me thinking, i don't have but a few left, so I ordered 3 tins of .177 pellets yesterday, look out squirrels, :D
 
Looks like plan B and C also just went belly up--can't find rimfire or 209 primers anymore either. I wonder if slingshots, spears and clubs will be next to go dry.:rolleyes:
 
Seen a couple guys shooting pellet rifles at the range lately,
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I got into airguns during the great rimfire shortage of the last decade. I found out airguns are really practical! I can get lots of trigger time in the basement or back yard when going to the firearms range is impossible or impractical. It's a lot quieter and the ammo is a lot cheaper...but if you really get hooked on airguns it can have a shrivelling affect on your bank account, the nice ones aren't cheap! And I have primarily used airgun the last several years squirrel hunting, works out just fine.
Ironically, the airgun enthusiasts are also complaining of a pellet shortage and longer wait times for their toys.

Looks like plan B and C also just went belly up--can't find rimfire or 209 primers anymore either.
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I'm starting to think flintlocks aren't such a bad idea -- all you need is a good rock!!
 
"The big problem with these surges is that prices never do return to where they were. They will get more reasonable but somehow the companies need to pay for the added investment of new facilities built to meet increasing demands. All these costs are passed on to the consumers."


They do return where they were minus inflation.
 
Got a pound of BL-C(2) today. Never used it. Excited to see how it shoots in the 30 caliber arena.

I also went to the range today. I was his 2nd customer - and his last customer - as I left just as they were closing. Eerie and empty. Whew.

You guys think this is different than times past? I know folks are always saying that every time a dem gets elected, but I'm not sure this time. Covid? Lockdowns? Mass government control? Social media surveillance state? This ridiculous fraudulent election? ...It's really bad. And we haven't even had mass shootings hitting news lately.
 
This is my fourth or fifth primer shortage.

It will eventually ease.

Stop panicking.
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Mike,

While I also have been thru all those previous shortages and agree with "Stop panicking", I'm afraid the "eventually" will be a long time in coming. In the previous shortages, it was simply the fear of government rules, regulations, and laws impacting the shooting sports by an election that brought a certain political party into power. This time, the shortage was actually started by rioting and looting in major American cities, aggravated by the Covid-19 crisis, and lastly, the fear of government rules, regulations, and laws impacting the shooting sports. IMHO, this is going to last for several years, but I hope I'm wrong.

Don
 
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