Where is everyone buying primers from? I’ve been actively searching and come up dry. Please help. Just purchased a new 300 PRC from Christensen Arms and I don’t have anything to put down the pipe.
- Thread starter Joevb61
- Start date
GB for those late to the party, else wait in line first thing in morning at stores, or CL
Many states have gun trading boards, like marylandguntrader.com and vaguntrader.com
Prices tend to be more reasonable than GB, IME.
Prices tend to be more reasonable than GB, IME.
Literally check the usual online retailers multiple times per day/week plus keep an eye on the reloading and PX as folks will occasionally post if/where primers are available. LGS occasionally will get some in but you gotta get the timing just right (dumb luck mostly) and most are limiting each customer to 1,000 per day. So bring a frw friends with you when you go to places like Sportsmans, Basspro, etc.
Discord and local stores. If you're not picky you can usually find something here and there. If you're after a specific make/model you'll need a little more luck.
Problem is a lot of people try to take advantage of you not having it. If people who had abundance would help others out that make this easier. Gun broker is a joke.
What is discord
Message board app. A lot of video gamers use it. But you can get on there and find groups to join aka servers. Just a non regulated way to chat.
Unless one wants or needs to make a career out of finding primers there are none to be had at this point in history. Hopefully it'll come back but it'll be a while.
VooDoo
VooDoo
Guess I sorta became that guy. I have a few websites I check everyday and my co worker does the same.
Local gun stores and local shooting clubs. I know I’ve helped out lots of the members of my precision rifle club. I can’t get them 5k each time, but I can get them 1k to make sure they can shoot. Same for powder, with having the guys available to send funds quick via PayPal I can sometimes haggle with my distributors by buying more volume, cause I can offload it easier and not come out of my cash flow.
Primer shortage will likely not be improved this year, or even next. Primers are being used for ammo manufacturing and many small business manufacturers in the industry have backorders on primers into mid-next year.
You might as well get used to shooting factory ammo. Or be willing to pay $250-300/1000 on gunbroker. Which is still cheaper than factory ammo. At if you take brass out of the equation you are still paying $1 per round with the cost of components IF you can even find the powder and bullets. I bought primers at $100/1000 months ago and thought I had lost my mind. Now I wish I had bought another 5000 at that price.
The President of CCI,Federal and Remington, Jason Vanderbrink, posted a video on youtube a few days ago addressing the ammo and primer shortage. In summary, their ammo order backlog is over 1 year with their ammo factories producing 24/7. Jason stated that 100% of their primer production goes to their ammo production. No shipments of primers for reloaders. If you find primers in retail stores it isn't from recent shipments from CCI, Federal or Rem. It is old stock in the supply chain. There won't be any primers shipped from CCI this year and probably not next year either. Winchester is the ONLY other domestic primer manufacturer. I am sure their situation is the same. I anticipate as the primers get used up by reloaders they will stop purchasing powder and the powder and bullet situation will improve. Primer production is the constraint in the reloader supply chain. Interestingly, RCBS is a sister company to CCI. I wonder what the corporate politics are when the sister company will starve the reloaders of primers!
I don't think that's exactly what he said in the video. He said primers go first to their ammo production, then reloaders and other consumers. They show them packaging and boxing up primers in the video. They definitely didn't say there won't be shipments of primers for this year, they just have significantly less excess production capacity than normal. People saying stuff like that is part of what's fueling the shortage.
That and every dick head that thinks they need 15,000 primers but only shoot their 308 during hunting season.
I have a friend that works for the local Cabelas. When he receives new product (powder, primers, etc) he calls me and asks if I need anything. If I do, he hides it for me so I can swing in and pick it up.
Go befriend your local sporting goods retail worker. It may work to your advantage.
Go befriend your local sporting goods retail worker. It may work to your advantage.
Same guy that buys 2yrs of toilet paper for a 2wk quarantine
probably wears a condom to bed...just in case
Last edited:
Is it possible for us to make primers or is that such a hazardous and expensive enterprise that it wouldn't be feasible?
VooDoo
VooDoo
Possible but not very feasible
You would also likely kiss any reasonable SDs and MVs goodbye as well..
I'm nt seeing this as a show stopper.....I have done precision metal work for years and reloading a spent primer is going to be tedious but I'm absolutely, for certain sure I can do it.
Looks like I'l going to be forced into reirememnt here end of March so I'm gonna try it.
VooDoo
Looks like I'l going to be forced into reirememnt here end of March so I'm gonna try it.
VooDoo
From a thread on the Reloading depot.
sharpshooter-22lr-reloader.myshopify.com
www.snipershide.com
Prime-All Repriming Compound
IMPORTANT: YOU MUST BE 21 YEARS OF AGE TO ORDER PRIME-ALL REPRIMING COMPOUND! By adding this item to your cart and proceeding to checkout, you acknowledge you are at least 21 years of age. Prime any casing, anywhere, including muzzle loader caps, and have the ability to reprime any old primer...
sharpshooter-22lr-reloader.myshopify.com Recycling Primers
I'm curious if anyone has delved into the black arts of recycling their own primers. How has it worked for you? I wouldn't expect match-grade results but if any reloading alchemists have got into doomsday reloading were the primers reliable? This is probably a dumb question but I'll ask...
www.snipershide.com 
I use to do the same and now use www.uptimerobot.com to check for changes in the site. Just be prepared to hurry when you receive a text or email that the item you are looking for is in stock.
Going to have to look into this. At work I use my computer to surf but I’m a diesel tech so not always at it.
Thanks for these links. Just ordered some prime-all and will be starting this adventureFrom a thread on the Reloading depot.
Prime-All Repriming Compound
IMPORTANT: YOU MUST BE 21 YEARS OF AGE TO ORDER PRIME-ALL REPRIMING COMPOUND! By adding this item to your cart and proceeding to checkout, you acknowledge you are at least 21 years of age. Prime any casing, anywhere, including muzzle loader caps, and have the ability to reprime any old primer...
Recycling Primers
I'm curious if anyone has delved into the black arts of recycling their own primers. How has it worked for you? I wouldn't expect match-grade results but if any reloading alchemists have got into doomsday reloading were the primers reliable? This is probably a dumb question but I'll ask...
Just in case....there's a primer shortage, maybe?
Call it what you want, but there are those who knew this was coming and made preparations, and those who didn't.
either way better to have and not need than to need and not have .
I have enough "stuff" to stay reloaded in all my calibers for maybe....10 years? More if I scrimp and cut my practice to The Bone. The main thing I will need to replenish are primers and I'm pretty sure I can build/reload a primer that is as good as the original and *maybe* a bit better/more precise than the ones that are made by the thousands.
Pretty sure making them one at a time will be tedious and a pain but, like loading precision ammunition one at a time, it will likely yield a better and more consistent piece than making them by the thousands a minute. It's not brain surgery plus I have thousands of spent primers to harvest for cups and anvils. All I need is a percussive compound and a little elbow grease and experimentation.
This may be The Way of The Future...if we want it, we'll have to make it like the old guys did with files and elbow grease and research, experimentation, and persistence. Shit, Wilbur and Orville made wood and fabric fly with no pre made components and no one to ask.... No internet and no support group. reloading a primer cup with a spent anvil? Pffttt...Hold my beer and watch this!
VooDoo
Pretty sure making them one at a time will be tedious and a pain but, like loading precision ammunition one at a time, it will likely yield a better and more consistent piece than making them by the thousands a minute. It's not brain surgery plus I have thousands of spent primers to harvest for cups and anvils. All I need is a percussive compound and a little elbow grease and experimentation.
This may be The Way of The Future...if we want it, we'll have to make it like the old guys did with files and elbow grease and research, experimentation, and persistence. Shit, Wilbur and Orville made wood and fabric fly with no pre made components and no one to ask.... No internet and no support group. reloading a primer cup with a spent anvil? Pffttt...Hold my beer and watch this!
VooDoo
You weren't paying attention......watch again.
I've watched it again, nowhere did they say there won't be any primers shipped to consumers this year or that any primers currently available are old that have been sitting in the supply chain.
What they did say, and as I had said above, is that excess capacity goes to the reloading market and when ammo production is high there is less excess capacity.
Please let me know the time stamp you're referring to, otherwise it's just fear mongering at this point.
Spot on.
From what I understand no orders are being taken period! Booked into 2022 already.
Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels
See if the OP can find CCI200's. Working better than anything else I've tried in 300PRC.
They're all over GB if someone wants to spend $265 per 1K.
That's just it. You can find them....but what are you willing to pay for them?
Exactly. I was upset when I scored 4K 215Ms @ $45/1,000.
1) No, thats not what was said.
2) so many reloaders are sitting on 50K-250K primers, they will not stop buying powder or bullets anytime soon
Talk about a self fulfilling prophecy
Spin it how you want...I have enough to shoot as much as I want, and I made that happen long before this nonsense. The silver lining is with the current market prices, I have sold enough excess to buy all manner of cool stuff.
My brother in law asked if I could load him 9mm. I said I have plenty of brass and powder and bullets but I'm not swimming in small pistol primers. I said, "you get primers....I'll load you 9mm ammo. So he picked up a 1k small pistol primers and paid $250 for the box. He's one of those guys that doesn't shoot a lot and doesn't follow the gun stuff too much till just last year. So he got caught with basically nothing. Those are some of the guys that are willing to pay the $$$ to get the stuff because they don't have it and they want it.
My nephews fiancé told us at Christmas that they're family never owned guns. Dec. of 2019 her parents bought they're first two guns. Then the year of 2020 they bought 16 more! So this is the new people/gun owners which I welcome but amongst other things... these are compounding the problems. Riots, pandemic, election year, new gun owners etc....= the perfect storm which = shortages!
prior to March 2020 we would transfer maybe 5-10 firearms a week.
Now we’re at 6-10 a day with over 40% never owning a firearm.
We’ve transferred more firearms this year then the past 5yrs combined.
It's not a spin; if people buy above their use rate for fear of a hypothetical, that will make that hypothetical a reality.
Similar threads
