Primer shortage?

[Heydeck52]

I went to my local sportsmans warehouse to but a 1k CCI 500 primers and they were sold out of all but a few 100 packs of various makes. I called Barnwood Arms and they also have none in stock. Is there typically a shortage after the holidays or did I miss some new law?

[balmo]

Just bought 20k Federal Small Pistol at Powder Valley over the holidays; all brands in stock. Probably just the local stores do not have it.

[Romeo_alpha01]

I hoarded a ton from the Holidays via Brownells.

[baih777]

Your suppose to buy a case of 5000 at a time to save money.
Watch for free hazmat shipping or 1 cent hazmat shipping specials at Brownells.

[newbie1234]

The LGS stocks very few reload supplies, go to the specialize reload shop such as OC Reload if you live in OC county or Philipswholesale if you live in LA county plenty of primers on the shelf.

[the86d]

Uh, why not, if you need them?

I ALWAYS buy in cases of 5000, as CCI or Remington CAN be as low as ~$0.029 this way, but I think they mark primers up for the free shipping, including Hazmat, during sales.
It looks like primers might be "marked up" for "free shipping" right now though.
They are probably less than what you are paying retail if you need them, even if marked up.
It seems that Fiocchi Primers #209 Shotshell primers are the only ones at a decent price right now on Midway.

Hell I got some clearance .357 158gr projectiles on the free shipping deal last year so I can actually reload Full-House .357 Mag. @ about $0.23-$0.25/rd, depending on if I use the Magnum primers or not, about 1/2 retail vs. PMC Full-Housers (including HazMat on this one), as I included some primers, powder and the projectiles.

I generally break out a spreadsheet when placing a large order, including HazMat, and Shipping to see CPR breakdowns.

Even when I was strapped for cash, I tried to never run below 1k-5k primers for SPPs or SRPs, even during the last shortage.

[NeilMo]

I went to my local sportsmans warehouse to but a 1k CCI 500 primers and they were sold out of all but a few 100 packs of various makes. I called Barnwood Arms and they also have none in stock. Is there typically a shortage after the holidays or did I miss some new law?

Last thing anyone should do is use Sportsman's as a shortage indicator. They always seem to be out of primers. Last year the Prescott Az store was out of primers two weeks before the 20% Winchester rebate, and didn't get any in until a week after the rebate ended. I ended up driving down to Phoenix and bought 10,000 from Bruno's and saved even more$$. I was just in the Prescott SW again this past Saturday to buy some powder and noticed the primer shelves were bare again. If you ask five employees what's going on you'll get five different answers. They're also very good about not having but one or two guns from their sale flyer, if you're lucky.

[ysr_racer]

Bruno's for the win !!

[pennstater]

The LGS stocks very few reload supplies, go to the specialize reload shop such as OC Reload if you live in OC county or Philipswholesale if you live in LA county plenty of primers on the shelf.

Yep, Philip's for the win locally. Damn good store.

[rsrocket1]

Sportsmans Warehouse is always up and down in terms of primer availability. I stop by about once a week just for fun and always check the powder, primer, bullet and shotshell wad availability. Primers as well as projectiles are always up and down. Sometimes the shelves are full, other times nothing. Don't ever let yourself get below 2-3k of any type of primer and you should be fine. I often shoot about 1k per month and other than during the big reloading shortage post Sandy Hook, have never had a problem finding primers within a month of crossing my "minimum threshold".

[AGGRO]

You should never be short on primers. Adjust your budget.

[golfish]

Yep, Philip's for the win locally. Damn good store.

My favorite store

[Heydeck52]

Sportsmans Warehouse is always up and down in terms of primer availability. I stop by about once a week just for fun and always check the powder, primer, bullet and shotshell wad availability. Primers as well as projectiles are always up and down. Sometimes the shelves are full, other times nothing. Don't ever let yourself get below 2-3k of any type of primer and you should be fine. I often shoot about 1k per month and other than during the big reloading shortage post Sandy Hook, have never had a problem finding primers within a month of crossing my "minimum threshold".

That's good advice. I've been shooting more lately and need to adjust my on hand components to match that increase in shooting. I was just taken back a little because every time I have been in the past they had full shelves.