Primer Pricing

[Donny1]

I am curious who is making all the extra profit from the primer sales right now.

Up to this point I have had no trouble getting powder and projectiles through the entire pandemic. Having to wait for orders of projectiles sometimes and powder getting a little iffy at times but never ran dry of those. Also the prices have been elevated to maybe 25% more than usual but never the 3-4 times the cost like primers.

Now ammo is everywhere and everyone was getting around $100 per 1k all this time because they could. But now retailers are having them in stock and the prices are still in that range. I know as people resist those higher prices the costs will come down but who is raking in all that extra cash? The manufacturers have not raised their prices 3-4 times have they? I heard that they bumped priced 10-15% to retailers.

So who gets the blame, just greedy retailers, middle men? Midway has many in stock at around $100 per 1k but the get them direct don't they?

I have conserved and had enough to use or trade for what I need but this has been long enough and prices should be coming down more in my opinion.

[robledor]

I completely agree no reason for primers to he this expensive

[tabascoz28]

Many have pointed out that minimum wage increases have been passed on to us instead of being absorbed by businesses.

But of course it's gatekeepers and people who control supply that stand to make the profits. So it's makers and retailers.

[Tommy Gun]

And people will pay that. I'm guilty of it too, but I like to shoot so I use a lot of ammo during the year.

[Donny1]

So it's makers? and retailers.

Yes, like I said Federal, CCI and others have raised prices 5-15% but primers are marked up 300%, who's getting the $$?

I was getting 1k for $30 before all this. Even a 20% increase would be less than $40. Even I could understand even $50 right now but what I'm after is are Midway and other big retailers getting them direct from the manufacturer, if so they are the ones just raking us over the coals.

[Imageview]

If they priced them lower they would sell out quickly. Less profit for the shop, less broad availability, and we would be complaining about how there were none in the stores. Every primer that will be manufactured this year was preallocated 2 years ago to either distributors or ammo manufacturers due to the huge demand surge. We still have a year or two minimum before that backlog clears out.

[joe_gman]

From what I've been reading, is that most primers being produced are being used by ammo manufactures to keep up with demand and very few primers are making it to the reloader market. There has been huge changes in primer manufactures with multiple bankruptcies and consolidations within the industry since the start of Covid. With stupid high demand and few primers available on the reloader market, manufacturers are charging a premium for primers that they sell to distributors, who then tack on their premium, and then on to retailers who further mark up prices on a low supply/ high demand product.

[Revoman]

As soon as the Russia/Ukraine war broke, ammunition manufacturers went into hyper-drive to supply the Ukraine with ammunition.
A friend of mine has been working OT since.
A lotta primers are being used to feed that need as the US is committed to the cause.

[ar15barrels]

I don't know if this chart is accurate but it's interesting:



Then let's combine it with more recent data:

https://ammopricesnow.com/chart-generator/result/?ammo=9mm%2C+22lr%2C+223rem&eid=Axky%2BEDeImtAniYqjwtiGhajZaO8yX4h16usAhCag9ylRxDiDOK2RfkbBitmD%2FQ%2FpKuvENeohGR4bNY2Hbv4dnKSsFlm2iBaNoudmli%2BXtiU6%2F9rBA%3D%3D

Comparing those two datasets, we see that current ammo prices are actually a little lower than they were pre-covid.
If we go with the assumption that ammo prices track with material prices and that all materials are more expensive now than they were pre-covid, we have a disagreement of the data because if the datasets are both correct, and ammo is selling for less than it was pre-covid, how is that happening IF the raw materials are all more expensive?

It's obviously NOT the materials price driving the primer prices as the primer prices should track with the ammo prices if we are using the materials costs as the basis of the finished component prices.

Therefore it's a supply/demand problem.

[golfish]

There has to be something going on with primer production (like mentioned above)

Projectiles, brass and powder should be 300% too, they're no where near that.

Plus!! The only primers I see locally are SPP and SRP. I need some LPP..

[tabascoz28]

Production has no incentive to produce so much that price drops, only to max out capacity and balance out max profit projections.
If anything, they would be against new primer/ammo makers coming up, NIMBYs everywhere.
Ginex SPP is good to go. SRP I heard is a bit harder to seat but haven't tried myself.
These foreign imports (which could dry up due to US lobby against it) is our only overproduction that will lower primer costs. That and less hoarding.

[Tommy Gun]

Large rifle seems to be the only unicorn right now. I'd like to know if the Ukraine bull**** is causing that shortage for all the 308 that we are probably sending over there.

[Empaque]

LPP are impossible to find for me.

[BIGOX]

I'm always finding lpp almost every where I go from west coast to east coast but I always miss out on lrp.

[Garand Hunter]

I don't reload anything but I get adds weekly from Natchez ShooterSS.com for primers and usually give them no attention, take a looksee at their website.

Psalm 1