When do you guys suppose the primer shortage will ease up?

[GrayGoose]

I stopped by Tigard Bimart yesterday and the line out front of NW Armory was at least 24 deep. Not sure what people were lining up for but that was the most I have ever seen lined up there.

People fear this coming week.

 

[Major Payne]

I stopped by Tigard Bimart yesterday and the line out front of NW Armory was at least 24 deep. Not sure what people were lining up for but that was the most I have ever seen lined up there.

gotta get that 9mm

 

[HaveBlue]

think about this with the loss of Remington and the no importing European primers like wolf and s&b
that leaves cci, fed, win to supply all the primers for the Military , Law Enforcement , and factory ammo
I think reloading primers for us to load our own will be last on the list to be stocked
some will sneak in and it is the luck of the draw who is at the right place at the right time to get them

The only post that's close to accurate and everyone ignores it.
4 US primer manufacturers.
Federal
Remington
CCI
Winchester

Remington in bankruptcy and producing basically nothing for half of last year.
Vista Outdoors (ATK) now owns Federal, CCI and Remington. Vista says that it will be the 3rd Qtr before they have Remington ammo running full speed. Vista makes more money selling ammo than primers only. Primers get diverted to ammo production.
Winchester has been busy taking over the Lake City plant and making sure they can deliver on time to Uncle Sam.
Simple demand exceeding supply and a total disruption of the materials supply chain by COVID .

Record 2020 gun sales

 

[Legion489]

I disagree. Why would they not be trying to maximize their sales and profits?
How are their lead, copper and brass suppliers holding up? Are the upstream providers coming through or are they a chokepoint?
How are their powder suppliers doing?
What can the ammo manufacturers do?
Adding new ammunition machinery is expensive and risky, will future demand warrant these expenses or will they become a bust if/when the ammo situation stabilizes? Add a shift? Then what do you do with those employees if/when ammo demand drops? They, like any other business does a balancing act. This was the problem they faced in the last ammo crunch and that was without a million or so new gun buyers or Covid in the mix.

I think they are doing the best they can.

I think this post is quite correct.

Lead supply? The US has NO current virgin lead smelters. That means ALL lead smelted in the US is recycled lead, NOTHING coming from mines, which is sold (or exported to, as they own the mines) to Blue China, smelted, and shipped back. The smelters in the USSA are being put out of business by gov't decree, and the amount of lead to be recycled is getting less and less too. Shot into hillsides, fallen off rims along side roadways, soldier, etc. So where does the rest of the lead come from? Blue China.

Copper. Go look up who owns all the copper (and ALL lead, and silver and gold, and... Well over 90% of all mines in the USSA (and 100% of some commodity mines, such as gold, are owned by Blue China and exported to China) in the US are owned by Blue China. Go look who buys more US copper ore and copper scrap than any other country in the world from the US. Blue China again. That means there is less copper and brass to be had in the USSA, and it costs more to buy, make, and sell as cases.

Powder? Alot of/most/all IMR powders are made in Canada. Some IMR powders have ONLY been made in Canada and always have been. Not sure about the other IMR powders. ALOT/most of the other powders brands are imported too. How many powder making plants are there in the USSA? St. Marks in FL and what else?

Ammo making is surprisingly human power-intensive too. There is a surprisingly large amount of hand labor involved, especially with primers, and the trained people are not there to ramp up production, even if the machinery is. Why buy/build the machinery needed, hire/train personnel, and then have the market collapse when the need is met, or possibly banned by gov't decree?

WHY weren't you buying ammo and primers after the last three panics/shortages? Did you learn nothing? OK, rhetorical question, of course, you didn't! The 7 million liberal idiots can be excused for being morons, they are liberals and products of the gov't indoctrination warehouses for 13 to 15 years (longer if they went to college), and don't know what to think, much less HOW to think. For the rest who have been through this before, WHO WERE TOLD over and over and over to buy when ammo/powder/primers were plentiful and cheap (I told one guy to buy primers every month when I saw him for YEARS! Then ONE MONTH after I told him to buy primers the last time, and was blown off, again, he called me begging for primers because he was out and they were no longer available!) A brick of .22s and a sleeve of primers a month isn't likely to have broken the budget, back when they were all over and cheap, but did you? Of course not! Why not? Too lazy? Too stupid? Too "whatever"? And now you are crying in your beer (or Starbucks) about it and it is "my fault" for buying when I could, of what I could when it was all over, cheap and you could have done the same thing, but didn't. So why is my being provident and you being feckless my fault? HMMMM?!

Wake up, people! The prez election was openly and obviously stolen, the Supremepulitburo just told 18 states to pound sand, and you just got the gov't you deserve! Unfortunately, the rest of us got sucked under with you, and it is now up to us, if we want to and/or can, to pull your rear out of the fire. Good luck with that one.

 

[slam45]

35,000,000 background checks last year for new gun purchases... on average new guns get sold with 2 boxes of ammo each... manufactures are running flat out but they will not catch up for sometime to come...filling orders for factory ammo come before reloading supplies... and that is without new government interference...

 

[Dinglenutz]

35,000,000 background checks last year for new gun purchases

Is that a fact? Wow that seems a lot.

 

[Legion489]

Still less than half of the number that voted for Donald, and about the same as the number of dead who voted for biden, so not that many.

 

[SteelheadTed]

...A brick of .22s and a sleeve of primers a month isn't likely to have broken the budget, back when they were all over and cheap, but did you? Of course not! Why not? Too lazy? Too stupid? Too "whatever"? And now you are crying in your beer (or Starbucks) about it and it is "my fault" for buying when I could, of what I could when it was all over, cheap and you could have done the same thing, but didn't. So why is my being provident and you being feckless my fault? HMMMM?!....

Impressive rant, I guess. Since many of the people low on supplies are new shooters and reloaders, I am not sure beating them over the head and calling them lazy and stupid is an effective way to help them improve their situation. Nor is it a good way to welcome them into the community.

Stick to your day job, motivational speaking isn't for you.

 

[Pops1911]

Has anyone suggested, "When H3ll freezes over?

 

[Mecanik]

Has anyone suggested, "When H3ll freezes over?

I have to agree, we are coming into a dark time of our countries history and the future is uncertain enough to predict long term distribution issues. Voluntary product rationing by the suppliers might be in our future. The good times are behind us and the bad times ahead of us.

 

[Member 5605]

Q:
"When will primers be back on the shelf?"

A:
When bubblegumheads quit panic buying.

 

[CLT65]

Q:
"When will primers be back on the shelf?"

A:
When bubblegumheads quit panic buying.

Unfortunately including most of here, buying them whenever and wherever we see them.

 

[Member 5605]

Unfortunately including most of here, buying them whenever and wherever we see them.

It's one thing to have low stock and snag some, but another thing entirely to be like a womb and death, screaming MORE, MORE, MORE!!!

I get it, not everyone has a thousand or two of their favorite flavors.
I spoke with somebody buying some reloading equipment from me and he was floored that I wasn't charging 7x what others were. At the end of the day, I'm going to make sure I can look somebody in the eye down the road and still shake their hand.

 

[CLT65]

I do agree for the most part, but to play devil's advocate a little: how much is low stock, and how much is enough?

I expect that sooner or later things will be back on the shelves, but I also understand that nobody really knows when that will be. The panic is caused by not knowing just how much is enough to last until then.

For the record, I've decided that I have enough now. BUT, if I happen to be walking through BiMart and happen to see some on the shelf, will I have the self-control to not buy them?

 

[Member 5605]

I do agree for the most part, but to play devil's advocate a little: how much is low stock, and how much is enough?

I expect that sooner or later things will be back on the shelves, but I also understand that nobody really knows when that will be. The panic is caused by not knowing just how much is enough to last until then.

For the record, I've decided that I have enough now. BUT, if I happen to be walking through BiMart and happen to see some on the shelf, will I have the self-control to not buy them?

One presidency worth?
I've greatly reduced the amount I'm shooting. Probably 1/10th.
what I have on hand is for the Wolverines.

 

[JuglansRegia]

I'll pick up more when it doesn't involve hitting multiple stores, multiple times and or waiting for hours. Until then, I'll conserve ammo and reloading supplies and focus on getting ready for some fishing trips.

 

[CLT65]

I've reduced some, but I never shot in high volume anyhow. I didn't think it would bother me so much, as I have enough for what we do shoot. At the same time, it does cross my mind how much ammo and components are going for. Even though I never paid those prices, I still wonder if/when I'll be able to replace what we shoot.

One presidency worth?

I certainly hope you're right, but there's no guarantee on that.

 

[HaveBlue]

35,000,000 background checks last year for new gun purchases...

It's 21 million background checks. Info is here NSSF https://www.nssf.org/taking-stock-of-record-setting-2020-firearm-year/

 

[Legion489]

Impressive rant, I guess. Since many of the people low on supplies are new shooters and reloaders, I am not sure beating them over the head and calling them lazy and stupid is an effective way to help them improve their situation. Nor is it a good way to welcome them into the community.

Stick to your day job, motivational speaking isn't for you.

When someone has nothing useful, or intelligent anyway, to say but wants to join in, for no apparent reason, attacking the people who actually do have something useful to say is always a good place to show that. Don't give up your day job, cognitive thinking (or just thinking at all, apparently) isn't your forte.

 

[SteelheadTed]

When someone has nothing useful, or intelligent anyway, to say but wants to join in, for no apparent reason, attacking the people who actually do have something useful to say is always a good place to show that. Don't give your day job, cognitive thinking (or just thinking at all, apparently) isn't your forte.

I stand by my comments. You were insulting, wrong (the election wasn't stolen) and ineffective. People aren't convinced by other people yelling at them about doing it wrong. They are convinced by calm, measured arguments that encourages them to consider the issues from multiple viewpoints.