Primers

Jeff H

NW Ohio
If you've got to have them, you've GOT to have them.

Not every deficit in every man's stash is a product or irresponsibility, complacency or lack of foresight.

The main reason I am not too terribly bad off myself is because I moderate my use based on what HAVE, and that I just don't get to shoot that much any more. I don't have a shipping container full of primers. Many who shoot a LOT would be in panic-mode if their stores looked like mine.

I could have gotten by without the 2k I just bought, and I paid over double what I had paid in April of 2020, but I don't regret buying them either. I MAY have, at some point, regretted NOT buying them.

Good point, @BBerguson .
 

RicinYakima

High Steppes of Eastern Washington
Two years ago at a gunshow, I bought a small plastic storage container (maybe 6 qt sized?) at a gunshow, it was full of old tins of Percussion caps, old round tins of primers, some old tins of 22 blanks...and some other goodies. I sorted everything into similar lots, put 'em in baggies, and flipped most of it at the next gunshow. Except the Primers, I saved those.
There ended up being 6 round tins of primers, 4 seemed full or almost full and marked qty:250. Why am I mentioning this? Today, I was loading a few batches of 45acp. On one batch (test loads, 27 rds) I decided to prime with Winchester #2 primers from one of those old tins. First time I even looked at these old primers, since I stored them away 2 yrs ago. I plan to test fire those tomorrow.
I was thinking they might be as old as WWI vintage? The Tin with ripped red paper label looks exactly like the one in ebay link. That guy thinks 1878, but that's just patent date.

The best I can find is that the round tins are post 1878 corrosive and mercuric primers (wash cases and gun with soapy water immediately after firing). Winchester bought the formula from the Swiss and started making non-corrosive and non-mercuric primers about 1928, about 5 years after Savage. All of these were sold in wooden trays with 100 primers per box.

It appears that the #2 was for the 44 WCF size cartridges and the #2 1/2 was for the 45 Government and 30 US Army. They were the same size, but thicker cups for the high power rifles.
 
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JonB

Halcyon member
The best I can find is that the round tins are post 1878 corrosive and mercuric primers (wash cases and gun with soapy water immediately after firing). Winchester bought the formula from the Swiss and started making non-corrosive and non-mercuric primers about 1928, about 5 years after Savage. All of these were sold in wooden trays with 100 primers per box.

It appears that the #2 was for the 44 WCF size cartridges and the #2 1/2 was for the 45 Government and 30 US Army. They were the same size, but thicker cups for the high power rifles.
After I posted and went to bed, I started thinking about the probability that they were corrosive and the necessary of cleaning after fired. So, this morning I loaded another 27 with Remington primers for my load test for the Ruger American. I just am not wanting to clean up a semi-auto with soap and water in mid winter. I'm not sure what I'll do with these primers and the 27 that are loaded...save for future, I guess?
 

Mitty38

Well-Known Member
Little store near me has Federal large pistol primers $10 a hundred. Right beside the 22 lrs in the ammo section. I just buy a pack every time I get near there. Don't think anyone else knows they are there or what they are. Hidden in plane sight.
Know at 10, it's a bit much, but at least I am getting a little stash back.
 

Winelover

North Central Arkansas
Plenty of local establishments selling powder & primers, around here. Just not for what I'm willing to pay. Mostly, I do, mail-order. Cheaper, even figuring in shipping and HazMat................just need to purchase, enough.
 

JonB

Halcyon member
2k Argentine SPPs were on my porch when I got home this evening.

I voted with my dollar, even though I would have been OK (probably) on SPPs, but if someone is willing to step up and offer REAL competition in the market, I'm casting a "ballot" in their favor.
I just got an email about the new credit card I applied for...all is a go, should be in my pocket in 7 to 10 days, I hope NormaUSA still has the SPP on sale at that time.
 

Petrol & Powder

Well-Known Member
Using the inflation calculator previously linked:
$122 in Feburary 2009 would be roughly the equivalent of $176 in December of 2023
So in today's money those 5000 primers would be $0.035 each.

In post # 81 on this thread, BBerguson reports LRP at $100 per 1000 or $0.10 each.

So, yes the cost has gone up even when adjusted for inflation but a portion of that price increase can be attributed to the reduced buying power of the dollar over those 15 years.

In any event, the market continues to evolve and adjust.
The fact that Norma is undercutting their competitors is a VERY good sign.
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
I bought a combination of small pistol, small rifle, large pistol, large rifle CCI primers in April of 2020 for $24/k, plus much more reasonable shipping rates than we see today and maybe $26 "hazmat." That's less than four years ago.

At that time, there seemed to be rebates on all kinds of shooting related stuff too, though not on the primers I bought. I dallied on the primers, waiting to see if they'd go down some more.

Then, all the sudden...

I was looking at powder prices today too, just out of curiosity. 8# cost more than most guns I've bought in my life. Last time I bought powder was probably January or February of 2020. I friend was in one of the big, otherwise over-priced shops and called me to ask how much a pound of Unique should cost. "Twenty bucks would probably be low enough to induce me to buy some," was my answer. Later he showed up and handed me five 1# jars of Unique. I asked what I owed him and he said "$100 even, tax and all."

I can't remember when I bought powder before that, but I'm still using stuff I got from Jeff Bartlett 30 years ago, for $54/8# jug.

Inflation or not, if you don't buy stuff for a while, it hurts looking at the prices.
 

Joshua

Taco Aficionado/Salish Sea Pirate/Part-Time Dragon
I good on powder for a while. I had been reading about reloading since I was a kid. So when I finally jumped in, I did it with both feet. I also knew that casting was something I really wanted to get into. So, in 2019 when I got started I already knew about the ups and downs of the reloading supply market.

A few days ago I ordered a bunch of these SPP from Norma. A very rough calculation of my powder to primer ratio showed just how out of whack my supplies were. I had stumbled on to a number of good deals locally on shotgun/pistol powder. But, I was low on primers to go with all that powder.

The money I used had been a Christmas Present from the wife. “Go buy that Ruger you have been talking about.” I had been thinking about getting a Ruger Super Wrangler. I own a small batch of handguns, but don’t own a .22.

Well, I figured I’d rather be able to reload over the next decade, so I decided to pad my SPP stash. No .22 for me right now. But I can shoot .38 special wadcutters for a real long time!

Edit: My favorite revolver functions just fine with harder SRP, so I’m pretty confident the Argentinian Norma SPP will function just fine.
 
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Petrol & Powder

Well-Known Member
The world got crazy in 2020 but that wasn't the first time the world got crazy and it DAMN SURE will not be the last.

Political cycles (anyone that has been around more than a few years and paying attention knows the drill), fear, panic, social unrest, new gun owners, old gun owners, general economic upheaval, blah, blah, blah……

There’s nothing new here. We’ve all seen it before. It is not worse this time, it is not different this time, it’s just how it’s playing out this time.

I have distinct memories of talking to “gun people” in the fall of 2008 and you would have thought the world was coming to an end. The same held true in 1992, and the fall of 2016. And those were just some of the 4-year presidential election cycles. Toss in some domestic and world events, a media that loves to excite its readers/viewers with short memories – and those fear/panic cycles can occur at any time.