Just Got Into Reloading

[A5guy]

Hi all!-
Just bought a RCBS outfit and got the dies and holder for 308... BOY was that stupid!
Can anyone tell me roughly what CCI #34 caps should cost? This seems ridiculously pricey.

 

[Mike Maddox]

See people asking $200 per 1K. Even on line places that advertise reasonable prices get higher by the time shipping and haz mat fees added in.

 

[Wolfhound]

Well, yeah not a great time to get into reloading. The ammunition shortage quickly spread to reloading components with primers being the most difficult thing to obtain. My experience is small rifle and small pistol are the worst to find.

It’s not nearly as good as it use to be but I look at it like this. If you pay 200 dollars for 1000 LR primers that works out to .20 each. So 4 bucks to prime 20 cases and custom load them however you want. There is probably still some value there.

 

[42253]

Just sit back and relax wait for the price to come down. That is what i am doing.

 

[Bill2905]

Just to give you some perspective

Pre-pandemic = 3 cents

Past 12 months = 15-25 cents depending on who you deal with

Current legitimate retail when you can find them = 8 cents

Add sales taxes, shipping and haz mat fees.

 

[AmmoManAaron]

Well, yeah not a great time to get into reloading. The ammunition shortage quickly spread to reloading components with primers being the most difficult thing to obtain. My experience is small rifle and small pistol are the worst to find.

It’s not nearly as good as it use to be but I look at it like this. If you pay 200 dollars for 1000 LR primers that works out to .20 each. So 4 bucks to prime 20 cases and custom load them however you want. There is probably still some value there.

^^^Exactly this^^^

Depending on what you are loading, there is still a lot of money to be saved. You will be hard pressed to find decent 308 factory ammo for even $1 per round and most will be higher. So there is quite a bit to be saved on 308.

Forum sponsor Brian's Surplus has Unis Ginex (a European OEM brand) large rifle primers in stock for $110/k (the 7.62 NATO spec primer is actually a few $ cheaper per k, opposite of how CCI prices theirs). Brian's has been the same price on these for about a year now, but he told me that he can't get anymore when they run out. If you can find them, expect to pay about $200/k for US mainstream stuff like Win., Rem., CCI, and Federal. None of those big players, which are the only domestic makers of primers, are letting much of anything out at all. Primer manufacturing is the bottleneck in their ammo production and they can make more money selling loaded ammo to the general public than components to reloaders. Reloaders are a small minority of the US gun owners.

Just sit back and relax wait for the price to come down. That is what i am doing.

Going to be waiting a long time. If you planned ahead and stocked up, it's a good idea to wait and just use your existing stock on hand, but not everyone can do that (such as new reloaders like A5guy). He'll save money even at $200/k.

 

[A5guy]

Bought 2000 primers on Gunbroker for about .18 each...
So glad I bought a bunch of CBC and Lake City ball for about .70 a round before all this started. Used a tarp to collect almost all of it.

 

[sheepdog697]

Just to give you some perspective

Pre-pandemic = 3 cents

Past 12 months = 15-25 cents depending on who you deal with

Current legitimate retail when you can find them = 8 cents

Add sales taxes, shipping and haz mat fees.

I would agree with these. About .10cpp after shipping and hazmat. More if you are buying the match grade.

 

[42253]

I picked up a box of 1000 CCI small rifle on Saturday at bass pro shop for $58. Be patient they will come.

 

[HoosierHunter07]

I picked up a box of 1000 CCI small rifle on Saturday at bass pro shop for $58. Be patient they will come.

Which bass pro?

 

[42253]

Which bass pro?

Portage

 

[Bill2905]

Portage

Cabelas in Hammond also had CCI 400 and CCI 450 last weekend. I got there too late for the 400's.

 

[BE Mike]

I picked up a box of 1000 CCI small rifle on Saturday at bass pro shop for $58. Be patient they will come.

I was at the big Bass Pro a few days ago and the guy behind the counter said that was the price when they get them in. He said that they are getting in CCI primers more regularly now. He indicated that he thought a lot of the buyers were flippers. I just wanted a can of Hornady One Shot spray lube. No joy.