Change in LRP availability?

[stagpanther]

This is not a moan and groan post--I'm just trying to get an idea of what others have experienced and possible solutions they may have come up with.

So--large rifle primers--especially large rifle magnum primers.

it's been about 5 years +/- since the great drought started and presumably some of the shut-down plants as well as a new one or two are back on line; but I've seen very little change in availability. It's either catch as catch can foreign-made primers or respond within seconds to a notice of large primers availability and be lucky if you can buy one box of a thousand.

The shortage is even worse for LR magnum primers, I haven't seen them available at all domestically for years and since I shoot them a lot my supply is nearing the end. Presumably there are lots of long range big cartridge shooters out there in the same boat I would think.

I'm trying to figure out if it's worthwhile to explore changes in load recipes to be able to use regular large rifle primers in large capacity magnums--or is it time to just put them away and hope for a better day? I'm especially interested in hearing from hand-loaders who have actually tried this.

[georgehwbush]

well my experance is limited to 308&parent cases which don't need LRM but do use them quite well. and i see little to no difference in LR and LRM in those cases, i have loaded 06 and 7mag but only with the LRM so i can't say if there is a noticable difference there. maybe someone else?

[stagpanther]

The biggest difference is the volume in the column of powder in a big magnum case--it needs a bit more "umph" (I think the term is "brisance" ?) to get large amounts of slow burning powder to ignite well. This can vary under variations in things like temperature or density of load in my experience. Misfires with lots of powder in a case can be worrying events. In other words I guess I'm answering my own question, using a reular primer for large magnums is probably a no-no.

[georgehwbush]

i concur,

[Rimfire5]

In really cold weather, below 30 degrees, I have resorted to using LRMs instead of LR primers in hunting rifles.
I my .30-06 CZ using a large magnum primer increased the velocity by 16 fps but did not change the impact point appreciably.
My .270 had about the same velocity change with just about the same impact point change.
So I figured using the LRM for cold weather hunting would make up for some of the loss in velocity due to temperature.

[snoeproe]

I’ve read up on the foreign made large and small rifle primers that I currently see for sale in Canada. From what I have gathered, they seem to work just fine. I’ve yet to see anyone complaining about them. I may buy a couple hundred of them to try and blend into the current large rifle primer inventory I have.
Sporteque in Quebec Canada had Remington Large rifle magnum primers in stock a few months ago. They are sold out now.

[georgehwbush]

snoeproe; you didn't see my complaint about the white box from china large rifle primers, basicly there were a few cups that were vizably shorter than others, and about .5% would blow the dent back into the fireing pen hole(pierced primers)
even on below starting weight charges(extra light loads) so i have about seven hundred left that i wont use.

now you have seen a complaint.

[snoeproe]

I’m referring to the Bosnia made primers that I see in Canada right now. I don’t ever recall seeing Chinese made primers for sale? I have seen some German made ones for sale in Canada also.

[snoeproe]

Originally Posted by georgehwbush

snoeproe; you didn't see my complaint about the white box from china large rifle primers, basicly there were a few cups that were vizably shorter than others, and about .5% would blow the dent back into the fireing pen hole(pierced primers)
even on below starting weight charges(extra light loads) so i have about seven hundred left that i wont use.

now you have seen a complaint.

I’d never buy 1000 of them outright. I’d test them out in a smaller quantity order first.

[Unclenick]

The primer shortage started in earnest after the George Floyd protests, and the calls to defund police caused people to conclude they needed to be able to defend themselves, creating a massive run on guns and, with it, a considerable uptick in ammunition demand that ate up production capacity. In addition, the locally-sourced food movement saw a significant increase in the number of hunters, a group whose numbers had dropped in half up until then, putting another set of demands for ammunition into the mix. IIRC, before all this, the civilian market was consuming something like 15 billion rounds of ammunition annually, with a significant portion of it 22 LR. Now, it's up to something like 21 billion rounds annually, with the lion's share of the increase in centerfire ammunition. So, I believe it is something on the order of a 60% increase in centerfire primer demand before you take into account the folks who hoarded when they got the chance. It takes about two years to build a primer manufacturing facility and longer if local politics make the permits hard to get. The manufacturers had gotten stuck with extra capacity after the previous shortage saw demand drop, so they are now a bit gunshy about pulling the trigger on new facilities. A few have done it to help meet the new demand. Others wait a couple or three years to see if the new demand appears to be permanent (so far, it seems like it this time), plus they watch the political scene. The loss of Russian primers is another source of shortage that has nothing to do with demand. So, I wouldn't be surprised if you finally begin to see more supply over the next year or two, though, of course, there's no predicting politics and whether we will get another panic buying situation that results.

BTW, overall inflation is up something like 22.2% since 2019, so don't expect to see pre-pandemic prices again.

[MarkCO]

I've tested all sorts of primers. I have found erratic velocities, resulting in large SDs in magnum cases using standard LR primers. More so in the cold.

Thankfully, I have other options than to load the Magnum, so I have been doing that.

[stagpanther]

BTW, overall inflation is up something like 22.2% since 2019, so don't expect to see pre-pandemic prices again.

I need to move to where you live--inflation in that same time period for almost everything has risen around 40%--in some cases 100%--for almost everything where I live!