Buying a gun because you have primers for it...

[frkelly74]

I got a 38 partly because I had some brass. I have some 357 brass that rattles at me when I walk by it now. I have seen a Colt King Cobra and I think it hissed at me.

[samari46]

Well I have 35 rem brass, dies and some factory ammo, but no 35 rem caliber firearm to shoot it in. Most of the ones I've seen down here pre covid were beat to death and the dealers seemed to think they were sitting on a gold mine. Frank

[MrWolf]

Don't ask me. I've bought guns because I found some brass or the wind blew or the day of the week ended in "y". Good luck.

[FISH4BUGS]

I like Hensley & Gibbs moulds. I bought a #258 (41 mag) 6 cavity because.....well, just because. Great shape?....sure....that's why. I'll use that as an excuse.
It certainly wasn't a bargain.
Do I have a 41 mag gun? Of course not.
I am on the lookout for a 41 mag older S&W.
....and if you have ONLY a couple of thousand LP primers...I have to ask.....why so few?

[dale2242]

I assume this "Out Of Stock" issue is only going to get worse in the short term.
I do not NEED or WANT more guns at this time.
If they were mine and I had no use for them I would keep them.
They are going to be valuable trading stock in the future.

[bedbugbilly]

I fully understand the OP's outlook.

Right now, my reloading/casting is dictated on the primers I have on hand. I placed an order for powder/primers at the first start of May and couldn't get SP primers so added in some other sizes. I'm sitting on a good supply of LR primers so am looking for a single shot 30-30 to use them in. That will afford me to enjoy a lot of pleasure in shooting/plinking. Where a guy is going to get into trouble is if he is one of the "quantity over quality" shooters. Makes no sense to buy a firearm that you are going to fire as fast as you can and use up a lot of ammo - and we all know shooters like that.

[richbug]

I assume this "Out Of Stock" issue is only going to get worse in the short term.
I do not NEED or WANT more guns at this time.
If they were mine and I had no use for them I would keep them.
They are going to be valuable trading stock in the future.

That is what the sensible part of me says... The one who likes steel mechanical things says an N frame would be a nice way to keep shooting if things stay ugly for a long time.

I have powder, molds, and a little brass for 44, and 45acp. Lots of powder, bullets, boolits, molds for the 10mm but very little brass. I think I have all the parts to load 45 and 10 on the 650. The 44 I would have to single stage but do have dies.

Actual count on the primers is 4 full bricks plus 1500-2000 strays in the little packs.

Opening up some 40 S&W brass to use the primers is something I hadn't considered. I have a lathe with a collet headstock set up. I 'll investigate if I have a collet that will hold 40 cases, if I do, should be easy enough to rig up a stop to hold the brass at a constant depth from the inside, and make a cutter of some sort to do the pockets quick.

[Markopolo]

I completely can relate to this...

Not to bash semi auto folks in any way, but when ammo components are tight, look for the single shot...

[FISH4BUGS]

Where a guy is going to get into trouble is if he is one of the "quantity over quality" shooters. Makes no sense to buy a firearm that you are going to fire as fast as you can and use up a lot of ammo - and we all know shooters like that.

Yes....I know a lot of shooters like that too....and they shoot machine guns.
The bad news is that we burn up a lot of ammo and components.
The good news is that you CAN shoot cast in the pistol caliber subguns.
The other good news is that we buy in bulk. Primers in 5000 lots, sometimes 10,000.
Powder in 8 lb jugs...sometimes a case (4) at a time.
Brass by 5-10,000 lots.
Lead....as much as we can get our hands on always.
Quantity over quality? No choice really. Both!

[JM7.7x58]

That is what the sensible part of me says... The one who likes steel mechanical things says an N frame would be a nice way to keep shooting if things stay ugly for a long time.

I have powder, molds, and a little brass for 44, and 45acp. Lots of powder, bullets, boolits, molds for the 10mm but very little brass. I think I have all the parts to load 45 and 10 on the 650. The 44 I would have to single stage but do have dies.

Actual count on the primers is 4 full bricks plus 1500-2000 strays in the little packs.

Opening up some 40 S&W brass to use the primers is something I hadn't considered. I have a lathe with a collet headstock set up. I 'll investigate if I have a collet that will hold 40 cases, if I do, should be easy enough to rig up a stop to hold the brass at a constant depth from the inside, and make a cutter of some sort to do the pockets quick.

Or, get a few hundred 10mm cases and trim them back to 40s&w length. 10mm use LP primers.

JM

[beemer]

I too have some large pistol primers but they are magnums, they were left over from a 44 mag that went down the road. I use then in my mild lead loads and they work great.

Dave

[downzero]

I use far more small pistol than large, but if you have a desire for a large pistol gun, certainly a 45 ACP or 45 Colt would be my choice, followed by the 429 diameter and then the 401 diameter after that. Not for any particular reason other than that I have more use for a 45 than a 44 or a 10mm myself, and the capabilities of those cartridges also encompass what I'd use the others for. A convertible single action revolver that shot both 45 cartridges or the Redhawk that does both could be fun. And if I'm reading your post correctly and you really don't have a 1911, let me tell you that you really ought to have at least one of those.

I find myself not shooting very much large pistol primer cartridges but I can't imagine getting rid of them!

[frkelly74]

I really need to get an idea of what my primer situation is. It might be a long drought.

[dverna]

That is what the sensible part of me says... The one who likes steel mechanical things says an N frame would be a nice way to keep shooting if things stay ugly for a long time.

I have powder, molds, and a little brass for 44, and 45acp. Lots of powder, bullets, boolits, molds for the 10mm but very little brass. I think I have all the parts to load 45 and 10 on the 650. The 44 I would have to single stage but do have dies.

Actual count on the primers is 4 full bricks plus 1500-2000 strays in the little packs.

Opening up some 40 S&W brass to use the primers is something I hadn't considered. I have a lathe with a collet headstock set up. I 'll investigate if I have a collet that will hold 40 cases, if I do, should be easy enough to rig up a stop to hold the brass at a constant depth from the inside, and make a cutter of some sort to do the pockets quick.

If you decide to enlarge the primer pockets, make them a tad smaller in diameter, them use a primer pocket swagger to get them uniform. You will not need to be quite as anal about the machining process.

I like the suggestion to trim 10mm brass for use in the .40.

Good luck!

[Deakota57]

I have also a lot of large pistol primers... trying to talk the better half to get me a 45 long colt for Christmas. So far... I don’t know.. working on that honey to do list.

[gnappi]

It's not only primers

Way back when the .357 SIG was released I jumped on the caliber (SIG P226 with .40 and .357 barrels) like a cat on a mouse. After a few years a shooting buddy hounded me to buy it, and as svelte something or other in another platform swayed me to let him get it.

Recently I found several hundred loaded .357 SIG rounds packed away from my last move. I won't sell reloaded ammo, pulling them would be too time consuming and I figured... why not something like a 1911 bbl in sig, or a slide for my P226? The cost of the ammo is more than both so I'm on the hunt, yet again!

[kevin c]

I'm reading on various shooting forums, and it seems to hold up at least looking at what's for sale in those same forums, that small pistol primers are hard to find anywhere. For instance, where folks are offering to trade primers, they usually HAVE large pistol and WANT small pistol. So a trade for the OP may be problematic.

I collected .45 ACP brass, planning to buy a 1911. I kept putting off the purchase but still kept collecting brass. Eventually I had so much I sold PART of the stash and used the proceeds to finally buy the pistol.

A large pistol primer weighs about 4.5 grains, I think. A Troy ounce is 480 grains, equivalent to 106 primers. Gunbroker would have you pay 20¢ for each primer, so that's about $21 worth. So primers are close to being worth their weight in silver, but fortunately have a long way to go to beat gold.

[richbug]

I'm reading on various shooting forums, and it seems to hold up at least looking at what's for sale in those same forums, that small pistol primers are hard to find anywhere. For instance, where folks are offering to trade primers, they usually HAVE large pistol and WANT small pistol. So a trade for the OP may be problematic.

That is my thought. I am not going to be able to trade even across for any other primers unless I get really lucky.

I ran across some RIA double stack 1911s in 10mm reasonably... That might do the trick. I still have a couple great 1911 holsters and found a couple boxes of loaded 10mm, also found a coffee can full of 45ACP.

[FarNorth45]

Oh man !!!! Everyone should have at minimum a couple 45colt Single Actions !!!! Lol and a 45colt lever gun of his choosing!!! And a 1911 45acp , 45-70 lever, 45-70 sharps and ..... oh sorry i got carried away there didn't I , or did i ? Ha!ha

[MrWolf]

Well can't go by me. I just bought a Ruger 57 and ammo is unrealistic unless willing to pay at least $1 a round. Figured grab the 20 round one and some speaks before they are considered high capacity. God help this country.