Your Thoughts Needed, Prime Ammo 2020

It's taking money away from the business. If you were selling ammo, would you want to have people buy ammo and ship it to you vs buying ammo from your store? Buds gun shop has already hurt the small shops bad enough as it is, my ffl said certain items he can buy cheaper than his cost from his suppliers. This is why the local gun stores have gone to a $40 transfer fee on guns shipped from Buds.
This is all true, but my experience has been that those that tend to buy cases of ammo online rarely are buying that volume from their LGS anyway. I’ll buy a box or three from them when try I get out various brands, but volume buys don’t typically happen at LGS.

Still, your point is valid and I see the point. I still think that there’s a dollar value that makes sense for both parties.
 
I would wonder about Prime also doing a once a year deal based by region. Anyone from that region can place an order and on the set date it will be bulk drop shipped to a location in the center of that region.
For example:

ammo order for eastern WA, north ID, and NE Oregon gets made up and on the set day, anyone who has their order in gets it shipped to a place in Spokane or wherever and then has about a week or two to pick it up. Do it once a year and save on cost for us and hassle for prime.
 
Also, 308 brass available?

definitely trust us. The gun community has to stick together right now.
I would be willing to help crowd fund a loan or something as well if Prime ever needed it. Just give us a discount code or something to say thanks.
we still got your back.
 
PRIME GROUP BUY!!!!!!!!

Made in the U.S.A. Prime 6.5 for 1.14 per round shipped to your door!!!!!!!


MADE IN USA - Compare at $1.32/round plus shipping - PRIME is $1.14/round with FREE SHIPPING
Group purchase details:
  • Minimum order is one case of 200 rounds with no maximum order limit
  • Payment in full by check provides the lowest possible price with a 3% discount
  • 3% discount is applied automatically during check out by selecting check/money order as the payment method
  • Pay by check and save $7.05 per case - price is $1.14/round delivered with FREE SHIPPING
  • The check must be mailed within 2 business days of ordering
  • PRIME's mailing address to send the check is supplied during checkout and also emailed in the order confirmation
  • Checks will be held until the minimum round count is obtained and then checks will be deposited
  • Paying by check provides a final price of $227.79 with free shipping to the lower 48 states
  • Paying by credit card provides a final price of $234.84 with free shipping to the lower 48 states
  • For this group purchase, 500,000 rounds must be purchased in 18 days by Midnight PST, Monday, December 16, 2019
  • You cannot split a single order and use multiple payment methods
  • You can make multiple orders during the 18-day purchase window with different payment methods and we'll combine them when they ship
  • If the minimum round count is not met in the allotted time all checks will be destroyed and payment cards 100% credited
  • If the minimum round count is met customer fulfillment occurs within 4 months starting from Tuesday, December 17, 2019
  • Both payment methods feature free FedEx Ground shipping to the customer’s address in the lower 48 states
  • A round counter is supplied for each order on the product’s description page

 
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The timing of this is, for me, is ironic. I fall into the category of diehard reloader. I've been collecting equipment for 15 years and I'm afraid to estimate how much I've spent on a 550, a 650, a turret press, about 20 toolheads setup with dies across them, hundreds of pounds of powder, primers, and direct to manufacturer/ group buys of bullets, RF Primer filler, Henderson motorized trimmer, Amp MKII will Amp Mate and casefeeder, on and on... And I would definitely do it all over again.

As I was reading these 5 long pages last night, I was absolutely not buying the argument of factoring in your time. I think at some point somebody said they couldn't load 6.5 Creedmoor with Lapua/ Berger components for less than $2 a round. I was shaking my head at these arguments. Not counting time, tooling investments, component overstock, and pro-rating brass cost over it's lifespan I can load pretty much all of my comp ammo for under 50¢ a rd. Stay with me though...

Right now I'm helping a buddy out by reloading 6.5 Creedmoor for him. I bought new Hornady brass for $35 a hundred, 140 ELDMs for $26 a hundred, and primers for $28 a hundred. I'll probably use RL23 or H4831SC at $14 a hundred. I bought him Hornady dies for $36. That's the only tooling cost to him. His first 500rds will cost $440 and his second 500 cost will cost $215. Over 1000rds it will cost him $67 a hundred. Every subsequent 500 thereafter his overall price will drop by reusing the brass and pro-rating the initial dies and shipping costs.

But this group buy truly is amazing. On Prime's website they have the Swedish 130gr for $1.06 a round when paid with a check. That comes out to $.60 to $.70 a round after you sell the brass. That's, no shit, only $.14 to $.24 more than reloading for me or the same price over 1000rds for my buddy with my free labor. With Peterson brass instead of Hornady.

With the exception of the diehards like myself, I just don't know why you wouldn't get in on this. I hope Prime comes out with a similar offering for a current 6mm cartridge like 6GT or 6BR. I would adopt one match barrel that I wouldn't reload for and just buy 2000rds for about a years worth of shooting, with that particular rifle.


Last couple years has made it hard to justify reloading smaller calibers like the 308 or 260. Magnums still make sense but take 308 fgmm at less than a dollar per round, they shoot as well as my reloads in a couple rifles. I remember 260 being almost $40 a box when I decided to reload. They are still higher than the creedmoor but better than before.

The factoring in your time has always made me laugh. Do people factor in their time when they say it's cheaper to cook than it is to eat out? I don't know anyone that does.
 
I factor in time,

Most people don't spend 4 hours cooking but to each their own. Ask a stay at home mom if their time matters when it comes to housework.

During the shooting season, my time is valuable, I may be traveling with only a few short days between trips. Doing a video, an hour drive each way, that is 2, then 4 hours at the range filming, there is 6, then another 4 editing, that's 10. I bet if you really thought about it you can account for every minute of the day, we are designed to consider time.
 
This is the situation for me, I can buy from the high volume manufacturers, they produce excellent mild and consistent factory match ammo. When I do i shop for discounts and shipping efficiency.

What Jim offers is similar consistency in the accuracy, but faster, and with better brass for when I sell it to the reloading community.

I have and will probably shoot a couple thousand rounds a year, and if I can pr-plan that with prime, get the better ammo, at a better price than buying case by case, better bulk shipping, and less ffl transfers, it's all good for me.

Now if Jim and prime could offer a reloading your own brass, or brass rebate program and ease me from private selling, that would be interesting as well.

I will never reload, I wouldn't find it relaxing, i doesn't save money when you look at the time needed, compared to the results of current match grade ammo, the time needed to get similar consistency. I can make way more money with that time than I could save reloading.

Remanufacturing brass is a bigger can of worms then you might imagine in a commercial setting.
 
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The timing of this is, for me, is ironic. I fall into the category of diehard reloader. I've been collecting equipment for 15 years and I'm afraid to estimate how much I've spent on a 550, a 650, a turret press, about 20 toolheads setup with dies across them, hundreds of pounds of powder, primers, and direct to manufacturer/ group buys of bullets, RF Primer filler, Henderson motorized trimmer, Amp MKII will Amp Mate and casefeeder, on and on... And I would definitely do it all over again.

As I was reading these 5 long pages last night, I was absolutely not buying the argument of factoring in your time. I think at some point somebody said they couldn't load 6.5 Creedmoor with Lapua/ Berger components for less than $2 a round. I was shaking my head at these arguments. Not counting time, tooling investments, component overstock, and pro-rating brass cost over it's lifespan I can load pretty much all of my comp ammo for under 50¢ a rd. Stay with me though...

Right now I'm helping a buddy out by reloading 6.5 Creedmoor for him. I bought new Hornady brass for $35 a hundred, 140 ELDMs for $26 a hundred, and primers for $28 a hundred. I'll probably use RL23 or H4831SC at $14 a hundred. I bought him Hornady dies for $36. That's the only tooling cost to him. His first 500rds will cost $440 and his second 500 cost will cost $215. Over 1000rds it will cost him $67 a hundred. Every subsequent 500 thereafter his overall price will drop by reusing the brass and pro-rating the initial dies and shipping costs.

But this group buy truly is amazing. On Prime's website they have the Swedish 130gr for $1.06 a round when paid with a check. That comes out to $.60 to $.70 a round after you sell the brass. That's, no shit, only $.14 to $.24 more than reloading for me or the same price over 1000rds for my buddy with my free labor. With Peterson brass instead of Hornady.

With the exception of the diehards like myself, I just don't know why you wouldn't get in on this. I hope Prime comes out with a similar offering for a current 6mm cartridge like 6GT or 6BR. I would adopt one match barrel that I wouldn't reload for and just buy 2000rds for about a years worth of shooting, with that particular rifle.

Reloading is one of my hobbies; I do it because I enjoy it almost as much as the shooting itself. I can't load virgin Peterson brass, H4350, Federal 210 primers, and 130gr Berger Hybrids for anywhere close to what Prime is selling factory loaded ammo for...group buy or otherwise. I do not use Hornady brass because I think it is generally low quality so I think your comparison, while direct, is amiss. Either way, your point stands. I plan on buying ammo for classes next year and the brass will be used to handload afterwards.
 
I would agree with you if you said you tossed your brass into the weeds immediate after shooting it. I guess we're talking about two different things. Loading vs. reloading.

Loading a hundred rounds of Peterson brass should cost you $4.30 if you get 20 cycles out of it. So 130 Hybrids at $40, +brass at $4.30, + primers at $3, + $11 in powder is $58.

I don't load Hornady brass either. But not for accuracy reasons. For longevity reasons. In the long run it may actually be more expensive to shoot if you're getting fewer loadings out of it. I have three loads from three different barrels and cartridges that use Hornady, LC, and Winchester brass that all shoot 1/4 moa.

And Prime isn't loading expensive 130 Berger Hybrids. So more biased math.

Agreed, I'm not sure what bullet they're using. Based on the BC it's probably still more expensive than ELDM. Regardless, my point is the upfront cost of the loaded ammo by Prime is less than my upfront cost of just the components alone. If I reuse the brass from the Prime ammo my reloads will be even cheaper later.
 
At some point time can become a factor for everyone.

Too little shooting and/or reloading too many different cartridges and you can't justify the hardware or use up all the supplies before you have a reason to go with a different combo. Too much shooting can put you in the camp of not being able to dedicate enough time to make the ammo without drastic (i.e. automated Dillon's) measures that take forever to recoup the investment. I am out of the sweet spot. Enough supplies on-hand to load close to 15k rounds of rifle and 5k of pistol. All the fancy tools sans computerized progressive. Not enough time to load for both the wife and my shot count. She has missed 7 weekends in the last 3 months, I have missed 4 because I cannot keep up.

Definitely arrived at the point where I need to shoot less or buy factory to either supplement or replace reloading.
 
I've started reloading and I'm slowly realizing it's not worth it. Lol. Maybe after a while I cam figure it out but it will be tough to justify with berger and prime keeping ammo at these prices.
 
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