Federal Primer Recall

I was feeling smug cause I placed an order a few weeks ago for 4 cases of Federal Match LPP's from Graf's at a "normal" price level. Then after a week or so I got call and the lady told me that they only had 2 cases available - did I still want them - yes, of course - an email order confirmation arrived. Then exactly 2 further weeks have passed and I got another call this morning from the same lady telling me that Federal have "recalled" all of the primers and they therefore cannot supply, but do I still want the powder on my order?

To say that this is annoying would be a massive understatement - particularly since just a day or so ago I had the opportunity to add large primers to another order from another vendor which would have reduced the burden of HAZMAT fees. Grrr....

I can't find that on the Federal website https://www.federalpremium.com/reloading/primers/

Graf's have been a great vendor for me, so I hope it wasn't a line of BS - trying to save them from admitting they sold them to someone else.

You just got took by Graf's.  I called Federal and spoke with them direct.  Federal has no recall on their primers.  I was concerned about what you were told by Graf's about there being a Federal recall as I have almost 10K Gold Medal Match large pistol primers myself and each one came from Graf's as I only live 40 miles from there.  I just counted everything and I have in total 25K Federal Gold Medal Match primers of various sizes. I have lost a lot of respect for Graf's now.  Man I hate that they screwed you over like that.

Aprilian wrote:... I hope it wasn't a line of BS - trying to save them from admitting they sold them to someone else.

And maybe at a higher price.

I think I would call them back and challenge them on the "recall."

Jim just got off the phone with Federal and they told him that there are no open recalls on any Federal Primers. Their words

Either Mon or Tues I will be going through Mexico, MO. I will stop and check on availability and let you know what they say.

I just checked their website, shows all Federal primers out of stock so it won't matter.  I think it was a dirty trick they pulled on you.

All I know is if a business pulls crap on me, they don't tend to see me back. Plenty of places that want my money on a fair basis.

I tried calling Graf's, but could not get through.

I just sent them this message:-
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You called me this morning to tell me that Federal have recalled all of the Match LP Primers and that therefore you cannot complete my order.  I posted the story about my treatment by Graf's on the Bullseye Forum and immediately two members of the Forum called Federal and were both told that there are currently NO recalls in effect on any of their products and definitely not on primers.

Under the current extraordinary market and National situation I could fully understand if your online system had permitted over-ordering of some products in short supply. When your female staff member called me several weeks ago to tell me that you could only supply 2 case of primers (rather than the 4 on my original order) if she had simply told me that you were sorry, no stock available, I would have accepted that and could, at that time, probably have found another vendor with stock available at a comparable price. But no, I accepted your story and agreed to take the reduced quantity, you sent me an email order confirmation. That email stated that shipping confirmation might take up to 10+ business days. I was patient, did not chase you for an update. Then, on the 10th business day, this morning 17Apr20, the same lady called me again and gave me the story about the Federal recall.

Somebody is telling lies!

I have been quite a frequent Graf's customer during the past year and, up to now, have been very satisfied with your prices and service. I have even recommended Graf's to others both online and directly to club members. You have destroyed that positive experience. Just tell me the truth up front and all would have been fine. Sadly, I still don't know the truth.

In response to my email the lady from Graf's called me this morning (Saturday - but she said that due to the workload they are all at work today). She told me that Federal required them to return one complete pallet of Match LPP's and that Graf's have had to disappoint some 65 customers due to that recall. She offered to arrange for her agent at Federal to call me to verify that if I wished - I declined, getting further corroboration is not going to get me my primers.

She explained that apparently Federal had mistakenly packed Large Magnum Rifle primers in the Large Pistol Match boxes, hence they must recall. Fair enough, that is certainly a significant issue.

I've not spoken directly to Federal and have no idea about the comments which others got when they called Federal.

But, to be fair to Graf's, they have reacted promptly to my email and done what they can to apologise for the situation.

If anyone has recently bought Federal Match LPP's and they get a bit more "bang for their buck" when they shoot them maybe this might be one explanation!

4 cases, i.e. 20,000 primers radjag?  Behold, we have found the hoarders and they are us.....

No, not a hoarder, a consumer. Depending on whether I use my 32 for CF or not, I'm currently using about 500 to 1,000 45ACP per week.

So, I want to get about 6 months supply in hand, not unreasonable, given the market and social situation. IMHO.

Various folks have told me that shooting full 2,700's is not good practise and only builds stamina, rather than improving technique. Well, they may be right, but I enjoy shooting full 2,700's and life is short, so "I do it my way!".

Only 5,000 in a case these days? When I was competing in the 1980's WW pistol primers came 5,000 to a sleeve and either 4 or 5 sleeves to the case. I purchased them by the case.  There is nothing unreasonable about a competitive shooter having six months of ammo or reloading components on hand. These days all I shoot is a 41 22lr and I have 4 cases of CCI SV sitting next to me.  Hope you find another source for your primers soon.

Allen, top marks to you for getting further details. My gut feeling is that both Grafs and Federal screwed up somehow. Possibly such SNAFU's occur from time to time, but it only becomes a bigger issue when there is a general shortage prevailing.
The irony is that following a tip by a Forum member I was able to order a decent quantity of Winchester LPP's and SPP's at a slightly high, but still acceptable, price from another vendor. Not yet shipped, but communications have been positive.

I prefer Winchester and only ordered the Federals from Graf's because that was all that they had remaining in stock.

All good in the end. Yay!

Glad things worked out for you.  I stopped by Graf's on my way up to the farm today for some turkey bird hunting and a bunch of shooting.  Just self isolating at the cabin and enjoying a stiff drink!  Might even find a mushroom or two they are popping right now!!!  LOL

Morrels?

Bruce:
   Sorry just got back in town today.  Yep looking for morrels, but I am still about 2 weeks behind up at the farm. No turkeys, just saw only 1 hen.
Allen

Last order from Graf took 15 days to even get processed . I did contact them & ask when it would ship . Next day it shipped . They do have a disclaimer on home page stating they were couple of weeks behind . Even Amazon Prime is behind on shipping in lieu of current events . I'll continue to shop for the exact items I want & will buy from who has the best price . I think it'll take awhile for things to get back to what we're used to .

Yes, 15 days minimum is Graf's current turnaround, but I guess that will reduce once they have sold out of everything!

Lester Bruno of Bruno's Reloading Supplies in Texas called me the other day to apologise cause they only shipped 6 cases of SPP's (of the 10 ordered), but I got everything else and their shipping was less than 7 days. No big problem for me. He told me that they are absolutely swamped with orders and have a backlog of between 200 to 500 shipments recently. They are now out of most Winchester primers and he says that they have no idea when they might get fresh stock.

There are still one or two vendors out there with some remaining stock of primers and powder, but some of the asking prices are very high. I've managed to gather all that I need for this year and beyond. Happy!!

But when I see stuff on special offer in future I will buy in bulk - then you can rightly accuse me of being a hoarder!

To put Graf's performance into perspective. I placed an order with Natchez on 07Apr20 (to be honest I had actually forgotten about it). Fedex showed up with the package today 30Apr20, so just over 3 weeks. I'm now flush with SPP's and XTP85's - yay!

But no sanctioned matches to shoot them in till after the end of June - grrr......

After going through the primer shortage of the clinton years, I vowed to never have less than a 2 year supply on hand of reloading components and at least 3 years of 22.