OT: ammo: what are you paying?

[Gun guru]

I just bought a box of 20 cartridges for $14
.223 rifle ammo. Local sporting goods store.
Not a great price but.......it is more expensive then it used to be and I think the Iraq war is sucking up the .223 ammo. I remember when not too long ago .30-06 ammo was $10/box now it is over $20/box.
What are shotgun shells selling for these days? I bought 10 boxes (250 shells) for $50 back in 2000 or 2001. What does .308 sell for now.
A guy near me has 1000's and 1000's of rounds of .223/.308 and shot shells. He reloads his own and sells some, I traded a few face cords of firewood for 80 rounds of .223 reloads. (he wasnt too keen on giving up the reloads for firewood)
Inflation is kicking my butt, Gas, Diesel, ammo, food. I never thought I would see the day when 1 share of Ford common stock would cost less then a gallon of diesel fuel, or a box of .223 ammo for that matter.
Well enough *itching better go cut some dead trees so I can say I did something productive for the day.

 

[Fawteen]

Only ammo price I'm current on is .380, and it's INSANE! Nearly $40 for a 50 round box of 90gr JHPs.

I reload for everything else, and the price of powder and lead have gone up. The jump in powder prices is supposedly due to demand from the military and has settled down some. The price of lead is way up due to demand from China. Over all, things have about doubled in the last 5 years.

If I didn't reload, I couldn't afford to shoot. Hurts bad enough as it is.

 

[Sam from WA]

Depending on what kind od shotgun loads you get, they are right around 7-10 bucks to the box. For the 12 gauge traploads I use (Remington Premier STS loads) they are about $10 to the box at my local gunshop.

 

[Jeff Oliver]

Yea the price of lead is up if you are buying it. Hehe try selling scrap lead though. I have some I clean out of a rifle range and the going rate is like .25 a pound. I'll just keep it and have a bullet supply for YEARS!

And your right, ammo has gotten terrible. I stopped loading 9mm several years ago because I could buy if for what I could load it for if I count my time. I started back loading it this year. I haven't seen a real insane jump in power as much as primers. I guess they figure if they can't take the guns and ammo away they will just price it so high no one can buy it.

 

[JDemaris]

In the past two months I bought . . .

1000 rounds of .223 hollow point ,steel and polymer coated cases, 62 grain non reloadable for $200.

1000 rounds of .223 steel-jacketed ,steel and polymer coated cases, 62 grain non reloadable for $180.

480 rounds of Greek military 30.06 - brass case, non-corrosive, 150 grain soft-point - $110.

1000 rounds of Wolf steel and polymer coated 7.62 X 39 - hollow point - $160.

1000 rounds of Golden Tiger 7.62 X 39, steel-jacketed point, steel case - $150

5000 rounds of 22 long rifle hollow point - 40 grain - $129.

 

[Gun guru]

Those are real good prices.

Where do you buy it?
I know that the Wolf ammo is about $8 for the .223 rem., Russian made. (I have a few boxes of it)

 

[Fawteen]

Haven't bought primers in a while, but I'm going to need to soon, and I ain't lookin' forward to it.

Several people have ventured the opinion that the anti-gun folks are concentrating on driving the price and availability of ammo out of sight because it's easier (and sneakier) than trying to ban guns.

I dunno if I subscribe to that particular theory, but I'm stocking up anyway.

 

[RossIL]

Been shooting Federals 2 3/4 trap shells 20.96 per 100. Remington's 23.00 I'm going to start reloading my shells. Both these brands of shells were in the 16.00 dollar range last year

 

[JDemaris]

Some of the best deals I've gotten for Wolf ammo have been from Sportsmansguide.com Nice thing about them is they alway honor their sale prices even if the ammo gets backordered for a few months - which it often does.

Prices seem to be going nuts - so I buy anytime and anywhere I see a deal. None of the follow consistently have good prices - but all have "special deals" now and then that are great buys.

By the way, I was skeptical at first with the Russian Golden Tiger and Wolf ammo - but I've had zero problems. I bought a bunch of 9 MM ammo for my son's autopistol and its worked well for that also.

I've got some good deals from . .
Ammunitionstore.com
http://www.odcmp.com/ammo.htm
J&G Sales
http://www.floridaammotraders.com
http://www.midwayusa.com
http://ableammo.com

If you buy from the Civilian Marksmanship Program, you have to be a member - at:
http://estore.odcmp.com/Store/catalog/catalog.aspx

 

[Bret4207]

Learn to reload and cast your own. Google cast boolits for the best site going on this stuff.

 

[Stan in Oly, WA]

Hi Fawteen,

Since most people who manufacture or sell firearms, ammunition, reloading components and supplies, etc. are not anti-gun people (just as it's probably safe to assume that oil companies are not anti-oil, cigarette companies are not anti-tobacco, etc.) it's hard to see how it would even be possible---much less "easier"---for anti-gun folks to drive the price and availability of ammunition in any direction, including "out of sight." How would they do that? If they got laws passed to require exorbitant excise taxes on ammo, I'm pretty sure we would have heard about it. The NRA doesn't generally miss little things like that.

To me, what that kind of statement mainly proves is that anybody can say anything.

All the best, Stan

 

[1936]

When asking the price on small items you either don't really want it or can't pay for the item.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I stocked up on reloading supplies about 10 years ago when business was better.I was reloading shot shells in the mid 50s.I bought about 50 boxes of 20 gauge shells for 2.00 a box when a store was changing brands.I buy 22 long rifle cartridges in 10 box cartons for 9 to 10 bucks a carton.Ive heard that the price of lead shot has doubled now.Ill check 2 gun shows in sep oct and look for good deals in ammo and reloading supplies.Old shot shells that are too old to fire can be broken down for the shot in them.I cast my own bullets so scrap lead is put away and not sold for inflated dollars.

 

[kyplowboy]

There is a store here that carries a limited supply for ammo and sporting goods. They get alot in at a time and sell the same stuff for years. They are still selling 55gr FMJ UMC's for $8.99 a box. Guess they have not checked on the price to replace the ones they have. I buy 3 or 4 every time I am in there.

The local big gun store has steel case Wolf for around $8.

Dave

 

[MarkB_MI]

Hmm, interesting question. I can't remember the last time I bought factory ammo. I'd rather use somebody else's toothbrush than shoot factory ammo in one of my guns.

I stock up on components about once a year, usually from Powder Valley. They'll ship up to 47 lbs combined powder and primers for one hazmat fee.

I don't share my reloads with anyone, nor do I use anyone else's loads, BTW. A load that works fine in one gun can blow another one up.
Powder Valley

 

[Leland]

Wolf ammo is garbage ,the powder will corrode and foul up a gun in a heart beat as guys around here have found out .especialy the 9mm

 

[JDemaris]

We've put a couple of thousand rounds of Wolf 9MM through our pistols with very few problems. One or two ejection failures - but that happens with the name brand stuff too.

In regard to the fouling you mention? I haven't had it, not at all. I used to reload all my own stuff - and still do for hunting. But for target shooting and screwing around - I can't reload as cheap as buying Wolf or Golden Tiger.

I've got three Ruger Mini-14s, one Ruger Mini-30, a dozen SKS rifles, three Star 9MM pistols, several bolt-action .223s, etc. I haven't experienced any noticeable difference in fouling or misfires when using the Wolf or Tiger stuff.

I heard many comments about the Wolf stuff being crap - but finally tried it anyway. For me - it's been fine. With the Golden Tiger - not as good - the loads seem to vary a bit.