AMMO STILL CLIMBING !!!

[kooz]

I wonder if this madness is going to stop ? will the price of ammo ever come back down ? the price of lead and others have started to drop back down, but the prices certainly don't reflect it. I wonder if this will be like oil and just not come back down now that the new line in the sand has been drawn. Rant over

[WinM71]

What problem??? The latest list price on .348 ammo from Winchester is ONLY $79.99 per box of 20. So.....when you find a nince Browning M71, it's only $4.00 a pop.

More than one way to slowly drive everybody out of the shooting sports.....

[ohwin94_61]

I think if they cant ban our guns next is they will try to ban our ammo

[KirkD]

Boys, starting this past year, I began to stockpile reloading supplies. Reloading supplies are way cheaper than buying ammo. Ideally, I think a fellow should have enough stockpiled to last for for 25 years. You may have to check for storage laws re. smokeless powder to make sure you are within the law. If not, you'll need to find other locations for the overflow. Of course, it is possible to make your own powder and primers, but it is a pain if you want to do it safely. As long as I can buy it, and the price isn't too high, I'd prefer not to make my own powder and primers. Bullets, and even brass, is another matter, but brass is re-usable, so there's no need to make your own unless you shoot an unusual caliber.

[Sixgun]

My good friend Tom, who owns Targetmaster told me last night its going to climb all year long. We discussed this at length and we both came to the conclusion that for about 20-25 years, prices were stable at about the same price. I believe the ammo makers sucked us all in to our addiction and now are going to make us pay

I remember back in the seventies 45 auto ammo was $10 a box. Tom was still selling it at that price a year ago. Shotgun ammo was 4-5 bucks a box back in the seventies.

So when you really think about it, (especially us middle-aged dudes) its not that bad----------------Sixgun

[JimT]

Congratulations.. you are on your way to becoming an old fanny burp.

Let me explain:

Prices going up are the way of the world.

When I was a teenager gasoline cost 19 cents a gallon. My dad would take us to the local hamburger joint on Friday nights. Hamburgers were 10 cents. If you bought 10 you got a gallon of root beer for free.

When Carter was President gas took a huge jump .. up to 50 cents a gallon .. and higher. Everyone said it was the end of democracy. No one was going to be able to afford to drive!

Now I hear people longing for the good old days when gas was only $1.50 ...

When I was a kid I remember people saying "If bread goes up to $1.00 a loaf no one will be able to afford to eat!"

One of these days you will be with a group of young shooters who will be talking about the good old days when you could get a box of .308's for only $55.00 and you will smile... to yourself.

[KirkD]

And I remember the day when I bought an original Winchester 1886 in nice condition for $600. Those days are gone!

[dgr416]

I once has a rain check for cci 22 ammo from Kmart for $1.50 for 100 rounds of 22 lr hp.I bought 2,000 of them and they lasted a long time.I justr went to walmart the same ammo is $7.50.Once at Richway my dad and I bought 1000 rounds of 30-30 and 30-06 ammo that was S&W 20 packs for $2 a pack of 20.The best buy I got was three T/C hawkins new in the box for $99.95 each in around 1996.They asked how much would I buy all three for and I told them and the guy ranng them right up.I bought 8000 pcs of 416 rem mag brass from midway for $130 per 500 10 years ago .Now its over $300 per 500.I bought 15 bags of shotgun shot at bass pro 7 years ago for $14.99 a 25 pound bag now its $65 a bag.Dont be suprised to pay $10 a box for cheap dove ammo that use to be $3 a box.Better buy as much cheap 22 ammo as you can .I just saw it at bass pro for $28 per 500 that was $11 per 500.Its all going out the roof.

[brucew44guns]

I was unpacking an old box of odds and ends this week, down in my basement. There was one box of 170 Grain Silver tips in 30:30 that a friend gave me about 15 years ago. He had purchased the ammo long before that. Price tag on it? = $ 3.57. Just today, I got 15 boxes of 30:30's of the 170 Gr. Federal Power Shoks, $10.63 a box and I guess that was a steal. I have a slew of .348's I paid 19.95 a box for in the mid 80's. I can't even imagine ammo really going down enough to get anyone excited on into the future, if anything it will double before we know it. Like what's been said, if you reload, best to stock up on powder, primers and bullets, and grab all the lead you can. I noticed those Federals .22 in the 550 packs at Wallyville were about 8.89 or thereabouts are up 2.00 bucks a box now in the last couple weeks or so. Anti-gunners must rejoice in seeing this sort of thing.

[cas]

Isn't this post kind of silly?

"I wonder if this madness is going to stop ? will the price of ammo ever come back down?"

If we remove the word "ammo" we could probably spend all week making a list of items that would fit in that sentence equally as well. Other than soon to be obsolete electronics, the price of anything never comes down.

[505stevec]

My suggestion gentlemen is to shop the sales. Walmart still has relatively cheap ammo. Some Pawn shops and guns stores sell surplus at a reasonable price. If you are a wise shopper you can still find 30-30 for $8 and 300 savage for $8. I found .308 is going for about $17 a box of twenty but found that and 30-06 for $9 at a store the other day. I am going to finally get into re-loading this year but am still kind of nervous to try this. Well the economy has forced my hand

[kooz]

You will not find much of a savings at all by reloading with the current price of components being so high. If you really want to save money you will have to cast your own bullets.

New components .45 ACP:
500 jacketed bullets-$80
500 pieces or brass- $80
500 primers - $15
powder approx -$7
shipping -$10
----------
$192

fmj 230gr 500rds from www.ammunitiontogo.com- $142+ $10shp- $152

If you have brass that you can reuse this will obviously save you some extra cash, but the BIG savings associated with reloading has been reduced dramatically due to the recent spike in materials(bullets&brass). I wonder what this will do to the industry as a whole if it does not eventually fall back down some? Many people that I know have temporarily given up shooting as they can not afford it anymore. A day at the range can get quite expensive, $15 range fee $40 for two boxes of ammo and $3/gl for the gas to get out to the range. In no time you have spent $70 for a plinking session. It is tough to get new young shooters involved in the sport under these conditions.

[Leverdude]

I work with copper & lead every day.
The materials themselves are commodities & are subject to supply & demand. Copper is costing us over 3 times what it cost a couple years ago, leads up too but not like copper. Copper cost is directly related to bullet, brass & primer costs.
Good thing is commodities do go up & down. Theres a huge demand for it right now for many reasons so its very high. It will come down alot once things settle down. It wont be as cheap as before but it'll come down.
Its not simply inflation.


My boss only buys 10 or 20 sheets of copper at a time.
He always made excuses why he didn't buy a couple skids at once.
He's just cheap & the distributer gives us the skid price if we buy at least 10 at a clip.
Once it topped $100 a sheet & he was crying I smiled & said "Just think if we bought a few hundred for 30 bucks last year" Now its over $120 here for a 3'X8' 16oz sheet.
We have to pass that cost on to the customer. So does Hornady & Speer.

[azoil]

In no time you have spent $70 for a plinking session. It is tough to get new young shooters involved in the sport under these conditions.

That's what the "libs" are counting on as well. Not that they are clever enough to have the economy cause gun control, but, you never know...........

[mescalero1]

Picked up 500 .22 long rifle & 50 9mm today at big 5 sporting goods on sale

[cas]

I haven't bought 45 ACP brass in... well... ever!

You just need to be a smart shopper.
Ya should be able to load 1k for well less than $150

[miestro_jerry]

I have stock piled reloading supplies on and off over the years. I have probably 50 pounds of USAF spec solder out in the shop. maybe a 1000 pounds of range lead, 250 pounds of WWs and 20 pounds of pure tin.

Around reloading area, I have an old frig that doesn't work anymore, that is where I store my powder and primers, it has a good tight seal. Oh Yes, I had the freon removed by a licensed pro.

O.K. I lots of brass and have renewed some of my stock piles and traded off things I don't shoot any more. If you don't load too hot brass can last for many years. I am still shooting 38 specials I bought in the 70s, just light loads. I admit I just bought a box 9mm once fired on gunbroker, but I was getting low on brass, my 30mm ammo can was almost down to the bottom.

Way back when, I think 20 or so years ago, I bought up 25 bricks of Thunderbolt 22LRs for $7.95 a brick. Now I am down to the last 2 bricks of that, but my 22 target ammo is alway new, just bought it before the last increase. I even keep some 22 subsonic around to help keep the noice down when I hunt in my backyard (142 acres).

Reloading presss like the Dillons last forever and the quarantees are really good. I started with one 450, upgraded it, now I have 2 550s and a SDB. My Chuck Chucker is an old friend that has loaded many rounds of ammo, it has been in continuous us for about 30 years. Decent reloading equipment never wears out.

Yes prices are going up, they always seem to do that. I remember gasoline for under a quarter a gallon and cars that got 6 miles to the gallon, like my GTO. Now I drive a Honda Element, much better mileage and carries a lot in it.


I am not getting old, I am just getting better at doing everything.

Jerry