Ammo prices

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AJMD429
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Ammo prices

Post by AJMD429 »

Today’s prices definitely inhibit live-fire practice...!

I rarely shoot live ammo now; probably 10-20 rounds a week of centerfire and rim fire combined. :(

Some friends came out to learn how to shoot their new 38 Special and could only find reloads (which is no big deal especially for practice), but the reloads were over a dollar a round.

In 1974 I bought 1,000 rounds (2 ‘bricks’) of 22 LR and a 1,000-round case of 223 Rem, both Winchester.

I remember the prices were $19.95 and $199.95 respectively. I was gonna head off to college so sold my band instruments and spent the money on textbooks and ammo. :D

Of course inflation (530% now vs 1974) puts the current equivalents at $105.73 and $1,059.73 or so, but current prices if you can even find any are often double that, and the 223 will be Russian stuff of unknown reliability instead of top-end Winchester.

Sad for the new shooters; at least us old fogies are used to scarcity (many just a bit older than me, or a bit poorer, grew up getting handed five or ten 22LR cartridges to ‘make meat’ with for the week, and had to ‘save up’ if we were ever going to buy a box of our own). Plus we can reload if we get, or have hoarded, components.

I tell the 38 Special folks to get a Lee Classic Loader.
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Re: Ammo prices

Post by piller »

Even reloading equipment is scarce now.
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Scott Tschirhart
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Re: Ammo prices

Post by Scott Tschirhart »

I have not slowed down my shooting, but I am shooting only my handloads these days.
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Sixgun
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Re: Ammo prices

Post by Sixgun »

Since this Covid thing started I've been absent from the gunclub and the matches, only attending one match and only several weekday trips to shoot.....and none so far this year. It used to be a 3 weekends out of 4 for pretty much my entire adult life......

I've never looked at ammo prices as being an expense.....I have it down to primers and powder for 95% of my shooting. By my logs which I started in 1981 I shoot between 6-12K a year but in 2020 it's down to 1800 which is mostly backyard shooting with low velocity cast bullet loads through my homemade "giant silencer".

With what I have here I could continue to shoot like I used to, never buying anything, and keep going until I'm 120 years old or dead, whichever occurs first.-----006
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Tycer
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Re: Ammo prices

Post by Tycer »

Yep. $1 a round for bulk 9mm 115 grain ball. 😳
My kid just bought a new pistol and they said they would sell her one box of 380 for $40. $2 a round.
Of course she’s set for life on 380 😏
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JimT
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Re: Ammo prices

Post by JimT »

I had to purchase some personal items and WalMart was the easiest place to get to. While there I checked Sporting Goods and they had CCI Mini Mag .22 Long Rifle in stock. $7 and change for 100 round box. Limit 3 to a customer. They had 3 on the shelf. I bought 2 and left one someone else. Nice to see they are not scalping people. I was in a gunshop the other week and cheap .22's were $17.95 for 50. I would rather support the local gunshops but I ain't paying those kind of prices. Oh... they had Turkish 9mm ...steel ...1000 round cases for $1200.00. :o
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Re: Ammo prices

Post by Sixgun »

I don't blame the dealers for scalping as it's fair to say a lot of people are buying the ammo to resell. I've always believed that whomever has possession of anything sets the price....capitalism...love it.

Buddy of mine who is a dealer .....and can get near anything......advertises with each gun sold the buyer can purchase a box of ammo for retail price.----006
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1894cfan
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Re: Ammo prices

Post by 1894cfan »

Local GS bought 2 bricks of CCI550 primers from me for $50ea, came back a few days later and they were boxing up about 50 bricks of various primers, asked them what they were going for, said $300 per brick! :o :shock: :? :roll:
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Grizz
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Re: Ammo prices

Post by Grizz »

it's a seller's market. time to sell for anyone who wants to. problem is, the currency is so inflated, far past any "inflation calculators", that it's an issue, because there might not be a downcycle from here.

the time to buy is when the shelves and aisles are full with more at the dock. will we see this again?

IDK, BUT i am a buyer at a certain price point.

watch copper prices. https://markets.businessinsider.com/com ... price?op=1

$4.02 at the moment. THIS IS THE HIGHEST price in years, when it filters to the scrap prices we will have to guard our wiring and plumbing again.

copper prices are a leading indicator, and price suggests that the "smart money" is stocking up. what do they know? IDK
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Re: Ammo prices

Post by Larkbill »

Was shooting with my youngest bro and a friend last week. The friend was using .22 LR out of a brick of WW Wildcats. When I commented I hadn't seen any of those in a while he laughed and showed me the price tag. $6.99. From Target. He bought when they were closing their gun department and took all 18 bricks they had.

I think that had to be mid 80's. I didn't stock up like that on .22, but did score a CVA Prospector pistol kit for less than $20 and a CVA Squirrel Rifle kit for a couple bucks more.
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Re: Ammo prices

Post by piller »

Larkbill wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 10:00 am Was shooting with my youngest bro and a friend last week. The friend was using .22 LR out of a brick of WW Wildcats. When I commented I hadn't seen any of those in a while he laughed and showed me the price tag. $6.99. From Target. He bought when they were closing their gun department and took all 18 bricks they had.

I think that had to be mid 80's. I didn't stock up like that on .22, but did score a CVA Prospector pistol kit for less than $20 and a CVA Squirrel Rifle kit for a couple bucks more.
Does it work on two legged squirrels?
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Rockrat
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Re: Ammo prices

Post by Rockrat »

Local farm and ranch store has 9mm for $16.99 a box and I bought 200 small pistol primers for $3.49/100 (limit 200). Had CCI Blazer 22lr. for $3.49 a box of 50.
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AmBraCol
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Re: Ammo prices

Post by AmBraCol »

Grabbed a free sample of Townsend Whelen's book on reloading the other day. He gives a breakdown on the costs involved. Correcting for inflation (which one calculator put at 944% since 1957) the cost per 20 round box of shells (he figured 100 rounds of factory ammo in as a means of obtaining brass to reload) at just under $45 each box. Primers? They'd come out at just under $10 per hundred. Prices are high, but our problem is that we've forgotten what they cost way back when. THAT is why grandpa bought one box of shells with the rifle, used three to check zero and did his best to make each shot bring down the game. Perhaps we'll start to appreciate our ammo more now that it's scarce and more expensive.
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JOG
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Re: Ammo prices

Post by JOG »

I lucked out yesterday morning and found some Federal 38 spl. at my local gun shop. Two box limit,$24.99 a box of 50 rds.
Now I could take my Smith out for some target practice! For the third week in a row they had Federal 308 150 gr. in stock.
Every time I pass the shop I stop in to have a look to see what's in stock. Usually not much.
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Re: Ammo prices

Post by Larkbill »

piller wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 10:49 am
Larkbill wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 10:00 am Was shooting with my youngest bro and a friend last week. The friend was using .22 LR out of a brick of WW Wildcats. When I commented I hadn't seen any of those in a while he laughed and showed me the price tag. $6.99. From Target. He bought when they were closing their gun department and took all 18 bricks they had.

I think that had to be mid 80's. I didn't stock up like that on .22, but did score a CVA Prospector pistol kit for less than $20 and a CVA Squirrel Rifle kit for a couple bucks more.
Does it work on two legged squirrels?
It's a .32 and with the cute little Maxi-balls I cast it's amazingly powerful! I would think it would handle any size squil'.
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geobru
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Re: Ammo prices

Post by geobru »

This thread takes me down memory lane. I still have two boxes of Wester SuperX Silvertips that my dad bought in the lat 50s or 60s. The price sticker says $5.30. There are still 6 rounds left from those boxes. I don't know how many animals he got out of those boxes for sure, but he was frugle when it came to shooting those hunting rounds. I also have a box of Frontier 30-06 that I bought in 1965 when I was 14. There are still 8 rounds left in that box. I shot 6 deer plus some sighting in with that box of shells before I started hunting with a 308. At that time I could buy surplus 30-06 ammo for ten cents a round. I'd buy 40 rounds at a time and go out plinking with my 06. I kept my brass from all that shooting because I wanted to learn how to reload, but I didn't have money for the equipment needed, so that brass sat unused for over 40 years before I finally started reloading. I counted the empty 06 brass that I have and I shot that rifle somewhere around 650 times from the time I was 14 to 25 years old.

Couple of things> $5.30 for a box of shells sounds cheap today, but at that time you were in high hay if you made $2.50 per hour. I financed my shooting habit with a paper route that netted me $50 a month. I bought a used model 721 rifle with open sights for $65, box of shells ~$8 per box, Hunting belt, $15, Hunting knife and hatchet set from Sears,~$20, Cheap Japanese 7x35 binoculars, $15. With that rig I was ready to go hunting. The rifle, the belt, and the knife set haven't been used for years, but I still carry those binoculars in my pickup. I have a nicer set now, but I carry the old set in the truck because if they are stolen, I'm not out much. Call me a hoarder if you want, but I can pull that old rifle out of the safe and shoot sub MOA groups with it. It's a tool, not used much, but it is sharp and ready to go to work on a moments notice!

Its a reminder to me of much leaner times.
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Re: Ammo prices

Post by Catshooter »

You know where the rifle is and you can get to it: definitely not a hoarder. Those 721s were excellent guns, weren't they.


Cat
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Re: Ammo prices

Post by piller »

Hoarder is, to me, someone who keeps anything whether it is useless or not. Keeping an older firearm that shoots a still common caliber that can be used for hunting almost any game animal is not hoarding.
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geobru
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Re: Ammo prices

Post by geobru »

Catshooter wrote: Sun Apr 18, 2021 1:57 am You know where the rifle is and you can get to it: definitely not a hoarder. Those 721s were excellent guns, weren't they.


Cat
Yes they are fine guns. Nothing fancy, but a good rifle. Somewhere during the years I used it I put a Bushnel Banner 4x scope on it. I never thought it was that accurate of a gun for many years. I figured it was a 2" gun at 100 yards. I sighted it in using a couple of coats for a rest on the hood of a pickup. A few years ago I decided to shoot it to see how it did for groups using a lead sled. It put factory 150s inside an inch at 100 yards. Good rifle!
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Ray
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Re: Ammo prices

Post by Ray »

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Last edited by Ray on Fri Feb 11, 2022 5:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Catshooter
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Re: Ammo prices

Post by Catshooter »

I would expect the prices to be going up. The prices on most everything is, so why not ammo too? We don't have Trump's hand holding the throttle back anymore. It's back to business as usual, meaning darn everyone else if I can make an extra buck or two.


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Larkbill
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Re: Ammo prices

Post by Larkbill »

I pushed the "Notify" button at several ammo warehouses trying to track down more Federal 50 gr .22 WMR. I use it in my Levermatic for Lever Pistol Cartridge Silhouette. Last November I dithered over a brick of Armscor 40 gr for $200, but in the end bought it.

Now that is back in stock for $350/brick. Um, NO. I have enough to shoot this season and next plus some practice. Just wish I had more of the Federal for the rams. The Made in USA version of the Armscor shoots very well in both my rifles, the one made in the PI is a step or so behind in my guns.

I sure hope the Remington plant in Lonoke being spun up improves things.
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