Ammo prices and shooting ranges

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I don't know where you have been looking for the last decade, but your statement is incorrect. Yes, there have been periods of scarcity and high prices over the last ten years, but there have been equal times of plenty and low prices also. Prior to each of the last three elections the industry was practically giving ammo away with sales, mail-in rebates and other incentives.

In 2018/19, all calibers were there for the picking with excellent prices. In 2018/19, all calibers were there for the picking with excellent prices.
Examples:
Remington 9mm @ $9.00 a box/50 with a $5 mail-n rebate. Crazy cheap! 40SW $11/box. 45ACP $15/box, etc
Federal hunting ammo, buy 4 boxes get $20 mail-in rebate.
223/5.56 Winchester and Federal for $9.00 a box/20 + mail-in rebates.
22LR $0.03 ea for bulk Federal, Win, CCI and Remington

We are now in another period of shortages and high prices. Availability is getting better. Prices are starting to come down. Barring some other event (pandemic, political, geo-political, etc) ammo should slowly continue to come back in stock. Prices will be a little higher than before due to inflation, but should be reasonable. When prices and availability come back around, I suggest people to buy it cheap and stack it deep. Gone are the days of stopping by Walmart on the way to the range to grab a box or two for that afternoon's fun.
That's just it, I quit looking because ammo was either unavailable, or way over priced for so many years. During the times you mentioned I wasn't looking for ammo...
 
Just called my gun shop to check on the price of 9mm. Federal AE FMJ 9mm is $40 for 50 rounds. That's better than the $75 for 50 that it was this time last year, but still not where I want to buy it.
 
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In OH it's illegal to shoot anywhere except at shooting ranges, or on private property with permission. Problem is, I don't know anyone who has land I can shoot on, and I don't own any myself...
It is very hard to find a place. I go back to marsh lakes where the public is allowed to hunt - but in the off season
It also takes a very capable 4WD to get there.
We don’t even have a range that’s not a club - and I don’t shoot often enough to justify membership …
 
Another thing I don't understand is why more plants that produce ammo aren't built. The demand is there, why not be able to meet demand?
My latest copy of American Rifleman has a lead article about Remington Ammo getting the plant in Geogia fired back up. Apparently it was tied up in the Remington/Vista aquisition. Starting full poduction soon.
The magazine is available online.

BTW there is also a recall of some Winchester 115 9mm ammo going on. This is sold under various names, such as Herter's to name one.
 
Another thing I don't understand is why more plants that produce ammo aren't built. The demand is there, why not be able to meet demand?
It is difficult for businesses to justify a large capital expense for new machinery and buildings to satisfy a temporary increase in demand.

As these shortages have gone in the past... Extreme demand creates shortage, people add to the shortage by buying everything they see, people are finally satiated and demand goes down, prices drop and rebates appear to stimulate people to buy even though they already bought all they need during the panic. When the bottom falls out of the market, the ammo companies would have to shudder manufacturing lines and lay off employees. Nobody wants to do that.
 
It is difficult for businesses to justify a large capital expense for new machinery and buildings to satisfy a temporary increase in demand.

As these shortages have gone in the past... Extreme demand creates shortage, people add to the shortage by buying everything they see, people are finally satiated and demand goes down, prices drop and rebates appear to stimulate people to buy even though they already bought all they need during the panic. When the bottom falls out of the market, the ammo companies would have to shudder manufacturing lines and lay off employees. Nobody wants to do that.
The demand doesn't appear to be temporary. It's been incredibly high for at least the last 10 years now. I also don't see demand dropping any time soon, at least not significantly anyway...
 
It is difficult for businesses to justify a large capital expense for new machinery and buildings to satisfy a temporary increase in demand.

As these shortages have gone in the past... Extreme demand creates shortage, people add to the shortage by buying everything they see, people are finally satiated and demand goes down, prices drop and rebates appear to stimulate people to buy even though they already bought all they need during the panic. When the bottom falls out of the market, the ammo companies would have to shudder manufacturing lines and lay off employees. Nobody wants to do that.
Or they worry about more than just that …
 
The demand doesn't appear to be temporary. It's been incredibly high for at least the last 10 years now. I also don't see demand dropping any time soon, at least not significantly anyway...
No, demand has not been high for 10 years straight. It has been 1-2 years of shortage followed by 2-3 years of plenty (for the consumer). For the manufacturers, it was two years of 24/7 manufacturing with overtime and extra workers and then 2 years of normal run rates and some labor cutbacks. The industry is very cyclical. This pattern has repeated for the last 10 years or more that I've seen. Even longer if you talk with someone involved in the shooting sports for a long time.

It's hard for a company that is beholden to stockholders to shoulder the burden of capital expenses for those 2-3 lean years, cycle after cycle.

Each period of shortage is different lengths of time. This one is a little longer than the last one due to the global influence of the pandemic. These problems too shall pass in time.
 
I still have $10 bricks of Rem HP's............haven't needed to buy ammo for years. Once in awhile accidental planning pays off.
 
The demand doesn't appear to be temporary. It's been incredibly high for at least the last 10 years now. I also don't see demand dropping any time soon, at least not significantly anyway...
No. It hasn’t.

Two to six years ago, you could buy ammo for very cheap because demand was very low.

It was a sustained low.

I bought each month, amazed at the prices. Under $200 for 1,000 9mm range ammo, shipped. Under $500 for 1,000 9mm Federal HST, shipped. 1,000 5.56 mil-spec, under $300, shipped.

It was like buying stocks on the dip.

You had to see, and buy, the dip.
 
Ammo is getting fairly easy to find around here but some calibers are still in short supply . .300 Win Mag for instance . For some reason the lighter grain bullets are hard to come by .
 
The demand doesn't appear to be temporary. It's been incredibly high for at least the last 10 years now. I also don't see demand dropping any time soon, at least not significantly anyway...
There was plenty of low priced ammo many times over the last 10 years, and it was always available. Sure there was some up/down in supply and prices, but nothing like right now. I was regularly buying .22LR for 3 cents a round and 9mm for 18 cents a round for quite a few years before the chaos started and ammo price went through the roof.
 
I don't know where any of you guys are, but that isn't what was going on here. .22 ammo has been scarce and over priced for at least the last 10 years here...I don't know about the other calibers because I mainly shoot .22s...every place that sold it was always out of stock....you had to know someone who worked at the places that sold it to get any...
 
It is difficult for businesses to justify a large capital expense for new machinery and buildings to satisfy a temporary increase in demand.

As these shortages have gone in the past... Extreme demand creates shortage, people add to the shortage by buying everything they see, people are finally satiated and demand goes down, prices drop and rebates appear to stimulate people to buy even though they already bought all they need during the panic. When the bottom falls out of the market, the ammo companies would have to shudder manufacturing lines and lay off employees. Nobody wants to do that.
It is not only production capacity, but also a shortage of materials. They can build all the ammo plants they want. But when lead, brass, and nitrocellulose are in short supply, that limits availability and drives up prices.

The primary products that my employer produces are automotive seatbelts and airbags. Both need some of the same materials that are needed to product ammo, particularly nitrocellulose. In development meetings, it has been suggested by some co-workers that the public needs to back off on stockpiling ammo. If we don't, we may be creating another shortage that could impact auto production.
 
Can't you go out into the forest,desert etc and go shooting? Even us in California can do that.

...
Western states have a lot of BLM land that you can do almost anything on. Many states east of the Rockies do not have any "free" land to go shoot on.
In Texas, there are very few places that you can just go legally shoot, since most land is private, and the land that it state or federally owned you can't shoot on safely.
 
Ammo is getting back in stock, prices still pretty high. $84 for 800 22lr Federal. I have been shooting indoor paper targets. It does get boring but the only outdoor shooting is in the desert near me and it has been 100+ consistently since June.
At that price they are going to keep it a long time I have bricks and bricks (500 round bricks) I bought at Cabela's for $18 a brick!
 
I live in the country so I often shoot in my backyard. When ammo prices came back down after the 2012 election and Sandy Hook I ran up on .22 LR Remington Thunderbolts online for 2.3c a round including shipping. I bought about 4 1/2 cases and already had about 3 or 4 case in stock so I'm still shooting .22 LR whenever I feel like it. I've also got about 4 cases of 9mm FMJ left that I bought last time I found 9mm for about $10. a box and about another 500 9mm self defense rounds. I've never bought ammo during the most expensive times. I buy enough in good times to last a few years of bad times then restock when the prices come back down. I've also still got about 2500 rounds of Russian surplus 7.62x54R that I bought several years ago. It was some of the last I saw on stripper clips back around 2011-2012. I bought a few cases of it stripped it off the clips and sold them on eBay but, keeping a couple dozen for my personal use. The stripper clips sold for more than I paid for the clips/ammo so l when I shoot my Mosin's it's free shooting. I don't shoot much .45 ACP but I've got about 2 cases of it that I've had for several years. Last time I bought .45 ACP was at a store closure where they had aluminum cased at half price. I've got about a case of 20 gauge bird shot and about 250 rounds of .22 magnum.
 
At that price they are going to keep it a long time I have bricks and bricks (500 round bricks) I bought at Cabela's for $18 a brick!
22 LR ammo used to practically be throw away ammo it was so cheap. Now they act like it's gold plated precious metal. I was able to pick up two boxes of Federal (325 rounds) for $20 each. With today's prices that's a bargain. I remember buying the Federal 550 round boxes at Walmart foe $12 a box...those days are long gone...
 
No. It hasn’t.

Two to six years ago, you could buy ammo for very cheap because demand was very low.

It was a sustained low.

I bought each month, amazed at the prices. Under $200 for 1,000 9mm range ammo, shipped. Under $500 for 1,000 9mm Federal HST, shipped. 1,000 5.56 mil-spec, under $300, shipped.

It was like buying stocks on the dip.

You had to see, and buy, the dip.
I did too. So much the UPS driver started making comments.
 
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