Ammunition Cost Doubles

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I bit the bullet and bought 200 rounds of hollowpoints from SGAmmo. Not the best stuff, not the best price, but it was available and now I have a small stash of defensive rounds just in case the zombies come. No more for me unless things change.
 
I don't understand where the high cost ammo is. I can still get a 200 round box of 45/70 300 grain Silver Tips for not much more than 300 bucks. I normally buy a dozen at a time for about 20 bucks from my local gunsmiths. My Springfield is over 130 years old and I plan on being able to fire it well into retirement. The price of that ammo has remained within a few bucks a box since the 90's for me.

357 Magnum 145 grain silver tip ammo about 45 bucks a box of 50, 38 Special 125 grain about 40 bucks a box of 50. Not bad for gun shop purchased ammo. The days of going to the gun shows and getting cheap factory ammo is long past.

Are the high costs buying in bulk or smaller quantities? Or both?
 
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I've been checking prices on reloading supplies. Wow is all I can say. I'm glad I stockpiled supplies when I did.
 
I don't understand where the high cost ammo is. I can still get a 200 round box of 45/70 300 grain Silver Tips for not much more than 300 bucks. I normally buy a dozen at a time for about 20 bucks from my local gunsmiths. My Springfield is over 130 years old and I plan on being able to fire it well into retirement. The price of that ammo has remained within a few bucks a box since the 90's for me.

357 Magnum 145 grain silver tip ammo about 45 bucks a box of 50, 38 Special 125 grain about 40 bucks a box of 50. Not bad for gun shop purchased ammo. The days of going to the gun shows and getting cheap factory ammo is long past.

Are the high costs buying in bulk or smaller quantities? Or both?
Huh???.357/.38 spec were 15 bucks and you think 40 bucks is cheap????????????? Did you just start shooting in April?
 
Huh???.357/.38 spec were 15 bucks and you think 40 bucks is cheap????????????? Did you just start shooting in April?

15 bucks for 50 rounds of 357 hollow points was a long time ago. That was the price after getting out of the Navy in the mid 80's. I remember paying close to 50 cents a round for Black Talon ammo just before it was outlawed. I'm pretty sure I was paying close to 30 or 40 bucks a box almost 10 years ago. I don't pay too much attention to the market. When I need ammo I buy it. 40.00 for a box of 50ea 357 Magnum silver tip hollow points is more than a fair price at current market value.

I will say the trend at gun shows has prices going through the roof. The DOJ is cracking down on regulations for ammunition and firearms. I'm of the opinion that ammo at gun shows is overpriced due to individuals not having an ammunition vendors license. Private party sales of ammunition became almost non existent after 2017. Oddly there is no regulation for giving away ammunition for free. Add in the fact that the required DROS are keeping track of every bullet sold. Then it is understandable that ammunition as taken an uptick in price.

I'm not much into stockpiling it. If I go in the garage right now I'll be lucky to have 100 rounds total on hand for the 3 weapons I own. For myself, firearms are a tool only to be used when needed. I'm just curious what all the panic is over the ammo cost. A quick search at local gunsmiths shows the price is holding steady over the last 10 years or so.
 
15 bucks for 50 rounds of 357 hollow points was a long time ago. That was the price after getting out of the Navy in the mid 80's. I remember paying close to 50 cents a round for Black Talon ammo just before it was outlawed. I'm pretty sure I was paying close to 30 or 40 bucks a box almost 10 years ago. I don't pay too much attention to the market. When I need ammo I buy it. 40.00 for a box of 50ea 357 Magnum silver tip hollow points is more than a fair price at current market value.

I will say the trend at gun shows has prices going through the roof. The DOJ is cracking down on regulations for ammunition and firearms. I'm of the opinion that ammo at gun shows is overpriced due to individuals not having an ammunition vendors license. Private party sales of ammunition became almost non existent after 2017. Oddly there is no regulation for giving away ammunition for free. Add in the fact that the required DROS are keeping track of every bullet sold. Then it is understandable that ammunition as taken an uptick in price.

I'm not much into stockpiling it. If I go in the garage right now I'll be lucky to have 100 rounds total on hand for the 3 weapons I own. For myself, firearms are a tool only to be used when needed. I'm just curious what all the panic is over the ammo cost. A quick search at local gunsmiths shows the price is holding steady over the last 10 years or so.
Price holding maybe but availability has been disastrous .
 
Ollie - you’ve bought a couple of boxes. Hardly representative.

9mm was $0.16/round. It is now “on special” for $0.60/round. Nearly four times the price. Some stores have it for even mor

Same with 5.56mm. It is selling at three or four times the price it was earlier this year.

Yeah, you can get .45-70 for the same price, but that’s hardly the market. .45ACP, 9mm, .308, 5.56, are all in short supply. The more common/popular the caliber, the worse the situation. For example, I stopped by a gun store in Parker Colorado this week. No .38, no .357, no 9mm. Some 5.56 at nearly $1/round (when it had been $0.30) but the shelves there were empty.

California Gun stores have never been reasonably priced. They aren’t now, either. So, the lack of fluctuation in that subset of the market, looking at non-common calibers isn’t representative, either.
 
@ollie, you're in CA. Most of the rest of us are in other states many of which are much more gun/ammo friendly. Here in KY until earlier this year 115gr. 9mm FMJ at $ .25 a round or less was normal and $ .30 a round was expensive. Just doing a quick ammo search on ammoseek.com turns up $ .48 a round for the cheapest 115gr. FMJ they have listed then there would be shipping on top of that. A few years ago I bought 500 rounds of 124gr. Hornady XTP factory reload hollow points at Freedom Munitions. If I recall correctly I got them for under $ .30 a round with free shipping. The same ammo today with the exception of this being new brass instead of factory reloads is $ .95 a round. Right now in 9mm you can't buy cheap range fodder for much under $ .50 a round. For someone who goes to the range and shoots 200-250 rounds it's a pretty expensive range trip. I've still got some 115gr. 9mm range ammo I bought a few years ago with a $5. rebate per box. My final cost including sales tax was $5.60 per 50 round box. I used to buy 30-30 for about $12.xx for a box of 20. I haven't checked lately but, I doubt the price has increased hardly at all on it. With deer season nearly upon us it may even come down a little in price. I remember Remington used to run $5. a box rebates on it about every year around hunting season. I don't know if they still do that or not.
 
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I theorize that distributors are storing pallets of ammo waiting until next month. I could be wrong. But, experienced it before.
Heh...likely looking for a certain tilt so they can quintuple their investment. That tactic seemed to work so well for Gander Mountain in 2016 🤣🤣🤣🤣
 
Ollie - you’ve bought a couple of boxes. Hardly representative.

9mm was $0.16/round. It is now “on special” for $0.60/round. Nearly four times the price. Some stores have it for even mor

Same with 5.56mm. It is selling at three or four times the price it was earlier this year.

Yeah, you can get .45-70 for the same price, but that’s hardly the market. .45ACP, 9mm, .308, 5.56, are all in short supply. The more common/popular the caliber, the worse the situation. For example, I stopped by a gun store in Parker Colorado this week. No .38, no .357, no 9mm. Some 5.56 at nearly $1/round (when it had been $0.30) but the shelves there were empty.

California Gun stores have never been reasonably priced. They aren’t now, either. So, the lack of fluctuation in that subset of the market, looking at non-common calibers isn’t representative, either.

A few boxes for me is representative to my use and needed supply of ammunition. 357, 38 and 45/70 are very common and popular sizes. Even here in CA I know for sure that ammunition is readily available for those that are willing to pay. I had a discussion with my brother who is always using up ammo. He has stated that while the prices are slightly up there is no shortage. As a full disclosure I actually get a lot of my ammo from him. Speaking with my buddies in law enforcement, there is an unlimited supply of 9mm/40/45 cal ammo for range use and daily carry.

When I go by the local ranges there is a nonstop staccato of rounds being fired 8-10 hours a day. Has anyone considered to limit their use of ammunition until the supply increases and demand decrease? It truly is no big deal and nothing to be concerned with. This is no different than any other product shortage.
 
I went into the main gun shop in Burlington Vt last Thursday to see about stocking up on some small pistol primers and a couple boxes of buck shot. The counter guy said he was out of both. As for primers he said they come in by the palet of 30,000. When they come on they are gone by the end of that day. Buckshot just disappears the same way Though there’s plenty of bird shot.
I asked the guy if they were all getting ready for two legged hunting season And he smiled. when asked if the college:cautious: crowd was still camped out across from the police station some other guy piped up. He said there were still some out there banging on their #$&# drum in the middle of the night. Ahhh life on a college town. Me thinks their enthusiasm is going to diminish greatly once winter sets in. Those sorts aren’t much in the outdoors department so that damp freezing wind is going to dampen their enthusiasm in short order. I normally hate winter. This year I expect that it will be welcomed at least by the city dwellers..
 
After what happened this year I'm surprise it is not even higher. You can't blame people for wanting to protect themselves and their families. Hopefully it will settle down in the next 6mo or so.

Shotgun shells are not too crazy, but you cannot find buckshot. Target loads are plentiful.

I'm back to .22 which is about the only affordable ammo these days. A lot of people are switching their carry guns to .22. Everyone needs to practice.
 
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