what HAPPENED to ammo prices??

[Phirebug]

i remember a little less than 3 years ago, the last time i was in wisconsin, i bought a few hundred rounds of hirtenberger at $60 a battle pack and i was mad because i felt like i was getting ripped off. today i found some south african for $65 and nearly wet my pants with excitement.

that was at http://www.ammo4guns.com/RIFLE_AMMO.html if anybody knows of a better price on anything, please let me know.

think it might be time to bite the bullet and buy a press instead of another case of ammo. (that's honestly kind of sad that a case of ammo costs MORE than a press now)

edited:
oh...no wonder it's so cheap...it's only a 140rd battle pack. that's even more depressing.

[okie shooter]

You havent priced components yet lately, have you, its the cost of raw materials, plus the lack of surplus ammo on the market driving the prices again, along with a weak dollar on the world markets.

[SteelCore]

juat look at the general unavailability of 762x54r, and the price of what you can get.

I about fell over looking at the prices for some top-o-the-line .270win ammo at sportsman's guide! from 16 to 40 bux fer 20 rounds!

I stopped buying the SA at 35bux a BP. Got a few Port BPs after that for around 50 apiece..

[TheTodd]

After the war is over there will be a huge surplus of ammo. Prices will go down. The answer to the ammo prices now is: not to buy. Then prices will go down. With people paying these ridiculous prices is what is keeping the prices up. Stop paying these prices and the ammo will go down.

[rep30cal]

Reloading is almost as expensive as buying surplus, not a whole lot of
difference. I don't think that the prices will ever come down, the sellers
already know that we will pay it, they will just sit firm on their prices
rather than take a loss on it and when we need ammo then we will have
to pay the price and maybe more for making them sit on it.

[okie shooter]

After the war is over there will be a huge surplus of ammo.
I seriously doubt there will be a flood of surplus ammo after the stuff in Iraq and Afgastan are over. We are making a small fraction of ammo compared to what we made during vietnam.

[robocop10mm]

The answer is not an easy one. Raw materials are up because of the surge in industrialization in China and India. The dollar is weak on the world market. The South African surplus that was flooding the market is all dried up (thank you UN). The US and Iraqi governments are buying more ammo now than 10 years ago both for our troops and for re-arming the Iraqi's. The Chinese cannot send ammo or arms to the US (thank you Billery).
Supply and demand. Supply is smaller, raw materials are more expensive. Demand is up, like minded folks wanting to stock up and Iraqi involvment.
IMHO, we may see a slight decrease in price after the war but not by much. Reload. Yes it may not be much cheaper than buying surplus but you can reuse the case and defray the cost in subsequent loadings. You can be more self sufficient and get better quality ammo. Try casting bullets to really bring the costs down.

[nowhereman]

After the war is over there will be a huge surplus of ammo. Prices will go down. The answer to the ammo prices now is: not to buy. Then prices will go down. With people paying these ridiculous prices is what is keeping the prices up. Stop paying these prices and the ammo will go down.
I don't think that this war in the since you mean it is going to end....IMHO

[nowhereman]

The answer is not an easy one. Raw materials are up because of the surge in industrialization in China and India. The dollar is weak on the world market. The South African surplus that was flooding the market is all dried up (thank you UN). The US and Iraqi governments are buying more ammo now than 10 years ago both for our troops and for re-arming the Iraqi's. The Chinese cannot send ammo or arms to the US (thank you Billery).
Supply and demand. Supply is smaller, raw materials are more expensive. Demand is up, like minded folks wanting to stock up and Iraqi involvment.
IMHO, we may see a slight decrease in price after the war but not by much. Reload. Yes it may not be much cheaper than buying surplus but you can reuse the case and defray the cost in subsequent loadings. You can be more self sufficient and get better quality ammo. Try casting bullets to really bring the costs down.
Exactly...

[pigpen]

Try casting bullets to really bring the costs down.


Ding Ding Ding Ding!!

We have a winner!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is what you win when you cast yer own!!!!!!!!

Less powder, less recoil, a brass case can last 4-ever, wheel weights are cheap, molds are cheap, dies are cheap!!!

[robocop10mm]

Oh, and pigpen, I just ordered a 7mm and an 8mm mould from Lee. They had them on close out for $14 each. Now the only caliber I shoot that I don't cast for is .25-06.

[nevada]

Velocity is low and you can probably hire illegals to mess with the lead!

JK. For those who are into casting, it's a fun part of reloading. I just don't want to that myself.

[pigpen]

Oh, and pigpen, I just ordered a 7mm and an 8mm mould from Lee. They had them on close out for $14 each. Now the only caliber I shoot that I don't cast for is .25-06.

Oh yeah, thats it!

I got another 1k of 8mm gas checks & a .30 cal mold for Christmas. Now all I need is a good mold that'll cast bullets to about .314 for my Enfield & 91/30 & 9mm mold & I should be set. I might need 1 more if I decide to cast for 7.62x25.

[pigpen]

I just heard of a way to take 223 brass & form it to 7.62x25. I guess I will need a mold after all.

[franks71vw]

no matter what our firearms of interest we are in as a community as a whole we need to boycott buying ammo and let them stock pile it till it becomes a pain for them to store it...

[pelos]

The answer is not an easy one. Raw materials are up because of the surge in industrialization in China and India. The dollar is weak on the world market. The South African surplus that was flooding the market is all dried up (thank you UN). The US and Iraqi governments are buying more ammo now than 10 years ago both for our troops and for re-arming the Iraqi's. The Chinese cannot send ammo or arms to the US (thank you Billery).
Supply and demand. Supply is smaller, raw materials are more expensive. Demand is up, like minded folks wanting to stock up and Iraqi involvment.
IMHO, we may see a slight decrease in price after the war but not by much. Reload. Yes it may not be much cheaper than buying surplus but you can reuse the case and defray the cost in subsequent loadings. You can be more self sufficient and get better quality ammo. Try casting bullets to really bring the costs down.


What did the UN do to the SA battlepacks?

[rustypirate]

The UN forced the South African military and ammo manufacturers to destroy their surplus rather than sell it on the open market.

[Rampager]

+1 on most of what has been said so far.

Yes, the UN would like all this “evil” surplus ammo destroyed so it’s not sold off and used to kill poor folks in the third world (so they say). But they don’t see the other side of it though…

OK, so this cheap surplus ammo doesn’t go to poor third world countries were it could be used by poor African villagers (example) to defend themselves. So who actually ends up armed in the end? Well funded thugs, warlords, militant ethnic and or Islamic groups, etc, that’s who.

Just like the UN has been going around these same countries/villages confiscating all the old bolt action rifles and guns of every other sort from villagers and burning them in piles, getting rid of all those nasty old evil guns. Later, as a result during a famine it makes it much harder to take game and feed their families…and more importantly any thug, warlord or armed Islamic group can now go in and slaughter the defenseless unarmed populous.

Also IMHO, the way the UN sees it, even if both sides are “unarmed” it was much better that 800,000 people in Rwanda were killed by being hacked to death by machetes, it’s just a good thing no evil guns and ammo were involved there…

Not to mention too though that there is no safer place in the world to sell this surplus ammo than in the US commercial market where it will be used to poke holes in paper targets. But just like any liberal organization, the UN cannot be confused with facts and logic though.

Ok I’m getting into a rant here (pet peeve):1106:

But yeah, with ammo going up for a number of reasons as mentioned, what I’ve done is I’ve rediscovered the good old .22LR. I’d suggest if you don’t have one, buy a .22 semi rifle like the 10/22 and use it to practice with. You can still get at Wal-mart 550 rounds of Fed .22LR for $9.95…hard to beat this. If nothing else it saves on blasting expensive surplus ammo all the time.

[okie shooter]

Actually it didnt have anything to do with the UN on the SA ammo, the goverment as the goverment here, decided not to sell surplus ammo to the public, thus they paid the company who sold the ammo to wholesalers to demil it. It was their choice, from what I understand they didnt want the stuff to end up in the hands of its neighbors, or enemies. Thus it was in their best interest to demil the ammo rather than have it maybe used against the goverment there now. The UN has no force of law, just the SA goverment went along with the UN on this thought. Would we want twenty thousand automatic weapons and tens of millions of rounds roaming around Northern Mexico right now too?

The demil of US surplus ammo is part of Public Law, we either destroy or disassemble ammo, or pay those companies that will do this for the Army, thus they can sell components, and others reassemble the ammo, but they they cannot sell the all up rounds. If you feel this is wrong, there is a choice, write your congressman or woman and get the law/regulation changed.

[Norton]

Oh, and pigpen, I just ordered a 7mm and an 8mm mould from Lee. They had them on close out for $14 each. Now the only caliber I shoot that I don't cast for is .25-06.

What are size and types of the bullets they make?

[pigpen]

What are size and types of the bullets they make?


My molds (both Lee) have 3 driving bands, the bullets weigh about 170gr and are of the round nose configuration. So far I only cast for 8mm & just got some .30 cal molds for Christmas.

[nevada]

Someone suggest to SA that they trade their ammo for Indian ammo. We get the SA ammo, SA's neighbors get the Indian stuff. 2 out of 3 win.

[AK AJ]

Someone suggest to SA that they trade their ammo for Indian ammo. We get the SA ammo, SA's neighbors get the Indian stuff. 2 out of 3 win.

That's Brilliant!, We could also do it with guns. I for one would be happy to give up one of my shinny new american refurbished CAI CETMEs for just two of there used G3s. :icon_biggrin:
Hell I'll even give them a free hat.

AJ

[SteelCore]

"Actually it didnt have anything to do with the UN on the SA ammo, the goverment as the goverment here, decided not to sell surplus ammo to the public, thus they paid the company who sold the ammo to wholesalers to demil it."

-->Correct. That we got any SA here at all is because of some "Lord of War" style arms (ammor) re-distribution in the grey market.
Here't the link to the article, and the discussioon from lst year's thread:

http://www.militaryfirearm.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=886&highlight=South+Africa

Note how my post in that thread prophesied the increaser in the price of SA! I'm a genius! (J/K...all ammo goes up...and SA was the last 762 on the mkt, cept fer OFV)