Several years ago I bought an ammo can containing 840 rounds of Israeli surplus 5.56mm ammunition in stripper clips and bandoliers for $140. We blew through most of it down at the range last year. I thought I’d mosey on over to Cheaper Than Dirt. They’re selling the same thing for $400. Granted, it’s been a few years; but it seems that 47.6¢/round is rather expensive considering I’d previously spent less than 17¢/rd.
Is the price increase just normal inflation? Or is it supply-and-demand (a lot of demand by governments at the moment)?
I’m guessing the domestic manufacturers are producing for the army, and the milsurp stuff dried up. But even the Russian export stuff is way pricier than it used to be.
Last time I bought 5.45, I think I paid $90 for 1000 rounds. Now it’s listed as $160. Decent .223 could be had for $120, now $220+. Whacky.
Handgun ammo looks a bit pricey, but not as big a jump.
I’ve noticed the climb as well. Luckily, I’m still shooting up the 3000 rounds of .30-06 I bought a few years ago. If you shoot some of the less common calibers, the price hasn’t risen as much. .303 is still pretty cheap, as is 8mm.
Turners! I should check them out. Good prices, as I recall. I have no need for the ammo here, of course. My collection is 1,200 miles away, and many of the pieces aren’t allowed in California. But I’ve found ammo to be expensive up north, so I may as well get it while I’m here. Too bad even the cheap places have gotten expensive. (My former haunt does have some .223 for 16¢/rd. – only not in bandoliers.)
Assuming there’s not a monopoly, and assuming no collusion is going on, the price of anything is solely determined by supply and demand. For ammo, it is a combination of increased demand and decreased supply. So the price is being pulled up from two forces operating in an additive fashion.
So what accounts for the decrease in supply? I’ve heard lots of rumors, the most common of which is the war in Iraq.
At any rate, the root causes do not matter. Prices have gone up, and we have to live with it.
I heavily “stocked up” on surplus 7.62 X 51 a couple years ago, when it was cheap. Glad I did.
The thing about semi-autos is that you can burn through the ammo. It’s very easy to go through several hundred rounds in a session. Good for the economy, though.
Me, too. Gotta have fodder for the SKS. I usually hit the Orange County gun show every year and stock up on surplus ammo. I found a great deal on 7.65mm for my Argentine Mauser a few years ago and I’m still working through the supply. Luckily there is always cheap ammo for the Garand available.
have to laugh a bit, stock piling 400 rounds? A brick of 22 ammo available at any wal mart is 500 rounds. Fifteen years ago when I shot in competition it would be common for be to have a portion of a lot (as in a production lot) that worked well for me, and to buy several cases. For the most part I had the powder, primers and bullets to assemble my own reloads for around ten thousand rounds, but maybe only 3000 casings. Like I was going to take over the world with 10,000 rounds of .38 special target wadcutters. I still probably have a thousand or more rounds of ammo around here, from 22 to 12 gauge. Most for guns I long ago sold.
I was infanry attached to a armor unit, we had a six man unit in an APC, our basic load was around 8000 rounds and that was estimated to be enough for a four to five minute firefight.
Four hundred rounds is not scary.
Four thousand rounds is not scary.
Four hundred thousand rounds is cause for concern.
I was at a gun show today at the Westland Mall located near Columbus, OH. South African 7.62 X 51 was going for $35/140 round battle pack. I managed to find a vendor that was selling them for $30, and I grabbed a couple.
That brings to mind the question: What rifles do I take out on our annual Thanksgiving trip? I haven’t fired the SKS recently. But I really need to give the wife lessons on rifle-handling, so maybe one of the Mausers? Decisions, decisions. Of course, I have 6000 rounds for the 10-22, so that may be the default weapon.
She’s fired the 10-22 before. Now I want to move her up to the real rifle. Methinks the SKS would have less recoil than the Mausers, except maybe the 6.5 Swedish.
Oh, okay. When you said that you wanted to give her lessons on rifle handling, I assumed she hadn’t fired one.
I haven’t fired an SKS, but I’ve fired an AK-47. Not too much recoil. Personally, my Mauser (the one that I shoot) and my Winchester 94 are best enjoyed in small doses. Even the SAR-8 gets a little painful after a while.
