# The high price of ammo **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 21, 2006, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-price-of-ammo/377317 "2006-10-21T01:49:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-price-of-ammo/377317/1 "2006-10-21T01:49:58Z")
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)? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-price-of-ammo/377317/2 "2006-10-21T02:02:49Z")
Incidentally, I’m still looking for old-style 20rd. AR-180 magazines. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-price-of-ammo/377317/3 "2006-10-21T18:14:53Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-price-of-ammo/377317/4 "2006-10-21T19:15:14Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-price-of-ammo/377317/5 "2006-10-22T02:51:20Z")
You buy ammo in the _thousands_? OMG!!! On TV they ominously say some guy has “400 rounds stockpiled in his basement” and we’re supposed to go _GASP_ 400 ROUNDS OMG!!! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-price-of-ammo/377317/6 "2006-10-22T03:00:11Z")
Yeah, my department chair and I joke about that a lot. 5000 rounds just means there was a sale at Turner’s. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-price-of-ammo/377317/7 "2006-10-22T03:25:00Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] there was a sale at Turner’s. 😃 [/QUOTE] 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.) ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-price-of-ammo/377317/8 "2006-10-22T03:25:56Z")
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. 🙂 As for .223, try [http://www.aimsurplus.com/acatalog/Prvi\_Partisan\_.223.html](http://www.aimsurplus.com/acatalog/Prvi_Partisan_.223.html) [http://www.aimsurplus.com/acatalog/Guatemalan\_IMG\_.223\_55grn\_FMJ.html](http://www.aimsurplus.com/acatalog/Guatemalan_IMG_.223_55grn_FMJ.html) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-price-of-ammo/377317/9 "2006-10-22T03:30:19Z")
[QUOTE=SenorBeef] You buy ammo in the _thousands_? OMG!!! On TV they ominously say some guy has “400 rounds stockpiled in his basement” and we’re supposed to go _GASP_ 400 ROUNDS OMG!!! [/QUOTE] 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. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-price-of-ammo/377317/10 "2006-10-22T03:39:32Z")
[QUOTE=Crafter\_Man] I _ **heavily** _ “stocked up” on surplus 7.62 X 51 a couple years ago, when it was cheap. Glad I did. 🙂 [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![seenidog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@seenidog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seenidog)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-price-of-ammo/377317/11 "2006-10-22T03:41:39Z")
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. Four million rounds is scary. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-price-of-ammo/377317/12 "2006-10-22T03:48:35Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] 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. [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-price-of-ammo/377317/13 "2006-10-22T04:02:33Z")
Battle packs seem to be the best deal in surplus ammo lately. I have a bunch of .308 packaged that way. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-price-of-ammo/377317/14 "2006-10-22T04:04:01Z")
[QUOTE=Crafter\_Man] As for .223, try… [/QUOTE] So, ah… You don’t have a source for that AR-180 mag, do you? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-price-of-ammo/377317/15 "2006-10-22T04:05:46Z")
“Postal officials today ascribed the latest 3 cent rise in stamp prices to, quote, increasining ammunition costs.” –Decid Letterman ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-price-of-ammo/377317/16 "2006-10-22T04:06:54Z")
Oops, that would Be **David** Letterman. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-price-of-ammo/377317/17 "2006-10-22T04:18:58Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-price-of-ammo/377317/18 "2006-10-22T04:21:02Z")
A Mauser can have quite a kick. If she’s just learning, I’d let her use the 10-22. Once she is comfortable and safe, move up to heavier rifles. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-price-of-ammo/377317/19 "2006-10-22T04:27:33Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-price-of-ammo/377317/20 "2006-10-22T04:31:32Z")
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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-high-price-of-ammo/377317.md?page=2)