# What is the most and least expensive gun ammunition you can buy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 25, 2008, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-and-least-expensive-gun-ammunition-you-can-buy/454176 "2008-06-25T10:23:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-and-least-expensive-gun-ammunition-you-can-buy/454176/21 "2008-06-27T04:38:24Z")
[QUOTE=runner pat] [Just for fun.](http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=732664) .700 Nitro Express 5 rounds 382.99 > **[.700 Nitro Express](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.700_Nitro_Express)** > > The .700 Nitro Express (17.8×89mmR), also known as .700 H&H, is a big-game rifle cartridge. The cartridge is typically charged with around 250 grains of powder, in addition to a two-grain igniter charge (to reduce the tendency of the cartridge to hang fire from such large powder charges). The cartridge was introduced in 1988 by the boutique gunmakers Holland & Holland (H&H) of London. It was developed by Jim Bell and William Feldstein and built by H&H. Feldstein had tried unsuccessfully to get In... [/QUOTE] [Surfing off that link this was interesting.](http://www.470mbogo.com/BigBoreCompendium/#585Nyati) > [@](#): > > It is not necessary to be wealthy or even a high-income earner in order to afford dangerous game hunting in Africa. By scrupulously setting money aside and making a few personal sacrifices to cut expenses, such as giving up eating at restaurants, not buying tickets to professional sporting events, avoiding new or expensive cars and trucks, and by turning some of part of a gun collection into cash, almost every American wage earner will be able to afford a dangerous game hunt in Africa. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-and-least-expensive-gun-ammunition-you-can-buy/454176/22 "2008-06-27T04:47:38Z")
I love my Smith 1006, but a brick is pricey, because it isn’t a popular cal. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-and-least-expensive-gun-ammunition-you-can-buy/454176/23 "2008-06-27T13:06:32Z")
.455 Webley Ammunition is $79/50 rounds when it’s even available. There are enough Webley revolvers floating around to _just_ keep the cartridge in production, but it’s bloody expensive to say the least. There are also “exotic” handgun cartridges like 7.63x25mm Mauser and 7.62x38R which are even harder to get and even more expensive ($100/50rnds), but the only people with Mauser C96s and Nagant M1895s are collectors who only fire the guns once a year anyway. (I’d love a C96 but there’s no way I’m paying $1,500 for a gun that I can’t get ammo for…) ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-and-least-expensive-gun-ammunition-you-can-buy/454176/24 "2008-06-27T19:07:53Z")
[QUOTE=Amp] I’ve recently acquired an AR-15 and an AK-47. I haven’t shot them yet but I am not looking forward to what ammo is going to cost me for those two. [/QUOTE] 7.62x39 for your AK is going to be about $200 for a case of 1,000 rounds. Used to be less than $100 4 or 5 years ago. ☹ The most expensive ammo is probably .50 cal, you’re probably looking at at least $2 per round. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-and-least-expensive-gun-ammunition-you-can-buy/454176/25 "2008-06-27T19:28:54Z")
RE: Caseless ammo. Back in the late 60’s, Daisy (yes, the BB gun people) briefly made a caseless .22. The propellant was stuck in a little cake on the back of the bullet. No primer either. The propellant was ignited by a piston forcing air through a tiny hole causing it to heat. A relative of mine had one that I got to shoot a few times. It performed about like any single shot .22; but sales were poor and production ceased. Perhaps its time has come at last. [Description.](http://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2006/01/airgun-makers-that-spawned-firearms.html) ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-and-least-expensive-gun-ammunition-you-can-buy/454176/26 "2008-06-27T20:37:28Z")
Re. caseless ammo: it’s one of those things that sounds like a cool idea at first. The problem is that for semiautomatics and automatics, the case serves another purpose besides simply holding the propellent: it absorbs and then promptly expels from the gun a lot of excess heat. This isn’t an insurmountable problem, but it has limited the caseless ammo concept. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2008, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-and-least-expensive-gun-ammunition-you-can-buy/454176/27 "2008-06-27T20:51:40Z")
It occurs to me that, using existing airsoft gun technology, it should be reasonably easy to develop a semi-auto repeater using the old Daisy caseless rounds as a base. Energy from the round itself needn’t be tapped to cycle the action, which simplifies a whole bunch of stuff. A battery-powered motor can work the piston and strip rounds from the magazine, same as in an airsoft. You’d need to use a real gun steel barrel and beef up some parts, but the original Daisies were little more than a slightly redesigned pellet gun anyway. Main problem to overcome: The propellant cake should be at least a little more durable than the originals. Secondary problem: Since the thing is largely driven by a motor, it would be trivially easy to convert one to full-auto. Many airsoft models already are from the factory. This ease of conversion to full-auto would cause BATFE to stomp all over such a product with the full might of the federal gummint behind them. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-and-least-expensive-gun-ammunition-you-can-buy/454176/28 "2008-07-10T13:04:53Z")
[QUOTE=runner pat] [Just for fun.](http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=732664) .700 Nitro Express 5 rounds 382.99 > **[.700 Nitro Express](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.700_Nitro_Express)** > > The .700 Nitro Express (17.8×89mmR), also known as .700 H&H, is a big-game rifle cartridge. The cartridge is typically charged with around 250 grains of powder, in addition to a two-grain igniter charge (to reduce the tendency of the cartridge to hang fire from such large powder charges). The cartridge was introduced in 1988 by the boutique gunmakers Holland & Holland (H&H) of London. It was developed by Jim Bell and William Feldstein and built by H&H. Feldstein had tried unsuccessfully to get In... [/QUOTE] Or you could step up from that piddly little medium-calibre round to something decent like a [4-bore](http://www.riflemagazine.com/magazine/article.cfm?magid=44&tocid=553) No idea what the ammor for that would cost but bearing in mind that everything would most likely need to be custom-made by someone with the skill and equipment, I’m betting it would be Double-Plus UnCheap. [QUOTE=Gbro] If one has his brass saved and reloads, most cartridges would cost under a $1.00 and some under $0.50 to reload. [/QUOTE] As a matter of interest, how long does it take you to prepare and reload a batch of 100 rounds or so, and how much do you value your time at? It’s probably not a big cost component for fairly standard ammo but I can imagine it would become significant if you e.g. need to neck out or otherwise customise a cartridge. Likewise if small batches are being reloaded frequently. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-and-least-expensive-gun-ammunition-you-can-buy/454176/29 "2008-07-10T13:13:18Z")
[QUOTE=slaphead] As a matter of interest, how long does it take you to prepare and reload a batch of 100 rounds or so, and how much do you value your time at? It’s probably not a big cost component for fairly standard ammo but I can imagine it would become significant if you e.g. need to neck out or otherwise customise a cartridge. Likewise if small batches are being reloaded frequently. [/QUOTE] It does take a while in my observation (I do not reload as of yet) but once things get set up and going smoothly it doesn’t take long to run off a thousand or so, which is where the cost savings comes in. You can always put it away for later. A few production runs of different calibers and you’re set for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Vorpal\_Blade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/9de0a6/32.png) [@Vorpal\_Blade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vorpal_Blade)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-and-least-expensive-gun-ammunition-you-can-buy/454176/30 "2008-07-10T14:05:27Z")
[QUOTE=Airman Doors, USAF] It does take a while in my observation (I do not reload as of yet) but once things get set up and going smoothly it doesn’t take long to run off a thousand or so, which is where the cost savings comes in. You can always put it away for later. A few production runs of different calibers and you’re set for a long time. [/QUOTE] Plus reloading can be fun in its own right… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2008, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-and-least-expensive-gun-ammunition-you-can-buy/454176/31 "2008-07-10T23:39:05Z")
There are commercially made silver bullets. Texas firm. ---
**Author:** ![BF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5ac83/32.png) [@BF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BF)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-and-least-expensive-gun-ammunition-you-can-buy/454176/32 "2008-07-11T00:50:22Z")
As per the OP, the cheapest are usually .22’s, with a brick (500) rounds running about 10-15 bucks. The most expensive, off the shelf, probably match grade .50 cal rounds. Friend of mine has a Barrett’s and he told me he got a deal on about 500 rounds for about $800. As a competitive trap shooter, I can vouch for the price of lead going through the roof. Two years ago a 25lb bag of lead shot was going for about $18, including tax. My club just did a bulk buy and it was $38 a bag, and this was actually down from a high of about $45 three months ago. A case of premium target ammo, on sale used to run about $50 a case (250) rounds, now it’s about $70. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-and-least-expensive-gun-ammunition-you-can-buy/454176/33 "2008-07-11T02:52:48Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] There are commercially made silver bullets. Texas firm. [/QUOTE] Those are a necessity in lots of areas but you only need a few a year if you know what you are doing. Werewolves are aggressive but there aren’t as many in the wild as everybody thinks. In my 35 years, I have only had to kill 4 and had to threaten only 5 or 6 more. That only amounts to a few boxes of silver ammo bullets and should be affordable to anyone. Tip: If you happen to be poor and live in a werewolf infested area, you can melt down old jewelry to make affordable bullets. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-and-least-expensive-gun-ammunition-you-can-buy/454176/34 "2008-07-11T03:48:36Z")
Will silver-jacketed bullets be as effective as solid silver? That’d save me some money. Although, as mentioned, it’s usually only a couple of bullets a year. It does add up over time, though. ---
**Author:** ![T\_SQUARE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de053/32.png) [@T\_SQUARE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T_SQUARE)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-and-least-expensive-gun-ammunition-you-can-buy/454176/35 "2008-07-11T04:44:42Z")
A-square ammo sells .600 Nitro for $20 a round and .700 for around $17.50 (somehow) but if you can afford a rifle like that, the ammo costs are the least of your worries. I have a feeling that one shot from a monster like that would be plenty of range time for a while. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2008, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-and-least-expensive-gun-ammunition-you-can-buy/454176/36 "2008-07-11T12:15:24Z")
[QUOTE=BF] As per the OP, the cheapest are usually .22’s, with a brick (500) rounds running about 10-15 bucks. The most expensive, off the shelf, probably match grade .50 cal rounds. Friend of mine has a Barrett’s and he told me he got a deal on about 500 rounds for about $800. [/QUOTE] I pay about $3.50/round for .50 BMG ball (mainly Talon). Match runs about twice that. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2008, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-and-least-expensive-gun-ammunition-you-can-buy/454176/37 "2008-07-11T13:28:15Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist] Will silver-jacketed bullets be as effective as solid silver? That’d save me some money. Although, as mentioned, it’s usually only a couple of bullets a year. It does add up over time, though. [/QUOTE] Not as effective. I don’t think you’d want to take that chance, Bob. Lycanthropy is a hell of a disease. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-and-least-expensive-gun-ammunition-you-can-buy/454176.md?page=1)