[Maia007]

It doesnt seem that long ago that 9x18 ammo was cheap. Now, even Brown Bear is well over $10/box.

Has 9x18 gone up more than conventional HG ammo, or am I just imagining that?

[PabloJ]

.....and it's only going to get more expensive.

[rcmodel]

Hey, S&B .380 ACP was $6.49 a box at Cabala's before the last election too.

Now it's $15.99!

9x18 is $15.99 too.
And you get a slightly bigger bullet for the same price!
Can't be all that bad!

rc

[PabloJ]

If you get .45ACP brass cased ball ammo can still be had for $17 to $18 per pack of 50 and that is > 2x slug weight.

[Carne Frio]

$0.20 a round is about as cheap as it gets for 9mm Mak.

http://ammoseek.com/?gun=handgun&cal=84&type=&grains=0&mfg=&keywords=&sortby=cpr

[M2 Carbine]

Before the Presidental election a lot of ammo was cheap compared to today.
9x18=$5.00/50
30.06=$4.00/20
.223=$4.00/20
etc.
I have cases of foreign 7.62x39 that costs between $54 and $70 a case and
Barnaul 9x18 ammo that cost $70 a case several years ago.

Reloading components were less than half the price they are today.


As the government continues to print paper money and drive the country further into debt, I'm afraid the days of cheap ammo (and everything else) are gone.

[Pilot]

You can also easily reload 9x18 with cut down 9x19 (9MM Luger) brass and bullets sized for the 9MM Mak.

[PabloJ]

Before the Presidental election a lot of ammo was cheap compared to today.
9x18=$5.00/50
30.06=$4.00/20
.223=$4.00/20
etc.
I have cases of foreign 7.62x39 that costs between $54 and $70 a case and
Barnaul 9x18 ammo that cost $70 a case several years ago.

Reloading components were less than half the price they are today.


As the government continues to print paper money and drive the country further into debt, I'm afraid the days of cheap ammo (and everything else) are gone.


With no imaginary change (different person in White House being told what to do by same people) is only going to drive ammo prices higher.

[MCgunner]

I haven't bought any in a while, was getting 9x18 at 9.95 a box for Monarch at Academy. If it goes up TOO much, I can make my own, have mold, have dies.

No comment on Pablo, just that he's full of it.....:rolleyes: 4 more years and we won't have to worry about the price of ammo. Our guns will be illegal.

[PabloJ]

I haven't bought any in a while, was getting 9x18 at 9.95 a box for Monarch at Academy. If it goes up TOO much, I can make my own, have mold, have dies.

No comment on Pablo, just that he's full of it.....:rolleyes: 4 more years and we won't have to worry about the price of ammo. Our guns will be illegal.
The formula for invading others with false excuses as basis to get their natural resources only helps those who make weapons and get contracts to rebuild what was blown up, but it does seem to help the American people.

[MCgunner]

And that relates to the second amendment, how?

[PabloJ]

And that relates to the second amendment, how?
Firearms in USA will always be available. The key to "gun control" is control of ammo distribution and components used to make it.

[Maia007]

Thanks guys, but the sense of my question had more to do with the price of 9x18 increasing comparatively "more than" the price increase of ammo in general and across the board...and your insights on that.

Are there factors (other than the general apprehension among ammo buyers about where the country is going and other factors that are driving ammo prices in general), such as production issues in Eastern bloc countries or factors germaine only to 9x18?

Thoughts?

[Steve C]

Price of ammunition is based on supply and dmand or both the ammo and the cost of the components. The price of copper and lead can drive ammo prices up. Wars increase demand for the components and the capacity of the manufacturers to make it.

Withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan and winding down the wars the demand of ammo by the governments should decline resulting in lower cost to shooters as excess manufacturing capacity is made available to civilian production and surplus production along with contract cancelations for ammo hits the market.

This can all be nulified if the economy picks up to a frenzied pace and the demand for copper in building goes sky high.

[bigfatdave]

Are there factors (other than the general apprehension among ammo buyers about where the country is going and other factors that are driving ammo prices in general), such as production issues in Eastern bloc countries or factors germaine only to 9x18?did a supply of surplus run out like it did with Tokarev ammo?

Because surplus on the market tends to keep prices down, until it runs out, at which point you pay whatever the current production can get away with as far as markup.

[Fatdaddy]

They're doing the same thing to us that the inkjet printer folks did.
Dirt cheap hardware and expensive dispensables.

[wlewisiii]

NRA spin and paranoia has more to do with ammo going up than a president who has only signed pro-gun legislation. They want you to believe what isn't true because that keeps the contributions flowing in to pay all their obscene salaries.

All I know is that I'll keep buying components now so that I can afford to shoot when everyone freaks out for no good reason again after the president is re-elected.

If you like 9x18, I suggest you buy now. Once the craze starts in again, it'll be gone from the shelf like all the other hoarded ammo.

[MCgunner]

They're doing the same thing to us that the inkjet printer folks did.
Dirt cheap hardware and expensive dispensables.

The HP scam? Well, not sure it's a good analogy since the guns, for the most part, are surplus and the ammo companies are separate entities. But, I got a chuckle out of it. :D

freaks out for no good reason again after the president is re-elected.

God help our country if THAT happens. EVERYTHING is going up, not just ammo. It'll be the Weimar Republic all over again, lots of printed cash worth nothing. We'll be wheeling 100 dollar bills in a wheel barrow for a lousy box of .22 if it keeps up.

[MCgunner]

BTW, Federal 550 Lightening bulk pack has gone from 10 bucks a box to 20 at Wallyworld in the last 4 years. It ain't just 9x18. Another thing, as the dollar becomes more and more worthless vs the ruble, the exchange rate will affect imported ammo.

[parisite]

I got heavy in to reloading several years ago. All my Makarovs are now gone because they threw brass in to the next county. I do miss them at times.

I do not buy factory ammo anymore however, of any caliber.

[Jaymo]

The printer companies didn't invent that scam. Gillette has been doing it for decades.
It used to be, you'd buy a nice razor and the blades were inexpensive.
Now, they sell the handle cheap or give them away and rape you on the price of the cartridge blades.
$0 to $10 for the handle, and $30 for the blades. BOHICA.

If you really want to get screwed on ammo prices, buy factory loaded .45 Colt ammo.

[MCgunner]

I got heavy in to reloading several years ago. All my Makarovs are now gone because they threw brass in to the next county.

That and the fact that trimming 9x19 brass is a bit of a pain keeps me buying the cheap Monarch for my P64. I ain't selling the gun, though, even if ammo gets stupid. I like the gun and there's a place for it in my collection even if I don't shoot it much. Sure shoots well with a cast round nose from a Lee mold, though. Seems to shoot well with about anything.

For razors, I hit the dollar store and get the disposables. Screw gillette

[Fatdaddy]

Trimming 9mm ain't too bad with the little drill shellholder that Lee makes, kind of relaxing to me. I trim every piece of nickle 9mm I get to feed to my Mak.
It makes it really easy to distinguish my 9 from my 9x18.
Your best defense to high prices is to reload.
(printer cartridges too);)

[M2 Carbine]

All my Makarovs are now gone because they threw brass in to the next county.
That's because your recoil spring was weak. 19 pound is good. I use 21 pound springs in mine.


I don't know what factory 9x18 costs. Haven't bought any in years but I still have to feed my 9x18 shooters. The last I bought was Barnaul JHP, $70/1,000 rounds

That's where reloading comes in. Like the rest of the centerfire I load, about $4.00 a box, or less. :)

http://i1183.photobucket.com/albums/x464/Bell-helicopter-407/9x18pistols.jpg

[parisite]

Why did you post that M2? I miss mine all the more now. I had some nice ones. I had 5 EG's, a pair of nickel Miltex's. one blued Arsenal Miltex, and many more. I bought and sold them for several years. Interests change with time and those funds went to other firearms I now have so not all is lost.

[SimplyChad]

I have the sudden urge to by a Mak or 3. Nice pic M2

[MCgunner]

Trimming 9mm ain't too bad with the little drill shellholder that Lee makes

That's what I use, still a PITA. :D But, it works better than anything else.

That's because your recoil spring was weak. 19 pound is good. I use 21 pound springs in mine.

I did put a heavier spring in my P64. Might work in maks, but that P64 still launches brass half a football field. One alternative is to load practice ammo weaker. I haven't done THAT, yet. I have a load in 9x19 that just sorta drops the brass out to my right. I should work up a lighter load in 9x18 that will do that with my Radom. I haven't bothered because Monarch is so bloomin' cheap at Academy.

That's a lot of maks! I think I'd like a CZ82 next before I buy an actual Mak, AND I sorta like the Hungarian PA63s. Neat two tone look.