Please Help a NEWB with historical prices

[hokiemojo]

Sorry to start another thread about prices, but I hope that my questions are simple enough that they don't raise anyone's blood pressure.

I started to take an interest in firearms a little less than a year ago (October-ish). Having no background at all, I started reading all I could, but I focused heavily on guns/gun prices (not ammo). It seems that most gun prices have returned to about what they were a year ago. My first question is, is this generally true? Are there any first purchases that you would still avoid at current prices?

My second question revolves around ammo prices. I know most prices are going to be higher now than what they were a year ago. I'm a firm believer that either demand will eventually trail off or producers will increase production. I don't think any of this happens overnight, but I think it will happen EVENTUALLY, and I'll see prices close to whatever they were last year.

What I'm trying to do is get a list of prices per round for some common ammunition. I'm looking for prices a year ago before the run on ammo. Would anyone mind sharing what they used to pay for general target ammo that meets the following criteria:
1) Brass
2) cheap enough to use for target shooting
3) quality enough that if you could only shoot 50 rounds through a rental gun that you were considering purchasing (not broken in yet), that you'd get a reasonable feel for the gun's reliability as opposed to blaming the ammo.

The calibers I'm wondering about are:

Handgun
9mm
.40
.45

Rifle
22lr
.223
7.62

Again, I'm sorry for the post, but getting any kind of true historical data has been a challenge. I'll start by putting what My research indicates prices would have been like a year ago so you know I at least tried:

Handgun
9mm - $0.28
.40 - $0.38
.45 - $???

Rifle
22lr - $0.05
.223 - $0.33
7.62 - $0.30

I hope I'm not too far off. Thanks guys for any assistance. I don't want to base a purchase off the current prices alone (although availability of 9mm used to be a selling point, so this has been an eye opener). Thanks!

 

[taliv]

as best i can tell, guns are now back to list or MSRP was prior to the election. however, prior to the election, the actual street price often reflected substantial discounts and you could get cheap ARs for $600 pretty easy. AR lowers for instance could often be had on sale for $50-70 (regular forged ones, not just plastic). Now they are in stock for $99.

ammo is nowhere close

 

[allaroundhunter]

Are you talking 7.62x39mm ammo? Or 7.62x54r?... Or even 7.62x51mm NATO (which was not $0.30 before sandy hook)?

 

[hokiemojo]

I was just trying to compare AR vs AK ammo. That's why I listed the two that I did.

 

[Cosmoline]

Well I remember quality 5.56 running for $8 a box of twenty before the crazy time. 7.62x39 was comparable for Wolf, if not a little more expensive.

.357 had been going up and up long before the crisis. It had gone from $12 a box in 2000 or so to $25 a box by 2010. Now it can reach $50 a box.

Of course this is in Anchorage.

 

[yzguy87]

taliv is correct.

Ak's and other imports are seemingly higher around here though. Like ~$800 for a wasr when pre panic they were like 450-550.

 

[hokiemojo]

Cosmoline,
I think you nailed what I was looking for, but box sizes (and the fact that you are in Alaska) often throw me off. Haha. I think the tough part is that all I can do is look at current prices on store shelves, and I never really know if it is a good time to buy. I'm ok with paying an extra 10%, even if price may go back down, but I don't want to spend 100% more if the prices should be coming down in the future.

 

[Cosmoline]

Ammo prices have been going up for awhile now. The factories have been pressed with demands related to the WOT and various global conflicts. This has a ripple effect in that a factory won't switch over to a run of 8mm Lebel, for example, if doing so will slow production of its main runs.

I think we're unlikely to see cheap ammo again unless peace breaks out globally.

 

[dogtown tom]

hokiemojo ....What I'm trying to do is get a list of prices per round for some common ammunition.

Just go to WalMart and look at the shelf tags, prices are pretty much the same as last year.

 

[Potatohead]

It appears you're pretty safe buying ammo anytime....It looks like it's always going up to me.

 

[oneounceload]

It wasn't THAT long ago that I could buy 223 for 2.99/20, 9mm for 6.99/50, and .22LR for $1/50 - unless you bought in bulk where I got 6250 .22lr for $95.

NONE of that really matters in today's world where demand so far exceeds supply and manufacturing capability, that certain ammo may be much higher and others may start to ease somewhat. If you are worried about paying too much, then you need to rethink some things. Shooting is either worth the cost, or it isn't. The appropriate cost is what it costs today, not yesterday or tomorrow. If you can predict commodity prices in the future, you have a great career ahead of you