AR Ammo...what was price per rd before the madness?

About 25 to 30 cents a round give or take when buying bulk. Lucky Gunner is a den of thieves. Given some time, maybe a few months, hopefully prices will get back to close to normal. Right now the stuff is scarce and prices high driven by demand. I am seeing 70 to 75 cents a round at gun shows as of a few weeks ago. Really a matter of what it is worth to you and what you are willing to pay.

<EDIT> Seeing USAF_Vet's post I forgot about the steel cased stuff and my prices were based on ammunition like Federal re-loadable brass cases. </EDIT>

Ron

Cheapest non-bulk AR ammo I found pre panic was .223 steel cased, which was about $0.20 per round. .223 brass cased was slightly more expensive, but less than $0.25 per round. 5.56 brass cased was usually about $0.25-.27 a round.

These are boxes of 20. If you could buy in bulk, you could save a decent amount. Never got my hands on any military surplus, so all prices were commercial factory rounds.

I use to get (Pre December) Federal XM193, 55gr Lake City brass for $325 / 1000. I've seen PMC brass recently for $9.99/20

I was paying $28-33 per 50 rounds for Blackhills, depending on which bullet you chose.

In Sept I paid $0.35/rd for 2000 rounds of PRVI m193 from BulkAmmo.com

Three years ago I paid $259 for 1k brass cased reloadable 62 gr. 5.56 ammo from Turkey, labeled as "American Tactical". Two years ago I paid $279/1k for commercial reloads of 62 gr. 5.56 from freedommunitions.com. Last summer it was up to $305, at freedommunitions, then rght before the panic in early December it was up to $330/1k on 62gr 5.56 commercial reloads. Hasn't been available since, that I've seen, but their price is now $670/1k.

two years ago I got two 420 round cans of M855 in Ohio for 199.00 a can.

mid 2011 <$300/1000 for Fed XM193 and <$200/1000 for Wolf.

mid 2012 ~$350/1000 for Fed XM193 and ~$250/1000 for Wolf

early 2012 Walmart had the 420 can of 855 for $169

Ahh the good ol' days I'd be happy to just find some Varget to reload...

early 2012 Walmart had the 420 can of 855 for $169

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During the summer of 2011, I bought several 420-round cans of M855 for $119.

I wish I had bought more!

Lucky Gunner.................good news is they have ammo - bad new is their prices are obscene

I was able to pick up a few of the federal 420rd cans from walmart a month ago for $176 per can, they got 80 cans in limit of 3 per customer and sold out in less than an hour.

Just last summer , Our local Fleet-Farm was selling federal 55gr FMJ 200-packs for $79
Even after our ridicolous localsales tax it still came out to .43-cents / shot

And I was happy !!!

Now I see guys selling the same stuff online for $1 /round
Luckily every time I went near the store last year,I went and bought a box, (to get the .04-cent gas coupon with purchase) and managed to accrue about 1800-rounds

Problem is now,Im afraid to shoot it for fear of the unknown replacement cost !!

Just before the panic, steel cased was typically $0.25/rd, best I saw on brass was $0.33/rd.

Last summer Academy was selling a box of 20 steel cased .223 and 7.62x39 for $5.19 every day and mid $4 range on sale. With tax that came to $.28 per round regular price. I bought 20 boxes at a time when it went on sale so I have plenty on hand.

The last loaded .223 I got was some Federal surplus 62 gr. from the CMP, 200 rounds on SAW links for $70, or $0.35 per round. Every fifth round is a tracer, though.

I didn't see any brass 5.56 for 25 cents a round just before the panic. Even before the panic there seemed to be a minor jump in price with about 32 to 35 cents/round seeming to be on the low end in bulk.

Fortunately in September, I decided to buy 420 rounds of Federal Lake City 5.56 mm 62 grain steel core; I think it's called "m855" or something. I got it from Natchez for $179.99; now that same ammo is going for up to $400-$450 on Gunbroker. It's hard to believe that there are people who are willing to pay that for it. It made me think about selling mine; but it's too valuable to me. I bought my Coyote Carbine a little over 2 years ago; and I ordered 17 boxes of Federal Premium Tactical TRU law enforcement rounds for $16 per box from the Sportsman's Guide. I don't know what the premium ammo cost today; my TRU ammo is 64 grain Hi Shok soft point. I thought that $16 for a box of 20 premium rounds was a very good price even in 2010. I zeroed my coyote carbine and shot groups with one box and I still got 16 boxes stashed. I have a feeling that in the near future; we will not be able to purchase ammunition online. I could be wrong and I hope I am. Crazy times we are living in; but anyway I hope this gives you a good idea of a good price on both bulk ammo and premium ammo before all the madness. Bulk Lake City: 420 rnds = $179.99 --- Fed. premium TRU 340 rnds = $272

Another thing to consider is that prices of lead and copper are REALLY jumping up. Pure lead scrap is going for 62 cents around here.

I bought 100 round value packs of Federal .223 for $34.99 at Wal Mart up until December 2012 or so. So 35 cents/round.

Summer/fall of 2012:

Federal XM193: $360/1k shipped
Prvi Partizan M193: $340/1k shipped
Federal XM855, 420 rounds on strippers in .30 can: $170-$200

AFTER the election in November:
PMC Bronze .223: $336/1k shipped
Prvi Partizan 75gr BTHP 'match' ammo: $469/1k

JustinJ said:

I didn't see any brass 5.56 for 25 cents a round just before the panic.

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Because there wasn't any.

MachIVshooter said:

Just before the panic, steel cased was typically $0.25/rd, best I saw on brass was $0.33/rd.

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This ^^^ is correct

Get used to the new normal in pricing - it won't come down until the hoarders, flippers, and panic buyers stop clearing out the shelves every week