Non-Reloaders: When is a Round Too Expensive to Shoot?

Try AIM Surplus, brass ammo less than a dollar a round.

Here's a link: https://aimsurplus.com/ammunition/30-06/

Currently sold out, but they replenish often, so check back.

I had a .458 SOCOM and a .45-70. Even reloaded IIRC they were approaching $1 a round. When you can shoot 30 rounds of .22 for the same price as one round of a center fire, I’ll pass

When a range session exceeds a night out with the wife.

To broad a question. I don't want to pay more than $.04-.05/round for .22lr, and I don't want to pay more than $1.25/round for factory targetish ammo for a .308.

Mine so far is the only vote for 2.00, the reason is during the last shortage, it the one before that, I bought a box of Remington premium 243 win, 48 plus tax. Needed it to hunt that season.

In the situation you describe - it sounds like you're talking about adding a caliber at a time when ammo prices are likely to drop - I'd say about a dollar a round, because that's the point that I entered the 300 AAC world.

If I thought ammo prices were going to stay level or go up I'd have a lower price point.

JCooperfan1911 said:

For all the NON-RELOADERS out there, when do you look at the price per round of ammo, step back and say “yeah that caliber is too pricey for my shooting needs”?

Just curious as I don’t reload .30-06 but have been eyeing a classic M1903A3 Springfield rifle here locally, but checked the prices on .30-06 on ammoseek.com and am seeing the very cheapest steel cased rounds at a dollar twenty-five per shot. I was like “nope” on that one.

Interested to see your thoughts on this guys (and gals). Godbless and Happy 4th!

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The 03A3 is an awesome gun, but your shoulder is probably going to be crying uncle after 20-40 rounds anyway, so I wouldnt worry about the ammo costs on that one.

The PPU ammo that Speedo suggested is good stuff, and even pre-Chinavirus, you would never really find factory '06 ammo less than $.75/round, so even $1.25 isnt that outrageous.

Now, a Garand is both softer shooting and semiauto, so a range session with one of them can get real $$$$$ real fast!

My advice, buy the '03 (which is probably close to a grand), invest another $300 in ammo and see how long it lasts you. I bet you wont be disappointed.

I don’t think most of us are going to shoot any centerfire more often than we would shoot 22 based on costs alone.

As well, I don’t think many like shooting too much of anything that costs more than 9mm.

For the last several years, I really only shoot rimfire in any volume. I shoot a bit of 9mm and 38 to stay proficient and I shoot my hunting rifles 3-4 times per year.

I use pretty heavy recoiling rifles for deer so I like to stay up on that aspect too. Years ago when I was more recoil sensitive, I shot 40 rounds of 444 Marlin over a few days to get used to the recoil of it. That was $80 of ammo back then but I haven’t flinched since.

My range has a 500yd shooting area. The least expensive cartridge I have for that spot that is competitive is 224 Valkyrie. Plenty of guys are shooting WWB 7.62 though.

It all depends. Depending on how you look a it - tickets to a show, people blow money in bars, If I want to go shoot - I'd spend $100 and pay $2 a round if it is what I wanted to do. There's more comparisons than just to what prices were 2 years ago.

My take is if it is what you want, and you can afford it, get it for your reasons. There's no telling that in a few years you won't be buying a 20 year supply of cheap ammo off the surplus market. Depends what you want it for - if it is a tool you see a purpose for - definitely get, if it is a range toy, maybe you really want to put those $$, to something more practical if you are not cash rich.

I would say that a lot of folks who intend to shoot a lot of that ammo are making bad decisions. You shoot the cheap stuff in practice, the expensive stuff you save for a specific purpose, like, hunting.

I would definitely shoot $2 a round ammo - as sighting in, and then carrying some for field use would amount to less than 50 rounds a year. Therefore, a .375 Socom is in my short list. Especially if the ATF Form 4999 becomes a reality and AR pistols are thrown into some twilight zone for years as we oppose it in the courts. I would then have major components rather than finance another lower and upper, which isn't really so much.

The point is that when AR15 alternative cartridges started coming out, with the 6.8 leading the advance, some of the first complaints made were that the ammo was Pricey! It was as if some expected a commercial round (however originally funded) would somehow sell for the same price as surplus. And then the next on the popularity surge suffered that, 6.5 is too Pricey! Then, .300 Blackout is too Pricey!

Nobody promised us a rose garden, the only way you get around it is reloading or buying a mass produced government supported cartridge with volume discounts. The exception is .50 BMG, and by golly, that stuff is still too Pricey!

Now that reality has intruded on some of the newer firearms owners, the practice of shooting 500 rounds in a range day is sinking in. It was always a special niche using surplus battle packs as low as 13c a round manufactured before the shooter was even born. As the worlds armies converted from one cartridge to another, and as those early stocks of the newer cartridges aged, we got cheap ammo. Now those governments don't wholesale it off any more, to prevent stocks from getting into the people's hands and fueling opposition to their overreach. No, cheap ammo isn't common anymore.

Lets not forget that this has been going on for a long time. Do you know why the CMP is selling a few 1911's at a time now, on lottery? Because Clinton had millions scrapped - literally thrown into large machinery resembling oversized ice crushers - and destroyed. Governments ruled by the likes of him have not only destroyed weapons but also block ammo sales as much as possible. SIG had to separate American operations to avoid German government interference. The golden years are long over.. And we aren't going back.

So, double the price on the OP's survey and you get an idea of what we face, sooner than we think. It's their agenda, not supply and demand, to make ammo so expensive we simply can't and won't shoot as much.They are even going to far as to illegally propose taxes and seize firearms if you are not compliant.

You do not comply your way out of tyranny.

Depends on the caliber...I'd pay .60 for 9mm never for .22 etc

I agree with brassjam, the question is too broad. Even in reasonable times, 9mm is way cheaper than .308 per round, but the poll doesn't differentiate between calibers. Today's ammo market is so ridiculous, if I didn't reload, I'd never have any ammo at all. I refuse to pay current prices for ANY caliber. I saw 9mm FMJ ammo at the recent gun show selling for $30/20 rounds, which is highway robbery. .308 was going for double that price, and .223/5.56 was just less than .308.

Even reloading supplies have jumped to inane cost, I paid $.12 each for pistol primers ($120/1000), where they were 1/3 of that a year ago. Luckily, I have scrimped and dug here and there for the past year, squirreling away (okay, call it hoarding if you feel better about it) and my supply of reloading components is such I can shoot my favorites until I'm too old and infirm to pull a trigger any longer. (well, maybe)

I'm in the right at $1 per round range.
The exception being "collectable" ammo; as I have dropped $25 for an unopened box of Utah Arms Plant M2 Ball ammo. Bottom right with the red stripe.

I continue to count myself lucky to have bought some cans of M2 ball back when it was cheap.

I like to buy range 9MM by the case at $0.20 per round. When I get it closer to $0.15 per round, I’m buying a couple cases.

I have set prices for all the other calibers I regularly shoot too.

I’ve been trying to secure “quality” .243 hunting ammo for several months for a rifle
We won in a raffle. Saw some at www.sgammo.com and jumped on 3 boxes of Remington 100 grain Core Lok at $1.50 per round.

But if it hits under $1 per round, I’ll buy another 5 boxes.

Good timing on this thread for myself. Last weekend, I decided that enough is enough with.308 ammunition prices. I paid $40/box, plus tax, for black hills 165 grain sierra game changer ammo. For seconds! I believe they’re marked seconds because the ballistic tip is a dark green rather than the translucent light green color that they’re supposed to be.

I’ve never used sierra game changers for elk or anything else. I have no idea how well they’ll shoot in my rifle. I do know that they aren’t the 180 grain nosler partition or Remington core lokd that may rifle loves and that I trust for elk.

I’m done getting caught up paying silly prices for non bonded hunting ammunition. I’m out. It’ll either work or it won’t, but I just can’t afford this foolishness anymore. At least for a long while.

thanks for letting me rant, and no, I don’t need any cheese for my whine, lol.

The caliber that I buy are 7.62x39 and 22LR. I paid as much as $0.50 for the 7.62x39 and that is about my limit. Fortunately it can now be had for around $0.30 a round. I bought some bulk 22LR about a year ago for $0.08 a round. Probably would go to $0.10 if I really need it but haven't gotten to that point yet. Hopefully I won't because I still have about 4000 rounds stashed away. Won't comment on the calibers I reload for.

The poll results don't mean a lot to me because I remember when everyone was saying if gasoline went over $1 a gallon they would quit driving.
Don't see lot of people walking..

I got most of my 50 BMG many years ago at $1.25/ea but $2 a round would be cheap for even M33 ball ammo even before this last panic started.

I guess it depends on what ammunition exactly we are talking about.

Common handgun ammo. .50
Hunting 44 mag rounds $1.
Premium 7mm mag hunting rounds up to $3.
Plinking .22. Won’t ever need to buy them again, I guess I turned into a hoarder accidentally.

Practice ammo: somewhere under a dollar a round depending on what it is. Common calibers less. Obscure calibers more.

Defense ammo: two dollars a round. So long as my practice ammo can approximate my carry ammo I can feel ok with only shooting a mag full of the expensive stuff at the range.

When it goes to over two bucks a round for carry ammo I look for something else. The feds have infinite money, but I do not.

Just bought a few pounds of Swiss powder for my 4 bore rifle. Paid more than I should have but it was the only powder I could find. That comes to over $5 per shot for reloads if I cast the balls myself.

twarr1 said:

I remember when everyone was saying if gasoline went over $1 a gallon they would quit driving.

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I happened to be around in 1973 when gas went over $1. Funny thing gas was at $0.60 and the embargo came and we had no gas. As soon as gas went to $1 we had all we wanted. As for the Op's question you shouldn't have left out all the reloaders. I can reload good hunting 30-06 for less than $0.50 per round. Last year during deer season you couldn't find hardly any deer ammo. I saw 30-30 rounds on GB go for $4.25 per round, that right there is sinful.

Well, I shot 20 rounds of .375 Ruger today. The cheapest of which cost me over $3. The most expensive was over $5.50.

At a guess, that 20 rounds cost me $90-$95. And it was worth it to me. It's all relative.

I think the last box of factory 30.06 i bought was 16.99 a box for Remington. I'll buy it when my brass wears out. I would never pay over a buck around. 30.06 , 7.62x54r and 7.65x53 are the largest rifle i shoot.