are ammo prices creeping back up?

[TNT in Round Rock]

not that it's a LOT of money, but seems that prices are climbing a little bit again.. checked today and in the last month 9mm has gone up $1.00 a box of 50 (Federal FMJ) and .40 has gone up $2.00 a box of 50 (same brand/type) .. just curious if this seems to be everywhere ???

 

[straybullet]

All my guns are chambered in .45lc and as I don't reload my own so I sure hope not.

 

[Pyro]

I just saw that .25 auto actually went down in price heh.
Thank god I still have my .22 and black powder.

 

[stonecoldy]

I thought 9mm (same for .223 Remington) was headed down late this summer, and now seems to be heading back up. Hopefully the general public will hold and not panic buy.
Last best price I got was $8.00 for PMC 115 gr MC for 50 rounds, i'd like to stay at that price point, or better.

 

[TheotherMikeG]

I wandered through our local hunting and fishing emporium recently and found 50 round boxes of .45 acp CCI Blazer marked @$29.95. Had a good laugh about that, then went home and loaded some .45.

I couldn't afford to shoot if I didn't reload.

 

[AKPastor]

The places I buy in Fairbanks I have seen .45 ACP go up. One place it is 22 bucks up from 20 for 50 rounds of basic RN FMJ and others it is as much as 30 bucks

 

[pioneer461]

The prices on everything are creeping up.

 

[marktx]

To be the voice of dissent here.... I haven't seen any rise in ammo prices just yet. Two weeks ago at a local gun show the prices of Romanian 8mm Mauser were $90/340 rd can and $200 for a 900 rounds can of Yugo. Argentine 7.62x51 was available in 600 round can for $174, for me .29 a round is as good as it's been in a while. The various online dealers seem to be vaguely competing for the cheapest .223, you can get a 1000 rounds of Wolf for $190.

I haven't gone looking too much for 9mm lately but this deal on Swiss Geco 9mm is good enough that I was thinking about picking up a few cases.

http://shop.militaryshooters.com/catalog/product.asp?ret_id=140211&pid=1029071

The various ammo vendors at the local gun shows are saying that sales are slow which has continued to drive prices down. There also seems to be a lot of ammo coming out of the closets and put out for sale. Quite a bit of Chinese 7.62x51, 7.62x39, 7.62x25 at a gun show a couple weeks ago and at prices competitive with current production Russian, not collectors prices.

 

[benEzra]

Metal prices are climbing, thanks to Bernanke et al's ongoing devaluation of the dollar and the Fed-sponsored dollar carry trade in commodities. Eventually that will translate into increased ammunition price even if demand stays flat.

From Kitco:


http://www.kitcometals.com/charts/copper_historical_large.html


http://www.kitcometals.com/charts/lead_historical_large.html

 

[Tirod]

Add the futures trade in oil. All of the commodity ingredients are transported by diesel powered trucks and trains. Finished products are transported by diesel powered trucks and trains.

It keeps the dairy and potato chip makers decentralized to keep the eventual cost down, for ammo makers, not so much. It takes a certain volume to keep a plant running, if distribution costs go up, you're stuck for it.

A turret press reloading setup costs less than a good scope and will pay for itself in a few thousand rounds. It's not that hard to load decent ammo good enough to match the typical 2MOA fodder dumped on the market, and with a few extra steps, deliver ammo better than the barrel. It's mostly a matter of weighing and measuring, really very little hard work.

If SOME of us spent as much time reloading as chattering on the web, there would be a lot more happy shooters, and threads like this would be meaningless. BUT, myself included, we don't. No real excuse.

 

[Guns and more]

are ammo prices creeping back up ??

No. The dollar is creeping down.

The government choose to print money rather than control spending, and now you will pay.

 

[heeler]

Well I guess I will go on another ordering binge and this time buy a near life time supply of .380 ammo.

 

[PUT'CHA]

cost of ammo

HOLLY BATMAN, HAS THE COST OF AMMO GONE-UP?? i CAN STILL GET MY AMMO AT COST AT MY LOCAL GUNSHOP.. GONNA GET ME A BASH OF 223R THE NEXT TIME I GO SOUTH..

 

[fedlaw]

Just back from Cabela's in Hoffman Estates, IL. Prices on 9mm up $5.00/box on S & B from 3 months ago. Also the brand selection was down, although plenty of S & B, no 115gr. Fiocchi hardball (which is very accurate in my XDm.)

 

[merlinfire]

A weak dollar makes it more expensive to buy foreign products, or products that use as a factor of their production other foreign products.

Also makes buying American more attractive to people here and in other countries. If the price gets too high, domestic manufacturers will switch to domestic suppliers.

 

[whalerman]

Tirod hit the nail. Shipping costs. We have a moonbeam based energy program and costs are rising. The spill in the Gulf, and the resulting stoppage in production, will cost us.

 

[wild cat mccane]

You know, there is a lot of bashing on the dollar being 'lowered.' It makes me realize how little people understand what would have happened to their dollar had their bank failed. Mitt Romney, R presidential canididate likely, said we were 4 days from financial melt down and the bail out was required.

Couple this with the fact every product has been lowered in price (cars, houses, appliances, computers, TVs) except for handguns, in many cases rising, and I really question the economic understanding from some of the people on this thread.

 

[monet61]

Ammo prices

With all respect; I don't understand you.
But it's good to know that you have it all figured out!

 

[merlinfire]

Economics is somewhat complicated, and its complex enough that even the experts don't always have all the answers when you start asking very specific questions.

Basically, I believe ammo prices are affected by the following:

Demand of the ammo, demand of the components to make ammo, demand of the raw materials from which ammo components are made.

Demand for the energy that allows these things to be combined and shipped.

Currency valuation and international trade of above listed products.

 

[wild cat mccane]

What do you not understand?
If there were no bailout banks in america would have failed. JP, Chase, Wells Fargo, GMAC to name a few...Your money would be worth nothing.
What is hard to understand?

People on here claiming 'govt stepping in to lower the dollar' are completely ignorant to what was the alternative.

People paying prices that they are now on guns are filling their *demand*, not a smart economic decision. Every commodity is cheaper for the consumer right now. Everything. Except guns. Makes since because people are using fear to purchase. There is no logic to it. You have less dollar power now, why spend more for something like a gun, when everything else you can purchase is lower than 4 years ago?

*suggest a subscription to WSJ, Economist, NYTimes. Not one, all.*

 

[wild cat mccane]

Do bullet companies not buy metal on futures?

So no, it shouldn't immediately fluctuate because metals are costing more right this second.

 

[merlinfire]

wild cat, its common and normal for people to grasp for security in uncertain times. the price of gold is one example. nothing wrong with it, as even those of us who understand economics don't really know what's coming. guns have a tendency to hold their value well and not devalue even during an economic downturn though, so it doesn't surprise me that prices haven't dropped.

 

[Poper]

are ammo prices creeping back up ??

No. The dollar is creeping down.

The government choose to print money rather than control spending, and now you will pay.

Yup.
Just another way the government taxes you without taxing you. Borrow money today and pay it back with "cheaper" dollars (i.e. inflation dollars).

Things are not more expensive. Your money is worth less. Tends to negate the incentive to put money into a saving account.

Poper

 

[Ky Larry]

I reload all my centerfire ammo so I don't really pay much attention to ammo prices. I have noticed prices coming down on .22lr ammo, powder, and primers. Bullets prices haven't come down but they haven't increased and they are becoming more available. Blazer,American Eagle, and Peters .22lr ammo have dropped from about $20.00 to about $15-16.00 a brick. Powder is down about $2-3.00 a pound and primers are under $30.00 a brick. A year ago lead shot was over $50.00 a bag and is now about $30.00. There seems to be plenty on the shelves now. Last year there wasn't much of anything to be had for any price.

 

[22-rimfire]

The only ammo I have purchased in the last couple of months has been 22LR at Walmart where the price is the same as it was after the most recent price increase; 41 mag which was from GA Arms and from Cheaper than Dirt, so a tad higher; and CCI 22 LR at Dicks where it is the same price. I keep expecting the price to go up a couple dollars a brick, so I keep buying when I have the funds and the SV ammo is in stock. 22 ammo prices seem stable to dropping a little overall at some of the retailers.

Have not been shooting much since it turned colder in my area.

I expect prices to start climbing in the next few months and it will follow gasoline prices.

Weak dollar? Yeah and getting weaker....