Are You Buying Ammo To Offset The Planned Price Increases?

[callgood]

I'm taking a class in early September. 1000 roounds. 5 other guys. I hope they don't reload. I also hope they don't shoot something weird like .357Sig.
I don't need to buy another pistol.

I just received 16# of pistol powder and 15k primers. 5000 9mm/.45ACP brass would be sweet.

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

I'd like to but I blew my last paycheck on a 20rd. box of .223. The prices are sickening so I've turned to reloading. Hopefully they'll drop within the decade.

 

[Mtnvalley]

I don't see any major news stories of China buying surplus ammunition in the millions and breaking them down for raw resources

Nope, but China has been buying the beejebers out of base metals, along with tons of other commodities. They are expanding infrastructure at a rate unprecedented in history...partially due to the needs of their ever-expanding "middle class" (read: formerly poor farmers who are moving to cities for factory jobs), and partially because they really want to make an impression on the world stage with the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

And don't forget, almost one out of every four people on earth live in China, so the "megaboom" is in scale of population over 3x that of the U.S.

They're sucking up iron ore, met coal, zinc, lead, copper etc. Think about the "new fad" crime of stripping the copper wiring from buildings; it wasn't worth a scumbag's time a couple years ago, at current copper prices it's a major score. And I do believe that copper is a component in ammo manafacture...

They're also sucking up more than twice the oil and nat gas that they used to, since millions more own cars and more new roads are being built to drive 'em on. This has contributed greatly to rising oil prices as priced in US dollars. We have more competition in buying up all the oil we want.

Soooo....there are lots of factors (including demands of the war) converging and leading to spiking ammo prices. Don't underestimate China's consumption of raw materials (or the rapidly devaluing US dollar, but that's a different story...though still largely related to China).

 

[thebaldguy]

I used to pick up an extra box of ammo here and there when I saw it on sale over the last few years. I thought it was a good idea.

Now I am coming to the sad realization that I should have picked up more.

 

[highfive]

I bought a couple of boxes at cabela's like two weeks ago and put like 5 more on order. If it's like this I'll probably buy a couple more boxes this weekend one reason the prices and the second reason I'm going to the range tomorrow and planning on going early to spend some good time there, lol

Yea I'll better buy more ammo and i better begin saving and learning about reloading. I'll probably have a lot of questions for you guys but in the reloading section hopefully soon, we'll see. Have fun and shoot safe

 

[Redneck with a 40]

August 1st I purchased a case of Wolf 30 carbine, for my newly aquired 30 Carbine. What a fun little rifle! I paid $175/1000 on August 1st, this ammo is now $195/1000. It shot up $1/box. Wolf 7.62x39 has gone from $170 to $195/1000 as well. It appears that the ammo price increase has affected Wolf also. Looks like I'll be cutting back on shooting my SKS, dammit.

Back in January, I purchased a case of 7.62x39 Wolf soft points for $156/1000! Forty dollar increase since January of this year.

Fortunately, these are the only two calibers I don't reload. I reload 40 S&W, 38 spl, 357 mag, and 9mm. I've stockpiled these calibers pretty cheap, about 12 cents/round on average.

 

[Never No More]

Nope

Roll my own,

One at a time

 

[22-rimfire]

I have been slowly buying 22LR, 357 mag, and 41 mag over the last couple of months. In part it is because of the prices, but also, I needed to stock up a bit anyway. I'd still like to pick up 2,000-5,000 rounds of 22LR in the next week or so. Some of it will come from Walmart and the rest will likely be mail order. It not like I really need it, but I have been shooting more bench stuff and like to shoot a variety of brands and so forth on many days.

 

[carlson1]

I have been buying for several months now. I do not reload. I just found some 9mm Winchesters for $7.35 a box of 50. I bought all they had on the shelf.

 

[lakerfan5858]

Well i just got my new AR and only have two boxes After work tomorrow i will be getting 10 more boxes Plus i get a discount for working at walmart

 

[drinkoj]

Yeap, just bought another few hundred rounds of cheap-at-the-moment WWB .40 cal. for when I go target practicing, along with some cheap plinking .22 ammo for the kids and myself.

If the prices don't increase, well I've got ammo to spare and share with my friends when we go to the range if needed.

 

[jkingrph]

Just bought a couple of hundred rounds of 6.5x55 and 2 cases of 480 rounds ea of 7.5 Swiss, mostly because I got a good price and supply is iffy, especially of the excellent Swiss GP-11

 

[LotI]

If I dip below 10k rounds loaded, and 10k worth of supplies, I will buy more and pay the prices. I reload for all of my calibers except 9x18mm & 7.62x54R.

I was lucky to stock up in '05 when I started to see LC M193 & Q3131A start to rise. I don't shoot it for fun anymore, just a box once in a while to zero. The Mosins' don't need to be zero'd

 

[McCall911]

If everyone buys, that makes supplies dry up and prices certainly will increase!

 

[Fletchette]

Read my sig line.

 

[razerface]

bought 40,000 22lr last week. 10,000 cci minimag 5,000 bulk remington 25,000 dynapoints

 

[Dr. Peter Venkman]

If everyone buys, that makes supplies dry up and prices certainly will increase!

I still believe the hoarders have a lot to do with the price jumps.

Nope, but China has been buying the beejebers out of base metals, along with tons of other commodities. They are expanding infrastructure at a rate unprecedented in history...partially due to the needs of their ever-expanding "middle class" (read: formerly poor farmers who are moving to cities for factory jobs), and partially because they really want to make an impression on the world stage with the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Yes, I understand that concept. It still does not affect surplus stuff, however.

So fuel prices have gone down in the last 6 months to what they are now. Thgis does not make up for the price being so high for so long and the manufacturers shelling out for so long. Sop they planned a price increase for this September. Read their own letters of explanation, and try to remember what fuel prices were two years ago.

The fuel prices would have lead to a direct correlation of fluctuating prices on surplus ammunition if this was the case, which was the point I was trying to make. As the costs fluctuated, the prices of shipped ammunition would have changed accordingly, and they didn't.

3) As far as supply and demand goes you are correct to that but not to ammo hoarders. Look to the wars again.

I don't know of any warfare taking place that is specifically using 8mm Surplus.

This is not a knee jery reaction by the manufacturers. What makes you thik they would have one, they are not the government. Ammunition prices did increase sharply for the exact type of ammunitionused in the Afghanistan and iraq wars by our allies - 7.62x39 caliber. They did not increase markedly in 2003 but as supplies became short in 2005 and 2006, the prices increased in 2006 by almost double for ammo that was in shortage. Likewise for .223 ammo, guess who uses that in the military.

I'd like to know who the military has contracts with to see which companies are strained to meet both their demands as well as the civilian market.

 

[Geno]

No I am not. I refuse to be extorted.

 

[geojap]

Prices will continue to rise, whether we like it or not. The supposed price increases this Fall will not be the last of the strong price hikes.

Many reasons are contributing to this economic effect. And they will not lessen, only increase in severity in the future. Prices will only skyrocket further in the future.

 

[Dr. Peter Venkman]

As soon as I get the cash (after I keep spending it buying guns) I am going to start reloading...after I clean up the garage...yeah like that will happen.

 

[Redneck with a 40]

The U.S has signed a contract with Wolf ammunition to supply the Aphgan and Iraqi army's. The order was for around 4 million rounds, if I'm not mistaken. This is why the civilian 7.62x39 nearly dried up last year, although its coming back on the market as of late. The same thing has happened to 223, the U.S army's ammo consumption has quadrupled since the war started in 2003. I'm not sure of the numbers, but I believe the army's current 223 order numbers in the hundreds of millions. I remember reading somewhere that it has gone from 400 million to 4 billion rounds?? Anyone know?

Also, there is a gun show out here Sept 29-30th. I'm planning on buying 3 bricks of primers, just to have them on hand. I really need another case of Wolf 7.62x39, but I just can't swing it right now.

 

[Redneck with a 40]

I found these little tidbits:

$298M to AEY for Ammo in Afghanistan
21-Mar-2007 08:00 | Permanent Link
Related stories: Americas - USA, Small Business, Delivery & Task Orders, Asia - Central, Ammunition

Policeman, Sabari
(click to view full)Small business qualifier AEY Inc. in Miami Beach, FL received a delivery order amount of $48.7 million as part of a $298 million firm-fixed-price contract for various ammunition for the Afghanistan Security Forces. AEY, Inc. was established in 1999; unsurprisingly, Craigslist says they're hiring.

Work will be performed in Miami, FL and is expected to be complete by Dec. 30, 2008. Bids were solicited via the World Wide Web on July 28, 2007, and 10 bids were received by the U.S. Army Sustainment Command in Rock Island, IL (W52P1J-07-D-0004).

Ammunition and weapon shortages been an reported issue in Afghanistan, where police and other security forces trainees have been forced to use fake wooden rifles at times.

A quick web search revealed this article :

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070817/ammunition-shortage

 

[Green Lantern]

Yeppers - both calibers I own, and ones I PLAN to own in the not-too-distant future. I don't know what rock I was hiding under, I didn't KNOW about the increase until last week!

First I heard it from my mailman. Then I mentioned it to a co-worker with a "gunnie" husband, looking for more info. She said he had already heard about it from *dun dun duuuun* - a guy working in a gun store!

"Rumor," I figured. But did some research when I got back to the interweb to make sure....

"D'OH!!!!!!"

Not MUCH. I can't afford THAT much. Nothing REMOTELY near the 4-digit round count. But I figure there's me, and some family that REALLY act like W.E.G.s 'sarcastic' reply #3 in this thread (IE, they only keep a box or maybe two of ammo on hand for any one gun). And the kids in the family, one is shooting a .22 already and I KNOW that when the others get older and/or take up shooting, ammo will cost much more than now...

You call it "panic buying" or "hoarding," I just call it "investing."

Nope, but China has been buying the beejebers out of base metals, along with tons of other commodities.

MILK and dairy products too, according to an article I read recently. Dang commies - the drugstore I work at has about the best price on milk in town, but it's STILL about highway robbery!

The article cited growing numbers of Chinese enjoying the wares of the "new" Pizza Huts and McDonalds over there as one reason. Like most things involving China, I get a sense that we're being "hoist by our own petard..."

 

[KiltedClaymore]

1000 rounds 7.62x39 golden tiger
500 rounds .38 special
1000 rounds 12 gauge dove and quail
20 rounds .30-06

 

[Dr. Peter Venkman]

You guys need to definately read this:

http://confederateyankee.mu.nu/archives/237760.php