Can I get a honest answer

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tnieto2004

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I keep seeing all sorts of comment about how the price of 7.62x39 is going to sky rocket and be near impossible to get .. are things really that bad or what?? I am still getting 7.62x39 for $2.89/20 .. which I dont mind at all .. is it a REAL concern or is it people just people cautious?
 
Hundreds of billion rounds of that ammo have been made, and it is still being made, in factories all over the world. Unless there is a change in the import regulations or laws, I doubt there will be any shortage any time soon.

Jim
 
I've heard a couple of opinions on the future price of ammo. I've heard that the price of the components to make ammo is going up in price so in turn the price of ammo is going up. I've also heard the comment that like everything else, people have to eat and now is the time for the price of ammo to take a bump up in price....go w/ who you want to believe.
 
A lot of folks remember the days when surplus 7.62x39 was at the "so cheap, they pay you to take it" level. Prices have gone up a fair amount even over the past couple years (by about $20/500 rounds). Availability is also more uneven, but it seems like the severe drought is pretty well past. Commodity prices, however, continue to rise (the prices of the raw materials like the copper and lead), so I do expect prices to keep going up. This is probably causing some to hoard it (better to buy today for $70-80/500 than in two weeks for $100/500), which could further restrict supply, but I haven't seen that.

If you can use some, buy some, but IMO, rumors of it becoming unobtanium are overblown.
 
I'm no authority on it, and what Jim says makes sense, and is probably true, but I've noticed that in the last 6 months, all my mail-order sources have gone up by 20% or more. Cheaper Than Dirt and Cabellas both claim it's a result of demand from the war in Iraq, but I am skeptical. It could be just like gasoline - use any excuss to raise the price and make more profit.
 
I know that I can't (locally) get 7.62x39 for anywhere near the prices others mention. I pick it up at the local gun shows for about $150-$160/1000 rounds. (I am told that this is up from $80/1000 rounds just a few months ago. I wouldn't know, didn't have the SKS then.)

I don't shoot the SKS much so having 1500 rounds will go me a really long time but as others point out, ammo doesn't spoil, so if I find a good deal I tend to stock up as much as my (limited) storage space will allow.

I doubt that really answers your question but as my crystal ball is broken I don't think I can give you a better answer.
 
$2.89 @box of 20 is a darn good price~!;) Here in Old Dixie'Land our
distributors say its next to impossible to get. I can't say for sure, that
there is a shortage, but prices keep going thru the roof. In Sept. of '04
we were selling all we could get on a pallet for $2.49@ box of 20, then
it went to $2.99, then to $3.49, then to $3.99, then to $4.99; and just
this last New Years Eve we got $5.99 @ box of 20~!:scrutiny: :eek: ;)
 
I didn't say the price would not go up, I said there probably would not be any shortage. Prices go up for lots of reasons, even if the product is surplus and made decades ago. Even if a company like CTD has a zillion rounds in storage that they bought years ago, their costs have gone up. Their employee pay has gone up (and will go up more); the cost of rent has likely gone up; the cost of heating and air conditioning has gone up; the cost of shipping has gone up. And on, and on. So they will make up the difference the only way any company can, by raising the price of their product.

Jim
 
18 months ago I could get 1,000 rounds of 7.62X39 delivered to my door for $89. Today the best I can find is $150/1,000. That's a more than 50% increase in a year and a half. At some time the price will level off. I expect that will occur when 7.62X39 equals Wolf 5.56 in price, ~$200/1,000. I give it another 18 months for that to occur. At that point the "ammo is cheaper" argument between AR and AK rifles will evaporate.
 
I am still getting 7.62x39 for $2.89/20 .. which I dont mind at all ..
Click to expand...

Where do you live? I wouldn't mind it at all, either, if I got it for that price. Midway told me a few days ago that their C&R price (supposedly dealer price) was $171/1000. Just about a month ago, it was $149 (non-dealer price) at Midway.

I'm approaching this the way I approach gas prices--buy as little as I need until prices drop. Eventually they drop a bit. Going on frenzy buy is like buying gas the instant it jumps from $2/gallon to $4/gallon. It just drives prices up further and makes suppliers able to charge more. It's like during the Great Depression when everyone withdrew their money from the bank. Calm down and don't go nuts. The ammo is only worth what we're willing to pay for it. If nobody's paying the $171/1000 rounds they're asking, then it will come down.

The argument that costs for suppliers have gone up is true, but have they gone up MORE THAN 100% in the last few months?! No way! They're price gouging, IMO, same as the oil companies. Hell, ExxonMobil continues to post record profits. How long until Wolf does, too? Hmmm.... :rolleyes:
 
Im here in TX .. Academy Sports carries monarch ammo .. which has another name I forget at the moment .. but they sell 7.62x39 for $2.89/20 and 9mm for 4.86/50 .. Thats what I am currently paying ..
 
The idea of "commodity prices going up" being responsible is hokum.

The result of copper, steel, and lead going up in the commodities market is responsible for less than $5 out of a 1000 round box of ammunition. Demand is up and the dollar is weakening.
 
I would not say it is Hokum... Manufacturing costs are ever rising, even shipping has gone up due to higher fuel prices. Metal Manufacturing isn't cheap either.
 
"Manufacturing costs are ever rising, even shipping has gone up due to higher fuel prices. Metal Manufacturing isn't cheap either."

True. But what people are talking about is raw material prices, not manufacturing or shipping.
 
I don't think it is the end of the world, but I do think that the days of cases of 7.62x39 for 96.00 are long gone, never to return again. It seems to me as if ALL ammo is going up in price!
 
No, things are not that bad. No there is no cause for concern. The ammo will hover around ~$3-5/20, adjust for inflation every couple years. Even if import ammo is banned, it'll still be made on the domestic market. Don't buy the line that the ammo will be "gone in a matter of days".
 
I'm thinking that with so many factors you can point to, somebody is just making that extra buck, pure and simple. I'm used to seeing some volatility in prices, but ~100% swings? Come on.

You can't really pinpoint a solid reason, be it wars or commodity prices or increased cost of doing business.... but I'm sure at least someone along the chain is happy to take advantage.


Panic buying doesn't help, I'm sure. The round is very well established, so I'm not in the gonna-be-gone-tomorrow crowd. I'll just remember the old prices fondly, sit on what I've got and wait I guess. I don't want to "buy gas at $4/gallon" either.
 
I've heard, over the years, similar tales about surplus and .mil ammo in almost every caliber.

It turns out every single story was a load of bullcrap....and 9 times out of 10 the guy telling the story is either selling, importing, or hoarding ammo.
 
I remember when .308 (7.62x51) surplus stuff (OFV) was $.10/rd delivered as recently as 12 months ago.

I remember when South African .308 was $189/k on my doorstep as recently as six months ago.

Good luck finding any surplus .308 under $300/k delivered today. And quality surplus stuff is commanding the same price as recent Lake City.

7.92x57 or 7.62x54R for $.05/rd on my doorstep last summer. Good luck getting it for that today.

Remember that Norinco 7.62x39 ammo that was about $50/K? All gone.

I believe that we will never "run out" of shootable ammo, it is just the "glory days" of being able to rapidfire off a thousand rounds for under a C note are gone.

Ever hear of "peak oil"? Think of it like, "Peak Ammo".
 
When Wolf was $89/M, 1.20Euro = 1.00 USD
When Wolf is $120-150/M 0.77Euro = 1.00 USD

Do you see any correlation?
 
I've heard...

That the Chinese are buying up a lot of copper for their expanding industrial base..thus driving up prices...I dont buy that caliber at present tho...

Also heard that 5.56 is up cause of demand from the war...
 
I don't think the commodity price idea is baloney. Sure, it isn't responsible for ALL of it, but it is sure responsible for some of it. The raw materials cost more. The labor & machinery to make it costs more. The fuel needed to transport it ferdangsure costs more. Demand drives the price up further. Ditto the weakness of the dollar overseas. Factor in the ever-present force of inflation.

Yes, the prices have risen over the past several months. It will probably continue to do so in the future.

You can't buy a new car for $1200, a new house for $60,000, or even a piece of candy for $0.01 anymore. I'm sure when I have grandkids (well into the future), I will regale them with stories about how a house "only" cost $300,000, and you could buy a luxury car for under $40,000.
 
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