Have ammo prices finally come back down to Earth?

[TTv2]

Got to looking after I went to the LGS yesterday and seeing .32 prices coming back down to under 50 cents a round after years of them being sky high gave me hope that's also happening for other calibers, and sure enough the prices of a lot of stuff that has been very high for years has returned to reasonable, albeit inflated a bit due to high inflation the past few years.

Some revolver calibers are still very high, 5.7 is not as bad, but not great either.

Overall, what I'm seeing for the first time in years is online the prices for ammo have become fair again. I know production hasn't improved, so demand must have dropped, which spells bad news for the economy, but good news for shooters.

My hope is this trickles down to the reloading components market and we can get primers down to $50/1000.

 

[toivo]

I see that .22 is down quite a bit, but shotgun shells don't seem to have dropped much, if at all. Still $10+ per box where I live.

 

[GBExpat]

... Overall, what I'm seeing for the first time in years is online the prices for ammo have become fair again. ...

They are certainly well on their way to that.

My chosen general bellwether on commercial ammunition prices is 9x19 case-lot pricing. The prices there have gotten down to the ~25¢/rd level and seem to be, maybe, slo-o-o-owly inching down from there. I will be surprised (and delighted) if they get much lower.

Prior to the current Silliness, that line had dipped below 20¢/rd and held there for at least a year, IIRC. During that time I was able to locate a few deals with pricing of ~17-18¢ along with free shipping so I tucked some away. Just last month I discovered 4 250rd Remington "MEGA PACK"s (115gr 9x19) hiding behind stacks of my reloads on shelf two of my island gunbench. That was from the last such deal upon which I swooped prior to the pricing getting crazy.

<chuckle> ... and thinking back on the Federal BLACK PACK deals still brings a smile to my face. Ammo Rebate Deals with, if you were a careful shopper, could include free shipping. I still have, probably, 10 unopened (.223 & .45acp) BLACK PACKs in the basement.

I am left wondering about the next event that will shoot them back into the stratosphere. We may have already reached the bottom of the current pricing curve and should, therefore, start looking for the best deals for stockpiling against future spikes.

Enjoy!

 

[TTv2]

I agree, I think we're nearing the bottom of the bell curve if we're not already at it. My hope is this bottom lasts long enough to where primers and powder will have time to catch up and follow suit.

 

[GBExpat]

My hope is this bottom lasts long enough to where primers and powder will have time to catch up and follow suit.

<nodding> THAT would be nice.

Having been lucky enough to have been able to load-up on primers & powder a few years ago, I don't often think about pricing on those. Last month I wandered onto some website in response to a Sale email and saw some of the current powder pricing. Day-um!

I think that my blood pressure spikes and my hands shake a bit wherever I remember that. Scary!

 

[doubleh]

I would consider them to only be in low orbit but probably as low as they are going to go with our dollar's worth being some where close the the core of the earth. I saw a news blurb just a couple of days ago crowing about how inflation has dropped to only 3.2%. Good news that is not. The price of everything will only keep climbing.

 

[King Medallion]

I don't really know what ammo prices are supposed to be as I've reloaded since the late 70's. Went to Walmart yesterday to get a deer tag and noticed 30-30 ammo prices were $28 and up. When I was a teen and was blasting away with my 1st 94 I was buying Remington ammo for $5 a box! Wish I'd have kept all that brass back then.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Gas is cheap right now too, but between Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, WW3 is on a simmer. We are one itchy trigger finger or mid-air collision away from the balloon going up.

Then there's the looming election which will no doubt bring more "social justice" riots, along with a surprise comeback for the new-and-improved Wuhan Flu.

Ammo prices won't stay low. If you have a nook or cranny that isn't packed with ammo cans, now is the time to fill them.

Pro-tip: Stock up on motor oil, filters, and grab an extra car battery or two. If needed anytime soon, get new tires and/ or a spare NOW.

 

[Elkins45]

Gas is cheap right now too, but between Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, WW3 is on a simmer. We are one itchy trigger finger or mid-air collision away from the balloon going up.

Then there's the looming election which will no doubt bring more "social justice" riots, along with a surprise comeback for the new-and-improved Wuhan Flu.

Ammo prices won't stay low. If you have a nook or cranny that isn't packed with ammo cans, now is the time to fill them.

Pro-tip: Stock up on motor oil, filters, and grab an extra car battery or two. If needed anytime soon, get new tires and/ or a spare NOW.

I would only buy a battery if you can get a dry one with the electrolyte separate. Once they are activated the clock starts ticking on lead acid batteries. Even keeping them on a maintainer only slows their deterioration.

 

[jdc1244]

Some revolver calibers are still very high

True.

I paid $17 for 50 rounds of .38 Special 132 Grain FMJ PMC in March of 2020, today it’s going for $25 for 50 rounds.

 

[AJC1]

True.

I paid $17 for 50 rounds of .38 Special 132 Grain FMJ PMC in March of 2020, today it’s going for $25 for 50 rounds.

Don't even gander at 45c without your heart medication in reach

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

I would only buy a battery if you can get a dry one with the electrolyte separate. Once they are activated the clock starts ticking on lead acid batteries. Even keeping them on a maintainer only slows their deterioration.

Most new car batteries are Absorbant Glass Matt (AGM) designs. Under ideal conditions, maintained at mean state-of-charge of 80-85%, they can theoretically last up to 10 years in storage.

Once in real-world usage however, they have woefully short service life, 2-3 years typically. On the plus side for the manufacturers, they are more easily (and cheaply) transported because they aren't spillable.

Ammo has a finite shelf life too, of course. If I have to throw away batteries and ammo that Im buying now in a decade because they weren't needed due to catastrophic supply chain disruption, well, I'll call that a win.

 

[Mars5l]

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

View attachment 1180396

Where was this?

 

[tubeshooter]

Went to a show just today. Revolver ammo, particularly 38 Special, remains stubbornly high.


Ye Olde .30-30 also remains kind of ridiculously priced for what it is. And I don't think it's ever going to go back down again, personally.

 

[JR24]

Last time I was at Fleet it was almost more economical to buy 9mm than load with the primer prices.

So that was nice.

 

[CapnMac]

Probably we have seen the intersection of availability, selection, and inflation--all to set something of a new "normal."

Which is going to be viewed in the eye of the beholder. If one is to insist that "normal" means buying 20 round boxes of WWB 55gr 5.56nato off Midway for US$3.89, they will be in for a bumpy road. Inflation means that $5 is probably about $7.50, which will skew our perception of the sticker price (even though it shouldn't).

 

[Mars5l]

Where was this?

New Academy Sports here in Tampa

 

[Ignition Override]

We will never know without hindsight, while wondering when the always-unpredictable (specific) single event/ events will trigger the Next buying panic. To be quite frank, remember "Riders on the Storm? "His brain was **** ".

If dollar-cost averaging is acceptable, plan for the wor$t scenario. My wife will "buy me" a solid heap of lower-cost .308 ammo for Christmas, because my favorite rifles use it (FALs, M1A, PTR-91), and the reserve needs to be increased.

 

[valnar]

Went to a show just today. Revolver ammo, particularly 38 Special, remains stubbornly high.

Ye Olde .30-30 also remains kind of ridiculously priced for what it is. And I don't think it's ever going to go back down again, personally.

I wonder if this is because these calibers are nowhere near as popular as they once were.

 

[buck460XVR]

Went to a show just today. Revolver ammo, particularly 38 Special, remains stubbornly high.


Ye Olde .30-30 also remains kind of ridiculously priced for what it is. And I don't think it's ever going to go back down again, personally.

.38 Special was always kinda overpriced once LEOs left .38 revolvers for bottom feeders. Since the early 2000s, you could buy .357 cheaper than .38. While I remember the day when 30-30 went for $9.99 a box, it's red headed sister, the .32 Special loaded to the same specs, was $29.99. Now, folks have moved away from 30-30, and it is becoming more of a specialty round like it's sister. Back before I reloaded, I would always buy next years hunting ammo right after gun season when it would go on sale for half price or less. Still have a lot of quality ought-six that was bought for $12-15 a box. since I haven't hunted deer with a rifle for almost two decades, and reload all of my revolver rounds, I don't have a clue what it's worth anymore. But my son has been slowly burning it off.........

 

[brewer12345]

Wrong thread

 

[Hunter 08]

Back in 2015-2017 I could get a box of Federal PowerShok 150-180 grain .308 for $17.99 per box. Now its $25-30 per box of that. Winchester 147gr used to be in that time like $14 per box, now its $20-21. Could be cheaper elsewhere but that is what store shelf prices are like for me.

Been using Ammoseek lately and found ammo at least reasonably priced, but nothing like it was 6-10 years ago.

 

[tubeshooter]

I wonder if this is because these calibers are nowhere near as popular as they once were.

To an extent, maybe - but I don't think it fully explains the pricing. Especially for a .30-30 round that doesn't really do anything much more than 7.62x39 does and is priced as much as .308/.30-06 for all intents and purposes now. I'll admit that .30-30 isn't as popular as 50 years ago, but it's not exactly .32 Special status at this point either...

Same with .38 Special - I understand the economy of scale but there are still many more .38 guns and .357s that can eat it than there are .40 cal guns. You could argue that .40 cal is dying as quickly as .38 Special if not more so. So why the difference in price?


The demand is there, because the guns are there. Manufacturers and distributors just see a good chance to make some extra money on it, I suspect. And for the record I have not generally seen .357 cheaper than .38 unless something pretty unusual was going on and/or it wasn't really an apples-to-apples comparison. Yes, I can find some generic .357 JSP cheaper than the most exotic .38 defense ammo, for example.

 

[doubleh]

Once in real-world usage however, they have woefully short service life, 2-3 years typically.

I have indications that I will have to replace the battery on the vehicle I use to drive to the range and boondock with before spring. Manufactures have wised up to the demands made on batteries by the newer vehicles. Instead of sitting there with no drain before computers were used the drain on a parked vehicle has increased a lot leading to shorter life. Trying to find a battery with a longer than 3 year warranty is about impossible. Good ol' Walmart has one with a 3 year replacement warranty with good reviews and that may be my next battery source.