Lone_Gunman
Member
I have seen foreign made ammo cheaper. Is this a good deal?
Is 50 cents a round for Winchester made 7.62x51 NATO ammo a good deal?
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Third_Rail
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As long as it's actually Winchester make (Olin, right?), then yes, that's a good deal. Searching quickly online, I found that the only other US made ammo cheaper than 50 cents a shot is either reloaded or factory reloaded.
TexasRifleman
Moderator Emeritus
I just bought Federal FMJ shipped to my house for 53 cents a round from Ammoman, so that would be a good price for Win or any factory .308 these days.
The Wolf certainly cheaper if you can find it in stock.
It's been selling for less than 30 cents a round but everyone is out of it.
The Wolf Gold is out there now and then but it's no bargain. Best price I've seen is over 60 cents a round.
Lots of the domestic stuff has the lighter weight bullet so depends on what you are after there too.
The Federal only has a 150gr FMJ.
The Wolf certainly cheaper if you can find it in stock.
It's been selling for less than 30 cents a round but everyone is out of it.
The Wolf Gold is out there now and then but it's no bargain. Best price I've seen is over 60 cents a round.
Lots of the domestic stuff has the lighter weight bullet so depends on what you are after there too.
The Federal only has a 150gr FMJ.
Lone_Gunman
Member
The Winchester ammo I am referring to is currently available from midway, made by Winchester, in the white box,with NATO headstamp. The website says it was a factory overrun.
TexasRifleman
Moderator Emeritus
Yep, that's the same stuff I bought, overrun training FMJ stuff.
Well, Ammoman has it for 53 cents with shipping as I said, if Midway is cheaper after shipping then that's probably as good a deal as there is going now unless you can find Wolf.
Well, Ammoman has it for 53 cents with shipping as I said, if Midway is cheaper after shipping then that's probably as good a deal as there is going now unless you can find Wolf.
Lone_Gunman
Member
I just ordered 600 rounds, and with shipping it came to 53 cents per round. Ammoman seems to be out right now.
TexasRifleman
Moderator Emeritus
That was probably me, I think I cleaned him out on Monday
The stuff is getting more and more scarce, I'm afraid it's going to be like 5.56 before long but worse since even the Wolf is hard to find.
USSR
Member
IMHO, you guys are foolish to pay $0.50+ per round for 7.62x51 ammo. It can be easily duplicated by reloading for less than $0.20 per round, excluding the cost of your brass which can be reused.
Don
Don
I agree with USSR. Reloading is real easy and you can get everything you need cheap. The very cheapest way to go is 13 bucks plus shipping from Cabelas for a Lee Classic Loader, and you would also need some case lube which will be 6 dollars, and some way to clean the brass. Steel wool will work if you're patient, but a 60 dollar tumbler is well worth buying. All that pays for itself in less than 300 rounds when compared to .53 cents a shot.
MCgunner
Member
Using Nosler Ballistic tip, .308 Winchester costs me about 15 cents a round by rough estimate, maybe a few cents more. I don't shoot a whole pot load when I go to the range, just groups off the bench rest. I don't have an auto in the caliber, just my hunting rifle, a bolt gun. If I wanna chunk cheap factory lead, it's .22 or the SKS.
I have never NOT been a reloader, learned from my grandpa and uncle and inhereted all their stuff. I've accumulated quite a bit of reloading junk over the years and likely will accumulate more in the future.
Reloading is cheap and fun, but it's also a desease.
Where my reloading REALLY pays off is with my own cast bullets in handguns. I crank 'em out on one of my progressives pretty quickly, too, so it don't take a lot of time out of my day to crank out a couple of boxes for the next range trip. Some folks sit down and crank out a couple thousand at a time. I've always been more into just chunkin' out a couple boxes at a time as needed. The slowest part of the process, anyway, for handgun calibers is casting and lubri-sizing. But, my lead is free, so my bullets are free. .45 Long Colt for under $2 a box of 50, anyone? That's under 4 cents a round.
I have never NOT been a reloader, learned from my grandpa and uncle and inhereted all their stuff. I've accumulated quite a bit of reloading junk over the years and likely will accumulate more in the future.
Reloading is cheap and fun, but it's also a desease.Where my reloading REALLY pays off is with my own cast bullets in handguns. I crank 'em out on one of my progressives pretty quickly, too, so it don't take a lot of time out of my day to crank out a couple of boxes for the next range trip. Some folks sit down and crank out a couple thousand at a time. I've always been more into just chunkin' out a couple boxes at a time as needed. The slowest part of the process, anyway, for handgun calibers is casting and lubri-sizing. But, my lead is free, so my bullets are free.
.45 Long Colt for under $2 a box of 50, anyone? That's under 4 cents a round.TexasRifleman
Moderator Emeritus
My time is worth the difference. Time spent in front of the bench loading mass quantities of stuff doesn't appeal to me anymore.
On rare occasion I will run 5000 rounds of 10mm through just because I have lots of components laying around, but the reloading thing isn't always as economical as it appears if you factor your time in.
I would rather take a beating than use one of those again
cracked butt
Member
0.50/round for ball ammo? Yikes! The last can of Port 7.72 NATO ammo I bought cost me less than 0.15/round.
I've also hear a lot of people on this board gripe that match gradeswiss GP-11 ammo is too expensive at around 0.33/round.
I've also hear a lot of people on this board gripe that match gradeswiss GP-11 ammo is too expensive at around 0.33/round.
Bazooka Joe71
Member
I know I am asking this question in the wrong place, but how much did you say you can get a reloader for? And will this reloader reload everything? Or is it one for each caliber?
Bazooka Joe, if you meant the Lee Classic Loader which I mentioned, its 13 bucks + shipping. It has everything you need for one caliber. You will also need case lube which will last for at least 300 rounds and will cost 6 bucks. You will need a non metal hammer, but I bet you already have one.
Only problem is they take a long time to use. A minute or so per round usually.
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...tchall&Nty=1&Ntt=lee+classic+loader&noImage=0
Only problem is they take a long time to use. A minute or so per round usually.
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...tchall&Nty=1&Ntt=lee+classic+loader&noImage=0
USSR
Member
Bazooka Joe71,
The way it works is, you buy a press that will reload any rifle or handgun cartridge, and then you buy a set of dies for each individual cartridge that you intend to load for. The die sets can be bought very inexpensively.
Don
The way it works is, you buy a press that will reload any rifle or handgun cartridge, and then you buy a set of dies for each individual cartridge that you intend to load for. The die sets can be bought very inexpensively.
Don
MCgunner
Member
So, what else is there to do on a rainy winter day when you ain't huntin', watch football?
Even if I cared anything about football, I could watch it while I reload. All in your priorities, I guess. I move my equipment into my house. I've got a portable bench and can mount any of my presses on it in a few minutes. And, I never charge myself for the time, so time is free for me. If I did charge myself, I'd be paying myself, so, I mean, I'd still have the money, just in a different pocket. I go to the range and shoot. If I cared that my time was money, I guess I could pay someone to take my guns to the range and shoot 'em, clean 'em, and put 'em up. Then I wouldn't have to do it or pay myself to do it.
http://cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templ...&parentType=index&indexId=cat20847&hasJS=true
They actually come with the hammer, and IIRC you should not use case lube with these things. The kit even comes with a list of recipes to use with it, so all you need is the brass, the powder, the primers, and the bullets. For just $13 the thing pays for itself in only a few boxes.
There are more calibers available from Lee's main site, but they cost like $20.
MCgunner
Member
I haven't used a Lee hand tool in many moons, but IIRC, they don't case size, just neck size, on bottle neck rifle cartridges. I remember I bought some .30-30 used brass somewhere not realizing this and the rounds wouldn't seat in my Savage's chamber. New brass, no problem. I don't recall ever using lube with it, either, though it'd probably make things go smoother.
TexasRifleman
Moderator Emeritus
Well I'll think of you while I'm at the range actually shooting and you're at home pulling the handle on that press
When I was shooting thousands of rounds a month in IPSC it was worth it, just doesn't pay off the same for me now.
But it is sad to see the prices lately.
Makes me wish I'd have picked up more of that South African Battlepack stuff while it was around.
If Wideners or any of those folks show up with the standard Wolf again I'll jump all over that.
And yes 50c a round is just sickening, but if indications are right things are only gonna get worse. UPS is going up 5% soon, no one can get Wolf in .308 for some reason, and even the factory stuff is getting harder to come by.
Ammoman has "Coming Soon" on Lake City bulk packed stuff for around 35cents a round, but it's been saying "Coming Soon" for a long time.
rbernie
Contributing Member
I ordered 500 rounds of Wolf 308 from Sportsmans Guide last weekend - figured it'd be good enough for my CETMEs. They showed it in stock, right up until I placed my order. NOW their web site shows it on backorder until end of January.
They do still show Indian surplus in stock, but I'll not shoot it on a dare.
They do still show Indian surplus in stock, but I'll not shoot it on a dare.
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