Please explain this rifle ammo question.....

[Gary in Pennsylvania]

So there I was.....in Gander Mountain yesterday.

I like the layout of the store......Rifles & shotguns are all within customer reach - I fondled generously.

I also find it interesting that all ammo it out in the open. Lemme tell ya....there ain't many rounds more intimidating than holding a .450 Marlin Leverevolution Tip in your hand.


Anyway......while looking through all the rifle ammo - I noticed a trend -

What is with rifle ammo prices????? Or, more appropriately stated, what's with the price of .30-30 ammo???

I see that the entry price to a 20round box of about any rifle caliber is about $25 (Gander prices) .243 to .270 to .308 to .30-06 to .35 Remington etc... Entry to a box of rifle ammo is $25 minimum. And those are COMMON calibers!
.45-70 starts at $40!

BUT - .30-30??? $13. At Wal-Mart....you get a box of Federal 150gr or 170gr for just $10.
WHAT'S UP WITH .30-30?

I know (Or it's been said) that no other caliber has taken more deer that the venerable .30-30. Yeah....it's popular (thanks to Marlin & Winchester). But damn......what is it that makes the .30-30 so inexpensive? I mean by a LOT!

I guess I lucked out because the Marlin 336Y I just bought is chambered in .30-30. 80 rounds came really quick!
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[Eric F]

What is with rifle ammo prices?????

Hi my name is eric Welcome to reloaders world! How can I help you?

Really if you shoot alot and are not reloading your waisting money.
Look at my favorite, 50-90 sharps $70-$120 for 20 rounds I can load the same for roughly $30 if I bought the brass and bullets.

what is it that makes the .30-30 so inexpensive?

surplus for the last 2 or 3 years and no one runs out ane buys 4-6 cases of it at a time.

 

[Bobarino]

mass production, tooling that has paid for itself long ago and its cheaper to make rimmed cartridges. plus, aside from the Leverevolution, the bullets are about as low tech (read: cheap) as it gets these days.

Bobby

 

[Cosmoline]

What is with rifle ammo prices????? Or, more appropriately stated, what's with the price of .30-30 ammo???

I don't know about that. The price has almost doubled here, and not just on .30-30. Fifty rounds of .38 Special that used to cost $20 just a few years ago now costs $39.

Anyway the answer to your question is most likely when they ordered it. .30-30 doesn't move terribly fast off the shelf in most places. So it's still going at list price based on the wholesale price from 2004 or whenever they bought the last batch. As they run out and have to order more they pay twice as much for wholesale and have to pass that along to the customer.

You have to shop smarter, I find. For example I found a bunch of Privi Partisan .30-30 last weekend for $13 per 20 with boxer primed reloadable shells. I'm also going to start casting bullets to save some money and I'm working up a 100 grain pinker load for the .30-30.

At Wal-Mart....you get a box of Federal 150gr or 170gr for just $10.

I'd get all of it now. There was a jump in prices for this stuff locally last year, and I suspect that same jump will be hitting in the lower 48 as they run out of old stock and have to reorder at new prices. The pinch from shipping costs has hit us first up here, but it will be hitting down there too.

 

[Zedo]

.458 Win. Mag. -- Federal "Cape Shok" 350 gr. runs $119.99 box of 20 at Sportsman's Warehouse.

 

[brigadier]

7.62x39 has identical ballistics to the .30-30, and it's even cheaper if you buy import ammo.

 

[MachIVshooter]

7.62x39 has identical ballistics to the .30-30, and it's even cheaper if you buy import ammo.

The Russkie round is a bit less potent. But more importantly, you are severely limited in the type and weight of bullets you can use. .30-30 is much more flexible, an all-around better game cartridge. Rifles chambered in .30-30 also tend to be more accurate than most 7.62x39 units, save the CZ's and other bolt guns.

 

[Z-Michigan]

IMHO, Gander Mountain never had good prices on ammo, and about a year ago they decided to mark up ammo to insane levels.

I buy ammo one of three places:
1) Walmart, if they have the caliber and type I want.
2) Dick's Sporting Goods, only when on sale, which is every couple of weeks.
3) Mail order.

 

[PhilA]

Great deal on .30-30

This stuff's not bad.

http://www.aimsurplus.com/acatalog/30-30_Winchester.html