Second hand ammo

[CLASSIC12]

Switzerland has a lot of shooting associations with outdoor ranges which are supported by the various counties. Those are non profit setups and allow citizens to hone their shooting skills outside of their military service, both for rifles (300 meters) and pistols (25 and 50 meters). Soldiers can also do their qualification shooting at those ranges.

The army provides ammo, GP 11 (7.5 Swiss) & GP 90 (5.56 NATO) for rifles and 7.65 & 9 mm parabellum for pistols, all at 35 cents per round. The clubs put their orders in in December and pick up their ammo in February, before the start of the season, which runs from March to October.

I picked up 4000 9mm and 8000 7.65mm for my club at the army arsenal.

86 associations pick up their order over two days, so there is some stock there

 

[Muddyboot]

Oy vey, so much ammo, I'm feeling a little lightheaded.

 

[AJ]

If I remember correctly all able bodied males in Switzerland are considered like our National Guard. One exception is that they get to take their weapons home and maintain and shoot them to stay in practice. If I am wrong I am sure Classic12 will tell me and correct my statement.

 

[max503]

I'll start trusting our government when they start building public shooting ranges and selling us ammo like they do in Switzerland.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

That's a great haul and an inventive way to obtain your ammo. Be advised that the 45 ACP EC-7-44 ammo will have corrosive primers.

Nothing a good barrel scrubbing won't fix. I shot oodles of that through a Colt Commander with no problems.

 

[quikdraw67]

Call this thread ammo porn.

Lots of old Remington and Winchester/Western.

Cool

 

[stanmerrell]

Great pictures. Thanks for sharing them. I was near greifensee briefly to tour the Metler operations back in the 80s and had time to visit some of the local gun stores. I wish I had been able to go shooting while I was there, but had to return a but early due to the birth of my first son. Enjoy your freedoms.

 

[ladder13]

That should keep you busy for awhile.

 

[CLASSIC12]

A guy contacted me, he had some Swiss military ammo he had no use for, so I picked up 960 rounds of 7.65 mm parabellum (.30 Luger), 120 rounds of GP11 (7.5 X 55 mm Swiss) and some collectible GP11 and 9mm (red boxes) for $ 350.-

There’s also a growing sense of panic, with fear that ammo prices will shoot up and availability issues, so we decided to organise a group buy for the club, and I picked up 30’000 rounds at the LGS for $ 7200, i.e. $ 240 / 1000 rds of Geco 124 grains.

The club safes are almost full, about 45’000 rounds not counting .22 lr

 

[CLASSIC12]

My favourite LGS is specialised in second hand weapons, he buys from estates, windows or retiring collectors. More often than not there’s ammo with it which he sells me at very reasonable prices

Picked up this haul last month

Tons of .22

Stocked up on 7.62 X 39 for my new Kalashnikovs

From a private seller

And the last crate of Igman (ex Yougoslavia) from another LGS

Some Swiss milsurp, 7.65, 9 mm and old GP11 (7.5 X 55 Swiss) from another private seller

Some old .45 ACP, real cheap, $ 220 for this lot

And some GP 90 (5.56 NATO Swiss), 30-30 Winchester and .223 Remington SP

This seller also had some mags I picked up. Three of the Colt including the 20 rds are Vietnam era / sixties

 

[GT_80]

wow that's a lot of stuff! No one knows how much I have or what I paid for it

I bet you still paid a lot for all that, but 20-30% below market price is a great deal on ammo! I love the vintage 38 special, 44, and 357 boxes. Nothing wrong with vintage ammo if it still shoots IMO.

 

[ddixie884]

Is that EC lot .45 ammo steel cased?

 

[CLASSIC12]

Is that EC lot .45 ammo steel cased?

Sorry forgot to answer. And I don’t know, haven’t opened it yet.

 

[CLASSIC12]

LGS gifted me a few boxes of old ammo, 9mm, .32 ACP, .25 ACP and .22 short

Then I bought this typically Swiss curiosity, a can of GP11 “Taschenmunition”, or pocket ammunition. As you may know, the Swiss militia soldiers kept their rifles at home, and were therefore given a sealed can of 24 rounds, to be only used in case of mobilisation and in order to reach a meeting point.

Precisely this reads :

Guidelines for pocket ammunition
This pocket ammunition is intended exclusively for personal protection during active duty, especially before reaching the designated duty station.
The pocket ammunition is to be presented at each service and during communal inspections.
Anyone who opens the box improperly or misuses the ammunition will be punished in accordance with the order concerning ammunition.
Federal Military Department, Bern 1970

 

[CLASSIC12]

The gentleman who sold me the Rem 700 VTR also had a case of Swiss GP90 (5.56 NATO) for a reasonable price ($350.-)

He was also kind to gift me 260 rds of Barnaul .223

And I bought some 9mm subsonic and .30M1 ammo from two different private sellers

 

[gwpercle]

I didn't start out to be a Ammo Hoarder (AH) either ... or a Hoarder of Reloading Supplies (RSH) primers , powders and brass , Wheel- Weight Hoarder (WWH) and Bullet Moulds Hoarder (BMH) ....

But circumstances beyond my control have forced me to commit these various Acts of Hoarding !!!

I didn't want to ... but , the Devil made me do it !
Gary

 

[OFT II]

Is that EC lot .45 ammo steel cased?

All the Evansville Chrysler .45 ammo that I've seen has been in steel cases. Head stamps were EC43 and EC4.

 

[racoonbeast]

To the OP - Nice collection of ammo. Things being how they are here, I doubt that many American shooters with large volumes of ammo would, or will publicly proclaim what they have stashed or produce public pictures. A bird just landed on my window sill and whispered to me that there might be situations here where yours would be considered a "starter collection".

 

[dave1918a2]

How much does ammo cost in U.S. dollars over there??

 

[Nevada Ed]

Some people are just down right lucky or at the right place at the right time.

Those pictures and prices paid for the ammo, just want me to lay down and cry.

You did very well, kind sir.

Enjoy that .30 cent ammo........
and mostly the 38 & 357 that is now , around $1 for the good stuff.