Ammo prices, are they really going down ?

[Nevada Ed]

I went on line the other day and just shook my head at some of the prices, being asked for a box of 20, for some rifles.

I can't believe that my little 22-250 ammo cost MORE to buy

than a box of 30-06 ammo !!

Something is very wrong.

 

[Laketime]

We are in for a financial rude awakening next year. You will love that price then.

 

[jeeps]

The round count will go down as price goes up its called shrink inflation. 50 rd. to 40 round ,20 round to 15 rds. its comming.

 

[mauser9]

Not good at all. Couple years back I was paying $6 for a box of shotgun shells for Trap. Now seeing $11-12 per box. Don't reload so not shooting as often as I would like.

 

[luvsmiths]

I think the high prices of today may very well, in retrospect, end up looking like the "low prices of last year"..........

 

[scoobysnacker]

I went on line the other day and just shook my head at some of the prices, being asked for a box of 20, for some rifles.

I can't believe that my little 22-250 ammo cost MORE to buy

than a box of 30-06 ammo !!

Something is very wrong.

When you look at things objectively, there's nothing wrong and this is expected.

1. Supply lines were significantly affected by covid; some operations slowed production or paused during this.
2. Demand for the popular calibers- 9x19, .223/5.56, etc- went through the stratosphere, as millions of new buyers bought guns

We saw everything fly off the shelves, and what little remained went sky high. People paying over 30 cents a round for Tula 9mm, because that's all they could find.

Ammo making is not an unlimited thing, they have to pick and choose what they make. Given the enormous demand on those certain calibers, I don't doubt that many makers focused completely on just that, to meet demand and make maximum profit.

Now, we're starting to see daylight with those calibers. Prices on 9mm have dropped, to where we're now seeing name brands we recognize (Fiocchi, PMC etc) at under 30 cents a rd again. Not just steel Tula, or no-names like Turan or Belom, but stuff we shot before 2020.
I suspect 223 will creep down soon, too, as production begins to catch demand. It's beginning to, we're seeing a lot of PMC hitting the markets.

The problem for your 22-250 is that it's a niche rd, not one selling thousands of cases in a month; so it's been sidelined since this started. Whatever stock is out there was made before the panic, and no resources will be given to it until things settle out.

 

[murphydog]

I have not seen substantial drops in prices except for the popular calibers mentioned above, which makes sense - they are being produced in the largest quantities and demand at these prices are probably stable to lower than at the height of "ammo fever".

For less common/produced calibers, agree with get it while you can if you can afford it. What you see now may not be available for months/years into the future, at the time of the next production run.

 

[bigwheelzip]

Sure the available stuff has gone down in price, from triple the old price to double the old price, but infrastructure driven shortages are with us for the foreseeable future.



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[Rudi]

Availability and price. Two things we have no control over. Buy it now if you need it.

 

[1sailor]

This is just my opinion. I believe that if Putin draws a nuclear line in the sand, we are going to see the shelves and racks clear even quicker than they did over the "social unrest". Unless the Govt. freezes all new sales.

 

[ACORN]

I spotted 9mm Geco at a local show for $15/bx.

 

[SWFan27]

Some calibers are still crazy expensive. There has been a big increase in supply and lower prices for NATO rounds like 9MM and 5.56. Thankfully even calibers like 357 Mag and 38 Special are much easier to find recently. So much so that prices are now finally starting to drop at least online. This is after years of buying whatever I could find and for way too much money. Most of the common hunting rifle calibers are still so pricey it is just rediculous.

 

[CH4]

9mm seems to be the only round that’s even close to prepandemic pricing. Revolver cartridges are still tough to find.

5.56 and 7.62x51 are plentiful, but still pricey. 300Sav, 35 Rem, 45-70 are outrageous-l @ $3 to $4 around.

 

[jschmidt]

556/223 is widely available for 42¢ a round. 9mm is running around 25¢/rnd.

They'll stay low until the next time panic buying starts. All ammo shortages are caused by panic buying. The gun and ammo industry creates these panics one or two times each year.

 

[SWFan27]

9mm seems to be the only round that’s even close to prepandemic pricing. Revolver cartridges are still tough to find.

5.56 and 7.62x51 are plentiful, but still pricey. 300Sav, 35 Rem, 45-70 are outrageous-l @ $3 to $4 around.

Most ammo makers primary focus and tooling in recent years has been NATO calibers. That is why calibers like 9MM and 5.56 are easy to find and cheap compared to other non-NATO calibers. It seems like only within the last six months or less that calibers such as my main carry 357 Mag and 38+P/Special are finally easy enough to find. And real recently prices are even dropping for those calibers. My favorite carry load is the Reminton UMC 357 Mag semi jacketed hollow point.

They normally come in (Value Pack) boxes of 100 rounds. Finding those at a reasonable price has been like coming across an occasional unicorn. Remington's website now has them in stock again for $112 a box, but I can find them for $75 a box of 100 rounds online all day long now. I just bought some Remington HTP 38+P semi jacketed hollow points for 54 cents a round. Check out online dealers like Gunbroker and Ammoseek. I live in California so I unforunately have to have my online purchases shipped to an FFL/LGS, and pay them for their services/add $25, shipping and the rest.

Still the folks at my LGS were shocked that I paid 54 cents a round when HTP (High Terminal Performance) is over a dollar a round on Reminton's website, and they cannot even get the stuff to sell. They can order the heck out of it, but when their deliveries come in stuff like that is still always on back order. I have paid through the nose for stuff the last few years. Thank God the tables are finally starting to turn in a good direction.

 

[Mark8]

Things have improved a lot on this side of the pond, lots of ammo available, prices are (for the most part) back to "normal". Even some Sig Sauer ammo made in the USA made it to Switzerland (not something you usually find around here).

 

[STORMINORMAN]

I saw new, name brand (if that's still a relevant concept?) 165gr FMJ 40 S&W ammo in brass cases at 50# for $14.99... Online, of course.

That seemed pretty reasonable to me.

Cheers!

P.S. But, then again, I have multiple firearms in 40 S&W, from a KAHR PM40, through various S&Ws (and a FN FNX) to a Sub-2000 carbine. Hard to reload 'em now for that price!

 

[scoobysnacker]

I saw new, name brand (if that's still a relevant concept?) 165gr FMJ 40 S&W ammo in brass cases at 50# for $14.99... Online, of course.

I think it's extremely relevant. I shoot 9x19, but the same concept. I was used to paying a certain price, but I had options and had a pecking order regarding brands. Everything the same price, I would pick S&B first, Fiocchi second, and so forth.

I was not inclined to buy Winchester White Box, that would be pretty far down my list, below the above, PPU, PMC, Blazer Brass, Federal, American Eagle, Geco, etc in various order.

A look today, and I'm seeing Turan, AmmoInc, Venom, SAR, DRZ, and such. No clue who makes this, no reputation to go off of. I remember Belom coming at the start of this mess, and thinking "at least Belom is made by PPU, it should be around that level of quality".
Whoever the Turkish manufacturer is, should be about the same as what Yavex was awhile back, thus I'd assume loaded hot. These are things I want to know before I run it through some of my pistols.

 

[JJEH]

Buy it now if you need it.

Very sound advice.

Some prices of my distributors have stabilized. If manufacturers raise them then they will too, and many have. Not sure if they'll ever get lower as they are right now to be honest, I think they will rather stabilize, and we can be happy if we pay today's prices in the coming years.

 

[6GUNSONLY]

I don't "have to" buy any factory ammo, as I load for everything I shoot (except 9mm, and the only 9mm in the house is my wife's Shield). But I do like to have a few boxes of factory ammo for everything. Recently got back in the . 30-06 game (bought a Belgium Browning BAR) so wanted a little stash of factory ammo for it. No one had any. Local Walmart has had a decent stock of most popular rifle calibers for several months, but no . 30-06 until a couple of weeks ago a few boxes showed up. Tried to buy 3, store policy was limit of 2. I was in there today and there was one box left, so I snagged it to have my 3 boxes. 180 grain Winchester Power Points, around $25 a box.