Ammo prices from around 1984/1985

[glenwolde]

The .38 Special was the cheap cartridge of those days. 9mm's weren't that common. Most of the nine's you saw were surplus.

The only new ones that were relatively available were the S&W 39/59, Hi-Power, and the Colt 1911. All were much more expensive than revolvers. They've switched places. Now revolvers and their ammo are more expensive.

I remember buying .38 ammo around that time for $5 and change. Reloads at the range were $4 if you returned the brass. They were **** though.

Now everybody and their dog makes a 9mm. It's a wild guess on my part but I'd say there's ten times as many brands/models available today vs. then.

 

[Nevada Ed]

I remember paying $8.99 for Remington Core Lokt non magnum calibers then getting a $2 rebate in the 80s……. Remember Jim, back when Dicks sold guns and ammo.

Long's also sold guns and ammo back then.

Now, CVS just sells pills and junk.

 

[Skeet 028]

I bought a Savage 340 no mag in 30-30 for a $100 at a yard sale. the fellow threw in a 30 cal ammo can with 3 boxes of Rem 30-30 ammo from Pamida...$5.97 box. the loaded mag was in the ammo can. Don't know when they bought it. 80s?? The Pamida store closed shortly after we moved to the area

 

[oldrookey617]

In 1970-71 most every Friday after work and on the way to the range I would stop at KMart and buy a 100 CCI Mini-mags (in the amber plastic box) for 99 cents. I saved every box. Now I
shoot Federal Bulk and have enough boxes for over 5 bricks.

oldrookey, that is a amber box. my newer boxes' are clear, if 1971 was 99 cents, what year was they $1.99, around 1980 ? seems like K-Mart had them on sale every other week. Have been using that Federal 36 gr. CPHP in the 1375 bucket & the 325 boxes, put them in the CCI boxes, for my M617..

 

[GypsmJim]

oldrookey, that is a amber box. my newer boxes' are clear, if 1971 was 99 cents, what year was they $1.99, around 1980 ? seems like K-Mart had them on sale every other week. Have been using that Federal 36 gr. CPHP in the 1375 bucket & the 325 boxes, put them in the CCI boxes, for my M617..

I know they changed to clear, but my recollection is it was after I switched to bricks. So, it was after 1974 when I moved away from the KMart neighborhood.

When Gander Mountain opened a store in town they gave previous catalog shoppers a $5 free coupon. At the same time bricks (500) were on sale for $4.99. I remember getting 2 coupons and getting 2 free bricks a few months apart, only having to pay the sales tax. For the life of me, though, I can't remember the year.

My next recorded data was as late as 2007, when WalMart was selling 550 bricks for $9.95.

I bought a Pre-27 from Gander in 2009, just before they closed my local store. It was mismarked. Should have been $1,295, but they had to sell it to me for the marked price of $295. A year later I got a Pre-14 for $195. Boy was I sad when they closed THAT store...

 

[HKSmith]

I started doing a lot of shooting when I was a senior in college, which was 1963-64. I was paying $5.00 for a brick of 500 Federal Monark .22 LR, or a penny apiece. Inflation since then has been a factor of 9.83. Since you can currently get similar ammunition for less than 6 cents per round, it's effectively cheaper now than it was then. After graduation, I acquired a Model 14-2 and a Model 39. .38 Special was $3.82 per box and 9 mm was $4.75 per box at discount stores. Both are significantly less expensive now, especially the 9 mm. Also, selection of ammo was much more limited back then. Maybe these are the good old days!

 

[twodog max]

Back in the 80's I was buying 38 Special reloads cheaper than I could get 22 ammo and then had brass to reload. I still use 38 brass from those days. Those loads used a 158 grain SWC. They were sort of anemic but always went off. I trapped a lot back then and used them in a 3 inch model 36. It has been to long to remember where I got that ammo but think it was Zero

 

[Patrick L]

In 1970-71 most every Friday after work and on the way to the range I would stop at KMart and buy a 100 CCI Mini-mags (in the amber plastic box) for 99 cents. I saved every box. Now I
shoot Federal Bulk and have enough boxes for over 5 bricks.

I did a similar thing. Back in the 80s, when I was a proud working teenager of 18, every weekend someplace (KMart, Sears, Monkey Wards, etc) had boxes of .22 LR on sale for .99 a box. Since I was a working man, I bought a BRICK! The next weekend, someone else had a sale. I bought a BRICK! This continued for several years. I never stopped to think that I really didn't shoot all that much .22, I was much more a shotgunner and budding skeet shooter.

Fast forward to the shortages, pandemic, etc. and I just started shooting up the thousands of rounds I had accumulated!

 

[RCL-09]

I see some have adjusted for inflation, but wanted to add...


In 1984
$9.37 = $27.48
$1.34 = $3.93
$7.89 = $23.17
$5.95 = $17.45
$7.99 = $23.43
$8.99 = $26.36


In 1982
$9.00 = $28.42
$13.50 = $42.63
$375.00 = $1,184.08

In 2001
$125.96 = $216.84