Should I Buy .223/5.56 NOW, Given Biden's Ban on Winchester Selling to the Public?

5.56 is a bit expensive now at $450 or more for a case of 1000. Not the best time to stock up.
But if you do not have any you shout get some.
Thanks. I already have some. What price do you see as reasonable?
 
Winchester operates the Lake City plant under contract. The current administration must surely find it awkward that LC is selling civilians ammunition that's used in a weapon they believe should be banned.

The question is whether or not under the contract the Administration can do that. Winchester no doubt bid it based on selling the over-run in the commercial market to help keep costs down.

I'm not sure this is a done-deal just yet.
 
A thousand rounds a year per caliber is very silly. That's only 83 rounds a month. I'd at least double that, if not more.

No one said you had to buy it all at once.

It's like food, you'll need X pounds of food in each food group per year for every year you expect to live…
 
$0.35/round translates into $175/500 and $350/1000 would definitely be time to stock up. Might not see it that low ever again.

A few years back, when I first decided I should have an AR, ammo was $340/1000 and I could make it for half. Just accounting for inflation, we're unlikely to see those levels again. I can now churn it out for about $240/1000 with high priced primers, though I haven't priced powder of late.
 
A thousand rounds a year per caliber is very silly. That's only 83 rounds a month. I'd at least double that, if not more.

No one said you had to buy it all at once.

It's like food, you'll need X pounds of food in each food group per year for every year you expect to live…

My personal food theory is to have a few years worth of canned and non-perishables on hand and be capable of raising/growing enough to feed yourself. But we're getting into prepper theory now ...

I'll offer a modified statement:
A person should have a thousand rounds of each critical caliber for every year they believe the ammo supply will remain dicey.

I'm operating on the assumption that the ammo supply is never going to improve.
 
That's the thing, no one knows how long the ammo sitch will be dicey. This time, it's gone on long enough that I expect it's the new normal unless a major change happens. And I don't mean just a color change after an election.
 
The other manufactures will have the opportunity to pick up the slack. Where there is money to be made someone will find a way. That's why I bought some stock in a ammo producer.
 
A few years back, when I first decided I should have an AR, ammo was $340/1000 and I could make it for half. Just accounting for inflation, we're unlikely to see those levels again. I can now churn it out for about $240/1000 with high priced primers, though I haven't priced powder of late.

Powder has gone up about 25% in the last few years. Three years ago it was around $25/lb so I bought a substantial quantity of it. Primers seem to be the thing that has really gone up in price.

With the components I have I can make a 5.56 for about 0.25/rd. and I can make a lot of it. It wouldn't matter what the cost would be these days using current prices because there just isn't anything to buy.

When I run out of components I'll probably just quit shooting. I'm just not going to buy ammo or components at todays prices.
 
The other manufactures will have the opportunity to pick up the slack. Where there is money to be made someone will find a way. That's why I bought some stock in a ammo producer.

Vista Outdoors down the road from me—former Remington ammo Plant—is still going 24-7, 365 (they worked around the clock Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years, etc). I think it is an excellent stock, even with the recent downturn.
 
As I type this, the 3rd entry down is new/brass 5.56 for $450/1000. Shipping probably adds to it but at that point it's just a matter of shopping. (ETA: Shipping is 40 bucks)[/url]

I also did some searching Sunday night June 19, 2022 and saw plenty at $444.11/1000
 
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I prob got more than I'll ever need. A while back I traded my Kivaari for 3 barrels of 855 ammo, on top of that I have on hand prob in the area of 17 cases of IMI 855.
 
Back in 1972 my dad bought a 3 acre house in rural Western Washington state for $3000. The old guy that lived there died and had left two truck loads of ammo in his shop. My dad took it all to the dump. Moral of the story is people have been preparing for the worst for a long time. There's probably more reason to now than ever.
The property had an outhouse. My dad decided to burn it. Oh boy were we ever surprised to learn where that guy kept the third truckload of ammo when my dad lit it up...
 
People measure volumes of ammunition differently: 20 round box, 25, 50, 100, 250, or 500 round containers. If your unit of measure is "50 caliber ammo can" or "5-gallon bucket" you may have enough.

The only time you may have too much ammo is when trying to swim across the river, in that case get a boat.
 
That ain't the half of it...military grade 5.56 may dry up considerably. The US just awarded SIG the contract on the new replacement for the FN SAW and sniper rifles in .300 Norma and .338 Lapua. I don't have the specifics, but the new rifle will use caseless ammo in 6.5 or 6.8, this goes hand in hand with taking L.C. off the market. Going to be interesting to see how people go about getting their hands on those babies, let alone the ammo to feed them. Caseless ammo has been in the background for a few years now, HK was working on it a few years back and probably is instrumental in SIG's development. The caseless stuff makes sense, lighter weight, no brass expenditure to deal with, probably get away with a combination of paper and plastic, or polymers like epoxy resin soaked paper or cloth even.
 
That ain't the half of it...military grade 5.56 may dry up considerably. The US just awarded SIG the contract on the new replacement for the FN SAW and sniper rifles in .300 Norma and .338 Lapua. I don't have the specifics, but the new rifle will use caseless ammo in 6.5 or 6.8, this goes hand in hand with taking L.C. off the market. Going to be interesting to see how people go about getting their hands on those babies, let alone the ammo to feed them. Caseless ammo has been in the background for a few years now, HK was working on it a few years back and probably is instrumental in SIG's development. The caseless stuff makes sense, lighter weight, no brass expenditure to deal with, probably get away with a combination of paper and plastic, or polymers like epoxy resin soaked paper or cloth even.

Thanks.

Newbie question: what does LC stand for?
 
You need a thousand rounds for all your critical calibers for every year you expect to live.

If you don't have that much, then yes, you need to stock up.

If ammo becomes unavailable to that extreme due to laws/regulations or cost, what makes you think that you will be able to even shoot what you have on hand without it getting it confiscated/seized or stolen?

... civilian ammo sales are essentially banned, but old Johnny down the road still shoots a few hundred rounds a month out his back door. Pretty sure that will attract some unwanted attention on multiple fronts...
 
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