Ammo prices shooting up quickly

Our distributors told us that it will be six to eight weeks before they can fill our orders. ANY of our orders. And IT WILL be more expensive.

Now if only the damn phones would go out of order. Regards 18DAI
 
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Anybody care to post a list of pre-meltdown prices of some popular calibers for folks to reference?
 
ACP said:
Anybody care to post a list of pre-meltdown prices of some popular calibers for folks to reference?
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Until recently, it took something around the following to motivate me to buy in quantity:

9mm ball - 15 to 16 cents
9mm hp - 40 cents
45 ball - 20 cents
45 hp - 40 cents
38Sp ball - 24 cents or less
22lr - under 4 cents
 
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I’m selling an AR on armslist today and the buyer called me last night practically begging me to sell him 60-90rds of .223 because he can’t find anything anywhere.
It was pretty funny but gave me an opportunity to sell some old 50gr HP Rem UMC and Ultramax 55gr SP for 44c/rd. Time to sell the undesirables :) He was thrilled... now hopefully he shows up to the meet up.
 
So I've spent $750 in ammo this week and that's netted me:

2K of Federal 115gr 9mm
540 rounds 6-90 packs of Fed (LC) M193 - I like these because they're easy to trade / sell for quick cash
1500 or 3-500 packs of Fed blue 22LR 38gr

I think I'm done for a while since I've backfilled what we've shot over the past winter (not counting the 1000 rounds of cheap PMC 223) and still got my emergency stash
 
Jeppo said:
Until recently, it took something around the following to motivate me to buy in quantity:

9mm ball - 15 to 16 cents
9mm hp - 40 cents
45 ball - 20 cents
45 hp - 40 cents
38Sp ball - 24 cents or less
22lr - under 4 cents
Click to expand...


Will be interesting to see how far we move away from these and for how long
 
I recently bought a 9mm piece, my first one other than a family heirloom that I do not shoot. I got a couple of hundred rounds from Outdoor Ltd a couple of weeks ago, not knowing how much I would shoot it or which bullet weight to go with, etc. I got one box of HSK and the rest ball ammo. Now I have to limit my practice with the new piece until some kind of normalcy returns. Meanwhile, I have a surplus of 308 including Radway Green ball and some 168gr American Eagle marked for M1A that I could trade. I also have a couple of handguns which I have thought about parting with, a 4" 686 and an XD 5" bbl in 40 S&W that I could include some ammo with in a sale. Decisions, decisions... probably just wait and see for a while.
 
two77 said:
Meanwhile, I have a surplus of 308 .... I also have a couple of handguns which I have thought about parting with, a 4" 686 and an XD 5" bbl in 40 S&W that I could include some ammo with in a sale. Decisions, decisions... probably just wait and see for a while.
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I have some 9mm for you let me know, and the 686 can come along :D
 
two77 said:
I recently bought a 9mm piece, my first one other than a family heirloom that I do not shoot. I got a couple of hundred rounds from Outdoor Ltd a couple of weeks ago, not knowing how much I would shoot it or which bullet weight to go with, etc. I got one box of HSK and the rest ball ammo. Now I have to limit my practice with the new piece until some kind of normalcy returns. Meanwhile, I have a surplus of 308 including Radway Green ball and some 168gr American Eagle marked for M1A that I could trade. I also have a couple of handguns which I have thought about parting with, a 4" 686 and an XD 5" bbl in 40 S&W that I could include some ammo with in a sale. Decisions, decisions... probably just wait and see for a while.
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Sit on the .308. You may have need of it very soon.

If you are not reloading you need to start. With the equipment and supplies there is no ammo shortages.

Don't do anything with the 686. You'll regret it. I traded a 586 6" for a Glock 19. One of the only trades I have done. Wish I had it back.

Time for me to clean off the bench and start working on cranking out some rounds. I also just might fire up the lead pot and cast a few bullets.


Sent from my SM-J320V using Tapatalk
 
Grits said:
Sit on the .308. You may have need of it very soon.

If you are not reloading you need to start. With the equipment and supplies there is no ammo shortages.

Don't do anything with the 686. You'll regret it. I traded a 586 6" for a Glock 19. One of the only trades I have done. Wish I had it back.

Time for me to clean off the bench and start working on cranking out some rounds. I also just might fire up the lead pot and cast a few bullets.


Sent from my SM-J320V using Tapatalk
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I reload 308 and have a lot of components stockpiled, making the commercial stuff expendable. I'm not set up for 9mm and only load single stage. You're probably right about the 686-- I sold a Colt King Cobra 357 many years ago and have always regretted it.
 
All of this has gotten me to sort out my stuff. I've had little time or interest lately. Kinda wished I had bought some 9mm the few times, I told myself I would do it and didn't get around to it. Oh well, not critical shortage but still less than I would like to have on hand. Enough for serious practice, but no fun mag dumps for awhile. This will be a good time to work on my basic skills with my SR22. Have plenty of .22LR on hand.

It would be way cool to have one or two of these on hand...

Hornady-Frontier-Ammo-Line-770.jpg
 
First let me say that to the above poster for posting up ammo prices - well done sir!
I think it's good to keep in mind what we WERE paying so when ammo comes up you dont just jump on it and overspend.

Not directly related, but I checked Outdoors Limited today
NO 223/556
VERY little 9mm, like two kinds of self defense ammo, that was it

Outdoors limited had Wolf/Tul 223 for almost 4 bucks for a box of 20
I bought a few boxes at the gun show the other week for 5 a box. Yeah, a dollar more a box, but saves me a trip to high point etc
Now Im seeing gun shops selling the same steel cased ammo for $8+...and people are eating it up. Wild.

As I told my friend earlier - this is why Im always buying a little here and there. I never buy huge amounts at once, maybe 100 rounds a month max, but it adds up over time so that when this nonsense starts Im not freaking out
 
Just a few weeks ago Mini Mags 40 grain were $299.00 for 5000 at Target Sports USA. Now $399.50. I looked at Gold Dot LE 124 grain Hp's last week at $34.00 per 50 and now they are $39.99 per box. Both are out of stock by the way. Looks like most of the online sites I looked at are out of stock on most 22 brands.
 
Jeppo said:
Until recently, it took something around the following to motivate me to buy in quantity:

9mm ball - 15 to 16 cents
9mm hp - 40 cents
45 ball - 20 cents
45 hp - 40 cents
38Sp ball - 24 cents or less
22lr - under 4 cents
Click to expand...

This is a great point of reference but also remember that @Jeppo is referencing prices that would prompt him to buy in bulk. Most of these are below the cost of walk in and pick it up off the shelf prices even at retailers like Outdoor limited. I think some of the prices are bit low if we are talking about brass cased ammo.

For example I have not seen a lot of $.20 45 ACP ball outside of the Walmart blowout or the Federal Black Box deal at Christmas. 45 ACP ball has been consistently near $.30 OTD tax, shipping etc.... for a while. A quick search of Gun.deals is a good snap shot of the market over the last 90 days. IMHO You can look back at a lot of common calibers and get a feel for the the market was pre-panic.

https://gun.deals/category/ammo?caliber=4

I would add maybe $.02 or $.10 to Jeppo's pricing for the avg off the shelf cost all in with shipping taxes etc...

9mm ball - $.16 to $.19
9mm hp - $.50
45 ball - $.27- $.30
45 hp - $.50 -$.60
38Sp ball - $.29-$.33
22lr - Don't shoot it so I don't buy it bu still have about 5,000 rounds floating around.

For reference I would say 223/556 was in the $.27-$.30 range.
 
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@wvsig is right about the prices I posted.

Over the past few years, I would buy bulk quantities whenever I saw prices that seemed crazy low. There were rebates available on ammo and I took advantage of them, including the Federal Black Box last December. As I was buying in bulk, it was pretty rare for me to buy single boxes at OL or elsewhere.

All those prices were for brass and were “all in” to my door. I haven’t bought any steel or aluminum in years since the difference in price wasn’t significant. Those prices don’t consider the WalMart blowout which was not crazy low but stupidly cheap. ;)
 
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Jeppo said:
@wvsig is right about the prices I posted.

Over the past few years, I would buy bulk quantities whenever I saw prices that seemed crazy low. There were rebates available on ammo and I took advantage of them, including the Federal Black Box last December. As I was buying in bulk, it was pretty rare for me to buy single boxes at OL or elsewhere.

All those prices were for brass. I haven’t bought any steel or aluminum in years since the difference in price wasn’t significant. Those prices don’t consider the WalMart blowout which was not crazy low but stupidly cheap. ;)
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You and me both brother. In the past year it has been so low I stopped reloading. Kept my supplies and shot more factory stuff. That may change in the near future but if the panic dies down it will be interesting how long it takes to get back to pre panic prices. IF it ever does.
 
FWIW...PSA posted this today as part of a bigger “current status” type post on AR15:

AMMO: Our reputation is built on our ability to provide you with quality products at competitive prices.

You have an expectation of great quality and better pricing when you shop with us, and we know that.

The current state of the country has been hard on all of us, and it has certainly placed a strain on supply chains around the world - specifically on ammunition.

Ammo is now carrying a price tag for us that is higher than what we sold it to you for just a week ago.

Our cost to acquire ammo is up overall. Unfortunately, we have lost the ability to negotiate with suppliers due to the current demand. Typically we could use our size and buying power to negotiate pricing and terms that are passed on to the consumer. As demand increases our negotiation strength decreases. Our prices rise and when that happens, we have to pass it on.

Every round of ammunition that was in inventory (purchased under our specially negotiated programs prior to this event) is gone.

What you see for sale now is brand new inventory that we've had to purchase at much higher prices.

One specific example from a quote we received today: normally we can buy a 50 round box of a particular ammo for $7.50 and sell it to you for about $8.99. Today, we were quoted $11.50 for that same box. A four dollar (~50%) increase in cost. For our margins to stay the same, so that we can stay in business, our price on that box would now need be about $13.50.

That's not what you expect from us, and we understand that. But that's what the market, the news and the public demand has given us at this time.
 
BigWaylon said:
FWIW...PSA posted this today as part of a bigger “current status” type post on AR15:

AMMO: Our reputation is built on our ability to provide you with quality products at competitive prices.

You have an expectation of great quality and better pricing when you shop with us, and we know that.

The current state of the country has been hard on all of us, and it has certainly placed a strain on supply chains around the world - specifically on ammunition.

Ammo is now carrying a price tag for us that is higher than what we sold it to you for just a week ago.

Our cost to acquire ammo is up overall. Unfortunately, we have lost the ability to negotiate with suppliers due to the current demand. Typically we could use our size and buying power to negotiate pricing and terms that are passed on to the consumer. As demand increases our negotiation strength decreases. Our prices rise and when that happens, we have to pass it on.

Every round of ammunition that was in inventory (purchased under our specially negotiated programs prior to this event) is gone.

What you see for sale now is brand new inventory that we've had to purchase at much higher prices.

One specific example from a quote we received today: normally we can buy a 50 round box of a particular ammo for $7.50 and sell it to you for about $8.99. Today, we were quoted $11.50 for that same box. A four dollar (~50%) increase in cost. For our margins to stay the same, so that we can stay in business, our price on that box would now need be about $13.50.

That's not what you expect from us, and we understand that. But that's what the market, the news and the public demand has given us at this time.
Click to expand...

Sounds like we have a new normal.
 
wvsig said:
Sounds like we have a new normal.
Click to expand...


Until demand falls again. After the surge of 2013, we saw ammo prices return to normal, though it took a while. Then they fell more. Then Trump got elected and they fell more - to historically low prices, adjusted for inflation. If Trump gets reelected and the House and Senate are held by Republicans, I could see all that happening again. Anyone's guess, at this point.
 
BigWaylon said:
FWIW...PSA posted this today as part of a bigger “current status” type post on AR15:

AMMO: Our reputation is built on our ability to provide you with quality products at competitive prices.

You have an expectation of great quality and better pricing when you shop with us, and we know that.

The current state of the country has been hard on all of us, and it has certainly placed a strain on supply chains around the world - specifically on ammunition.

Ammo is now carrying a price tag for us that is higher than what we sold it to you for just a week ago.

Our cost to acquire ammo is up overall. Unfortunately, we have lost the ability to negotiate with suppliers due to the current demand. Typically we could use our size and buying power to negotiate pricing and terms that are passed on to the consumer. As demand increases our negotiation strength decreases. Our prices rise and when that happens, we have to pass it on.

Every round of ammunition that was in inventory (purchased under our specially negotiated programs prior to this event) is gone.

What you see for sale now is brand new inventory that we've had to purchase at much higher prices.

One specific example from a quote we received today: normally we can buy a 50 round box of a particular ammo for $7.50 and sell it to you for about $8.99. Today, we were quoted $11.50 for that same box. A four dollar (~50%) increase in cost. For our margins to stay the same, so that we can stay in business, our price on that box would now need be about $13.50.

That's not what you expect from us, and we understand that. But that's what the market, the news and the public demand has given us at this time.
Click to expand...

I appreciate the fact that they're being up front about all of it instead of just jacking the prices up with no explanation.
 
Prices will go well into the rest of the year, if not half of next year. If you can find primers, you best get them.
 
Butter said:
Prices will go well into the rest of the year, if not half of next year. If you can find primers, you best get them.
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Yep. Components will be no different than factory ammo. Short ammo supply forces more reloading. They both take supplies to make a unit. Manufacturers have envisioned a time like this for 4 years.
 
I just checked prices on Aguila 22LR for a ammo I bought 6 months ago. I paid $240 shipped cost. It’s now $790 with shipping on the 5000 count. From 4.8 cent total cost to 15.8 cent per round. That’s moving the bar on pricing.
 
BlackGun said:
I just checked prices on Aguila 22LR for a ammo I bought 6 months ago. I paid $240 shipped cost. It’s now $790 with shipping on the 5000 count. From 4.8 cent total cost to 15.8 cent per round. That’s moving the bar on pricing.
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Where?

I looked quickly at TS USA just for to see what they had. What they have is a bit higher than normal, but nothing like that.
It would also probably take about a month to get it. I almost bit on some Federal Premium HV Match 40grn LRN for 6 cents per, delivered.
 
TripleO7 said:
Where?

I looked quickly at TS USA just for to see what they had. What they have is a bit higher than normal, but nothing like that.
It would also probably take about a month to get it. I almost bit on some Federal Premium HV Match 40grn LRN for 6 cents per, delivered.
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Yowser!
 
TripleO7 said:
Where?

I looked quickly at TS USA just for to see what they had. What they have is a bit higher than normal, but nothing like that.
It would also probably take about a month to get it. I almost bit on some Federal Premium HV Match 40grn LRN for 6 cents per, delivered.
Click to expand...
UNAmmo.com out of Arizona. I’ve bought in the past two 5000 round orders. But on another note they had my favorite 9mm ammo at a higher price but nothing even close to that.
 
got some 7.62x39 tulammo for 23.8cents a round today from armslist

a bit less than the cheapest i could find on ammoseek.com w no tax or shipping.

i think i’m done buying ammo for now....
 
Another day, another dollar. o_O

D26E71B1-DED0-4D1C-9A4D-212CC553B27E.jpeg
 
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