Ammunition sticker shock!!!

[Double D]

I know I posted somewhere about this already, but ammuntition is getting plain old expensive!!

I use just regular old Remington 180 grain 30-06 shells. Plain and simple, nothing fancy. I last bought a box 2 years ago, and I was sure the Gander Mountain price was 16.99. In October of this year I was by a Gander store again, thought maybe I would grab an extra box, at that time they were 19.99. I thought well, they finally made a dollar a shot. Didn't buy them that day for whatever reason.

I was in Mills Fleet Farm Monday, the price for the same load was 21.99, but Remington was offering a $5 rebate to the end of the year. I knew I would be going to Gander again today so I grabbed the rebate slip and thought I would save 2 bucks. I stroll back to the ammo in Gander Mountain and about had a heart attack: up to 29.99. I thought I was misreading the sign so I had them price check it, yep, 29.99, the guy checking the price said they had a lot of price checks lately and ALL of their ammunition has gone up in the last couple weeks.

Anybody seeing the same thing anywhere else?

DD

[kr8r.tom]

the excuse i keep hearing is everything is going over to iraq and driving the prices up here. guess i could fall for that one but if the troops come home tomorrow bet the price won't follow.

[Tom7227]

I didn't know they used #8 AA's in Iraq. $8.59 a box today.

[carpshooterdeluxe]

the excuse i keep hearing is everything is going over to iraq and driving the prices up here. guess i could fall for that one but if the troops come home tomorrow bet the price won't follow.

that hasnt been the case for almost 2 years now, and it was pretty much limited to 5.56 and 7.62 nato rounds. for a time, the big ammo companies were producing a huge run of military contract stuff, and combined with companies holding the impending price increases over our heads, there was a lot of ammo hoarding going on, driving prices up even further. now its just plain raw materials costs; the input prices (lead, steel, brass, etc) were all way up. i noticed copper prices have dropped almost 2.50 a pound, so maybe next year there will be a price adjustment back down once the manufacturers start contracting cheaper raw materials again. im not going to put much hope into that though.

[gonefishin11]

The price of raw material has been dropping with everything else, as of late. With anything like this, a price increase in raw creates an immediate price increase for the consumer. A price decrease in raw and the consumer sees that decrease a few months later, its companies making money.

At least we are saving money on gas this year.

Just my thoughts...

[Mark Christianson]

Glad I dont shoot trap any more.

Man, 3-4 rounds a night with trap fees and shells. Wow!

About as bad as a round of golf!

[mrklean]

yea i changed guns this year for deer hunting because of ammo prices, might have to start reloading

[pinkfloyd4ever]

I glanced at prices for shells for a 30-06 this past weekend too. $27 and up at Reed's. Crazy, as cheap as I am makes me not even want to pull the trigger

[The_King48]

Here is a question for you all.... I debate this with the guys I deer hunt with. Will a box of shells sitting for a year or two, heck even five years, will not "work" anymore? I would think they would be fine as long as kept dry.

[huntingislife]

They will be fine. The worst that could happen would be some surface corrosion years down the line.

[Dave S]

The initial cost is a lot higher, but one thing that some, not all hunters, should do to change their cost is to choose their shots. In the pefect world, which isn't always the case, it should only take one shot.

This is a rule that I live by now to help reduce my cost. Also, as mentioned in an earlier post, with the price of gas coming down dramatically, I can afford to spend a little more on a higher quality ammo.

Now that even low cost regions like China are feeling the effects of the globabl economy, they're not using the raw materials they once were. If we don't see an explosion of high competition in areas of manufacturing as well as other influences on the economy, the ammo prices should see a reduction by next year.

[vister]

think about it, reloading ammo is by far the cheaper route. once you have invested 100's into the equipment. seems only feasible that it would be worth it if u are doing it strictly as a hobby, or if you shoot a lot. ammo prices have been driven up because the price of brass is sky high. notice the huge price jump in rifle ammo vs. shotgun ammo. the only difference is rifle has way more brass.

[lenny7]

As far as hunting ammo goes, I never shoot enough of it for the cost to make a difference. If I figure out how much I spend on gas, lodging, food, etc, an extra $10-$15 for a box of 20 just doesn't matter to me. I should probably shoot my deer rifle more than I do, but based on my results of never having taken more than one shot to kill a deer, I'd say my accuracy has not suffered.

What kills me is when I shoot up 300+ rounds of .40 S&W in one range session!

Ammo will last a LONG time. I'm shooting military surplus ammo from the '60's in my Garand.

[FishingWebGuy]

There's been a big run on ammunition and firearms since October due to the election. A fried of mine in Alaska sent $1,600 to his brother here to buy ammo because the stores around him have been sold out.

Whether there are new taxes put on ammo in the coming years or not, the stockpiling going on now is probably driving prices.

I was at Cabella's in Rogers the other day and the guy working the gun library told me they had been selling about 1 AR style weapon a day for the last couple weeks.

I generally keep 6 months worth of sporting clay loads on hand when I see a good price. I'm pretty confident no ammo will be cheaper in the future than it is now due to raw materials, taxes, or both.

[Double D]

UPDATE!!!

One place I usually don't pay much attention to is Runnings stores. There are a bunch out in Greater MN but none in the metro area, as they are pretty much a farm store first.

I was in there today and happened to look at their ammunition, they had the exact ones I was talking about: $16.99!! I think they have been this price for several years because they don't sell that many. They must not have raised the prices yet on shotgun ammo either because they were pretty low.

I guess you just have to keep on looking and take a deal when you can.

DD

[paul pachowicz]

I really don't follow factory loads much but, after reading the comments I decided I might just look around. Schells, Wal-Mart & Cabela's have 30-.06 & .270 150 grain core-lokts for 16.99. Then I got to lookin at what I call the exotics. Holy-moly!!!!! I reload. I can get approximately 135 rounds of .270 & 06 from a pound of powder. So, that equates to about o.oo for brass, .01 for primers and about 11.5 cents for powder per round. These components were bought a few years ago at lower prices. I still use my RCBS Rock Chucker and accessories that came with the kit in 1983. For you young guys, think about reloading. The equipment is warranted for life and over time it'll pay for itself.

[looneyducer]

I really don't follow factory loads much but, after reading the comments I decided I might just look around. Schells, Wal-Mart & Cabela's have 30-.06 & .270 150 grain core-lokts for 16.99. Then I got to lookin at what I call the exotics. Holy-moly!!!!! I reload. I can get approximately 135 rounds of .270 & 06 from a pound of powder. So, that equates to about o.oo for brass, .01 for primers and about 11.5 cents for powder per round. These components were bought a few years ago at lower prices. I still use my RCBS Rock Chucker and accessories that came with the kit in 1983. For you young guys, think about reloading. The equipment is warranted for life and over time it'll pay for itself.

I've been doing the same math, and I've decided to call it 50 cents a round. Good bullets are around a quarter, after all, and brass doesn't last forever -- that and it seemed like a nice number. Still, that's 30 cents off the cheap stuff and $1.30 under a comparable load, per shot!

[picksbigwagon]

Paul and Looney, I started reloading last year and I think I reload my 223 rounds for 27 cents a piece with 55gr. or 60 gr. vmax and the 243 and 308 rounds are soemthing like 32 cents a round. My handgun loads (45 acp, and 10MM) is where I see the greatest savings, and I don't load lead bullets.

I started a post that goes over the very basics of reloading, read here if you are interested in starting up. Once you get started and your buddies catch wind of it, you will keep yourself busy and I personally like the challenge to try and get that super accurate load......

http://www.fishingminnesota.com/forum/ub...rid#Post1578461

[paul pachowicz]

ooooops...I did forget to add the cost of bullets to that cost per round. Years ago I picked up 06 and 270 Sierra bullets on sale for 12.00 a box per 100. So that adds .12 to factor in. As far as brass is concerned, a guy can pick up brass from guys who don't reload. One thing about reloading is a person becomes more aware of what goes on ballistically, internal and external. One thing that I will NOT do is reload for someone else. However, I have let guys do thier own with my set up after they read the manuals, buy thier own dies and with me looking over thier shoulder. It don't take too long before they start looking getting thier stuff.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

Here is a question for you all.... I debate this with the guys I deer hunt with. Will a box of shells sitting for a year or two, heck even five years, will not "work" anymore? I would think they would be fine as long as kept dry.

continuing on my cheapness, I have shells from my grandpa and uncle that date well back into the 70's, they fire just fine. I almost wonder if there is any sort of market for old box shells, I have more than I'd ever shoot through

[looneyducer]

My math actually came out to .39. Like I said, 50 cents.

While $7.80 a box is cheaper than $10.00, it doesn't have that "ten bucks" ring to it, and then again there is just something about roasting a 'yote for four bits.

[paul pachowicz]

Picks, I looked at that link you posted. Looks like you sure took some time to put that together. Quite comprehensive, I'd say. Nice lookin set up ya got there. I've got my set up in a room that I built in my barn. Like you, I don't get in no hurry when I'm re-loading. You are right....workin a load can become obsessive. How do YOU determine your bullet seating depth/lenght. I use a wooden dowel.

[picksbigwagon]

I measured the commercial round that was shooting the best and it was 2.250" increased them in length until I got just a small amt of marking after chambering. Not scientific I know. I need to get a chamber guage.....I think it will help a lot with the 243 rounds......

[paul pachowicz]

Picks....lemme try to explain how I do it. I take a bullet and gently put it in the chamber to where it is touching the lands. Then I take a wooden dowel and run it in the muzzle til it touchs the bullet. I then mark the dowel with a very sharp pencil. Then I'll start setting a dummy round in the bullet seater, longer then factory over all lenght. I then put the dowel back down the muzzle until that pencil marks just moves inward ever so slightly and the dummy chambers easily. I'm not a fan of "free-boring" so my round is still touching the lands with absolute minimal contact. I do chamber every round I load. Once I have that depth I do not use that bullet seater for anything else. Ya know, maybe there should be an exclusive forum topic for reloading.

[picksbigwagon]

I know there are gauges out there for measuring chambers, and I have yet to get one. I think if more people start reloading, there will be more and more questions asked about it. There are a number of members who reload. I am a 1 year veteran of reloading, I know squat when it comes to this topic...........