Ammo Price Sanity Check

[06dilly]

So with Ammo prices starting to come off of their highs, I'm having a hard time remembering what used to be normal. I think they call it being gaslighted or something like that. Losing perspective is what I call it. Here is what I recall when things were on sale:

9mm target practice quality, Blazer Brass for example, used to be $8.99 for 50 ($0.18/round)
9mm hollow point, Hornady Critical for example, used to be $20 for 20 ($1.00/round)
45 ACP target practice quality, Remington green box maybe, used to be $15.00 for 50 ($0.30/round)
CCI Standard 22 was $4.99 full price and $3.99 on sale ($.08-.10/round) and Mini-mags were about $0.10/round)
Most bulk 500 round boxes of 22 ammo went from $16.99 to $19.99 ($.04/round)

I ask because I'm losing perspective. As target 9mm ammo soared to $1.00/round+ and now is coming back to $.35 to 0.50/round, I'm feeing like things are back... then I remember what I think I used to pay and I'm still feeling I should not get too excited.

So 1) is my memory right on what prices were not that long ago and 2) do we think we will ever get close to those levels again?

If it's all about supply and demand then prices will settle back down one day but if the cost of raw materials has increased or demand never looks to be met... maybe I should buy a box or two.

Thanks,
TomD

 

[Snake45]

CCI Standard 22 was $4.99 full price and $3.99 on sale ($.08-.10/round) and Mini-mags were about $0.10/round)
Most bulk 500 round boxes of 22 ammo went from $16.99 to $19.99 ($.04/round)

TomD

When I was stocking up on .22LR, the Mini-Mags were $6/hundred, and the bulk packs ran from $8.99 up to about $11.99/500 or 550, at which point I decided I had enough and stopped buying. And yes, that was in this century. :wink:

 

[Busterswoodshop]

It's just like when gas goes up.
It will go up .50 cents a gallon and then when it comes down .10 cents everyone gets happy.
The problem is that it never gets back to where it was before it went up , but people don't seem to see that.

 

[bobski]

when 12 and 20ga comes back down to 4.99 a box, I will stock up.

 

[Kevin]

06dilly:

I think you are right about the former price of bulk 22’s. But I remember 9mm being more than $8.99/50. I remember the. Being $14.99 for 50. That was the Winchester white box practice ammo. I never shot blazer, didn’t they have steel cased ammo? I distinctly remember buying a bulk 250 box for $69.99 of Winchester white box 9mm at Bass Pro Shop.

 

[hittman]

Blazer makes both steel and brass cased ammo in 9mm.

Around here we bought WWB or Blazer brass cased 9mm in the $9 range on sale or in the $12 to $14 for “regular” price. I doubt it’ll hit that low again but hope it’ll get to under $20.

I’ve not had to buy 22LR for a long time so can’t gauge that here.

 

[mr surveyor]

Blazer made/makes aluminum cased ammo .... never saw steel


jd

 

[06dilly]

Just found a way to explore my gmail archives. March 7, 2020 (pre-panic and not that long ago) in an Ammoland email was this posting for Brownells:

Daily Ammo Deal 1000 Rounds CCI Blazer Brass 9mm Ammo 115Gr $175.03 FREE S&H $0.175ea

Today's price at Brownells shows as $424.99 and "Alert me when available". Ok, I'm not losing my mind. $0.425/round is still vastly inflated. I get it, Supply and Demand...

Feeling sick about the state of the USA but feeling better about my memory cells!

TomD

 

[Mobuck]

I noticed one of the internet ammo sellers has a supply of the ammo my PDW likes but it's $250/500 rounds and I'm just not going to pay that much. I bought a case when it was 15-20 cents/round and not shooting it much right now. Hoping the folks who got caught short slow down and the prices respond. Maybe when cold weather shuts down the 'run & gun' crowd.

 

[vito]

It doesn't seem too long ago that I was buying a 500 round "brick" of 22LR for about $10, or $0.02/round. Those days will NEVER return. Not to long ago, just being excited that Midway had 9mm ammo again, I bought two boxes for $35/box. I didn't even notice that they were not boxes of 50, but of 25, which means I paid $1.40 a round for target practice 9mm.

 

[nekvermont]

On 3-9-2020 I could get Wolf Gold .223 for $289.50 per thousand. And Blazer Brass 115 grain or 124 grain 9mm for $189.80 per thousand. I also have written down that CCI .22 mini mag 36 grain plated HP was $299 for 5000 rounds. I don't think I will ever see it that low again.

 

[kramden]

IMO the prices are still too high.

 

[bobski]

just hold out longer and we win.
end of year inventory clearance is coming.

 

[Johnnu2]

DON'T BUY............

I'll say it over and over....... WE control the prices; it's called supply and demand. If we don't buy, they gotta sell their stash somehow.... That somehow is to convince us to stop golfing, playing tennis or just watching TV all day, and start shooting our guns again. I'm a stubborn old man and will quit shooting before I will pay 'their' prices.

IMHO (again),
J.

 

[bisleyfan41]

Just to go even further, if you remember back in Nov/Dec 2019, Walmart decided it wasn't going to carry handgun or evil rifle ammo anymore. They priced all that ammo at closeout levels to get rid of it. As my job on the road allowed me to stop at multiple WMs everyday, I received permission from SWMBO to raid the bank account so I could buy as much as I could find. And I did. Big-time.

Examples included:

Fed 115 gr 9mm Blazer brass case. $4.50/50. This was priced the same as aluminum cased, so I bought brass. Oddly, the bulk packs were not cheaper per round either. So 9cpr 9mm!

Blazer aluminum 45acp $30/200 pack. This was cheaper than brass, so I got aluminum. So 15cpr 45acp!

Rem 38sp 125gr SJHP 100ct bulk pack. $15/100. So 15cpr 38 special!

Rem 357 125gr SJHP 100ct Bulk pack. $25/100. So 25cpr. 357!

Fed 55gr. .223 brass $30/200 bulk pack. So that's 15cpr brass 223.

I checked a total of 12 different stores, half of them one day, the other half the next and bought any and all that I could find. Not knowing what was coming a few months from then, just knowing WM ammo was always cheaper than anywhere else. And especially so on closeout. I spent more than I even want to admit, but I'm good on ammo for quite awhile. By it cheap when it's cheap, even if you don't "need" it.

For comparison, during the height of the chaos last year, cheap 22lr bulk was selling for 25cpr.

 

[chm270]

Wait until:
1) The Russian ammo dries up, as no more can be imported ( heard that it is about 1/3 of what we use), or
2) A new law says you have to pass a background check to buy it or
3) Your guess here.....
Just my opinion...

 

[ProfessorWes]

Well, my local Wally World finally had (some) ammo in stock today, when I made the rounds of the local stores for my weekly grocery/necessities shopping. About a half-dozen 300-round bricks of Winchester Power Points.

For $40 each.

So much for sanity. Good grief, it was only a couple of years ago I was buying the plastic 100-round cases for $8 apiece. And fortunately did buy some at that price.

There's also a gun show this weekend, but I didn't bother with it. Not after seeing the last one back in July, where they had "deals" on ammo such as $1.50 per round (!) for .410 gauge #6s . . . :roll: :lol:

 

[bobski]

they are treating all of us like starving men, waving a steak in front of us, and will give it to us if we sell them our farms.

 

[Fox Mike]

Yesterday I checked the local Walmart and the ammo shelves were bare.

 

[jmol50]

I check my Walmart every Tuesday afternoon on my way to the gun club and I haven't seen ammo available in a long while... unless you need 28ga target shells.