pre-crazy ammo prices

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Jrdolall7 said:
.Next week will go a long way to determniing how long prices stay inflated.
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Just keep in mind inflation is determined by three non-related components: 1) supply and demand, 2) government fiscal policy, 3) central bank monetary policy. Only #1 is market-dependent. Future inflation due to #2 has already been baked in by recent fiscal policy and any policy change due to next week's election will have no near term effect. Inflation due to #3 is independent of #2 and is maintained at a minimum average target rate determined by the central bank. Therefore the results of the election on inflation in the near term will only affect supply and demand insofar as producers and consumers react to those results.

If you skipped the long and boring story, the conclusion is: don't hold your breath waiting for prices to return to what they were a year ago. It ain't gonna happen.
 
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I remember my dad paying 4 bits for a box of 50 22 when I a mere yute in the 60s in Montana. He would hand me a box and remind me not to waste them.
 
Whenever I find myself mentally wandering down the "Gee, back-in-the-day these these only cost _____" I apply a little reality test by simply reminding myself that when I went off to school 50 years ago a weeks-worth of groceries for me cost less than $20 and every couple of weeks I would cash a $3 personal check down at Poe's for pocket change. Heck, in '72 could fill the fuel tank of my '69 MGB with "the good stuff" (top grade SUNOCO @ 33.9¢/gal) for 4 bucks. <chuckle> ;)

My apologies for the OT comments ... we now return to the scheduled program.
 
yeah, i was mostly interested in comparing prices to last year to understand how much prices have risen due to covid/unrest/election pressure. comparing prices to 50 years ago is interesting too though, and you can't do that without considering inflation.
 
I am curious as to what .223/5.56 went for earlier this year. I didn't start buying .223 til this summer and im curious on what I missed out on
 
Mars5l said:
I am curious as to what .223/5.56 went for earlier this year. I didn't start buying .223 til this summer and im curious on what I missed out on
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Depending on who you bought from you could get 1000rnds. for under $300 brass case and even less for steel case.
 
GBExpat said:
Now I am going to have to find my Inflation Calculator so that I can better understand the ~1¢/rd .22LR that we paid, buying by the box, as a kid thru most of the '60s. :)

I have a vague memory of buying ~$6-$7 500rd bricks in the mid'70s.
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I can remember paying 49-50 cents a box for .22LR in the late 60s, when I first got my gun. I also remember my BIL paying $7.00 for a brick at K-mart for all 3 of our guns, when we were taking a trip to the UP, around 1970. Don't know what the single box price was, but it had to be more than 70 cents then. In 1971 I was in a shooting club at school, and our instructor sold ammo, if you didn't have your own, at 90 cents a box. We always made sure we brought our own, as we thought that ridiculous.
 
True but the supply and demand portion of this equation is more based on panic than an actual "shortage". I live in the Southeast so gas supply gets hammered when we have a major hurricane coming to south Florida. Heaven forbid they mention an inch of snow in Alabama!!! Every hot dog bun and pint of milk will be gone in an hour..
Normal supply and demand issues(housing, cars, etc)ebb and flow as demand tries to reach an equilibrium.
"Panic" buying really can't be anticipated and that is what has driven the high prices on ammo for the past 6 months as well as after the Sandy Hook shooting. Every person with a gun suddenly realizes they don't have enough ammo so they all buy a box...or two...or 20. Panic begets more panic so the supply chain gets out of whack. Prices probably don't really go up much, if at all, on the manufacturing level but rather on the distribution level.
wiscoaster said:
Therefore the results of the election on inflation in the near term will only affect supply and demand insofar as producers and consumers react to those results.
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Gun owners tend to get antsy thinking about a Liberal President and Congress so I expect to see this "shortage" extend if Biden wins. Unfortunately, politics plays a huge roll in the demand for gun related items.
 
Terry's personal inflation/cost of living index has indicated a long-term about 8%+ per annum increasing number. I think the government's index is a bunch of BS. Their people ought to go out and buy a gallon of milk once a week.

For relevance --pre-crazy ammo prices:

Terry, 230RN

Edited to correct word order.
 

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230RN said:
... I think the government's index is a bunch of BS. Their people ought to go out and buy a gallon of milk once a week.
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Hah ... you're so right ... you should check out how the CPI is calculated. Food and energy are excluded from the BLS's core CPI index.
 
wiscoaster said:
If you skipped the long and boring story, the conclusion is: don't hold your breath waiting for prices to return to what they were a year ago. It ain't gonna happen
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It's a pendulum. Wait a while, production will catch up, people will get tired of the panic, and prices will moderate.

Literally just this past Christmas you could buy all the 22 you liked for 2 to 3 cents per round. People were on this and other forums telling folks not to waste their money on Tula 9mm 1000 round cases for $115 delivered. New AR could be had from Bear Creek and PSA for under $325 delivered (complete lower + complete upper with BCG and couple mags). Steel 223 & 762x39 both were under $90 per 500 with free shipping. Brass 556 black packs were $75 before the rebates. Wolf 6.5 Grendel was $120 per 500. Compare this with a few years prior. In 2012-2014 ammo was unobtanium and a mix-master AR would fetch a grand on sale.

Be patient, wait for the political ding-dong-y-ness to settle. We can visit this all again and laugh in a year (assuming the presidency and legislature don't change parties ;-) )
 
Mars5l said:
I am curious as to what .223/5.56 went for earlier this year. I didn't start buying .223 til this summer and im curious on what I missed out on
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AIM was selling Russian steel for just under $100 per 500, just under $150 for brass.

A little better when they had sales.
 
I've mentioned this before, but having broken supply chains for imported components is also a current factor. I haven't seen reports of panic buying of components and factory ammunition in Brazil & Czech Republic (Magtech + S&B), Russia (Wolf + Tula), Serbia (Prvi Partizan - who markets component primers in Europe as well as loaded ammunition), etc. Yet, for one example, Academy Sports and Outdoors has been consistently out of stock on Wolf primers for months. It would be naive to expect these companies to be unaware of the current US retail market for ammo & components and potential to make bank.
 
taliv said:
anyone know of a historical site that recorded ammo prices over time?

or remember specifically what 9mm 147g defense ammo was per round in 2019 or 2018? (e.g. Federal HST or Hornady custom or similar)
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Target Sports ran a sale on Federal HST for $19.99 in Jan. of 2017.
In July of 2019, Target Sports sold a Syntech / HST combination package of 100 rounds for $34. This basically made HST the same sales price as it was in 2017.
Mid 2018, I could buy Gold Dot 124g +P (50 rd. box) for $21. I see it online now for $65.
 
I was routinely buying 1000rd cases of tula and wolf 9mm for around $150+/-. I actually had to laugh out loud this evening, after my doctor appointment I decided to stroll over to the gun shop in that area, 50rd boxes of Tula 9mm steel case for only $36/50. My LGS has brass cased for $19/50 from time to time.

If I could stick to it, I would take weekly trips to the gun shop and buy two boxes every week for $19/ea. I dont like it but I can take it, I can take that better than running out and the minute my LGS goes to $36/50 I'm done shooting. Wont happen but if....... if I buy 100rds a week I should be able to build up a nice shooting stash since with work and school and winter I wont be shooting every week, or every month for that matter. I have about 1500 rounds of target ammo left, gonna have to conserve a lil.
 
DustyGmt said:
I was routinely buying 1000rd cases of tula and wolf 9mm for around $150+/-. I actually had to laugh out loud this evening, after my doctor appointment I decided to stroll over to the gun shop in that area, 50rd boxes of Tula 9mm steel case for only $36/50. My LGS has brass cased for $19/50 from time to time.

If I could stick to it, I would take weekly trips to the gun shop and buy two boxes every week for $19/ea. I dont like it but I can take it, I can take that better than running out and the minute my LGS goes to $36/50 I'm done shooting. Wont happen but if....... if I buy 100rds a week I should be able to build up a nice shooting stash since with work and school and winter I wont be shooting every week, or every month for that matter. I have about 1500 rounds of target ammo left, gonna have to conserve a lil.
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Academy allows 3 boxes (of each type of ammo) and the 9mm I just bought was $13.99/50 for Blazer
 
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Just looked at lucky gunner and man im seriously considering going to the gun show this weekend and selling a few boxs.
 
Hartkopf said:
In 2019 SGammo had 50 round boxes of Federal HST for $30. I think TargetSports might have run sales on the same 50 round boxes. GoldDots could also be had for $30 and $20 on sale.(also 50rnd).

Prices were the same for all grain weights from the online discount places.
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Yep, I paid about .80 pr.
 
I found a receipt for five (5) one hundred-round boxes of Winchester (white box) 115-grain FMJ 9mm I bought in (looks like, but receipt is severely faded) 2011 @ 10.88/box.

I have several 50-round boxes of 124-grain +P BJHP (bonded JHPs) Remington Golden Sabers with the price stickers on each of them saying $16.99 (probably about five years old).

An e-mail receipt from SGAmmo noting I paid $34.95 a box for several 50-round boxes of Federal HST 124-grain +P (which I consider the gold standard in 9mm JHPs) last year.
 
My dad said the hardest he'd seen someone work for pennies was when 2 boxes of 22 with tax wrnt above $1 and I was not willing to give my hard earned bottle refund money for the price increase, probably mid to late 60s, I was buying 12ga birdshot for $1 a box from the same Otasco hardware store.
 
Rural king has a 3 box limit but has plenty of magtech 115 gr fmj 9mm 11/50 or s&b 230 gr 45 acp fmj 16/50.
 
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