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I've got to rant a little! What's up with these ammo prices? Every time I go to buy some .223/5.56, the price has gone up another 20% or so. I realize that our troops in the sand box use a bunch of this stuff but I just can't buy into a real shortage of this ammo. I'm disgusted enough with the oil companies picking my pocket and now the ammo manufacturers are doing the same thing!

Blindpig wrote:I've got to rant a little! What's up with these ammo prices? Every time I go to buy some .223/5.56, the price has gone up another 20% or so. I realize that our troops in the sand box use a bunch of this stuff but I just can't buy into a real shortage of this ammo. I'm disgusted enough with the oil companies picking my pocket and now the ammo manufacturers are doing the same thing!

Have you noticed the prices on shotgun shells lately, especaill 28 gage and .410, almost double what the were 6 months ago.

bearandoldman wrote: Have you noticed the prices on shotgun shells lately, especaill 28 gage and .410, almost double what the were 6 months ago.

I've been out of the shotgun business for an number of years now so I haven't looked at shotshell prices lately but I'm not surprised they are on the increase also. When I used to shoot a lot of trap and skeet and do a lot of quail hunting, I reloaded nearly everything I shot. I may have to consider that for .223 if this keeps up. Either that or buy a .22 upper for my Smith & Wesson MP15A.

Blindpig wrote:

bearandoldman wrote: Have you noticed the prices on shotgun shells lately, especaill 28 gage and .410, almost double what the were 6 months ago.

I've been out of the shotgun business for an number of years now so I haven't looked at shotshell prices lately but I'm not surprised they are on the increase also. When I used to shoot a lot of trap and skeet and do a lot of quail hunting, I reloaded nearly everything I shot. I may have to consider that for .223 if this keeps up. Either that or buy a .22 upper for my Smith & Wesson MP15A.

lead shot is recently hovering around the 30 buck a25 bag area. 28 gage at Gander were over 12 bucks a box. 12 and 2 are 4 buck and that is about the cost of reloading them.

I may be partially mis-informed, but...
I understand that providing our troops with ammo
IS one aspect of this... however, the world-commodity-prices
are on the rise as India/China/etc expand their production
of various items... Copper, Brass, Lead...
it's not just the "bullets"... it's the raw-materials,
no matter what it is shaped into...

and for re-loaders... ya might want to get an extra 1000 Primers
(or 10,000; if you can afford them)... they are not only going up
in price.. but getting 'scarce'...

Toy, I expect you are correct about the world commodity prices driving much of the increase in ammo prices. I remember we had a thread a while back discussing the relative merits of reloading vs. buying off the shelf and you had some knowledgeable comments. What do you estimate the cost per reloaded round of .223 is at this time?

Blindpig wrote:Toy, I expect you are correct about the world commodity prices driving much of the increase in ammo prices. I remember we had a thread a while back discussing the relative merits of reloading vs. buying off the shelf and you had some knowledgeable comments. What do you estimate the cost per reloaded round of .223 is at this time?

My comments/estimate from early this year would withstand a modest
price increase... as I round-off, round-up and guesstimate ...
and buying a pound of powder at one store -vs- another a few weeks
apart does not change the decision...

However, a broader 'Rule-de-Thumb' is to use your Winchester-White-Box
price for .223 -or- 9mm and the Primer+Powder+Bullet, with no
allowance for time/equip or brass will be close...
IMHO: reloading is not for the plinker or bang-bang shooter...
If you are trying to develop a Hunting-load for your best rifle...
or some target-load to form tight-groups... then, go for-it...
but just to go to the range to shoot 100 rounds thru the AR
or Glock... just go buy the "bulk" ammo... or get some nice
bulk-reloads at a GunShow...

as for prices... I've not bought reload-stuff recently...
(I'm stocking up on .22LR)...

talk at the range this weekend was that Primers are getting
'Hard to Find'... hopefully, short-term supply-lines...

EDIT: then.. again...
there is MORE to be gained from ReLoading than just $0.0n / cartridge.

you can also load "lite loads" for various reasons...
**BE CAREFUL** to not go too lite... or the slug stays in the bore !!!

many aspects of the internal-ballistics and bolt/chamber mechanisms
are designed to work in a particular way... when your reloads don't
feed... you learn why.

... other numerous pro/con ideas...
but, IMO, I think we become a better-shooter when we learn to ReLoad,
much like a mechanic has an opportunity to be a better driver ...

Good info., Toy, as usual. If I ever retire, I think I may take up reloading as another hobby. Until then, I guess I'll just keep on looking for "bargains" on that AR fodder.

Athough this is just heresay, a source in the know says that Sierra is yet again raising prices by 7% to 9%.

Ripsaw

I went to the FtW,TX GunShow today (Sat 10 Mar)
and the ammo prices were not noticeably higher...
I got a few bricks of Aguila-40gr-SubSonic that my 39a likes...
at $15/brick... and bargained down a little-bit for several bricks.
and multiple ammo-vendors had Winchester Primers for ~$22/1000
and had Large&Small Rifle&Pistol by the sleeve ( ? 5000 ?) or box.