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ammo price's???

ridewotridewot Member Posts: 92 ✭✭
edited May 2009 in Ask the Experts
what happen nobody seems to be bidding? looks like prices getting to high[:)]

Comments

  • ridewotridewot Member Posts: 92 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    just brought some prvi partizan fmj 380 auto 94g 50 for 14.99$ is that a good price?
  • rufe-snowrufe-snow Member Posts: 18,649 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Hopefully the Nobama panic of 2009 is starting to abate. Either that or folks are getting fed up paying the lowlife bloodsuckers 300% more, then what stuff was going for last year. I gotten real fed up with going down to Wally world and not finding any bulk 22 ammo, then seeing buttholes at gun shows trying to sell it for $30 a box.
  • beantownshootahbeantownshootah Member Posts: 12,776 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I can't blame anyone for asking $30 a box for .22 ammo. Its a free market, and nobody is being forced to pay that. If you don't like the price, go buy somewhere else. In fact, if you think the price is so outrageous, go sell YOUR OWN supplies of .22 at $30 a box.

    In terms of shortages, my sense is that we've probably at or just past the worst of it right now.

    Military style semi-auto guns that had previously been flying off the shelves and were on back-order are just starting to show up in inventories again.

    Its probably because mostly everyone who might want one has bought one already, and also because it seems less and less likely that the Obama administration is going to be able to get away with another big Clinton-like gun ban.

    I've also noticed that 7.62x39 ammo (which was more or less unavailable 2 months ago) is starting to re-appear again.

    Small signs, I admit, but positive ones.

    I do NOT think that we're going to return to pre-Obama supply levels for at least 6 more months, but I do think things will gradually get better with general ammo availability increasing a bit over the next several months coming into 2010.

    I don't know if ammo prices will EVER go back to where they were just a year ago, and frankly, I doubt it.

    I also would continue to expect shortages in certain common calibers (especially .223, 9mm luger, .45ACP, etc) for a while yet. I think there is still some pent up demand there, and with more people than ever owning .223 caliber guns, the demand for .223 ammo is unprecedented.

    I'd also expect the backlog of shortages in AR-15 type parts to continue for quite a while as many people have hoarded unbuilt uppers to be built up in the future.
  • BeeramidBeeramid Member, Moderator Posts: 7,264 ******
    edited November -1
    It all depends on what happens in the political world in the coming years. With the ultra-slim chance they don't do anything, I can see ammo come down to more reasonable levels. Lots of folks who panic purchased (which I don't blame them for) will start to sell of some of their supplies, so one theory is that the market could potentially be flooded with ammo.

    FWIW - this seems like more of a general discussion topic.[;)]
  • stevecreastevecrea Member Posts: 486 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I have heard from reliable sources that many innovations in powder, bullets, and loading technologies are right around the corner. Further, production efficiences and very substantial drops in commodity prices will all serve to lower costs and prices. Accordingly, those who bought high will discover that they are holding expensive and obsolete product.
  • team roper ozzyteam roper ozzy Member Posts: 411 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    i quit buying anything..the way the job market is(aerospace) we are in a major glut and layoffs are rampant..from my gun buds ..i know that hitting on delivery days at wally world they seem to be boosting up inventory to a point but still sell it out in a few hours...been saving as much cash as i can..not for ammo but for the mortgage if needed....havent been to a gun show in a few months..tend not to buy much there anyway..due to non bargin nature of them
  • beantownshootahbeantownshootah Member Posts: 12,776 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by stevecrea
    I have heard from reliable sources that many innovations in powder, bullets, and loading technologies are right around the corner. Further, production efficiences and very substantial drops in commodity prices will all serve to lower costs and prices. Accordingly, those who bought high will discover that they are holding expensive and obsolete product.

    Which "reliable sources"? What exactly have you heard? I don't buy this at all.

    Even if some awesome new cartridge technology did come into existence tomorrow, that wouldn't make old ammunition obsolete, especially considering the massive number of guns in circulation that will accept conventional cartridges.

    I could imagine various future legal restrictions grandfathering older ammo, actually making it MORE valuable to shooters and collectors. In fact, if conventional cased ammo isn't manufactured anymore (because of some better ammo being invented) that would probably tend to make the older ammo MORE valuable, so long as there were a demand for it (which there would be, again, on account of the large number of guns in circulation in private hands that require it).

    In terms of prices, ammo is already made in gigantic lots for massive economy of scale, and the manufacturers already make rather slim margins on it. I really don't see further consolidation there as likely to significantly cut costs.

    Further, historically speaking ammo has actually been relatively cheap over the past few years. (Obviously not so much right now).

    Powder and primer cost is a relatively small part of the ammo cost. I could imagine a firearm design that didn't use primers (eg electric spark ignition), but given what a small fraction of the cost the primer represents compared to the retail cost of the ammo, this wouldn't really significantly reduce costs for the average shooter. (IE at most you're reducing costs by a few cents per round. . .and then only if your ignition system is cheaper. . .and reliable enough that people will want to make the switch).

    Its also not going to make people abandon time-tested and reliable conventional firearm designs wholesale.

    Projectiles by their nature need to made from a heavy substance, and the laws of chemistry being what they are, that means metal. You're not going to get much cheaper than lead there. You might be able to come up with some technologies to manufacture jacketed (or jacket-like) bullets cheaper than currently, but I doubt you're going to get cheaper than cast lead bullets.

    The only component that really *could* be made much cheaper are cases. We already have steel cased ammo, and everyone is familiar with its downsides. Caseless ammo is the "holy grail" but AFAIK, every such prototype had serious drawbacks. Polymer cased ammo has been tried, with varying levels of success, and *maybe* that has potential.

    But even so, its still not going to render conventional ammo worthless. At worst, it *might* drive down costs of common calibers where less expensive polymer cased ammo is readily available.

    Lastly on commodity costs, they've already fallen in price considerably compared to a year ago. That might be a factor in coming ammo prices, but to the extent that it is, its going to be difficult to predict and cyclical.

    My opinion is that in the medium-term (ie the next 2-4 years) likely coming inflation is going to cause massive spikes in commodity prices. That means ammo is probably going to go WAY up in cost, though the costs will be denominated in much weaker dollars. (IE EVERYTHING is going to go up in cost. . .with ammo being one form of an inflation-resistant hedge).

    I've actually been posting on this board over the last two years that ammo is a great investment. . .unfortunately, it looks like I've been right on that.
  • footlongfootlong Member Posts: 8,009
    edited November -1
    I am with you shooter. It was a long time between Flint and percussion. Both were available for decades . Then the change to cartridges. Dont see any Buck Rogers ray guns in the future. plain old ak 47 type stuff will be around for the next 50 years at least.
  • stevecreastevecrea Member Posts: 486 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Apparently, you have are not tuned in to the innovations in the ballistic coefficients of 22 bullets, new propellants that burn cleaner and more efficiently, and other research and development being conducted.

    This has the potential of obsoleting virtually all of the 22 ammo manufactured recently. The newer ammos will be superior in numerous ways, including accuracy, reliability, efficiency, velocity, consistency, and most importantly, price.
  • WaltherP-38WaltherP-38 Member Posts: 76 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    It's called supply/demand! Right now the demand is much higher than the supply.Even with manufactures working 24/7,the demand cannot be met.
  • SuaspontaSuasponta Member Posts: 41 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Sportsman Guide is the lowest price around that I can find for ammo. And if you can, I would suggest buying bulk.
  • He DogHe Dog Member Posts: 50,947 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by stevecrea
    Apparently, you have are not tuned in to the innovations in the ballistic coefficients of 22 bullets, new propellants that burn cleaner and more efficiently, and other research and development being conducted.

    This has the potential of obsoleting virtually all of the 22 ammo manufactured recently. The newer ammos will be superior in numerous ways, including accuracy, reliability, efficiency, velocity, consistency, and most importantly, price.


    I reckon my old obsolete ammo will still kill New Mexican deer and elk. It is backward here, they won't know about the all this new, better than sliced bread stuff for at least four or five years.
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