Ammo prices

gimruis

gimruis

Well-known member
Has anyone noticed the significant increase in ammunition prices? I don't go through a lot of ammo but its getting to be a little ridiculous. $30/box for pheasant ammo? $50/box for 20 rifle rounds? Even a trip to the sporting clay course turns into a steep adventure.

I'm not trying to make this political. Maybe raw supplies and labor costs have simply gone up to the point where this is going to be the accepted price. Thoughts?
 
Compared to when? I feel like ammo price has always been a big topic and it's never about a drop in cost. Which makes me suspect that ammo keeps up with inflation, but no ones wages does. I mean 2 years ago we had 9% inflation which is a ton. And then there's the issue of seasonally. Massive buying of hunting rounds during hunting season, and target rounds during spring/summer. Manufactures seem to keep up on that but obviously don't always match demand.

I keep price watchers out for specific ammo and it's crazy the drop in price you can get by waiting. Easily 40-60% cheaper and then buy in bulk.
 
I just bought a case of trap loads from Rogers. Lowest price they had was $99. Sans tax that's already $10 a box, plus $14.50 per round of trap. Nuts for cheap trap loads, and nuts that a round now costs $25. For hunting rounds, I honestly don't really pay much attention to what they cost, as nothing will deter me from going hunting. Between grouse/woodcock, a few duck hunts, and pheasants, I am probably in about $200 a year. About 12 years ago I got a few hundred rounds of factory seconds .270 from someone who worked at the Federal plant in MN. I am down to my last box or so, but for 3 shots per year on deer it will last a bit yet.

I guess the one upside is you can actually find a selection on the shelves these days.
 
I bought several flats of AA’s in 2005 for $5.50. I noticed they had jumped to $7.50 at Academy then and bought several more at Walmart before they raised their price , and they did.

$5.50 in an inflation calculator is $8.65
$7.50 in an inflation calculator is $11.79

I noticed the other day AA’s had dropped from $12.50 to $10.90 at Walmart.

Lead right now is $2034/ton. In 2005 it was $998/ton

Copper is $3.85/lb now. In 2005 it was $1.41/lb

Oil is currently about a wash.

Minimum wage (federal) was $5.15. Is now $7.25 but many states it’s double that now. Or more. I know personally I make substantially more than I did in 2005, but I was fresh out of school then.

My point, inflation touches every thing in our ammo. Just like everything else.
 
Ammo is inflating like everything else we buy now.

The problem is wages are pretty stagnant. Especially for those of us retired/on a fixed income.

I don’t see it changing any time soon. So now I just shoot my 28 for trap and skeet. I can reload 16 boxes of 28 clay loads for $120, a bit over $7 a box. My range charges $7/round for us RSOs. So $15 all in.

I use Winchester SuperX 5s in 28 for hunting. I can usually find those around $15 a box or so. Kinda affordable.

You do what you gotta do to make it work.

(Yes, Goose, I have 12s and 20s too. I don’t reload for those. Lots of ammo on the shelves for those from years gone by. But that 28 hammered some pheasants this year and such an easy carry.)
 
Chestle said:
(Yes, Goose, I have 12s and 20s too. I don’t reload for those. Lots of ammo on the shelves for those from years gone by. But that 28 hammered some pheasants this year and such an easy carry.)
Click to expand...
Shhhhhhhh🤫 don't bring up the 28 around Goose! He's already crippled half the roosters in Montana with that little Italian 28 he tried to figure out this fall😦.
 
I spend much more on gas on a trip than ammo…glad it’s under $3…I do about 1000-1100 miles per trip, about 70-75 gallons, or $200 currently….ammo is probably $40 or less per trip…maybe a lot less. I’m shooting $15/box shells at most…my trip that ended 12/16 was $30-$40 of shells…this trip may not be $15 worth! I’ll take gas at $2.69 or whatever I filled up for today here in SD…hope it stays under $3.50, I consider that a bargain knowing where it’s been on and off over the past 15 years.
 
Last edited:
My gun club sells "range cards" to members, wherein for $50 you buy a 10 round card for skeet or trap. A good deal in these inflationary times, and yearly dues are only $45/year. I can usually buy shot from a couple different sources for $40-45 per 25# bag. Cheddite primers cost about $65 the last time I bought them. In my area WalMart now sells most AA's (in 12 and 20 gauge) for $10.98/box which is high but I need the hulls for reloading. I can occasionally find 12's and 20 gauge loaded shells for $8.00-8.99 at Rural King. Years ago in an uncharacteristic flash of foresight I bought several boxes of decent steel/nontoxic loads (Blindside, Black Cloud, Boss) so for the moment I'm ok there---plus, if I don't start actually seeing some waterfowl, I won't need it anyway. As others point out, at least we're now seeing stuff on the shelves.
 
cheesy said:
Lead right now is $2034/ton. In 2005 it was $998/ton

Copper is $3.85/lb now. In 2005 it was $1.41/lb
Click to expand...
Ya that pretty much sums it up in terms of raw commodity price to make ammo.

Inflation right now is 3.1% but I doubt ammo will ever come back down again like gasoline does.
 
Check out this image of the old Winchester Duck and Pheasant loads. These sold for $5.90 in 1989.

These shells were considered bargain basement ammunition at the time. Back then, I could barely afford to purchase a few boxes at the end of each season.

$5.90 in 1989 calculates as over $15.00 today.

As much as everyone wants to complain about prices, I am in a much better position financially today than I was in 1989.

BTW: Now is the time to purchase your ammunition for next fall.
 

Attachments

  • 35721810653_6a2920e621_c.jpg
    35721810653_6a2920e621_c.jpg
    81.3 KB · Views: 10
John Singer said:
Check out this image of the old Winchester Duck and Pheasant loads. These sold for $5.90 in 1989.

These shells were considered bargain basement ammunition at the time. Back then, I could barely afford to purchase a few boxes at the end of each season.

$5.90 in 1989 calculates as over $15.00 today.

As much as everyone wants to complain about prices, I am in a much better position financially today than I was in 1989.

BTW: Now is the time to purchase your ammunition for next fall.
Click to expand...
Great point. I find that April through June is usually when I find my best ammo deals on hunting shells. Always got my eyes open and watching.
 
Until 2019 or 2020, my go-to pheasant load was the Cabela’s/Herters 12 gauge 2 3/4” 1 1/4 oz lead #5 @1200 fps…by the case, I was getting them for under $7/box…still have some. I would love to see that below $12/box…there are similar loads for that price…nothing necessarily special about the Herter’s load, except it showed up at my door,
 
Per ammoseek, there are several brands at $12/box of the ammo I described above….👍👍 Some are as high as 1330 fps if that matters…Cabela’s has a 4 pack of Winchester for $50…theirs is 1220 fps, I’m good with that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top