Ammo prices out of sight !!

[Zildjian]

I haven't shot IHMSA in a while since 2000. Been out of the game and really haven't had to buy any ammo. I've reloaded since the early 80"s . I was just looking at gun prices, got bored and went to the ammo section of Gunbrokers
.com. I could not believe what people were asking for 100 rds. of .357 mag.
ammo. $89.95 , $98.99 and I even saw $ 111.99 for 100 rds of .357 mag. H.P.'s. ...I really didn't know this stuff was going on. My friend
had asked me if I still kept up with ammo and powders and such and said no.
I still have enough for awhile and since I and my partner got out of shooting in IHMSA , ...There was no need for me to buy anything for awhile. Is it getting worse or will this monster stop ?

[Jeff H]

Prices should start coming down soon. One local gun shop just told me this weekend that they dropped the price of 9mm by $3/box earlier this month.

[Zildjian]

I never knew that this was going on. I guess I should be grateful I still have most of my stuff bagged and tagged for now. The only thing I shoot anymore is my .22 pistol and S.S. rifle. I guess one at a time will last me longer. I'm getting slower and slower. How much was the 9mm ?

[Christchild]

Loaded Ammo prices are insane these days. One thing I remember quite well, is that after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the prices of metals skyrocketed. That, combined with the November 4th 2008 election........:barf:

They're likely to come down after awhile, but the price of metals still are not good, keeping components higher priced. Also, as we speak, the U.S. is selling the Asian countries millions upon millions of tons of almost all metals. They're just buyin' it up. I've heard the Asian countries that are buying now, did the same thing quite a few decades ago, then shot it back at us....

[Zildjian]

I was wondering what the problem was and what was causing such a price hike. I was wanting to start getting rid of some some of my stuff but am now
wondering if I should keep it for my own defense purposes. I sometimes think
one day the government will take all our abilities to protect ourselves 1 day.
It could happen..

[Christchild]

I believe that the major jump in the price of ammo and ammo components, was largely due to the election. Panic-Buying. I spoke to a guy at Federal and Nosler and they both said the same thing. They were producing and shipping, but "Panic-Buying" after the election kept stocks down.

[Zildjian]

Ok. But wasn't there a similar incident back several years back where there
was also some kind of shortage ? I don't remember maybe late 90's or maybe earlier in 2000. I remember some what cause those that still were shooting , all started to buy more powder , primers , cases and such. I don't even remember what the reason was that point and time. But I remember buying
a lot of primers and more excess lead to cast , and some commercial stuff as well. I don't do much shooting now but am still well off with what I have hoarded for now.

[Sevens]

got bored and went to the ammo section of Gunbrokers
.com. I could not believe what people were asking for 100 rds. of .357 mag.
ammo. $89.95 , $98.99 and I even saw $ 111.99 for 100 rds of .357 mag. H.P.'s.

There is also the chance to you may be over reacting from bad info.
Gunbroker lists all kinds of stuff with all kinds of goofball prices but that doesn't represent the market necessarily.

No doubt that ammo is likely as high right now (or just coming down from it) as it's ever been, but it's still not NINETY dollars per hundred of .357 Mag high.

Or, put it this way. I have three boxes of .357 Mag with 158 gr JSP's pushed by a nice load of 2400 powder, loaded in to nice nickel brass with a good solid crimp. This is good, solid, working ammo.

I could put it on Gunbroker at fifty bucks a box, but that doesn't mean .357 Mag costs fifty bucks a box. This stuff still cost me about twelve bucks a box to produce even with the costly jacketed slugs.

The sky isn't falling.

[chris in va]

It's coming down and availability is returning.

I was quite shocked to look over at the stall next to me and see a guy with three 100rd WWB 9mm. I haven't seen those things in two years. "19.98 at WalMart" was his answer.

Even primers are getting back up to speed. Now if my local gun store would just drop the price a bit...

[Zildjian]

I realize it was a place to bid on and it justs seems funny to me that there are people out there that would pay for it . Its even more funnier that someone would post ammo that high to sale and find some poor sucker to buy
it at that price. But i'm glad to know that its coming down. Thanks for the info . I learn something new every day...LOL.

[Sevens]

There are also folks at this very moment who are wigging out about primer availability. Some of the schmucks at gun shows continue to put $50/1000 price tags on them.

But that's not the market until the panicked buyer pulls out his wallet and takes it in the pooper.

[Zildjian]

How long can cases in a Foodsaver bag last and still be al-right. Since out of the Shooting game, I bagged most all my brass in these air-tight sealed bags.
I looked them up the other day and they still are sealed tight. I bagged them up in 98' , boxed them up. Primers are kept in a cooler inside the house. Is that a bad thing ? If i shoot anything any more its with a .22 pistol or S.S.
.22 I also keep my bricks of .22 in a military canister but outside storage. That might be bad cause it gets real hot out there. But they still shoot ok.
Any ideas ?

[roy reali]

I was wondering what the problem was and what was causing such a price hike.

Simple eonomics. Producers will always try to sell products at the highest price that will sell. It is the American way, it is the Free Enterprise System.

Why is gas hovering around three dollars a gallon? Because people continue to buy it at that price. When folks stop buying a product at any given price, it will come down.

If you started a widget company, you will try to sell widgets at the highest possible price. After all, your goal is to maximize profits. If all your widgets sell quickly at $1.00 a piece, you will soon try $2.00 each. If at that price the sales drop, you will try $1.50, and so on. On the other hand, you raise the price to ten bucks each, and they continue to sell like hotcakes, you would be a lousy business person if you reduced the price back down to one dollar. If the company was publically traded instead of a private one, you could even be sued by the share holders.

You can whine, you can complain, but as long as ammo is selling for ridiculous prices, the prices won't come down.

[Double Naught Spy]

So living in Ballinger is about like living under a rock? Welcome back to the world, Zildijian. At least you were spared nearly a year of your life complaining about ammo prices.

[Sevens]

How long can cases in a Foodsaver bag last and still be al-right. Since out of the Shooting game, I bagged most all my brass in these air-tight sealed bags.
I looked them up the other day and they still are sealed tight. I bagged them up in 98' , boxed them up. Primers are kept in a cooler inside the house. Is that a bad thing ? If i shoot anything any more its with a .22 pistol or S.S.
.22 I also keep my bricks of .22 in a military canister but outside storage. That might be bad cause it gets real hot out there. But they still shoot ok.
Any ideas ?

If it's centerfire factory bought ammo, the foodsaver bags are a terrific extra touch, but if the ammo is stored in a controlled climate with no wild temp and humidity swings and it doesn't get wet, you should be good for FIFTY to SEVENTY FIVE years even without the foodsaver bags. Factory built center fire ammo is not something that "expires" easily unless it was poorly built crap from the start. In other words-- go buy Federal and Winchester and store it... don't go buy 400 pounds of Wolf.

Primers in a cooler is a very good place for them. I would also put in some desiccant which can be bought at any good shooting supplies store or website such as Midway USA. The cooler is a fine spot because it keeps wild temp and humidity swings out and also allows a burst if SOMEHOW the primers were in a home fire or exploded. What you don't want are primers in a sealed container that becomes even more of a bomb if something goes wrong. Many of us continue to use primers from the 80's and earlier. I have some Federal small rifle from the early to mid 80s that still work fine.

Rimfire ammo is, IMO, a different ballgame. This stuff doesn't have the same seal that proper center fire ammo has because of the heeled bullet and cheap cheap CHEAP priming compound to begin with. There is a semi-current thred in the general forum about long term outdoor ammo storage and you might get some ideas from there.

For me, if it's rimfire, I simply store it with my loaded ammo and rotate my stock continually. If I'm shooting rimfire, I'm shooting my OLDEST stuff all the time. Right now, I'm shooting Federal Lightning in the blue box that I bought in 1989.

[Zildjian]

Most of the ammo stored in plastic bags are only empty cases of Federal and Winchester brass. Powder in a cooler do have at least 1 bag of Desiccant. At
work in the tool room everytime a new die came in , I took all those moisture
bags they were throwing away. I have 1 good size bag in each gun case also.
They seem to work in caring for the guns. I only take them out to check now
and then, re-wipe and put up again. I guess you could say living in Ballinger is
like living under a rock. I used to stay up with the new stuff, but after my game was up in shooting, I just kind of lost interest when my boss quit shooting also.. But it was sure fun.. it still is with .22 cause its still cheaper shooting once in awhile.. LOL.

[Zildjian]

I Really wasn't complaining , just surprised at prices since I haven't bought any of those supplies in years. So I guess I was under some kind of rock ..LOL
Lets just say I used to stay up with the shooting dynasty up here in these
parts. But not anymore. My boss quit , my friend died and I guess I did too till TFL and these groups sparked some more interests in me. I guess its just hell getting old and out of touch . Just want to make friends where ever I go.
Everybody here is helpful and friendly and I like that .

[Nomadic]

The suggestion of putting a desiccant in with your ammo is a good one. I use it in my gun safe, which is where I also keep my ammo. It does a great job of absorbing the moisture that gets in when I open the safe. I use the one with indicating beads so I know when to reactivate it so that it keeps working at top efficiency. I get my reusable Silica Gel from www.silicagelpackets.com, if anyone is looking for an inexpensive and reliable supplier.

[dwhite]

If the dollar continues to drop in value, and it will the way the government is printing money, your dollar is going to buy less of everything including ammo. Metals prices will climb making copper and lead cost more so component prices will increase also.

All the Best,
D. White