Why is .338 Lapua ammunition so expensive?

Rachen · February 1, 2012, 05:11 PM

I mainly thumb through the Cabelas catalogs for black powder hunting supplies but as I was looking in the ammunition section, I could not help but realize one curious thing, the black sheep in the flock so to speak...

All of the other cartridges with the exception of the custom built nitro express ones all fall into a certain price range, but then, the .338 Lapua just takes a rocket ride to the moon.

Case of 50 rounds of .308 Win: About $59.00
Case of 20 rounds of .338 Lapua: $82.00

Same thing with other price charts too. It seems like .338 Lapua is more expensive than other comparable types of rifle ammo by almost 200%

I wonder why though... The Lapua cases are not custom built like the ridiculously huge safari hunting cartridges. And they are a normal military chambering too.

pnac · February 1, 2012, 05:26 PM

The .338 Lapua, due to it being Gecko45's favorite round, has tremendous popularity. It's a "supply and demand" thing, sort of like the price of the S&W .44 Magnun skyrocketing after the "Dirty Harry" movies.

Poodleshooter · February 1, 2012, 08:47 PM

It's the actual word "Lapua" that makes it pricey.
Check it out for yourself. Anything with "Lapua" on it will generally cost more than a similar item without that name.
Try it and see:
.338s
Any brass
.22lr

I keeed (sort of)
[slides box of center-x out of view]

flightline · February 1, 2012, 08:57 PM

For the sake of argument, assume that .338 LM is nothing but a scaled up .308 Winchester. The scale factor, taken from the the overall lengths is 93.5 / 71.12 = 1.315

Of course, when you scale an object, volume increases as the cube of the linear scaling. So a .338 LM would have a volume of 1.315^3 = 2.27 times that of the .308 Winchester. This means that all the materials involved, as well as the tools used for production have to be scaled similarly. Add in the enormous difference in production volume and I have to say I'm not all that surprised that .338 is so expensive.

Don H · February 1, 2012, 09:10 PM

Looks like Lapua also manufactures .308 Win cartridges--around $105/50 rounds.
The .338, in that context, isn't that overpriced in comparison, considering the popularity of the .308 and the no doubt greater production.

m&p45acp10+1 · February 1, 2012, 09:16 PM

For the Lapua ammo there is a lot of extra refinement that goes into it. The case prepreration is not matched by many, if any. The bullets are specialy produced, and pass a ballance test to assure they will stay stable at high velocity over extremely long ranges. (Or something like that from what I hear all of the long range guys say anyway.)

Ok seriously how much do you expect half mile plus ammo to cost. The stuff is well crafted, and very consitint from one shot to the next.

hardworker · February 1, 2012, 09:17 PM

Probably because it's a niche round that is not cost effective to produce, given the low demand.

Mike38 · February 2, 2012, 02:12 AM

I was in a new Bass Pro Shop just before Christmas and saw a single 20 round box of 7mmSTW with a price tag of $75 on it. I about fell over. Good thing I reload for it.

golfnutrlv · February 2, 2012, 10:50 PM

Quote:

It's the actual word "Lapua" that makes it pricey.

True, but Lapua is worth the money IMO.

Lapua is the best precision rifle brass i've found. Regarding the price of loaded ammo, supply and demand is the reason. Not many companies market .338 Lapua, primarily because of demand, and most shooters reload for it.

Although, the market has swelled with new .338 Lapua rifles in reasonable price ranges. I definitely think the .338 Lapua is here to stay on the civilian market.

**44 AMP** · February 2, 2012, 11:10 PM

Why are you expected to pay more for a corvette than a chevette?

They're both cars, right?

Kreyzhorse · February 4, 2012, 07:45 AM

It's more expensive because there is less demand and it's a Lapua.

February 1, 2012, 05:11 PM	#1
Rachen Senior Member Join Date: May 10, 2006 Location: Weekend cowboy Posts: 542	Why is .338 Lapua ammunition so expensive? I mainly thumb through the Cabelas catalogs for black powder hunting supplies but as I was looking in the ammunition section, I could not help but realize one curious thing, the black sheep in the flock so to speak... All of the other cartridges with the exception of the custom built nitro express ones all fall into a certain price range, but then, the .338 Lapua just takes a rocket ride to the moon. Case of 50 rounds of .308 Win: About $59.00 Case of 20 rounds of .338 Lapua: $82.00 Same thing with other price charts too. It seems like .338 Lapua is more expensive than other comparable types of rifle ammo by almost 200% I wonder why though... The Lapua cases are not custom built like the ridiculously huge safari hunting cartridges. And they are a normal military chambering too. __________________ http://blueskycountry.tumblr.com BORDERLANDS: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL Climb onto the saddle and ride with me through the last remaining Wild West frontier in the world.

February 1, 2012, 05:26 PM	#2
pnac Senior Member Join Date: September 7, 2008 Posts: 550	The .338 Lapua, due to it being Gecko45's favorite round, has tremendous popularity. It's a "supply and demand" thing, sort of like the price of the S&W .44 Magnun skyrocketing after the "Dirty Harry" movies. __________________ In my hour of darkness In my time of need Oh Lord grant me vision Oh Lord grant me speed - Gram Parsons

February 1, 2012, 09:10 PM	#5
Don H Senior Member Join Date: May 8, 2000 Location: SLC,Utah Posts: 2,704	Looks like Lapua also manufactures .308 Win cartridges--around $105/50 rounds. The .338, in that context, isn't that overpriced in comparison, considering the popularity of the .308 and the no doubt greater production. __________________ Don http://www.utahconcealedcarry.com/forum/

February 1, 2012, 09:16 PM	#6
m&p45acp10+1 Senior Member Join Date: May 3, 2009 Location: Central Texas Posts: 3,930	For the Lapua ammo there is a lot of extra refinement that goes into it. The case prepreration is not matched by many, if any. The bullets are specialy produced, and pass a ballance test to assure they will stay stable at high velocity over extremely long ranges. (Or something like that from what I hear all of the long range guys say anyway.) Ok seriously how much do you expect half mile plus ammo to cost. The stuff is well crafted, and very consitint from one shot to the next. __________________ No matter how many times you do it and nothing happens it only takes something going wrong one time to kill you.

February 2, 2012, 11:10 PM	#10
44 AMP Staff Join Date: March 11, 2006 Location: Upper US Posts: 26,853	Why are you expected to pay more for a corvette than a chevette? They're both cars, right? __________________ All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.

February 1, 2012, 08:47 PM	#3
Poodleshooter Senior Member Join Date: August 7, 2000 Location: Floating down the James River in VA Posts: 2,599	It's the actual word "Lapua" that makes it pricey. Check it out for yourself. Anything with "Lapua" on it will generally cost more than a similar item without that name. Try it and see: .338s Any brass .22lr I keeed (sort of) [slides box of center-x out of view]

February 1, 2012, 08:57 PM	#4
flightline Member Join Date: October 11, 2009 Posts: 41	For the sake of argument, assume that .338 LM is nothing but a scaled up .308 Winchester. The scale factor, taken from the the overall lengths is 93.5 / 71.12 = 1.315 Of course, when you scale an object, volume increases as the cube of the linear scaling. So a .338 LM would have a volume of 1.315^3 = 2.27 times that of the .308 Winchester. This means that all the materials involved, as well as the tools used for production have to be scaled similarly. Add in the enormous difference in production volume and I have to say I'm not all that surprised that .338 is so expensive.

February 1, 2012, 09:17 PM	#7
hardworker Senior Member Join Date: August 4, 2010 Posts: 820	Probably because it's a niche round that is not cost effective to produce, given the low demand.

February 2, 2012, 02:12 AM	#8
Mike38 Senior Member Join Date: December 28, 2009 Location: North Central Illinois Posts: 2,650	I was in a new Bass Pro Shop just before Christmas and saw a single 20 round box of 7mmSTW with a price tag of $75 on it. I about fell over. Good thing I reload for it.

February 4, 2012, 07:45 AM	#11
Kreyzhorse Senior Member Join Date: April 12, 2006 Location: NKY Posts: 12,449	It's more expensive because there is less demand and it's a Lapua. __________________ "He who laughs last, laughs dead." Homer Simpson

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