Ammo prices?

[Uncle Gump]

I typically fall in the middle on a lot of the more controversial topics these days... but I was a boy scout in my youth. Being prepared in life is something I consider a must.

I'm going to get my family proficient with 22LR and pay up for ammo to make it happen. My old stock will get spent along with some new stuff.

My budget is a serious limiting factor to how much I can afford to keep in reserve.

I know my next purchase for me... will be a cross bow. You can reuse that ammo. I will do all my deer hunting with that. If my freezer is filled by gun season... I will hunt with my muzzle loader in the late season.

 

[Dirtman]

Im buying a .17wsm and already dreading finding ammo. Only 2 companies even make it.

But it's suppose to be amazing for target shooting. Shoots just as fast as most .223 rounds which is nuts for a rimfire.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I almost bought a .17 years ago. Bought a 22 mag instead. Ammo was much cheaper and does most things better then the .17.

 

[Dirtman]

Well I'd take .22 mag over .17hmr but not .17wsm. At least for my intentions which is building a target rifle. 17wsm is has over 1,000fps muzzle velocity and 100lbs more muzzle energy than .22mag and shoots alot flatter. Perfect target gun. I love my 6.5 creedmoor for target shooting as well, that thing is a damn lazer beam but it's a bit much for shooting all day.

 

[Uncle Gump]

yeah... I bought mine to hunt with. I'm not comfortable with anything over a hundred yards anyway.

 

[8thTon]

I almost bought a .17 years ago. Bought a 22 mag instead. Ammo was much cheaper and does most things better then the .17.

.22WMR is a neat cartridge. A friend of ours has a handgun in that caliber and it was a lot of fun to shoot, but the barrel isn't really long enough to get the velocity out of it. Then again that's true for most practical handguns.

 

[Roert42]

I have a single six that can shoot .22lr or .22mag, you can swap the cylinders. I like the .22 mag, but the .22lr is so much cheaper for murdering old beer cans and paper bad guys.

 

[Dirtman]

I have a single six that can shoot .22lr or .22mag, you can swap the cylinders. I like the .22 mag, but the .22lr is so much cheaper for murdering old beer cans and paper bad guys.

My dad has a heritage arms rough ryder like that. Came with 3 cylinders. I think itll shoot .22 short, .22lr, and .22 mag.

 

[bilbo]

Congrats on the purchase! I think Ruger makes good products. It's not intentional by any means, I have no brand loyalty, but somehow I seem to have a lot of Ruger stuff. Despite having many calibers to choose from, the old 22 is my favorite to shoot. Very little recoil, far more accurate than me, and I don't have to pick up brass. I handload a few different calibers and components are also seeing big issues. I bought bullets about a year ago and apparently they had people ordering the bullets thinking they were cartridges, then getting upset and wanting to return them when they were only the bullets.

I would guess the number of gun owners (and thus those looking to buy ammunition) have increased a lot recently. That coupled with the panic that always seems to surround elections, and the pandemic, and you have a lot of things working against supply meeting demand.

 

[sgtsandman]

It all been pretty much covered but to put it all in one post, there are several factors playing into the ammo shortage.

1. Production was hurt by covid and Remington going bankrupt. The manufacturers are starting to compensate and Remington is starting to produce ammo under their new owners.

2. New gun owners and hoarders/panic buyers are sucking up the supply and driving up the prices even more. The new gun owners will eventually sort themselves out but the hoarders/panic buyers will never go away. They will just ebb and flow as certain events happen to trigger them. The riots/protests and calls to de-fund the police are a major driver.

3. Politicians and the media are pouring gasoline on the fire with retoric and proposed legislation, whether is makes it to the floor for a vote, let alone passes is beside the point.

4. There are people and companies buying up the ammunition that is available that they can and turning around and trying to sell it at a even more inflated price which is further draining the supply and if not driving the prices up higher, keeping them high.

 

[rumblecloud]

Congrats on the purchase! I think Ruger makes good products.

I agree with that. I have - er, I had - a 357 mag revolver. Love it. Even my wife loves it because the recoil is minimal and it shoots 38 spl. There's a reason their stock sits in the mid 60s and has been for quite awhile.

Speaking of stock prices

1. Production was hurt by covid and Remington going bankrupt. The manufacturers are starting to compensate and Remington is starting to produce ammo under their new owners.

Vista Outdoors is the company that bought Remington. That added to their portfolio of other brands like CCi, Federal, Eagle and Bladkhawk. So they stepped it up. And their stock is hanging in plus-30 range. Fortunately I was able to grab some of that at 25.

Smith & Wesson is one I would look at next - Iconic brand - "Go ahead. Make my day." That alone is worth a couple bucks a share and right now it is very affordable.

Sorry to get sideways, but @sgtsandman in my humble opinion, your right on it.

 

[Shran]

The whole issue with ammo prices goes as far as you can see in any direction. Even raw materials for making components are hard to come by.

I have a friend who recently retired from Black Hills Ammunition. He said that they barely are getting enough components to fill their defense contract orders, let alone anything for the rest of us. And they are a fairly big company... not big like Vista, but big enough and established enough to make a metric shit ton of ammo... but their suppliers are even out of stock.

I'm sure glad I got into reloading years ago... I can still go out and have fun on the cheap within reason.

 

[8thTon]

On the plus side, using ammoseek.com I ended trying out some different ammo (since it was relatively cheap), and found out I like it a lot.

 

[John97]

I bought two boxes of ammo with my Sig .45 - one box of range ammo and one box of defense ammo. It cost me $200, $1/round. I blew through the range ammo just to get acquainted. I'll get more when I find some better pricing.

 

[sgtsandman]

The whole issue with ammo prices goes as far as you can see in any direction. Even raw materials for making components are hard to come by.

I have a friend who recently retired from Black Hills Ammunition. He said that they barely are getting enough components to fill their defense contract orders, let alone anything for the rest of us. And they are a fairly big company... not big like Vista, but big enough and established enough to make a metric shit ton of ammo... but their suppliers are even out of stock.

I'm sure glad I got into reloading years ago... I can still go out and have fun on the cheap within reason.

I forgot to mention that one. The reloading community has been complaining that they can't find components easily either.