I had a new sportsman guide book come in the mail last week. HOLY CHIT - have you guys seen the price on factory ammo. $95 for a box of 416's 45 for 300 win mag w/ partitions. I do believe reloading is going to see a surge

I'll bet you're right... The purchase of a 338-378 Weatherby was the determining factor for me (85 bucks a box)... I knew reloading was in my future anyway so I've saved my '06 brass as well...

Ken....

several things are being reflected.......increasing cost of copper for #1

increasing cost of powder.....

Good marketing by using special bullets such as those known by "joe six pak"....Nosler especially.

But it's also to pay the set up costs on all the small volume rounds introduced in the last many years.......it detracts from sales of more popular rounds but increases the number of SKUs required to serve the same number of customers. Something else you will see.....the dealer must also increase not only price but his margin as well because of the number of different types of ammo he must stock for the same volune of sales.

Some think all the WSMs, SAUMs, WSSMs etc don't cost more but nothing can be farther from the truth! it's all in there sir!!!!

Reloading has never left me so it's not horribly relevant to me.....I'll bet the price of a box of 30-06 sure shocks from federal hasn't changed a lot!!!!!

2006 saw the biggest price increases on ammo and bullets in the last 30 years.

Wait until some of the big guys start to make their yearly order lists and then take another look at the prices.

Well, I have heard that the price of copper has plummeted recently. But, I doubt we will ever see ammo prices go back down much. I suspect it is much like gasoline...once they know we will pay it, that's what they will charge.

A friend at the range yesterday was telling me that Wolf steel-cased .223 has REALLY jumped dramatically. Used to be under $100 per thousand within the last 18 months. Then went to somewhere around $130-$140 per M. Latest listings show around $185 per thou. And those aren't copper-related prices.

Guess they've finally figured out how to restrict gun ownership to where only the "elite" can have them...just price the ammo out of reach of the common Joe....

Actually, I don't think the price of materials in each round have anything to do with the inflated price tag, especially in the instance of .223 ammo.
There's this little disagreement going on over in the Middle East somewhere, and the participants of said disagreement seem to be using up a whole lot of the materials that are required by ammunition manufacturers.

quote:

Originally posted by CharlieHo:
Actually, I don't think the price of materials in each round have anything to do with the inflated price tag, especially in the instance of .223 ammo.
There's this little disagreement going on over in the Middle East somewhere, and the participants of said disagreement seem to be using up a whole lot of the materials that are required by ammunition manufacturers.

I agree the prices of components aren't the major force driving all of the higher ammo cost. I doubt, however, that the folks in the Middle East (at least on the "coalition" side) are using much Russian "Wolf-brand" steel-cased ammo, which has increased in price more than 100%.

copper is very high.
so high that a penny is worth more in its melted raw state that face value.

quote:

Originally posted by KSTEPHENS:
copper is very high.
so high that a penny is worth more in its melted raw state that face value.

Yes, that is the way it was a month ago. My info from one of my kids, who is an auditor for Phelps-Dodge (copper mines) tells me it dropped like a rock about a week ago. Maybe that was temporary, maybe not, time will tell. As you know, commodity prices are anything but stable in an unstable political climate.

At any rate, the point was, IT DOESN'T MATTER. Copper prices are certainly not driving the retail prices of steel-cased ammo, and that is going up as fast or faster than the brass-cased ammo.

quote:

Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:

At any rate, the point was, IT DOESN'T MATTER. Copper prices are certainly not driving the retail prices of steel-cased ammo, and that is going up as fast or faster than the brass-cased ammo.

If you look on the shotgun reloading forum, you will find a discussion of the increasing price of lead shot. I can remember buying a 25 lb. bag of shot some years ago for $13, but the price has been gradually increasing so now it's at least twice that amount.

So the increasing cost of loaded centerfire ammo may not be due to copper, but it may be due to the lead cores used in bullets.

Bullets themselves (not loaded ammo) have increased in price in the last year. The increase is in the range of about 25%.

quote:

Originally posted by KSTEPHENS:
copper is very high.
so high that a penny is worth more in its melted raw state that face value.

Even though the majority content is zinc?

quote:

Originally posted by onefunzr2:

quote:

Originally posted by KSTEPHENS:
copper is very high.
so high that a penny is worth more in its melted raw state that face value.

Even though the majority content is zinc?

Zinc prices have increased, too. Almost all commodities have increased in price lately. Steel is high enough for it to make economic sense to ship iron ore to Chinese steel mills! The world economy is on fire, lots of demand for metals, especially. Also, look for more increases in natural gas and products made from natural gas.

there was a recent law change about melting down pennies and nickles (that i think have a good amount of zink in them) and exporting them.

news

I heard directly from the scrap yard I deal with that copper is supposed to come down, but I don't know whether thats temporary or how long that drop will last if it does happen.
I stocked up on bullets last summer, bought around 6,000 of them for my handguns so I should be good for awhile. I buy most of my stuff locally from Cabela's and I'm getting screwed on powder and primers. I should put together a large enough order to make the hazmat fee worthwhile, Cabela's is around $6 to $8 higher when buying powder by the pound than most mail order or internet places and they just raised the prices again.
I bought 500 rounds of Wolf steel cased 7.62x39 ammo last summer for around $85. The most recent price listed in the Cabela's catalog was around $114 for the same stuff. I also bought a case of Wolf MT .22 rimfire and paid $230 last June. Last I checked that stuff is going for at least $275 a case, if you are lucky enough to find it.

quote:

45 for 300 win mag w/ partitions. I do believe reloading is going to see a surge

I think you're right. By means of comparison I just purchased a bunch of Nosler Partition 180 grainers for the 300 win. I figure a box of 20 loaded rounds will cost me about $7. And I know they'll shoot better than the $45/box factory ammo because they will be tuned to my gun.