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peteyb said:
I am curious as to what you all think is going to happen with ammo prices in the future.

Seeing gas and food prices rise so rapidly here I am wondering if the same will happen to ammo prices. Do you guys think I should stock up now while its cheap or wait a little while to see what happens?

More specifically I am asking about 7.62x39 and 7.62x54r, as well as 12 gauge 00 buck. I have about a thousand rounds each for the two 7.62's and around 250 shells of 12 guage. Should I wait or stock up now?
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From what I can see, ammo prices have actually come down over the last 6 months. A case of good 9mm was close to $300 a year ago. I've seen it for around $200 recently. Maybe that's not true of all ammo but it's an example.
 
Buy now, you'll need all of your extra money to buy gasoline and food in the next year.
 
I'd lean towards if you find a decent deal and can afford it now, buy it now. Fuel costs, transportation costs, raw materials costs all seem to be inching up (Google "ATK price increase") and I expect that once some manufacturers and suppliers start raising prices others will follow suit.
 
A certain retailer that doesn't ship here has a notice that ammo prices are due for a signifigant increase in April and May due to rising lead and copper prices.
 
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Another ammo buying surge will help feed the price increases, but you can't deny the fact that commodity prices are higher now than in recent past. Copper spot was around $4.40 today (basically below $4 for the past 6 years or more). Plumbum at $1.24, not a high, but still pretty rich (about $1.75 back in Oct 07). Crude at $105 a barrel...how can shipping costs stay constant at these prices?
 
Fixxah said:
Start reloading. That puts the price in a much more managable area.
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This.

Prices always go up and the recent stagflation is only making it rise faster. Prices have technically fallen compared to when the supply was running low but it won't continue for very long. Learn to reload and buy the supplies in bulk and you'll be all set for the future regardless of pricing.
 
Another +1 to getting into reloading. Sure it's a bit pricey to get started up but I got started with everything I needed (and some stuff I didn't need) for just over $700. I didn't buy crap either, but a mixed bag of Lee, RCBS, Dillon, Hornady, and Wilson products. It's awesome when you don't have to worry about finding ammo and can simply walk into your basement and load some up when your supply is low. Only time I buy factory ammunition now is if I get it cheap enough where it's less than buying re-loadable brass separately.
 
Since ammo will pretty much last forever if stored properly, I am of the opinion that you should buy as much as you can afford if you find a good deal. You are going to shoot it anyway, so stack it up!

Anything I use regularly I buy in surplus when I can. Food, ammo, TP, tequila etc. Thats why man invented basements.
 
In God We Trust said:
Since ammo will pretty much last forever if stored properly, I am of the opinion that you should buy as much as you can afford if you find a good deal. You are going to shoot it anyway, so stack it up!

Anything I use regularly I buy in surplus when I can. Food, ammo, TP, tequila etc. Thats why man invented basements.
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Good advice. Ammo has an extremely long shelf life unless you store it very poorly. Same things goes for the individual components if you reload. Even if commodity prices stay the same or decline I think ammo prices will continue an upward creep. Transportation costs seem to be constantly going up, and that is a big part of the equation.

Once you have a good stash of ammo and/or components you can also have the patience to wait for a good deal to come along. I just made a purchase in the primer group buy. I'm pretty well set with components for the foreseeable future, but I'll still look around for a good deal.

Ammo and components have never given me a case of "buyer's remorse." [wink]
 
I own a bunch of shares of Olin Corporation and use that as my hedge against ammo prices.....
 
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