Can someone plz help me, as I must have missed something somewhere...

[alha]

Well, the search goes on for the elusive 'reasonable' priced lead, but I have turned my attn to the other components as well, casings, primers, etc. I was Googling around a little over a week ago, and came across a govt auction site http://www.govliquidation.com/auction/view?auctionId=6057290 and was checking out various auctions. It hadn't started at that time, and I thought Hmmm, this might be an interesting way to acquire a lifetime supply of casings, just depends on where the pricing goes. I looked at it the day after it started, and noticed the bidding was heating up a little, but then life got in the way and I promptly forgot about it.


I came back to it today, and checked out the damages, and couldn't believe what I saw. I didn't take time to figure out every auction, but here is what I came up with for the one I posted above. I'll start by saying that if my calculations are right, insanity has prevailed.

This auction lists it as being a total weight of 19,270 lbs, which of course isn't only the 5.56 cases, its the primers, the pallet, the box, all of it. Just to put this sale in the best possible light, I am calling it all brass. Next, I found on page on Wiki which listed some specs of the shells http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5.56×45mm_NATO that said the cartridge weighs 12.31 g, which I take it to mean grams. Then brought up the trusty converter site, http://www.metric-conversions.org/weight/grams-to-pounds.htm and converted that to ounces (.43422).

Ok, so far, I have each case at a little under a half ounce, which is about 37 to the pound. Here is where things get really weird, which makes me think somewhere in the calculations I must have screwed up something. If I divide the winning bid by the number of total pounds, it comes out that they paid about $7.84 per pound, or $0.21 cents a casing. And this is putting this sale in the best possible light, remember, I discounted the weight of the packing, as well as the primers, not to mention whatever percentage were damaged/unusable. The price per would def be higher taking all that into consideration. Diamond K is selling their 5.56/Military REM 500+ for $189/500, or $.37 per, but list their 55 gal drum with 40,000 for $8000, or $.20 each.

So, from what I see, someone just spent a Bunch of money to make a big "govt surplus" purchase, at retail pricing. Seems kinda nuts to me, but then, we're living in kinda nuts times. Did I get it approx right with my math here? All comments/corrections are appreciated.

[FLHTC]

Yep, prices have been that high on that site for weeks. That is an example of how much the commercial reloaders are going to charge for ammunition, if it was bought by them. Gun clubs, public ranges, mom and pop ammo companies all need brass to satisfy their customers who don't reload and that auction is a quick way to get a supply of brass. I believe there about 80, 223 cases in a pound so by todays prices, that's almost $80 in finished ammunition. Still a substantial profit. I've seen 20 round boxes of 223 going for close to $30 each at gun shows and every box sold. Times are changing.

[41 mag fan]

Someone gonna hate it when prices settle and they're left holding an investment that will make the housing bubble look like a squib

[HATCH]

The biggest surprise is going to be all those people that purchased AR15's and high cap mags at the peak of the craziness.
I mean really $1200 for a run of the mill PSA AR15 that was selling for only $700 at the end of last year.
The prices will come back down and have started to already.
I sold a couple of AK rifles for 40% more then what they were really worth. I didn't set the price on them as it was on Gunbroker. They just bid it up.

[David2011]

DiFi's bill seems to be coming apart at the seams where it was "supported" in the Senate and has even less support in the House so her legacy just might turn out to be a massive bust of her beloved terroristic legislation against the Second Amendment and law abiding citizens. With a little luck and a lot of continuing pressure on our elected lawmakers the damage might be contained to the few kneejerk states where legislation has already passed. I'm perpetually optimistic, but this could be the beginning of the end of the buying pressure for this round. Continuing pressure is a must, as lawmakers in some states where their bills failed to pass have vowed to be back inthe next session of their respective legislatures.

David

[runfiverun]

so getting off our duffs and doing something actually makes things happen??

[FLHTC]

Someone gonna hate it when prices settle and they're left holding an investment that will make the housing bubble look like a squib
Who's to say that price on ammunition will come down? They didn't during the Clinton administration. Norinco 223 used to be $3.99 per 20 round box. Remember those little yellow boxes? That stuff went to $10 and $12 a box. Now steel cased ammo is $12 to $15 a box.

[Cane_man]

it was the pressure put on the demonrat senators in pro 2A states like MT and AK, etc., that sunk the boat for difi

how would you like to wake up to this face in the morning? :veryconfu

http://4-riders.com/pics/Mix6/iFeinsteinFoiled.jpg

[smokesahoy]

this scare just did 1 thing for me: showed me how quick things can happen.

if you bought an AR for 1200 that is worth 700, that kind of stinks, but if you have been meaning to buy one anyway and that was the kick in the butt you needed to get into shooting and pro-2a mindset than it's a small price. if you bought 10 of them, maxing out your cc thinking to flip them, well likely you'll end up in the same boat that the people flipping houses during the last bubble ended up in. (but at least you'll have a bunch of guns!) :)

a lot of people i work with were thinking of getting a gun some day, because it would be nice. they were taking their 2a for granted, expecting it to always be there, ready and waiting for them when they had time. this kick in the butt had them overpaying, and me smiling, because a lot of people woke up this time, and its not over yet. I hope everyone has a long memory over this fiasco and dont get complacent too quick.

[BubbaJon]

So, from what I see, someone just spent a Bunch of money to make a big "govt surplus" purchase, at retail pricing. Seems kinda nuts to me, but then, we're living in kinda nuts times. Did I get it approx right with my math here? All comments/corrections are appreciated.
You see it all the time on fleaBay - people have no idea of something's value, are lousy at math and then they get their ego involved to "win" at whatever cost. Suckers don't realize they pay more than they should have that's a fail.

[Chilmonty]

this scare just did 1 thing for me: showed me how quick things can happen.

if you bought an AR for 1200 that is worth 700, that kind of stinks, but if you have been meaning to buy one anyway and that was the kick in the butt you needed to get into shooting and pro-2a mindset than it's a small price. if you bought 10 of them, maxing out your cc thinking to flip them, well likely you'll end up in the same boat that the people flipping houses during the last bubble ended up in. (but at least you'll have a bunch of guns!) :)

a lot of people i work with were thinking of getting a gun some day, because it would be nice. they were taking their 2a for granted, expecting it to always be there, ready and waiting for them when they had time. this kick in the butt had them overpaying, and me smiling, because a lot of people woke up this time, and its not over yet. I hope everyone has a long memory over this fiasco and dont get complacent too quick.


Good Post Smoke! Would be interesting to know how many "New" gun owners there are in the US now.

As far as the socialist politicians goes "If you DON'T vote like a gun owner, your a Moron!"

JMO.

[runfiverun]

As far as the socialist politicians goes "If you DON'T vote like a gun owner, your a Moron!"

JMO.

funny how many facets of government that covers.

[geargnasher]

Was that Wiki information for an empty case or for a loaded cartridge?

Gear

[jdam169]

Alha

I am pretty sure your math is not too far off. I too have been watching brass auctions on that web site for some time and cringe when I see what they are paying. I want to buy a small lot of brass but I don't want to be taken to the cleaners. I sure hope this craziness has peaked and things will start to ease back to normal.

[P.K.]

Was that Wiki information for an empty case or for a loaded cartridge?

Gear

According to one of mine that's for a loaded case. +/- a g. Mine are 55gr. j-words.

[alha]

Ahh, thanks for the clarification, that was the one piece I couldn't verify, the weight of each, and that would make a significant difference on the cost per. So maybe it wasn't _quite_ as nuts as it appeared to be, but like was posted so succinctly above, the latest scare got a number of people like me off their **** and into the gun owner realm. At least I was lucky when I bought the 3 I did at the local Gander Mtn during the month of January, I paid full retail, which I heard is more than was being charged by other dealers before the current crisis, but was much less than what I saw them going for on gunbroker.com. I had rationalized that it was an 'investment' by looking at that site, and I had purchased the higher quality ones, so all in all I still feel good. I knew when I did it I was buying during the gold rush, and accepted that, but I also figured that in a country of well over 300 million people, the odds that another nutjob doing something like CT or CO is almost certain to occur, and if it does in a short enough time frame from the last one, things are going to change, and I am certain that the ban will be back.

Just look what they did this week in CO. And they are a 'Western' state! (Invaded I've heard by hordes from CA over the last 20 or so years, which explains the current political situation). As I have bought the Dillon 1050 w/223 & 308 dies, the stainless tumbler, making decent progress on the outdoor smelting pot, and just last week got my RCBS bottom pour pot, I would have to say that I'm pretty much in it to win it, no turning back now ;)

Thanks again for all the insightful posts here, as well as in the other sections, they are all very informative, and have saved me countless hours avoiding re-inventing the wheel, not to mention possibly seriously injuring myself or others. I enjoy learning new things, especially the correct way to do something the 1st time.