I just ran some quick numbers on estimated materials costs alone and came up with almost $7 per 500 before packaging, machine time, labor, transportation, etc. And I didn't know what to do with priming compound and left it out.
I just ran some quick numbers on estimated materials costs alone and came up with almost $7 per 500 before packaging, machine time, labor, transportation, etc. And I didn't know what to do with priming compound and left it out.
The cheapest I can remember was $10 bricks in the 60s and early 70s.
A man is only as good as his word
When I started rimfire rifle silhouette in 2001 SK Jagd just came out. I didn't buy Standard plus cuz it was $95/case (you know 10 bricks or 5000 rounds) cuz I figured it couldn't be any good priced the same as Walmart Federal Lighting. So I bought Match Rifle for $120/case and Match for $130/case. Still got some of that same lot of Match that shoots great in any gun I've put it in. I felt lucky 5 years later when I could find Standard Plus for $250/case which was barely practice ammo.
I have personally been very happy with the Federal Auto 325 round ammo. And Bud's has all you want at 5 cents a round. I don't expect it to be real match ammo, but I'm not paying real match price either. Runs great in the Ruger Mk III's. My wife and I each have a 22/45 with a Red Dot sight on top. 20 feet, 10 rounds you can cover with a dime on a good day. Nickle on a bad one. Not bad in my book.
I wipe the outsides down after a range day but leave the insides be. When I start seeing problems its cleaning day. Clean it all up, give everything a light coat of ATF, wipe it dry, put it together.
I just bought a couple 500 round bricks of Aquila .22lr yesterday for $19.99 each, no limit. The local Walmart has a shelf full of various .22lr bulk ammo for 4 to 5 cents per round.
I’ve been saying for years that once supply and demand equalize it would settle around four cents for the lower grade ammo. When you calculate inflation, cost of metals, cost of manufacturing, etc., it’s not hard to come up with a rough estimate.
The biggest factor is inflation. The cheapest I ever remember buying 22 ammo for was $8.88 per box of 550 rounds in the mid or late 90’s. In 2017 dollars that’s the equivalent to around $15, so maybe there’s a little more room for prices to fall? Maybe not, I don’t know.
The cost of manufacturing goes up, but typically only with inflation. The cost of metals goes up but by and large again just inflation. Regulations can increase the cost of manufacturing, and technology as well as quantity can decrease cost per unit. All in all I can see four cent 22 ammo all day long and maybe even as low as three on occasion as long as supply stays ahead of demand. I don’t see two cent ammo though, just not realistic.
We all like to remember how much stuff cost back in the good old days, but that’s all pretty irrelevant unless you adjust for inflation. My grandfather used to tell me how he bought 22 ammo for 20 cents per box. Sounds cheap until you realize that was in the 1930s and 20 cents was more like several dollars now.
I’ve paid $500 for a hamburger at TGI Friday’s on more than one occasion. That seems outrageous until you realize it was in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and the Taiwan dollar is worth about .03 USD.
Every day price at dicks sporting goods. They had them on sale for $20 a brick on black friday. Page 13
http://redirect.viglink.com/?format=...ods%2Fpage%2F2
Midway had them on sale for $21 a brick or $200 a case.
http://redirect.viglink.com/?format=...ead-round-nose
I've seen $200 a case/5000 round deals several times for different brands/mfg's of blammo ammo in the last couple of months. Back in 2006 I stocked up on cases of blammo ammo after the 2005 shortage.Any time I saw a case of 5000 on sale for $80 I bought it until I had 25 cases stocked up. Shot some, traded some for molds/swaging equipment and still have 4 or 5 cases to burn off.
The prices will keep getting better, stock up.
The cheap russian ammo/pistol combo allowed a lot of shooter to be able to compete at the state level. Shot countless 1000's of rounds of the steel cased (green box) and brass cased (yellow boxed) jurior ammo in them. The jurior 22lr's were 1000fps/1035fps target ammo that was sold for $40 (steel) and $50 (brass) a case of 5000.
[IMG][/IMG]
I always thought when standard plus was $250 a case it was 1 heck of a bargain/steal considering cci mini-mags were the same price per case back then. For $280 a case you could buy sk pistol match which shot lights out compared to the standard plus (2006/2007). Or if you really wanted to go cheap, you could buy ww dyna-points (they were a sv ammo) for $100 a case/5000. I quit shooting rifles when eley hit $1000 a case. Stepped down to $700 a case (eley black box) and started shooting silhouettes and 25m/50m pistol. Still have a case of the laupu X-box ammo to burn up.
It's the blammo ammo that either dried up or went up in price in leaps and bounds. Meaning in 2006/2007 when sk+ was $250 a case, most blammo ammo was $80 a case. Today most blammo ammo's are $250 a case and can be found on sale for $200 a case.
@ $200 a case that's a 250% increase in price
SK+ can easily be found for $500 a case or a %100 increase
https://www.targetsportsusa.com/sk-s...n-p-53529.aspx
100% vs 250%
Been slowly burning thru my last case of sk+. Really need to start looking for something in the 1000fps to 1040fps range.
One of these days I'm going to be glad I kept my 22 rifles , but I haven't used them for years . 10.- 15. And up for a 100 round box of cci min mags with a one box per customer limit took me out of the market . But it pushed me into casting so it's been a win for me , not so much for the ammunition manufacturing company .
If we go down the memory trail; It would be great to go down to the Hardware store and buy "Opened Boxes" 1, 2, 5 , 10 rounds at a time. We would search the roadsides and lots for coke bottle/s to trade for .22's and shot shells from open boxes at the hardware store. (Yes pre-68 nonsense).
Mustang
"In the beginning... the patriot is a scarce man, and brave and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." - Mark Twain.
I can remember Eley .22 short at .25 cents a box and L.R. HP's at 29 cents a box at the local Osco Drugs store. That was about 10 or 11 cents less than Remington and Win. at the time and was quite accurate as well. I guess that I must be pretty old.
Ammoseek shows some American Eagle at $.036 and Aquila under $.04. I'm guessing this is the new normal. Maybe down to $.03 per round eventually. $.02 just doesn't seem possible this day in age unless is a loss leader advertisement to get people into a store.
Personally I'll be happy when CCI standard velocity gets down to $.05.
I bought 3 cases of 10 bricks each of blazer 40grn lrn at $5.00 per brick from Sportsman's guide about 2 months before Zero was elected the first time.
When they were delivered my son and I test fired them they were Great! Ordered 5 cases more and SG said no way we were dealing and would not sell them to us.
Re submitted for another 3 and got them. When delivered sent them a nasty email and never got a reply.
2 months later they had Aguilera 22lr no powder same price, limit 2 cases bought 2.
That was a penny per round. Buy of my lifetime on 22lr
$.02 per you are in fantasy land pleasuring yourself.
Last edited by Geezer in NH; 11-27-2017 at 05:29 PM.
Yesterday I see that Walmart have for 500 Rem brick for just over $21 and Wins for 555 if i remember right is for just over $27.It look like the price is coming down some . I see how low and then go from there.
Life Member of NRA,NTA,DAV ,ITA. Also member of FTA,CBA
A learned fellow I talked to made the point that once you do this, it's very possible that .22 has never been cheaper than it is right now. My folks did a good job of sheltering me from the reality that money was tight when I was a kid in the late '70's and early '80's, but my rations of entertainment came most often in the form of 1-2 100-round sleeves of Mini Mags to last me through a long weekend. An entire brick would have been an unheard of luxury, so maybe it's worth asking:
"At the time that .22 WAS fifty cents to a buck a box, were you actually buying more than a couple boxes at a time?"
That's probably the better reflection of where our prices are now.
WWJMBD?
In the Land of Oz, we cast with wheel weight and 2% Tin, Man.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |