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Most ridiculous price you've seen on 9mm

Namekagon

Oracle of the Hide
Full Member
Minuteman
Mar 22, 2018
833
1,652
Wausau, WI
So I'm in a local sports shop and happened to notice they had about 10 boxes of 9mm. So I grabbed 1 box to make use of the opportunity, nothing crazy. This was for a box of 50 Armscor FMJ 9mm. It rang up at the register at $65!! I said "that has to be a mistake." Was told "nope, do you have any idea how hard it is to find 9mm?" I laughed, because I'd purchased a box of the same exact ammo about 4 days earlier in another store for $14. When I told them that, the guy looked visibly embarrassed. Needless to day, I did not buy.

Talk about gouging. Anyone seen higher?
 
Are you sure you didn't grab a box of .50 AE? Maybe misread the 50 on the label? :ROFLMAO:
 
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Cheaper than Dirt.
Browning 9mm 115 gr FMJ 1190fps
100 rounds
Low Price- 119.89


On the other hand, I bought 3x 150 round boxes of Browning 9mm FMJ for $35 per box locally a couple of weeks ago...
 
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People also forget that stores have overhead. They used to sell 40 boxes at $5 profit per box. Now they get to sell 5 boxes if they are lucky because they can not get it. If they sold it for $5 profit per box they go out of business. So they now have to make a lot more per box to keep the lights on and employees paid. Simple economics on high margin versus high volume. No high volume anymore so high margin is needed. Don't like it, dont buy.
 
CTD had 50 rounds of Wolf Steel 9mm for $49.99 last month.

I'd say prices right now are somewhere between keeping the lights on and selling to panic buyers. In April I was in a local boutique (lots of custom AR parts and silencers) gun store. I did buy a box of HST .45 ACP 230gn for $49. Locally they are usually in the mid to upper $30's. BTW, silencer prices looked okay, might be the place for my first one.
 
Before KungFlu, I picked up 2,000 rounds of 147 American Eagle. Good stuff, my 9mm’s eat it up and it’s subsonic. I paid around $380 shipped.

Very same ammo today is going for $1500+ For 2,000. Rounds.
 
A local shop was selling some bulk 1000rd for $300 out the door a few months ago, checked back for a friend the other day and they changed to $500 + tax for the same amount same ammo, nothing crazy but too much for me
 
My local shop hasn't had bulk for a while. I ordered a case of S&B .45 in March and between ordering and processing it went out of stock. I'm still backorder at $300. Wolf Gold 5.56 was $279, most 9mm was around $179. We'll see what they restock at.
 
People also forget that stores have overhead. They used to sell 40 boxes at $5 profit per box. Now they get to sell 5 boxes if they are lucky because they can not get it. If they sold it for $5 profit per box they go out of business. So they now have to make a lot more per box to keep the lights on and employees paid. Simple economics on high margin versus high volume. No high volume anymore so high margin is needed. Don't like it, dont buy.
I agree with you, but I think it is exogenous shifts in the supply and demand function more so that are causing the prices we're seeing now. But if stores are selling half of what they used to, the have to sell them for twice as much to keep revenue constant.
 
I converted my AT back to 7.62x51.
  1. Have a lot more of it in inventory
  2. Still can get it at a good price. FGMM or M118LR is $1.25/round versus $1/round pre-COVID
  3. For most of my shooting, it works well.
Original AT barrel is out getting threaded for a brake. Really helps with recoil management and speed.

The ammo shortage is not ending anytime soon.
 
People also forget that stores have overhead. They used to sell 40 boxes at $5 profit per box. Now they get to sell 5 boxes if they are lucky because they can not get it. If they sold it for $5 profit per box they go out of business. So they now have to make a lot more per box to keep the lights on and employees paid. Simple economics on high margin versus high volume. No high volume anymore so high margin is needed. Don't like it, dont buy.
Gun owners tend to forget how much they love capitalism when there's an ammo shortage.
 
Belay my last... I was a victim of a Spam filter. My shop answered my email and told me who to talk to. I got my .45 ACP today for $300.

Just saw that my LGS cancelled my backorder, without telling me, so they could sell my $300 case for $899.

Edit to correct new gouged price $899 not $800, $299 case is being sold at $45 for 50 rounds, 230 grain ball.
 
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People also forget that stores have overhead. They used to sell 40 boxes at $5 profit per box. Now they get to sell 5 boxes if they are lucky because they can not get it. If they sold it for $5 profit per box they go out of business. So they now have to make a lot more per box to keep the lights on and employees paid. Simple economics on high margin versus high volume. No high volume anymore so high margin is needed. Don't like it, dont buy.



I get that aspect but also the sales have been up over 1700% for some businesses. I can’t imagine any gun shop being in the red over the past 8 months. A friend of mine owns a company that processes credit cards. One of his accounts is a local gun shop. Usually this time of year they do about $180,000/month. In April alone they did over 1mil in sales.
 
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Paid 54.99 two weeks ago for the last box of Hornady 7 Rem mag 162ELDX, only box on ammoseek. Now listed at 82.99 and out of stock.
 
Didn’t CTD have random mixed 9mm boxes of ammo awhile back for some stupid crazy price? It was clearly random 9mm’s they found on the warehouse floor that they put in a box. I want to say it was $80 for 50? Thats the craziest junk I’ve seen.
 
Just paid $324 shipped for 90 rounds of Buffalo Bore 480 Ruger ammo, that is standard price......doubt that ammo is in high demand. Locally 9mm ammo if you can find it, is holding at $40/50 rounds of GD or HST.
 
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I ran in to Atlantic tactical here in jersey, they had 50rd boxes at $16. I bought all 7k rounds they had left. Got lucky. Of course some of my friends took few thousand from me at cost.
but since then, Atlantic tactical raised their prices to $29 per box.
 
My local shop hasn't had bulk for a while. I ordered a case of S&B .45 in March and between ordering and processing it went out of stock. I'm still backorder at $300. Wolf Gold 5.56 was $279, most 9mm was around $179. We'll see what they restock at.

Sorry, I genuinely think I might have bought your case. Went back the next day for more and cheapest I could find was 60c/rd.
 
$35/50rds fmj 9mm is the norm around here. Wish I had a few hundred cases of extra ammo right now. Would love to double or triple my money right now but this Chinese flu got me by surprise.
The prices right now suck so bad but at the same time it's the perfect time to get your money out of guns you never use or ammo that you can't shoot because you don't even own a gun in that caliber.
 
I think I own 10% of all 6.5CM Berger sold on TSUSA in the last two weeks. Suckaaaaaas. Somehow 156 EOL was cheaper than American Gunner.
 
I think I own 10% of all 6.5CM Berger sold on TSUSA in the last two weeks. Suckaaaaaas. Somehow 156 EOL was cheaper than American Gunner.

You must have more then 10% because I haven't seen Berger or American gunner in stock at all these last two weeks. What was the price for the Berger ammo?
 
Yesterday, I saw in a local (Atlanta) gun store 50-round boxes of Atlanta Arms 9mm for $55/box. I never would have thought I'd see off-brand 9mm for more than $1/round.
 
You must have more then 10% because I haven't seen Berger or American gunner in stock at all these last two weeks. What was the price for the Berger ammo?
$1.33/rd for 156 EOL and $1.75/rd for 140 hybrid target
 
I ran in to Atlantic tactical here in jersey, they had 50rd boxes at $16. I bought all 7k rounds they had left. Got lucky. Of course some of my friends took few thousand from me at cost.
but since then, Atlantic tactical raised their prices to $29 per box.
I’m surprised the shop let you buy 7,000 rounds, most shops around here (upstate NY) are limiting people to 2 boxes of 50
 
I just shot next to a new gun owner at the range. He drove about an hour and paid the range fee to shoot a single 20rd box of gold dots he paid $55 for. I gave him a box of tula and you would have thought I paid off his mortgage he was so excited.

Crazy times. I shoot lipstick red hi-tek rounds now at about $.15 a pop and I can still get everything but primers at my LGS.
 
I think I own 10% of all 6.5CM Berger sold on TSUSA in the last two weeks. Suckaaaaaas. Somehow 156 EOL was cheaper than American Gunner.

Want to trade for some Berger 120 Scenar-L? I’ve got almost two cases. SRP brass doesn’t work real well in my GAP.
 
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FGMM 7.62x51 went up 35 cents a round in a week at the same store. Fuck it...

Will just have to ride this out

It’s regularly I’m stock at Academy for $25/box for the .308 load. Almost bought some the other day on an impulse just cause.
 
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Remember the ones who rape their customers now and the ones who want to make it thru and survive when things are plentiful
I ended up emailing them. They reopened my order at the March price. Outlook's spam filter caught the early August verification email. I didn't make it to my LGS about my case of .45 ACP. The sad thing is I was a customer when the owner had a table at the gunshow in the mid 90's. A few years ago I took the flyer in to his shop that he had on the table announcing he was opening a store, 2000-2001. I hate to say I think he lost a customer either way. He was willing to screw a customer for $600.
 
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So I'm in a local sports shop and happened to notice they had about 10 boxes of 9mm. So I grabbed 1 box to make use of the opportunity, nothing crazy. This was for a box of 50 Armscor FMJ 9mm. It rang up at the register at $65!! I said "that has to be a mistake." Was told "nope, do you have any idea how hard it is to find 9mm?" I laughed, because I'd purchased a box of the same exact ammo about 4 days earlier in another store for $14. When I told them that, the guy looked visibly embarrassed. Needless to day, I did not buy.

Talk about gouging. Anyone seen higher?
In my way of thinking, unless you need it, hold off...
This is the worst I've ever seen it. Things will eventually get better.
If you an outrageous price then it only emboldens the seller to continue making things worse.

I have never been so glad that I began reloading in my life...
 
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I refuse to buy 9mm right now, it's obscene. I'm taking a class from Tony Cowden next month, I wanted to shoot my G19, but I'm gonna run my P320 .40 because I can actually get ammo for it.
 
In my lowly opinion, all serious shooters should be reloaders. All shooters that want to be able to do as much shooting as possible, should also be bullet casters.
 
In my lowly opinion, all serious shooters should be reloaders. All shooters that want to be able to do as much shooting as possible, should also be bullet casters.

I dunno man... you see the car thread on here? There are hide members with bentleys, lamborhinis and a whole bunch of other rides that might cost more than my house. I don't think it's worth their time to cast bullets or even reload for handgun at all. Guys like that are probably better off paying $3 per round for a tailored load from copper creek or something if they need top shelf ammo.

Pre pandemic, I figured out it made absolutely no sense to load 9mm or .223 anymore. Just precision rounds for a select few rifles. I don't think casting ever made sense for me... I'm not good enough with a handgun to see any accuracy gains and the time and equipment invested definitely weren't worth it when I could buy 50rds of 9mm for $8 per box.

That no longer applies.... for me. I reluctantly bought some cheapo lee 9mm dies a few months back.
 
I dunno man... you see the car thread on here? There are hide members with bentleys, lamborhinis and a whole bunch of other rides that might cost more than my house. I don't think it's worth their time to cast bullets or even reload for handgun at all. Guys like that are probably better off paying $3 per round for a tailored load from copper creek or something if they need top shelf ammo.

Pre pandemic, I figured out it made absolutely no sense to load 9mm or .223 anymore. Just precision rounds for a select few rifles. I don't think casting ever made sense for me... I'm not good enough with a handgun to see any accuracy gains and the time and equipment invested definitely weren't worth it when I could buy 50rds of 9mm for $8 per box.

That no longer applies.... for me. I reluctantly bought some cheapo lee 9mm dies a few months back.
I get your point, but the problem is when rich/very well off individuals buy overpriced that hits the little guy in a bad way.
Wealthy can afford it but your average Joe with a passion can not train how he wants.
But then again, no one said life is fair...
 
I get your point, but the problem is when rich/very well off individuals buy overpriced that hits the little guy in a bad way.
Wealthy can afford it but your average Joe with a passion can not train how he wants.
But then again, no one said life is fair...

Capitalism at its finest. In theory, the current market should incentivize manufacturers to ramp up production and reinvest back into the business to keep up with demand. The firearms/ammo market is just slow move because of legislation and threats of new legislation. Nobody wants to drop millions into new machinery and/or production facilities when the rug can get pulled out from under them at any point in time. Thank the left.
 
To those who say its not worth reloading 9mm and 223, these are the times I just quietly smile and keep pulling that press handle.

With that said, I haven't seen crazy gouging here yet, simply because there's nothing to gouge. Haven't seen 9mm and 223 on the shelves in weeks.
 
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Lol
I Started warning friends in February that they should be stocking up because the election was coming up regardless of COVID and the riots.
They didn’t listen!
9ED62D2D-6C76-4F13-A830-12F2B04A2ECF.gif
 
Capitalism at its finest. In theory, the current market should incentivize manufacturers to ramp up production and reinvest back into the business to keep up with demand. The firearms/ammo market is just slow move because of legislation and threats of new legislation. Nobody wants to drop millions into new machinery and/or production facilities when the rug can get pulled out from under them at any point in time. Thank the left.

More than that, ammo manufacturers realize that this is a bubble that will burst. Eventually everyone that wants ammo will have what they think they need and then demand will taper off to pre-panic levels. Invest in increased manufacturing? Nope, this bubble will pass, then they will be left holding the bag for a bunch of machinery they can’t keep running. Ride it out, run the machines hard and fast, and let QC slip a bit. Most of the panic ammo won’t ever get shot anyway- at least not at anything More substantial than a dirt berm...
 
More than that, ammo manufacturers realize that this is a bubble that will burst. Eventually everyone that wants ammo will have what they think they need and then demand will taper off to pre-panic levels. Invest in increased manufacturing? Nope, this bubble will pass, then they will be left holding the bag for a bunch of machinery they can’t keep running. Ride it out, run the machines hard and fast, and let QC slip a bit. Most of the panic ammo won’t ever get shot anyway- at least not at anything More substantial than a dirt berm...

No doubt. I'm not sure what the tooling is like for mass manufacturing of small arms ammo. Is it largely proprietary? Or are the machines used widely in other industries with only minor modification required?
 
To those who say its not worth reloading 9mm and 223, these are the times I just quietly smile and keep pulling that press handle.

With that said, I haven't seen crazy gouging here yet, simply because there's nothing to gouge. Haven't seen 9mm and 223 on the shelves in weeks.
I recently bought 450 rounds of 9mm for $35 per 150. That works out to $0.23 per round. I can get Berry’s Bullets round nose 115 for $0.09 per, small pistol primers at $0.04 per, and a max charge of title group will cost $0.014 per shot- assuming availability. That works out to $0.144 per shot, assuming I have brass (Add another $0.05 per cartridge for once fired brass). So, I have a time budget of $0.08 per cartridge to make it worth my while to reload 9mm. Let’s assume I make $100,000 per year, working 40 hours per week, 47 weeks per year. Why 47? 10 holidays and 3 weeks of vacation per year. Ok, that means my hourly wage is $53.19. So, to break even on reloading (Assuming I have the brass and the reloading equipment) I would need to reload 665 cartridges per hour. That also assumes that I value my time away from work equally to that at work. There are several assumptions that don’t hold for all shooters.

But, those are pre panic prices if you can find availability. In the realm of worth it at any cost, yes reloading makes sense.
 
Depending on the load .223 wasn't worth reloading, no one ever said don't buy components when they were cheap. The only thing I feel I missed out on was Wolf Gold 55 grain FMJ bullets 4k for $240. For 100 yard reduced target rifle matches they were one of the best light bullets I found. I was buying ammo at 28 cents a round and loading it would have been 17 cents a round, not as big of a savings as loading 77 SMK but 77's were 20 cents a piece.

I kept saying I was going to order the Wolf's and put it off, then the COVID buying started. Next spring they may be 6 cents a bullet again.
 


I'd pay a pretty penny for the jug of retumbo in the video.

But what machinery in the video is specific to loading ammo? In other words, what would take for a button/widget manufacturer to pivot and produce ammo? I'd imagine a big part of any extended shortage would be the licensing requirements, and that if we didn't have FFL issues the market would adapt to the surge in demand and the market would reach equilibrium in a shorter period of time, even considering the obvious bubble.

I'm hearing the shortage is expected to continue through most of next year. That's a huge opportunity for struggling manufacturers in other industries that have equipment that could be retooled or modified to produce ammo.

Just spit balling here. I have no idea what I'm talking about. Again, just curious.
 
I haven't bought loaded 9mm in probably 10 years at least. I load it for probably $.10/round.