High Prices For 7mm-08 Ammo

N

Nebulous-1

Inactive
I have owned a 7mm-08 (Rem 700) for around 20 years. In the past, the price of factory loaded ammo was virtually the same as that for popular calibers such as 308, 243, 30-06, etc. Pricing it recently, I have found it to be considerably more expensive than ammo for those other calibers. In particular, Remington Express and Winchester Super X. I have found this to be the case in some large sporting good stores and on the Midway sight. Anyone have any knowledge of why there is such a large difference in price when it use to be about the same?
 
Supply and Demand.

There is, just like last election time, a huge demand for ammo/ammo manufacturing capacity......

You could handload to mitigate your pecieved pain in the wallet.....
 
I hear what you are saying about supply and demand and the election results, but I am still at a loss as to why this particular caliber would go up more than than many others. I know that there is not as much 7mm-08 manufactured as 308, 270, and others, but on the other hand, there certainly is not as much demand. Once more, I did not observe a big difference in price from other calibers years past. Since the 7mm-08 uses the same brass as the 308, I wonder if there is something affecting the production of the 7mm bullets. Not to be cynical, but I doubt it.
 
I know that there is not as much 7mm-08 manufactured as 308, 270, and others, but on the other hand, there certainly is not as much demand.
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I'd say, around here, there are probably as many 7mm-08 rifles in the woods as there are .270s. Folks are warming up to that caliber locally and you see a lot of youth rifles in the caliber. Demand is a hard thing to plot without data points, but I know that the 7mm-08 is a very popular caliber, locally.
 
I went looking for 7mm-08 ammo for a friend and had great difficulty finding it, especially at WalMart, Dicks, and a few other places. That was a couple of years ago and though it's easier to find now, prices are ridiculous.

The other thing I've noticed at the super stores is the poor selection of bullet weights and shotshell shot numbers for the game in this region. Guess that's what happens when corporate buyers try to pick the narrowest selection of products merely to maximize profits nationally. Yuck!
 
Since the 7mm-08 uses the same brass as the 308, ........
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Maybe not the same brass, but the same equipment is used to make it as all the other .308 based cases ...... and that's being used to capacity making the more popular .308 and .243, maybe?

It's an economy of scale thing, I think: Prices for .260 Rem were really outrageous in these parts when I was looking at buying one a couple years back...... and not just because not as many were produced. On the other end, Bass Pro/Cabela's/Scheels only sold a very few boxes a year compared to .308, yet a box of .260 took up the same width of shelf space as the more mobile caliber ....so of course they had to charge more to make it pay.....

Learn to handload. Then you can form brass and make what you want.
 
The other thing I've noticed at the super stores is the poor selection of bullet weights and shotshell shot numbers for the game in this region. Guess that's what happens when corporate buyers try to pick the narrowest selection of products merely to maximize profits nationally. Yuck!
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The buyers get paid to stock what they think will sell ..... that's their job: to maximize profits. When they get it wrong, the company loses money, and they might lose their job...... Corporations (aka "Businesses") are in business to "maximize profits" for their owners- in the case of Corporations, that's stockholders- those that don't "maximize profits", especially in hard times like these, are losing money.... and won't be around long to complain about. Wonder Bread, or a Ho-Ho, anybody?

That is the Capitalist System, in which The Market is the final Arbiter (What sells is Successful: the customer is the final Arbiter) and the Alternative is very bleak: Men in charge, with all their failings, make their choices, and the guy in line at the Government store is stuck with the result, as he must buy THE product, if there is anything on the shelf at all.

The Free Market is self correcting: If you see a need, and think you can fill it and make a profit, get some money together..... if your idea is so good(profitable), then you don't even need any money: investors will give you money (Capital!) in return for a share of profits (Shares of Stock!)...... so rather than grouse about how an evil "Corporation" is doing a job, how about putting your thinkin' cap on and doing that job better than they do..... It shouldn't be that hard, if they are doing such a bad job of it in the first place, right?
 
I think I'd ask the store manager or the shop owner, first. Then I'd phone the producers and find some sort of knowledgeable type who might be willing to satisfy my curiosity.
 
More Than A Supply and Demand Issue

Given the limited number of responses, there are a wide range of opinions here. We have a post pointing out the popularity of the 7mm-08, which according to much of what I have read is very much the case. We have a post attributing it to an economy of scale thing, which implies lower demand. We also got a free lecture on economics and capitalism. Unfortunately, supply and demand theory does not always work as advertised. I think we all know that gas prices are a good example of market manipulation that frequently reacts to influences other than supply and demand. When I see a box of 7mm-08 Remington Core Lokt going for as much as 50% more than the same ammo in 30-06 I think something is out of line. Keep in mind that 30-06 requires considerably more brass, powder and lead. I don’t contend to know what all of the causes are for the price difference, but given the popularity of the 7mm-08, I just can’t write it all off to supply and demand. ;)
 
It could be a simple matter of buying larger quantities of .30-06 and .270 Win, due to the popularity of those rounds to typical big box customers. Multi-cases of the popular cartridges, compared with a few boxes of 7mm-08?

Newer cartridges have considerable design costs and perhaps patent royalties that need to be covered by sales, so the factories must recover their costs. Sometimes, new cartridges need special powders that also cost more to produce. The consumer must eat those costs somehow.

The other non-magnum cartridge that is hard to find and perhaps still more expensive than the old standbys, is the .260 Rem. It's even harder to find than 7mm-08 around here.
 
I still think it is primarily supply and demand with the emphasis on supply. If supply of a product is limited, and the demand is static or increasing, the price will rise. Everybody produces tons of 30-30, .243, .270, .308, 30-06 and even 7mm Mag ammo. That is why the prices on those guys are low (or at least reasonable to a buyer). The manufacturers make a lot less 25-06, .260 Rem and 7mm-08, so the prices are higher for those cartridges. That also helps explain why .223 ammo is so cheap compared to other centerfire cartridges, there is a TON of it being manufactured due to very high demand. Prices on .250 Savage, 257 Roberts, 6mm Remington, 6.5x55, 7x57 and .280 Remington are even higher than the 25-06, .260 and 7-08 due to their even more limited supply (and demand). The short magnums and other more obscure magnum cartridges do have some higher costs associated with them (case size and construction, amount of powder needed, more expensive bullets), but they also have much more limited supply due to limited demand. The best option is to load your own. Powder, bullets and primers are universal in terms of cost and utility. The only major increase in cost will be for brass, based again on that supply/demand rule. So when you find a good deal on costly brass, load up!
 
I don't think the 7MM-08 is as popular in a lot of places as the old standards. Ammo is definitely more expensive and less selection is an issue in my area.

However, I like the caliber a lot and to me I'll pay the extra $10 per box. I just won't shoot it as much. :D
 
I think the OP (Nebulous) has a good point here not being entirely addressed--and won't yet by me very effectively I'm sure as I don't know other than something "different" is at play -- either solely or in combo with some aspects that have already been mentioned. Perhaps with the election-period frenzy, for instance, .223 orders are up and so any cartridge other than .223 not normally considered esoteric but also not with the mega-strong "core" group of .270/.30-06/.308/7 Mag/.30-30.is effectively relegated to being "fringe." I'm sure this has already been suggested if not the exact words. :) Regardless, it's a disconcerting trend. The -08's a great round (I thought was on the rise as well--sort of "re-found") that deserves much better.
 
The 7-08 was my choice for long range target as I had "discovered" it when researching other possibilities.

I was surprised to learn that it was often tagged as a "girlie" round because of it's reduced recoil over the .308...

Why tout "reduced recoil" instead of far better ballistics?

Like the .260, there's no commercial match ammo available.
 
7mm-08 is gaining popularity again. It gives deer hunters the perfect blend of the .308 and .243 in readily available rifles. I haven't seen the $10.00/box price jump being talked about but understand that if you can get it, why not. As to factory loads available, 95% of them suck. You really get to see what the cartridge is capable of when you hand-load it and take advantage of the plethora of 7mm bullet offerings. Nothing factory available reaches the potential. All factory loads are conservative at best.
 
The 7mm-08 was initially designed to make the near-perfect metallic silhoutte round. Less recoil than many of the .308 diameter rounds, better trajectory, and long bullets, to add duration to the impact time against steel targets.

Hunters soon discovered the benefits of the short, but flat-shooting, accurate round.
 
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