Most affordable caliber for long guns?

D

DealHunter

New member
Since the upheaval at the end of 2012, and as milsurp ammo goes up in price, what do folks think is the most affordable caliber to shoot factory (store/web bought) stuff in quantity? I'm talking anything other than .22lr.

5.56, 7.62x54R, 7.62x39, 5.45? Something else? Pistol ammo for a carbine perhaps?

Just curious what people's experience is these days.
 
It's pretty hard to beat 223/5.56 for cheap centerfire. Prices have come back down to fairly reasonable. Good performance, enough accuracy and energy for just about anything you want to shoot out to 300-ish yds.
 
I agree... .223/5.56 rounds out as the best all things considered.

When things are stable, it's fairly affordable to shoot for fun and has enough power for other uses...

Not the best in price... Not the best in power...but weigh that with availability, fun and utilitarian ability, it wins

As long as you have enough stock on hand to weather political waves, it's good to go
 
I bought a 50 pack of 9mm winchester today for $13 which comes to 26 cents a shot. I know it can be found cheaper.

Tul ammo in 7.62x39 at walmart the last time I bought was $5.49 for 20 which is 27.45 cents a shot.
 
7.62x39 is cheaper, but at what cost? you get about 100% better accuracy by spending the extra coupe pennies a round on .223

I also really enjoy pistol caliber rifles, 9mil is purty cheap too.
 
7.62x39 is a much better short round than 5.56 and is every bit as accurate in comparable quality rifles. Things change around at about 150yds and the edge goes to 5.56. If you want to shoot cheap in a center fire rifle round you can usually shoot 7.62 for half the price of 5.56. You can also see the whole in the paper from the 7.62.
imo-Pistol rnds just don't have the range and pep to be desirable in a rifle unless we are talking 357 or larger. Then it's not so cheap.
 
Consider a 357/38 Special. While most of them are lever-action carbines, Ruger makes a bolt-action. I guess the M1 Carbine isn't as cheap to shoot as it once was.
 
Another vote for .223/5.56. Using comparable quality ammo the price is pretty similar to 7.62x39. I think the last boxes of Tulammo I bought were $5.47 for 20. That's no more than 3 or 4 cents more than I'm reloading 55 grain FMJ for.

Runner up goes to the 7.62x39. This is up to the individual and the intended uses you may have. In my case I had a Norinco SKS for a time that I've never missed. But my Colt Carbine is #1 on the do not sell list.
 
If you go on ammoseek you can find 223, 7.62x39 and 7,62x54R for around $.21 - .22, 308 is significantly more around .40.
Absolute cheapest is 5.45x39 at $.20 in the 2000 round can.
 
Pretty much any of the cartridges that were accepted as use for military.

AKA

30-06
308
7.62x54R
7.62x39
5.56
9mm
45ACP
 
5.56/.223 or 7.62x39 would be my two choices for cheap, centerfire long guns.

Pick your preferred platform, and have at it.
 
Cheapest period? Probably 5.45x39. Even with the defacto ban on 7n6 imports it's still cheaper than 5.56 and does essentially the same thing.

Cheapest that you can hunt with in all 50 states? .308 Win. You can still find plinking ammo for around $.50 per round and reload it even cheaper.
 
I'll throw a vote in for 7.62 X 39. Hard to beat price wise for rifle ammo.

I base this partly on the fact that I can hunt deer in Oregon with 7.62 X 39 for deer the .223 is out.

I am getting closer to adding an AR to the herd tho. Gotta get over my experience in basic of failing to qualify with the M-16. The targets @ 100 yds. were too close together. The guy to my right did qualify expert tho.
Yup shot the wrong target, for a bunch of rounds.

The good thing.........I did not end up in the AF security police as a job assignment. I'd like to think my "performance" on the range (one afternoon) may have played a part in that.
 
I'm going to also agree with 5.45x39. My younger brother was going to get an AK-47 in 7.62x39 at a gunshow, but when I showed him the AK-74 in 5.45x39 and the cost of ammunition, he bought it on the spot with a crate of ammo with it and he hasn't looked back. The rifle functions great, and that old surplus ammo works like a champ.
 
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