Pricing on Ammo?

L

Lee6113

New member
I just bought a box of Winchester 9mm 115g on sale at Walmart (box of 100 rounds). Sale price was $26.67 (about $0.27/round) plus tax. Usually a box of 50 is $16-$17 at the range which I have to buy if I'm renting their guns. Now that I'll be able to bring my own gun I can buy my own ammo. I was just curious about pricing and deals.

What are some good brands to buy and what is decent pricing? I'm looking specifically at 9mm ammo. I figure $0.27 a bullet isn't too bad. But what does TFL think?

Cheers,

Lee
 
Last edited:
I just paid $99.99 for 500 rounds of 9mm at Turners in California. It is LAX brand which is a local firing range next to Los Angeles Airport. I have not fired it yet but it looks well made.

The guys at the store said it is very good.
 
My walmart has perfecta for $10.97(I think) per 50. How much do you plan on shooting your gun? If it's a lot, you may be interested in checking out reloading. You get a lot more bang for your buck.
 
you can get remanufatured(reloads) or russian steel cased 9mm for under $200 per thousand. i personally would much prefer steel over reman's, but make sure your gun likes it first. after that you can get MagTech by the case for $210 or BrassMaxx for $220 and Sellior for $230. this is only the route to go if you plan to shot a bunch, if not then a 5c savings per round doesn't matter too much only shooting a thousand rounds per year, but t nice to have a stash and not worry about it. retail stores, expect to pay what you are paying 27-28c per round for cheaper brass cased, not a bad price.
 
I have done absolutely zero research into reloading. I do intend to shoot a lot more often, along with acquiring more firearms. I don't know good brands or bad brands, tho. I thought perfecta was a bit low end, but if it fires then I'm fine with that. My new gun is an Xd mod 2.
 
The winchester is the same here. There is also a Federal 100 box for $25. But if you don't mind aluminum cases Federal 50 rounds sells for $10 at walmart.
 
Most folks say reloading for 9mm is not worth it just to save money- the break even point is many thousand rounds down the road. Of course there are other reasons to reload if you want to go there.

I think 25¢/round is a good average for quality range ammo although as others have pointed out you can find down to about 20¢.

Check out ammoseek.com for lots of options online too
 
In approximate order of increasing price.

In general, the steel case import Russian ammo is about equivalent. TulAmmo, Herter's (rebranded import) Brown Bear, Wolf.... Accuracy is fine. Reliability is fine. The steel casing is mild/soft steel so it won't hurt your firearm. Usually not reloadable since Berdan primed. About 1-2 $ cheaper than brass cased. A lot of steel cased ammo is also Bi-metal jacket: the projectile has a lead core, soft steel jacket, and is copper plated outside the jacket. It's fine for your gun due to the steel being soft and plated. Some indoor ranges will ask what ammo you're shooting and hold a magnet up to your ammo. Usually more often with rifle ammo.

Then there is remanufactured Ammo. Hit or miss. Brass is from mixed lots and has been used before. There is another thread where someone had 2 squib loads from a fairly well known reloading company. Just be careful of squibs. I've had some sketchy reloads before, and I too would probably go with steel case russian if available.

Then there is import Brass case. Fiocchi, Sellier + Bellot, Perfecta. I'm sure there are others. Usually cheaper than US brass cased. However, not always the case depending on a few things. At Walmart last week, 100 rds of 40 cal WWB was a few dollars cheaper than 100 rds Perfecta due to bulk packaging. I jumped on that one. The brass is perfectly reloadable. I have no qualms shooting import ammo.

Then there is US made, aluminum case ammo like CCI Blazer. Not reloadable, the aluminum cracks on bullet seating. About the same price as steel cased.

Then there is US made brass cased practice ammo (FMJ). Winchester White Box, Remington UMC, American Eagle, etc.... they all work fine in my guns.

Then there are premium self defense rounds. 50c to $1 a round but if you really want to check your accuracy at range, find the defense round your gun likes. These are held to tighter tolerances with more consistent powder charge/bullet weights etc...

I've only seen 1 problem with Perfecta 115 grain 9mm ammo, it had a slightly lighter powder charge than say WWB. It ran fine in my sub-compact, a compact, but my friend had a new Beretta 92FS that he ran dry which produced failures. Winchester White Box had no problems. Now several hundred rounds later I think he would be fine with Perfecta.

Reloading, I usually manage about $7 dollars/50 rounds for 9mm, 40, 38. And I don't look really hard for a good deal on components. I don't buy huge quantities either. My favorite part about it is not having to be at the mercy of availability when times are tough. Want ammo? Go pull the handle a few times. You do have to pay attention and check a few things every cycle but it's no harder than driving.

People have questions about cheap ammo accuracy. There's an interesting test if you google "theboxotruth cheap ammo" - to see just how accurate cheap ammo is
 
Last edited:
I have been using the $10.97 Perfecta from Walmart with no issues. I also use it in 380 for my Taurus TCP with no issues. The entire thing is a pretty gold color.
 
gold color

Went shooting on Independence Day with a family member and his girlfriend noted the same thing: these look nice!
 
Nothing wrong with perfecta, tula brass shoots just fine. Whatever is cheap try different brands Ive used winchester and federal also. Look around for good deals I won't pay 4 or 5 bucks more for name brand practice ammo. Btw I can reload 9mm for 5 bucks for a box of fifty. Then I can go with 124grain or 147grain which shoots so sweet. And my accuracy is way better with my loads.
 
So it sounds like pretty much any ammo will work, especially for a range gun. It's the carry ammo I'll want to be more particular about.


Btw I can reload 9mm for 5 bucks for a box of fifty. Then I can go with 124grain or 147grain which shoots so sweet. And my accuracy is way better with my loads.
Click to expand...
How much does it cost to get into reloading?
 
I bought the lee anniversary reloading kit. It costs 109$ from FSreloading and comes with everything you need to get started. You will additionally need a set of dies for your caliber(30$) and a set of calipers for measuring(15$). That's about the cheapest to get started reloading, my cheap press kit has well over 10k loaded and still runs perfect.

Since you don't cast bullets, yet, you will be looking at around 90$ per 1000 for bullets. Then between 30-40$ per k for primers and 10$ per k for powder. Pretty good savings if you already have the brass saved up. If not then brass is 40$ per k, but can be reloaded dozens of times.

This is the bare bones for what's needed to reload, you will want other things like tumblers, gages, nicer bullets etc as time goes on. But all the stuff pays for itself very quickly if you shoot a lot. But we are still in somewhat of a powder shortage, you should source powder and primers locally and see what's available and at what costs first. Buying hazmat stuff online is expensive unless buying in large quantity to overcome the shipping fees.
 
How much does it cost to get into reloading?
Click to expand...

You can get into it for very cheap, depending on what type of equipment you want to use. Lee Loaders can be had for as little as $30, or you can get a Lee single stage press setup for around $125 new, (or go with other brands like Rcbs for $300). Add in a manual and die set and you are looking at $175 for everything sans components.

If you are interested, pick up the book "the ABCs of reloading". It's really a must read for anybody who wants to start reloading.
 
Reloading is really the way to go if you shoot a lot. Next in line is buying online by the case. If youre buying by the box, Walmart is probably the best place to go.

I reload a lot of 9mm, about 20-25000 rounds a year. I load FMJ's, and depending on component cost, they run me around $6-6.50 a box of 50 (0.12-0.13 a round). I really dont save any money reloading, but I shoot a lot more for the same money.

Lee's stuff is a good way to get started, and has very usable stuff, but youll probably want to upgrade if you really get into it, and especially if you reload for rifles.

If youre thinking about getting into it, save all your brass, and dont bother with steel/aluminium, and berdan cased ammo.
 
There's a reloading sub-forum on here, some very experienced folks. There might be a sticky topic that would help there too.

I started out with a progressive (Lee Loadmaster)- because I'd already been introduced to reloading by a family member with a single stage. I wouldn't recommend that route if no one is there to coach you as there's a few things going on at once. Unless you are pretty mechanically inclined.

You could start with a single stage Lee press. It took him about 20 mins to make 50 with one. Less if he had decided to do more than 1 box at a time.

There will always be a role for a single stage even after you "upgrade" to a Turret or Progressive press. Also just about any single stage is "strong" enough for handgun, whether the frame looks like a "c" or an "O". the Aluminum framed ones do fine. I wish I had space for a single stage to pull/disassemble messed up rounds right now :)

Eventually on a Progressive, if you just leave the settings alone it will take a few seconds for me to finish a round. There are occasional interruptions to refill primers, powder, cases from the feeder, etc.
 
I thought perfecta was a bit low end, but if it fires then I'm fine with that.
Click to expand...


I have had no problems at all with Perfecta. At $10.97/50 ($0.22/round), it is the cheapest option I have found locally.
 
Well, it looks like I'm gonna learn to start reloading. I don't have a lot of space so I'll have to start small. One thing I know I'll be lucky with is my wife loves taking things apart and rebuilding them (when we were at the gun store she made the guy disassemble at least three guns and explain what each piece did and why), so when I mentioned I might like to start doing that too, I showed her a video and she got excited about it.

But yeah, if it means I can shoot more for the same amount of money, I'll be excited about that.
 
The market is too fluid to say what is the best "cheap" ammo at any given time.

For shooting paper, most anything will do. Use grabagun.com to stay on top of sales, etc.


Shipping cost is a major factor. Look for deals here. Especially on some of the European brands like S&B, Prvi, Ecco, etc, etc.


Wal Mart also has pretty good deals on cheap blasting ammo. I've been buying a lot of the Turkish ammo recently. The prices have been too close to the floor prices of steel and aluminum cased ammo, so I just shoot brass.
 
Are there any drawbacks to shooting steel cased ammo? Apart from not being able to reload? Such as the dirtying your gun more?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top