What's the most you'd pay for ammo?

S

spanishjames

New member
I've read a few posts recently about the fluctuation of ammo prices in recent years. That got me to thinking about shooting as a hobby in general. When I go to the range I may shoot, at most, 100 rounds of factory 9mm or 38 special. That might cost me around $25.00, give or take a few dollars. Of course I also shoot a lot of .22lr, and 100 of those are only $4.00-5.00 if it's in bulk.

Factoring only new, factory made ammunition, shot for fun/leisure/plinking, and not for formal competition:

What's the most you'd pay per round for factory, brass cased, 124gr, 9mm FMJ ammo before you stop shooting for fun altogether?

I chose the above round to keep things as simple as possible. Feel free to include your caliber/cost limit if you don't shoot 9mm. I think 50 cents per round would be my limit. Any more and I'd stick to .22s, and maybe shoot 20 rounds of 9mm just for the practice.
 
I think 50 cents per round would be my limit.
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My tolerance for ammo cost has gone way down since I started reloading. I think I'd probably choke on my own tongue if faced with the prospect of paying $25/box for FMJ 9mm. I don't know that I'd stop shooting recreationally altogether, but I'd slow down to a trickle compared to how much I shoot now.
 
Another reloader. I got sick of factory prices back in the 1980s when I had to pay $25/box of .44 mag. I think generic ammo for .45ACP was about $9/box then. Started reloading from that day onward. I still buy factory occasionally, but not often.

If I was not reloading I would slow down purchases as prices rose and stock up when they decline. Have a buffer supply insulates you from having to pay top dollar during shortages/escalations.

Also, I would shoot a lot more steel cased ammo for plinking. No sense at all to shoot brass cases when you aren't planning to re-use them. At least for practice.

And I would buy in bulk whenever possible. A case of steel cased ammo is going to be a lot cheaper per round than brass cased ammo by the bix.
 
Hello, everyone. Not factory loaded ammo..but single empty brass case...$3.00! (.25-25 Stevens). Of course, hand-loaded with home-made cast bullet, price is cheaper than .22 L.R.
 
I grew tired of paying just $68/1000 for 9mm bullets (not loaded ammo). So, I started casting my own.

At $68/1000, I was reloading 9mm for $5.11 per box of 50.
By casting my own bullets, I'm loading that same box for about $2.56.

And, where I used to pay $7.41 per box of 50 rounds for .44 Rem Mag; I'm now paying $4.64 with my own cast bullets.

And that's paying for lead (and its alloy components). If I got it for free, the bullets would cost me only the energy required to smelt the lead, and the lubricant applied to them.
 
Serious implications in this issue. Many shooters are being squeezed out of the game because of cost.
My primary shooting avocation is traditional muzzle loaders. When I started doing this in 1970 the cost per shot was almost too small to calculate. Today lead and powder (and caps for those who use them) are quite high and putting people out of the activity.
For me, with modern, if going on a dream big game hunt, there would probably be no limit per round - almost.
For day to day shooting, even though I handload, I seldom get my 12 ga., 30-06 or .44 mag. out of the safe anymore. Cost is the issue. Much of the fun is gone. I can still afford to shoot the .22 lr and plink with that.
 
9mm Winchester target loads are $13 a box. Too much I think as it is. My most expensive thing I shoot is 45-70 and it's $32 a box. I'm buying reloading equipment soon.
 
Many shooters are being squeezed out of the game because of cost.
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If this is true, they're being replaced by new shooters faster than the attrition rate. Just look at sales figures for guns and ammo. :cool:
 
What's the most you'd pay per round for factory, brass cased, 124gr, 9mm FMJ ammo before you stop shooting for fun altogether?
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I'm going to slightly modify your question before answering it. I'm going to substitute 115gr where you asked about 124gr.

I paid $15 for a box of Federal Champion 115gr FMJ at a hardware store recently. I normally buy this stuff at WalMart for around $11. I was going to the range (impromptu) and WalMart wasn't convenient and I didn't want to go home first. I had no issue paying the extra 4 bucks.

I'll shoot less before I stop shooting. If 9mm goes from just below 25cents/rd to 50cents/rd I'll shoot less. If it goes to $1/rd I'll probably shoot as little as I think I can get away with and still stay sharp.

But nothing is constant. In a decade or two I'll probably pay $1/rd for 9mm without batting an eyelash. In the early 90's we used to shoot it for something like a dime a round. If memory serves.
 
I'm not gonna stop shooting. I reload but if the cost of components get too high, I'll just raise the rent on my rental house to cover the difference.

It pays to be a slum lord.
 
Well,,, for my S&W 629,,,,,

Commercial ammo is about 75 cents a round,,,
That means it costs me about $4.50 every time I load a cylinder.

I bulk buy the CCI aluminum cartridges when I can find them,,,
That drops the price down to just over 40 cents/round,,,
Same for ammo for my .357 Magnum revolvers,,,
Gets that ammo down to about 30 cents each.

Needless to say,,,
I don't shoot Jezebel or Brighid a lot. :o

My 22's get the most use,,,
With the 9mm and .38 a distant second.

Aarond

.
 
When ammo craziness was at its peak, .22 rimfire cost as much as my .45 ACP handloads. I bought 200 rounds, as I had not stocked-up in advance, but essentially retired my .22s for about two years. I don't think I'll pay that much again.
 
How many rounds is that WV Gunner? I just bought a 50 round box at Wally world for $10.47. The same box around Christmas was $9.47. I am not sure what my limit would be, but we are definitely considering getting into re-loading. We alread have a table and a lot of the equipment that one of my husband's uncles used when he was still shooting.
 
I recently purchased a Remington UMC 250rd pack of 9mm for about $60.00 after tax. That put them at about 24 cents each, too much in my opinion.

I'll soon be reloading as well. (dang you TFL:D) 38 special should run me about 13 cents each, saving me $100.00 per thousand. Now if I started casting my bullets.....
 
The closest Walmart has 3 different kind of 9mm, all cheap stuff. Tulammo for about $10, Federal for around $12, and Winchester for around $13. Those prices are all for 50 rounds. They have a Rockchucker master kit for $300, looks very tempting.
 
How about this corrolary? What's the most you would pay for a 12 pack of beer before you would stop drinking beer altogether?

It really boils down to what is important to you. Shooting is important to me. It is a necessary skill as well as a relaxing recreational activity for me. I truly have no vices that draw away my money. I don't smoke, I don't do illegal drugs, and I don't drink in a year what most drink in a month.

Before the first Obama panic, I was buying between 100 and 500 rounds per paycheck in an effort to stock up. When the panic hit I stopped buying ammunition unless I found it either on sale, or back at, or close to, the old pre-panic price. I still only buy ammunition when it is on sale, and i still find 9mm, .45 acp, .38, and .22lr, regularly on sale. I can still buy Russian 7.62x39 for around $5 for 20 rounds.

I should look into reloading, but to be brutally honest I have neither the time nor the desire to reload. Maybe if it gets to the point that I simply can't afford to buy ammo anymore then my mind will change about reloading.
 
That's my point. You don't buy unless it's on sale. The question is what's the most you'd pay if it wasn't on sale?
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In my current situation, I don't NEED to buy ammunition unless it is on sale. In fact, other than some soft point 7.62x39, I haven't bought any ammunition at all in 2012, and I didn't buy any in the last half of 2011. Just for an example I have about 15,000 rounds of .22lr on hand.

But to directly answer your question, I would spend the same amount of money I used to spend roughly $100 a paycheck. Obviously I wouldn't be able to buy as much if another panic ensued, but that is my allowable budget for ammunition.
 
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