Price Increases For New Year

[t001]

im on the ammomans email list for updates (www.ammoman.com) and the one he sent out today said wolf is bumping prices up next year (doesnt bother me, i dont shoot the stuff).

my new years resolution for 07 = start reloading

Pretty much every one of Ammoman's emails is about price increases seems like. While that is the general trend no doubt, it does get annoying after awhile. I agree that reloading is gonna be the way to go though.

[dw1784]

shotgun shells for sure, especially premium brands.

[MilSpec.45]

Check out Kahr Arms homepage:

http://www.kahr.com/front.html

Price Increase: Effective January 1, 2007
Dealer and retail pricing for Kahr pistols will increase
effective January 1, 2007.

Looks like I need to go get my pm9 before the new year.

[Alanski56]

If you have a place that you can reload, most definitely consider it. I got tired of watching ammo prices continuously going up so I bought the whole reloading shabang (RCBS) and I have been a very happy camper ever since. You can load ammo that rivals the manufacturers best stuff for a fraction of the cost. The brass case alone represents between 25 to 30% of each round. Since you can reload the same case numerous times, the cost starts to drop of significantly.

I have been reloading .223, .308 and .357 magnum for the past year and a half. I have yet to purchase any .223 brass and have collected over 2,000 spent cases (LC, Winchester and R-P) at the local range. Everytime I go to the range I manage to pick up 100 - 150 spent casings. The LC cases have crimped primers and removing them is an extra step in the process but it's worth it when they're free. And, reloading is just plain fun.

I say "screw the ammo manufacturers" and start reloading.

Have a nice day.

[proraptor]

If you have a place that you can reload, most definitely consider it. I got tired of watching ammo prices continuously going up so I bought the whole reloading shabang (RCBS) and I have been a very happy camper ever since. You can load ammo that rivals the manufacturers best stuff for a fraction of the cost. The brass case alone represents between 25 to 30% of each round. Since you can reload the same case numerous times, the cost starts to drop of significantly.

I have been reloading .223, .308 and .357 magnum for the past year and a half. I have yet to purchase any .223 brass and have collected over 2,000 spent cases (LC, Winchester and R-P) at the local range. Everytime I go to the range I manage to pick up 100 - 150 spent casings. The LC cases have crimped primers and removing them is an extra step in the process but it's worth it when they're free. And, reloading is just plain fun.

I say "screw the ammo manufacturers" and start reloading.

Have a nice day.

Id love to get into reloading...So you can really make reload .223 cheaper than $.26 a round? How much do you save? How much does it cost for everything I need to get started? How much space would one need?

[CALI-gula]

The PTR-91 rifles will (and have in the last month) increase in price $250 or $350 depending on the model. JLD Enterprises was reformed into PTR-9, Inc. due to bringing in a partner and the new company plans to increase production, while also doing their own direct distribution; while you would think this removal of middel-men should LOWER their prices, they have raised their prices across the board. It could be because of the increase in interest and great reviews of their PTR-91 rifle, or the direction of planned growth left them more in the hole than they had planned.

SO just a few weeks ago, you might have paid around $1000 for one of their plain butt-stock 18" barreled G3 style models ( IF you could get your hands on one ) but now it is likely to cost you around $1350.

From their website:

http://www.jldenter.com/about.html

.

[DrjonesUSA]

The PTR-91 rifles will (and have in the last month) increase in price $250 or $350 depending on the model. JLD Enterprises was reformed into PTR-9, Inc. due to bringing in a partner and the new company plans to increase production, while also doing their own direct distribution; while you would think this removal of middel-men should LOWER their prices, they have raised their prices across the board. It could be because of the increase in interest and great reviews of their PTR-91 rifle, or the direction of planned growth left them more in the hole than they had planned.

SO just a few weeks ago, you might have paid around $1000 for one of their plain butt-stock 18" barreled G3 style models ( IF you could get your hands on one ) but now it is likely to cost you around $1350.

I'd say it's more likely simple supply and demand: low supply = higher prices.

[VeryCoolCat]

Maybe I'll buy a bullet cast, then start reloading and sell the reloads on gunbroker

[Alanski56]

[QUOTE] Id love to get into reloading...So you can really make reload .223 cheaper than $.26 a round? How much do you save? How much does it cost for everything I need to get started? How much space would one need?

Good afternoon proraptor,

I don't know how to paste quotes like everyone else does.

Anyway, to answer your first question, "hell yes!" I went to the Midway USA site real quick to get the following as an example:

8 lb Hodgdon BLC-2 Smokeless Powder: $124.00
(+$20.00 haz-mat)
box of 250 Hornady 55 grain V-Max bullets: $29.99
1000 Winchester .223 brass cases: $153.00
1000 CCI #450 small rifle magnum primers: $23.19
(purchase locally or you will get popped with another $20.00 haz-mat)

I didn't factor in freight but from a comparison standpoint, it's nominal.

I get approximately 275 rounds per pound of BLC-2. 55 grain bullets I use 25.3 grains of powder. My rifles love this powder weight. Doing some simple math the initial cost per round is $0.36. Looks more expensive, right? Wrong! Consider this:

1. We are no longer talking about comparing to the cheap FMJ stuff out there. We are now talking about premium ammo using premium components. Once you get the hang of it you will be capable of producing ammo that will rival the best the manufacturers produce. Hornady charges about $16.00 per box of 20 for .223 with 55 grain V-Max. That's per 20 rounds. The quality you will be capable of producing will now be in this league. Believe me, it makes a world of difference.

2. In this scenario, the brass case alone represents $0.15 of the $0.36 each handloaded round will cost you initially. You pick up your spent casings at the range and you can knock $0.15 of the cost of each round when you reload the same case a second time. Same for the third time, fourth time, etc. It starts looking real positive now. I have .223 cases I have reloaded five times with no sign of case head weakness or any other problems. And, as I said in my first post, since I started reloading a year and a half ago I haven't purchased one single .223 case. I've picked them all up at the shooting range (over 2,000). I suggest you start picking up .223 brass that other shooters discard. It's like picking up money for reloaders.

3. You can experiment. My next round of reloading will incorporate Sierra's 69 grain Matchking to mimick what the special forces are currently using.

Here's a couple of hints that help me to save money:

1. I don't purchase anything locally except primers. I order all of my reloading components from Midway USA, Midsouth Shooter's Supply or Natchez Shooter's Supply. I shop for the lowest pricing.

2. When I need to order powder I try and wait until one of the suppliers is offering a discount on the haz-mat fee or another coupon I can use to offset the haz-mat charge. And, when I order I order 8 lbs at a time. It's like getting 3 pounds free compared to the cost locally.

To get started figure it will cost you approximately $500.00. You want to start with a single stage press. Trust me! You'll understand once you start reloading. Besides, most press manufacturers make their single stage pressess adaptable to progressive if you ever want to go that route (after getting enough reloading experience). An RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Master Reloading kit hovers around $230.00 to $250.00. In addition to this I had to purchase the case trimmer, shell plates and collets, case tumbler and media for cleaning the brass, reloading dies, kinetic bullet puller, MTM ammo boxes, reloader labels. I may be forgetting a few small things but $500.00 should cover it. You'll add some more stuff as you go along but this will pretty much get you started.

I use about a 3 foot by 3 foot area on my work bench for reloading. My work bench is where I do all of my firearms cleaning and simple gunsmithing so overall, my bench is about twice this size.

Reloading isn't for everyone but for me, I would never go back to purchasing factory ammo. So, that's it in a nutshell. Let me know if you have anymore questions.

Have a nice day.

[The Soup Nazi]

Why can't some companies form some big, huge *** better conglomerate and manufacture cheap ammo?

Grr.

Because a huge conglomerate would be even quicker to screw us over.

[crazyXgerman]

supply and demand, the war, inflation, it all adds up, no big surprise there.

i wish i had the space and the time to reload. i can see how it could save you some money.