Pre-"Panic 2012" Prices for .40 and .45 Caliber Ammo

[LT1Silverhawk]

Hi All,


I'm somewhat new to the firearms scene and have mostly shot 9mm and .22lr. However, due to all the shortages and price gouging, I'm considering shooting .40 and/or .45 as well.


My question is, what were the pre-panic prices for average Joe/non-reloads .40 and .45 bullets? I'm asking because I never paid attention to those calibers before, and would like to know when I see a good or a fair deal.


Thanks in advance

[Capybara]

You are saying bullets and I think you mean ammunition/cartridges? Bullets are seated in the case to make up a cartridge. Many of us reload and buy or make our own bullets so you can see how using the term "bullet" might be confusing?

This year, pre-panic, I bought a case of 1,000 Aquila .45 ACP for $279.00 or 27.9 per round. I don't own a .40 S&W but the few times I researched or bought ammo for a class where I shot a .40 S&W, I paid 25.8 cents per round, putting .40 S&W costing almost as much as .45 ACP. You aren't going to come across anything like this nowadays, I have seen quality 147 GR 9mm selling all over the place for .50 to .75 per round.

Unfortunately, right now is also a terrible time to get into reloading. I just started stocking up on reloading components at the end of last year, right before the panic began and I have managed to stockpile some components. But for me to reload .45 ACP, it is costing me 4.6 cents per primer, about .04 for powder and almost .20 per projectile/bullet, resulting in a cost of around .30 per round, not a bad deal, but getting a hold of components is very tough right now.

[LT1Silverhawk]

Hey Capybara,

Yes, I meant ammo. Thank you for correcting that.

So if its costing about $0.30 per round when reloading a.45 ACP, is $0.50 an ok price per round for something from Federal? I was specifically looking at these: 45 ACP 230 Grain FMJ Federal Range and Target - 1000 Rounds.

Thanks for the help!

[electric7]

I would say that 45 was about $16 a box, 40 was about $14 a box, and 9mm was $12-$10. This was online at bulk pricing (500 to 1000) from sgammo and the prices are before shipping. The store price was about 25%-40% higher after taxes. The gun show prices were somewhere in between. Just before the panic, I bought 40 for $16 a box from a Calgunner and sold 45 for $18 a box.

[border.bandito]

in October 2012, i was paying between $19.00 and $21.00 for a box of 50 rounds of Blazer Brass in .45ACP...depending on where i went locally.

the same stores are now currently selling it for $24.99 or $26.99......IF its ever in stock.

my local Walmart would also have a 100 round box of Winchester .45ACp for $39.99 back in October...
if they ever have any, its currently going for over $42.00 now


IF you are a complete dumb***** and buy ammo off craigslist or here on calguns (for the most part), you will pay at least 35-45% more than those ^^^ prices....IF you are lucky.

unless you order online (from retailers) your best bet is to go to Walmart or Big 5 or Turners the morning after their delivery arrives.
expect to wait in line, and be limited to a certain amount of boxes.

[bigchinner]

I got 40sw for about 15-16 a box. now they are around 20.00 a box. Let's not even begin to talk about 22LR. That's ridiculous.

[MudCamper]

Last year I paid, at Walmart, for Federal FMJ, .40 was $13.97 for a box of 50, and .45 was $29.97 for a box of 100. It'll get back down to that again, in about 2+ years.

[JoshuaS]

I just bought some 40 range ammo for $15/50

Not every place has jacked up prices

[biloutkast]

Federal 45acp was $16+change a box at Wally World.
Miwall 45acp reloads were $12.95 for box of 50 rds. I'm sure prices went up.
Miwall reloads are nice and clean. I shot 250 rds and it was cleaner than shooting 100 rds of the dirty WWB or Federals.

[Maltese Falcon]

[digdug74]

Was getting .40 cal locally for around 15 bucks a box and .45 ACP for about 18 bucks a box (of 50, FMJ plinker stuff) before the panic. Could usually find both 2-4 dollars cheaper on line.

I popped into a local Turner's (in Kearny Mesa) over the weekend and saw they had .45 ACP (American Eagle) for about 25 bucks a box (and not much else, aside from 30-06 and shotgun shells, also inflated) . I was gonna buy some but couldn't quite get myself to pay that price.

[m98]

A few of my buddies were very late in the game too. He said he just found some good 'deals' on ammo so he bought 2 boxes of 40sw 165gr 50rd box for $25 each...LOLLOL, he said 2 box is a lot already and he says that he's got a lot of ammo now at around 400rds total...LOLOL

[JaMail]

my last purchase of steel case tula in august was 13.00 a box of 50, 1500 rounds shipped was 446. i wish i had gotten 3k at this point as im real close to running out.

[Merc1138]

Cheapest I found .45acp fmj was $15/50 in early October. Same stuff now from the same retailer is $22/50. It's not a horrible price increase and it's actually in stock(of course it turned out to have crappy hard primers or something, since of all things the only guns I can get it to shoot reliably in are 1911's, damn 625 wouldn't even ignite primers 4 outta 6 shots, but they worked fine when run through a 1911... go figure).

A few of my buddies were very late in the game too. He said he just found some good 'deals' on ammo so he bought 2 boxes of 40sw 165gr 50rd box for $25 each...LOLLOL, he said 2 box is a lot already and he says that he's got a lot of ammo now at around 400rds total...LOLOL

LOL, he's such a noob. Oh the days of thinking 1,000 rounds was some ridiculous amount. Myself and a couple people at work are still regretting not splitting a 12,000 round barrel of 5.56.

[myk]

LOL, he's such a noob. Oh the days of thinking 1,000 rounds was some ridiculous amount. Myself and a couple people at work are still regretting not splitting a 12,000 round barrel of 5.56.

A barrel of 5.56? Wow, the mind reels. How much did that cost?