Ammo Prices

1111 Views 11 Replies 12 Participants Last post by stantheman86, May 16, 2010

delshooter

Discussion Starter · May 14, 2010

I didn't even buy my first firearm until May of 2008. I then bought a Mosin in August 08 with 2 cases of 7.62x54r for only $65 for a 440 round tin from J&G. It's now $90 to 100 on J&G and rising. I remember reading one of the reviews and someone mentioned that they should have stocked up when it was only "$40 for a tin" a few years back (from 2008). Any chances we'll see anything remotely close to that again???

Also, has anyone had any issues with surplus ammo in terms of reliability? I have 1953 brass cased 7.62x25 bulgarian that has been flawless in my tok and the rest of my x54r and 8mm mauser ammo from the 80s hasn't had any issues in my 98k or mosins though I read from time to time about split cases and duds. My 80s 5.45 stinks but other than that has performed without a hitch. In my experience I've had no issues with surplus ammo but I continue to hear people at the range issue warnings about it's safety and performance. Any thoughts?

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Rock

· #2 · May 14, 2010

Never had any issues with surplus ammo other than its corrosive.
I think in a few years we will be looking back to todays prices saying remember the good old days. Once its gone its gone.
Buy it cheap and stack it deep!

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donb in fl

· #3 · May 14, 2010

When you compare the mosin surplus ammo at $100 a 440 rd case to the price of carbine or garand ammo its still cheap. I paid a hundred the other day plus shiping. donb in fl.

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FIVESHOT

· #4 · May 14, 2010

i have used considerable amounts of 54r to include

brass case yellow tip , silver tip and the copper washed.

the enameled and polycoated shoots fine BUT ...

i have had sticking issues with it ... that is to say

when the rifle warms up the cases stick in the chamber

and it aint easy to work the bolt to extract them.

stay with brass or copper.

my 2 kopeks

FIVESHOT

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gun_lover

· #5 · May 14, 2010

Some of the Bulgarian 7.62x25 ammo experiences neck splits upon firing. Yugoslavian 8mm from the 50's may have FTF's but it is more a function of needing a stronger firing pin spring than an inherent defect in the ammo itself. The greatest variable among surplus ammo is typically in accuracy/consistency. Find out what ammo your guns like to eat and then buy that type...

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dangson

· #6 · May 14, 2010

Surplus Ammo

The only ammo that I have had trouble with is POF .303. Needless to say the name tells the story. I haven't had any trouble with surplus 7.62x54r. I bought Czech silvertip on an AIM Christmas special, 880 rounds for $50. Shipping wasn't cheap but I should have bought more.

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The Expert

· #7 · May 14, 2010

delshooter said:
Also, has anyone had any issues with surplus ammo in terms of reliability?

Of course! It all depends on where and how well it was stored, and the age of the ammunition. Primers are the culprit here, as they do not hold up indefinitely. Gunpowder tends to be quite stable. I recall seeing a website online where the locals were excavating old WWI trenches in Flanders, and discovered bundles of Cordite. Even though the Cordite had been sitting in wet swampy ground for almost 100 years, it still lit and burned easily when a flame was put to it.

If you buy cheaply enough, though, tearing the ammunition down for components to reload will more than pay for the cost of any non-functional rounds.

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R.L.Klaus

· #8 · May 15, 2010

If we see a drop in prices this year, due to the European financial situation, it might be a good time to stock up.
When the bill for all this government borrowing comes due, the probable outcome is hyper inflation, for the purpose of paying down old debt with new devalued currency.

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falm16

· #9 · May 15, 2010

don't think srplus ammo will drop in price, like a poster said, once it's gone, it's gone. if you shoot 7.62x54, 7.62x25, 303, 5.45x39, 8mm, etc. stock up. i've had some pretty bad batches of 8mm, 303, and even 5.56. age and storage takes it's toll.

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oneforall

· #10 · May 15, 2010

As far as surplus go, i think .303 and 8mm will be harder and more expensive, as few militaries in the World still use these rounds. 7.62x54, x39, 7.62Nato rounds are still used by mass Armies, some as LMG rounds, so i think surplus of these are going to be had cheaper than other rounds.

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ukrifleman

· #11 · May 16, 2010

You guys have yet another reason to thank the Lord you live in the US of A, the best deal I have found for milsurp 7.62x54R ammo here in the UK is £26/100 ($39.00 give or take) for Hungarian ball.
ukrifleman

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stantheman86

· #12 · May 16, 2010

7.62x54r and 5.45x39 are the surplus rounds of the future, and probably will be the last we'll see since these will be in use well into the foreseeable future. Stuff like PKM machine guns and the others will remain in use, 7.62x54r is the Russian equivalent of our 7.62Nato and thus, I don't see them moving to some other round when they have so many weapons chambered for this, and it does the job just as well as it has for 100+ years. There are still new sniper rifles being made chambered for it.

Once the 7.62 Tok is gone it will cost as much as a 9mm to shoot, since we'll be either handloading it or buying S&B or whoever else makes it at the time.

Whatever 9x18 surplus there was is pretty much gone, so as long as Wolf and Barnaul keep making it we'll have semi-cheap ammo.

7.62x39 has pretty much become as American as it ever was a Soviet round, it's harder to find the surplus as former East Bloc countries are either going to 5.56 or 5.45 slowly. But US and other ammo manufacturers will keep making this stuff because it has become a very popular "all around" caliber here in the US.

8mm Mauser is obsolete everywhere in the world, probably the last country with any kind of regular military to use it was Yugoslavia and maybe Romania, and it saw regular and "irregular" use well into the 90's, with them making new ammo well into the 1970's. But no standard military uses the 8mm anymore, so once the surplus is gone hopefully someone like Wolf will pick up the slack and make some cheap steel case. The days of $40 pre 1,000 Turk are gone forever.......I still have 5 or 6 Tuff Boxes overflowing with tarnished Turk 8mm, so this summer is gonna be the "Summer of 8mm Mauser" for me, as this stuff is not fine wine, and is not getting better with age sitting in storage on my property. It will take me a few years to shoot all the 8mm I have piled up, basically whatever isn't sealed in tins is getting fired. No point in saving it, I don't need 40,000 rounds of dead primer Turk laying around.

If you're gonna stockpile something, do it with 12 ga., .223/5.56 and 7.62 Nato and have some weapons chambered for these you don't shoot. I don't see the point with people having a "SHTF" stockpile of non-sealed 8mm Mauser from the 50's.

If a real life Red Dawn - WWIII-2012 scenario kicks off I'm not fighting the invading hordes off with 1930's era Turk 8mm Mauser!

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