Ammo prices seem to have come down a bit, but nowhere near as low as they were before COVID hit and the supply are still not nearly as plentiful.
I keep track of this kind of stuff simply because I use a lot of it, so I am always looking for deals on plinking ammo.
There aren't all that many to be had, honestly, and Biden's attack on cheap Russian ammo is not helping. For now, people with authorizations to bring inexpensive ammo in from Russia are still doing, but whether they will be able to in two years is not clear. It is also not clear if this situation will get rectified if someone more sane gets into the White House in 2024. There are some really bad political optics with quietly opening up to buying more stuff from Russia. I hope I am wrong about this because availability of inexpensive Russian ammo provides competition for everyone else. Now, I hope that manufacturers is Serbia, Bosnia, Lithuania, Turkey and Ukraine will step up, but the big question is whether I want to count on it.
As I look at ammo price and availability, this year I will probably look for reasonable deals to add some additional 7.62x39 and 5.45x39 to my inventory. I am not lacking ammo, but those are the calibers that will be hit hardest by politics in the near term.
I am also always on the lookout for 5.56. There are occasional deals to be had when companies bundle stuff together. For example, Palmetto has this combo of a couple of hundred rounds of ammo and ten magazines going: https://bit.ly/3GnXL1K
I kinda like these since I like to have a few magazines in every bag, car trunk, rifle case, etc.
I have also spent some time looking around and realized that while I have a good amount of 55gr 5.56 ammo, I do not have a ton of 62gr.
When I evaluate scopes with different BDC reticles, aside from the usuall business of running the ballistic claculator, it is nice to also do real life checks with common ammo types. I might pick up a case of Norma 62gr sooner than later. Deals and prices change all the time, so it pays to look around a little. I buy ammo from TargetSportsUSA, SGAmmo and Palmetto State Armory most of the time, but I always check other sources and look on SeekAmmo.com. Right now, I am tracking 62gr Norma on PSA. I'll probably pull the trigger on that one before too long: https://bit.ly/3LbOopk
If something already comes in an ammo can, that's a big plus for me.
Still, the biggest problem is probably 5.45x39 because there is simply no inexpensive ammo in that caliber other than the Russian stuff we are about to loose access too. It will be hard to force myself to pay 50 cents per round for it, but I may not have much choice: https://bit.ly/3otS785
That's the type of thing I am tracking all the time, so I'll post it if I see a good deal.
With higher quality ammo, it was expensive before and it is expensive now. I'll be reloading a few calibers for precision unless I can convince some ammo company to sponsor me. Hornady, to their great credit, does send me a box or two here and there which is really helpful.
For situations where I need small quantity of high quality ammo, I am reasonably well set, but the volume stuff is a problem.
As I spend more time shooting various 22LR handguns and rifles, one thing immediately comes to mind: semi-automatics, almost invariably are set up to function best with CCI Mini-Mag ammo, so every time I place an order for any centerfire ammo, I try to add some amount of Mini-Mag to it if they happen to have it in stock.
For precision boltgun 22LR rifles, I mostly use Lapua Center-X, but semi-auto handguns seem to really like CCI. I shoot 22LR more than anything else by a solid margin, so I am about to place an order for a few boxes of this stuff: https://bit.ly/3LflViH
I will say that current generation of Wolf Match Extra rimfire (made by SK, I believe) is quite consistent in most of my rifles.
There is no such thing as having too much rimfire ammo on hand.
With all that, the big question is where is the market going? Are we going to see supply finally catch up with demand to drive prices down? or do you think we will stay where we are? or will the prices go back up?
I can make a pretty decent argument for all three options, so I am not sure which way to lean.
What do you think?
