Why *IS* ammo so expensive in Canada?

I

ilikeoldguns

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I've always presumed it was a combination of no longer making a lot of it here (as so many other things), some additional taxes/tariffs and "whatever the market will bear". But am I correct? Are there other factors?
 
A lot of effort is being made to supply the us military, leaving few resources for the civilian market.

But I think this is coming to an end and quantities and availability should increase. Prices may not decrease due to the poor Canadian dollar
 
There is not a lot of margin on Ammo.

We have a few basic (problems) which effect the price of ammo.

1) just about everything on our shelves is made "somewhere else" and imported into Canada (save Challenger, Imperial and maybe something else that doesn't come to mind)

2) international trade is conducted in US dollars and our buck is only worth about 70 cents

3) because we primarily import from the US, and because they have their ITAR rules (or whatever else applies) we (most vendors) have to use a middle man (or a couple) to facilitate the exporting/permits etc to get it "out of the US" and then the importing of ammo into Canada - and everyone in between the factory and YOU takes a bit of a cut.

And despite all that, I still find the cost of ammo "mostly" in line with US prices, at least on the mainstream brands and calibers.

To illustrate that a box of Hornady American Whitetail ammo from SFRC (up the road from me) is sold by them for $29.95 CDN.

That is $22.42 USD as of today's fix.

Cabela's (US site) lists it at $24.99 USD, Bass Pro @ $23.79 USD with a (discount) place listing it @ $21.49.

So doesn't look too bad to me. Yes, it's got expensive, but on both sides of the border.

If you want to become a millionaire "competitively selling" ammunition, you better start with 2 million in the bank. You would be hard pressed to cover your overhead costs with the margin you make on ammo in Canada if you price it in line with most vendors.

(final note about supplies - yes, particularly this year, 2015, things did loosen up a bit and supply levels increased. I was at a buyers show two weeks ago and both Hornady and Nosler said that it's starting to look like 2016 "might be challenging" to keep things at 2015 levels - so if you don't reload you might want to pick up an extra box or two if you see it on the shelf - hopefully they are wrong, but it can't hurt and our buck is unlikely to recover any time soon, so if you are "waiting for par" you might have to take up a new hobby).
 
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Ammo ,firearms,firearms accessories,optics, fuel,good,water,beer,clothes

I live on a border if you and just about anything you can think of is cheaper states side even with our ####ty $$$ it's still cheaper for me to pay my $10 bridge fees to drive 10 min and go fill up my jeep in Michigan,hit Costco fill the freezer and buy the kids winter kit and grab my 5 24s at the duty free for $100
 
Like everyone said, a confluence of factors: Higher demand in the U.S./lower demand in Canada, lack of domestic production, export costs, pricing in U.S. dollars/weak CDN dollar, regulatory costs.

I would not be surprised if costs exploded over the coming years. If the Liberals aren't stupid, they'll make ammunition control just as important as gun control to advance their agenda. "You want to be out of compliance with whatever gun registry/banning we implement? Fine. What are you going to feed that rifle if we control commercial ammunition and reloading components?"

The Messiah in the U.S. knew that when he ordered the ATF to go after M855/Greentips. And don't think that story is over.
 
Everything is up. I am in the RV industry. We have about a 12% price increase on the same trailer as last year. That's just keeping with the dollar.

I shoot my 22lr a lot more now. Lol.
 
GunsNotPuns said:
Like everyone said, a confluence of factors: Higher demand in the U.S./lower demand in Canada, lack of domestic production, export costs, pricing in U.S. dollars/weak CDN dollar, regulatory costs.

I would not be surprised if costs exploded over the coming years. If the Liberals aren't stupid, they'll make ammunition control just as important as gun control to advance their agenda. "You want to be out of compliance with whatever gun registry/banning we implement? Fine. What are you going to feed that rifle if we control commercial ammunition and reloading components?"

The Messiah in the U.S. knew that when he ordered the ATF to go after M855/Greentips. And don't think that story is over.
Click to expand...

And with the continued help of the OB campaign officials you can bet JT will just follow the U.S. play book in this area
 
silverfoxdj said:
And with the continued help of the OB campaign officials you can bet JT will just follow the U.S. play book in this area
Click to expand...

He can go a lot further than The Messiah could ever hope to.

The Bamster knows that he could spark a revolution if he went after guns in a comprehensive manner, New York Times front page editorials be damned. All Trudeau has to do is talk about "assault weapons" and crime -- facts will play no role in this -- and institute some sort of ammunition control as part of a wider agenda on gun control. I remember thinking back in the early 1990s why the Liberals didn't concentrate on the ammunition, not the guns...ahead of my time I guess.

You think ammunition is expensive now? Wait until you can't buy it or are severely rationed.
 
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