Handgun Ammo Availability and Price 2022

City Boy

City Boy

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A couple of friends bought pistols with the looming freeze. Looking around for them and I see 9mm which was $250 for a thousand on sale not many years ago go to $430 on sale …. Wow!

So, at the local Cabela’s/Bass Pro type shops, I never see 9mm when I walk through anymore, but I usually see a small amount of .40 cal and even occasionally .380 or .45. So, just wondering what people are shooting these days? Has anyone switched to a different caliber because of price or availability?
 
If you want to shoot hand guns and be good at it, I’d suggest you and your friends think about reloading. If you buy the components at todays prices, you’re still less than $250 per thousand 9mm.
.40 and .45 are quite a bit more in stores. I couldn’t even imagine feeding my guns factory ammunition.
If you’re happy shooting a box or two at the range every few weeks or whatever, just buy whatever’s cheap and blast away.

For a few hundred dollars, you can get into a Lee progressive press that will make ammo without much trouble.
 
The amount of increase in prices in the past year have really been noticeable. Look at Tenda - Winchester white box - yes, white box - 50 rounds of 147gr or 124gr - $36.99 a box!!

Tenda recently had a sale on the Scorpio (Czech) 9mm 124gr. It was as you stated $430 - which ends up still being $21.50 or so per box when bought in bulk (before tax).

Even last year I was buying Federal Syntech 124gr - at the beginning of the year I bought it for $18.99 a box. By end of year, retailers were selling between $26.99 and $28.99 a box. During the Fall last year, probably the best deal would have been the Magtech rounds which held at $18.99 or so for a while, but they are well over $20 now if you can find them in stock.

I was at a local gun shop recently buying some 7.62x39 ammo and was behind a couple of fellas who just purchased their first handguns and were picking them up. They were looking at some Federal AE 124gr or 115gr and said to the sales guy behind the counter, "is this a good price?" Guy behind the counter shook his head and said "no, these are not good prices, but maybe in a year they will be considered good prices." New shooters bought only one box each, remarking "we were hoping ammo was cheaper than this". Definitely makes more an overall higher cost of ownership, entering into target shooting at this juncture in time.

For retail factory ammo, there's really no escape from the high prices, unless you hit some smaller mom and pop gun shops throughout your province in small towns, especially some that may not have a web presence. You may still be able to find some deals there. My club sold some ammo, but with the recent increases, all the old stock sold out quickly and newer stock is similar to retail prices now, with some tax savings.
 
thegazelle said:
The amount of increase in prices in the past year have really been noticeable. Look at Tenda - Winchester white box - yes, white box - 50 rounds of 147gr or 124gr - $36.99 a box!!

Tenda recently had a sale on the Scorpio (Czech) 9mm 124gr. It was as you stated $430 - which ends up still being $21.50 or so per box when bought in bulk (before tax).

Even last year I was buying Federal Syntech 124gr - at the beginning of the year I bought it for $18.99 a box. By end of year, retailers were selling between $26.99 and $28.99 a box. During the Fall last year, probably the best deal would have been the Magtech rounds which held at $18.99 or so for a while, but they are well over $20 now if you can find them in stock.

I was at a local gun shop recently buying some 7.62x39 ammo and was behind a couple of fellas who just purchased their first handguns and were picking them up. They were looking at some Federal AE 124gr or 115gr and said to the sales guy behind the counter, "is this a good price?" Guy behind the counter shook his head and said "no, these are not good prices, but maybe in a year they will be considered good prices." New shooters bought only one box each, remarking "we were hoping ammo was cheaper than this". Definitely makes more an overall higher cost of ownership, entering into target shooting at this juncture in time.

For retail factory ammo, there's really no escape from the high prices, unless you hit some smaller mom and pop gun shops throughout your province in small towns, especially some that may not have a web presence. You may still be able to find some deals there. My club sold some ammo, but with the recent increases, all the old stock sold out quickly and newer stock is similar to retail prices now, with some tax savings.
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I heard similar conversations this weekend while hanging out at a buddies shop. No such thing as a good price but the future seems worse. I bought a dry-fire laser setup for cheaper practice. For about the price of half an hour range time, the wife and I can practice fundamentals at home. Mind you, no recoil but still. Great way to save money between range trips and run drills.
 
vb_spike said:
I bought a dry-fire laser setup for cheaper practice. For about the price of half an hour range time, the wife and I can practice fundamentals at home. Mind you, no recoil but still. Great way to save money between range trips and run drills.
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The ads for these keep popping up for me across different social media platforms. I can't decipher the difference between the different brands or whether the (on sale for) $99 one is comparable to the $300 one. I don't want to derail this thread, but if you have any lessons-learned or buyer-beware about these I'd be happy to learn

Back on topic.... I was lucky 2 years ago to have a couple extra bucks and an understanding wife and I bought about 4k rounds of 9mm at $190/k. I had also at the same time bought enough reloading supplies to roll 2000 9mm as well, thinking "there is NO WAY I'm EVER going to use a manual powder thrower, beam scale, and single stage press to reload 9-mil.... that's stupid!"
THEN our current situation hit, coupled with being sent home to 'isolate' for 5 days from work with a mild cold of some sort, and I loaded 700 rounds over that time. Long and short, it's been a busy spring, and a wet start to summer, so I haven't been out much. I probably have about 1800 loaded rounds currently, with supplies to build another ~1300 or so. Should last me the summer, and hopefully things will calm down by fall?
 
I think the only way to shoot these days is to reload. Even trap loads are starting to look economical. 9mm definitely is cheaper/better to reload if you can get the primers. I started reloading 9mm this spring and was able to get lucky and find the components at a fairly reasonable price. Even the cheapest 9mm is now close to 50 cents a round. If someone is trying to get into reloading I do think now is a great time to buy equipment. There are tonnes of 2nd hand equipment out there and components if you are flexible in your powder and primer selections.
 
DiMP said:
The ads for these keep popping up for me across different social media platforms. I can't decipher the difference between the different brands or whether the (on sale for) $99 one is comparable to the $300 one. I don't want to derail this thread, but if you have any lessons-learned or buyer-beware about these I'd be happy to learn

Back on topic.... I was lucky 2 years ago to have a couple extra bucks and an understanding wife and I bought about 4k rounds of 9mm at $190/k. I had also at the same time bought enough reloading supplies to roll 2000 9mm as well, thinking "there is NO WAY I'm EVER going to use a manual powder thrower, beam scale, and single stage press to reload 9-mil.... that's stupid!"
THEN our current situation hit, coupled with being sent home to 'isolate' for 5 days from work with a mild cold of some sort, and I loaded 700 rounds over that time. Long and short, it's been a busy spring, and a wet start to summer, so I haven't been out much. I probably have about 1800 loaded rounds currently, with supplies to build another ~1300 or so. Should last me the summer, and hopefully things will calm down by fall?
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I use the Itarget system for dry fire works great
as mentioned no recoil but it teaches you to work on trigger pull
 
OP - I missed the second part of your question about switching calibers...

I shoot my 9mm through multiple PCCs. I have enough factory 9mm to last me a while, but if it ever drops to a certain level, I will replenish, but the problem is at what prices? so I am always on the lookout for the "currently cheapest" option. Those Scorpio rounds seem compelling based on the reviews. It would seem to me based on how Federal and its subsidiaries have jacked the price up multiple times in the past year, that the North American brands will likely get hit with my substantive price increases than the foreign brands.

But I also realize a few things, and this is not to put a damper on the conversation - with the handgun freeze being imminent (unless some divine intervention puts a CPC majority government in place soon), I wonder how much the retailers will continue to stock handgun calibers at the current volumes. I can't imagine they will maintain the same levels just to support the PCC market, when Mendicino and Trudeau have not just hinted but explicitly stated that more makes/models will be added to the OIC ban list - and of course, we have intercepted the pictorial that the Polys have sent to the government, which includes all current PCCs models in circulation. Given this, I would think the levels of 9mm in particular will be stocked at lower volumes at a retail level to mitigate risk of being stuck with inventory that they can't move.

I recently bought an SKS so I have been buying up, as funds allow, as much 7.62x39 Norinco non-corrosive as I can. That is still (relatively) cheap to shoot, though the SKS is on the same hitlist as PCCs and black semi auto rifles.

I also have .40S&W rounds but those have seemed to fall out of favour with consumers in a significant way to the point I have noticed less stocked volumes of this caliber and the places that do stock it, the prices have gone up on whatever inventory they have. 9mm is still the defacto standard and I am still on the prowl for good deals on this while it is still available (and before the inevitable next price hike).
 
This rogue cabal "government" of Trudeau/Singh is going to make every commodity extremely expensive and unavailable.

It is social and economic warfare declared on the citizens of Canada, but too many do not yet realize it.

People that reside in Liberal and NDP ridings need to make their representatives afraid of losing their seats.

It is late getting into reloading for anyone that has not yet done so, but better late than never.

Eventually ammo will become priceless, if this cabal is allowed to continue.
 
I’ve seen 7.62x25 around too for decent prices, but a lo5 of places don’t allow steel cases around here … I’m not sure my friends new to shooting will be into reloading so soon into a new hobby. It’s interesting times for sure .
 
The best time of the year to stock up is during the Black Friday/Boxing day sales.
If you can't wait for those, try and take advantage of the semi-frequent sales that Bullseye North/Tenda/SFRC put on, you can often buy in bulk for 20% off regular retail price.

The last two bulk crates of 9mm(CCI 124GR BRASS) that I bought were $250 and $300 respectively and I thought I was getting gouged the second time at $300....haha.
 
Northern Shooter said:
The best time of the year to stock up is during the Black Friday/Boxing day sales.
If you can't wait for those, try and take advantage of the semi-frequent sales that Bullseye North/Tenda/SFRC put on, you can often buy in bulk for 20% off regular retail price.

The last two bulk crates of 9mm(CCI 124GR BRASS) that I bought were $250 and $300 respectively and I thought I was getting gouged the second time at $300....haha.
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Agree with this. I taken advantage of SFRC, Tenda and Bullseye's sales in the past year. Of course if you live anywhere close to SFRC or Bullseye you can save on the shipping costs (which can add up).

I remember last year Tenda had a "Flash sale" on Remington ammo. I was able to get boxes of Sluggers for $4.99 each and boxes of .40S&W Golden Sabres for like $14.99. Too bad there was no 9mm but was happy to load up on the aforementioned. Also got a bunch of Magtech 147gr 9mm through SFRC for dirt cheap - even with shipping, it was still a great deal, and in retrospect compared to today's prices it was an amazing deal.

I remember last Fall someone sent me a notice about Rangeview having Federal AE 124gr FMJ for $16.99 a box via bulk purchase. Kicking myself now that I didn't jump in on that one...seems like over the years with ammo, I have had this happen on a regular basis, so I just grab it on sale now, regardless of what my brain may tell me that "it may be cheaper later" - it almost never is...
 
thegazelle said:
Agree with this. I taken advantage of SFRC, Tenda and Bullseye's sales in the past year. Of course if you live anywhere close to SFRC or Bullseye you can save on the shipping costs (which can add up).

I remember last year Tenda had a "Flash sale" on Remington ammo. I was able to get boxes of Sluggers for $4.99 each and boxes of .40S&W Golden Sabres for like $14.99. Too bad there was no 9mm but was happy to load up on the aforementioned. Also got a bunch of Magtech 147gr 9mm through SFRC for dirt cheap - even with shipping, it was still a great deal, and in retrospect compared to today's prices it was an amazing deal.

I remember last Fall someone sent me a notice about Rangeview having Federal AE 124gr FMJ for $16.99 a box via bulk purchase. Kicking myself now that I didn't jump in on that one...seems like over the years with ammo, I have had this happen on a regular basis, so I just grab it on sale now, regardless of what my brain may tell me that "it may be cheaper later" - it almost never is...
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Totally agree. I just picked up a 5000rd case of the 36gr mini mags from Bullseye on sale for $558 before tax. I’m local so I can do pickup. Right now that’s a pretty good price. A year ago I’d have never paid that much, I have a feeling a year from now this might buy 1/2 - 2/3rds this amount of ammo .
 
thegazelle said:
Agree with this. I taken advantage of SFRC, Tenda and Bullseye's sales in the past year. Of course if you live anywhere close to SFRC or Bullseye you can save on the shipping costs (which can add up).

I remember last year Tenda had a "Flash sale" on Remington ammo. I was able to get boxes of Sluggers for $4.99 each and boxes of .40S&W Golden Sabres for like $14.99. Too bad there was no 9mm but was happy to load up on the aforementioned. Also got a bunch of Magtech 147gr 9mm through SFRC for dirt cheap - even with shipping, it was still a great deal, and in retrospect compared to today's prices it was an amazing deal.

I remember last Fall someone sent me a notice about Rangeview having Federal AE 124gr FMJ for $16.99 a box via bulk purchase. Kicking myself now that I didn't jump in on that one...seems like over the years with ammo, I have had this happen on a regular basis, so I just grab it on sale now, regardless of what my brain may tell me that "it may be cheaper later" - it almost never is...
Click to expand...

Tenda really does have some really good prices with their ammo flash sales which I have to believe must be loss leaders. Earlier this year they had bulk 00 buckshot on for $0.60/round, bulk 308 (7.62x51) for $0.70/round and a couple years ago had 2000 rounds of 9mm on for $400.

I doubt we will see anything close to that for 9mm or .223 this year but the Tenda sales are definitely worth waiting for.
 
Northern Shooter said:
Tenda really does have some really good prices with their ammo flash sales which I have to believe must be loss leaders. Earlier this year they had bulk 00 buckshot on for $0.60/round, bulk 308 (7.62x51) for $0.70/round and a couple years ago had 2000 rounds of 9mm on for $400.

I doubt we will see anything close to that for 9mm or .223 this year but the Tenda sales are definitely worth waiting for.
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Even some of their current regular sales are decent. They are selling a case of 250 Score slugs for $199.99. At $20 a box, that's better than the $24-25 most retailers are charging per box. It's seldom that I see better prices elsewhere for things Tenda has (right now though with 9mm, it seems like some of their prices are a lot higher - $36.99 for WWB FMJ 9mm...that's insane - not in a good way - for a box of 50). Maybe that is a harbinger of things to come once other retailers sell out of their current stock...
 
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