Where's surplus ammo?
- Thread starter wildphil24
- Start date
- Location
- Smithers, B.C.
Surplus is not usually availiable in bulk, I don't often find alot of it.
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"Surplus" is just what the name imples.
Some military somewhere in the world changes their guns, and the ammo along with it.
Suddenly, they have a dozen warehouses full of .303, or 30-06, or 8x57 Mauser, or 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser, or whatever that they no longer need.
So onto the civilian market it goes. As it is already paid for by the taxpayer of whichever country it came from, any price they can get for it is good. And as there is a literal boatload of it showing up all at once on our shores, the price is held low.
But eventually, it runs out, all bought up.
The original country is no longer making it, why should they? They dumped it because they changed, remember?
Now the price goes WAY up, due to (limited) supply and (big) demand.
Any guesses what will happen to 7.62x39 once all the cheap Czech stuff is bought up?
That what i thought too. I just bought 2 more crates of 1200 today from Lever Arms
Some military somewhere in the world changes their guns, and the ammo along with it.
Suddenly, they have a dozen warehouses full of .303, or 30-06, or 8x57 Mauser, or 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser, or whatever that they no longer need.
So onto the civilian market it goes. As it is already paid for by the taxpayer of whichever country it came from, any price they can get for it is good. And as there is a literal boatload of it showing up all at once on our shores, the price is held low.
But eventually, it runs out, all bought up.
The original country is no longer making it, why should they? They dumped it because they changed, remember?
Now the price goes WAY up, due to (limited) supply and (big) demand.
Any guesses what will happen to 7.62x39 once all the cheap Czech stuff is bought up?
That what i thought too. I just bought 2 more crates of 1200 today from Lever Arms
I've seen 'surplus' 7.62x51 around - some of it is indeed surplus (Spanish and Portugese and South African) some of it is stolen government property (Canadian for example) be aware that possesion of stolen Government property is pretty serious.
You actually HAVE 7.62x25?
Or you're looking for it?
I've been making it out of all this darned .223 brass the range is littered with..... no other sensible use for the stuff, except convert to .222..... and I don't have one of those, either!
Or you're looking for it?
I've been making it out of all this darned .223 brass the range is littered with..... no other sensible use for the stuff, except convert to .222..... and I don't have one of those, either!
maple_leaf_eh
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
'Surplus' is also a category for government property that is sold off when they need money. If the flavour of the day is to buy buy buy to refill the inventory, then of course there will be less of whatever on the open market.
Twenty years ago a number of countries were invited to join NATO, and switched from 7.62x39 and 7.62x54R to 5.56 and 7.62x51. Yes, they bought from other countries but some also started to make their own ammo. They may have kept their production lines intact, but most countries were awash with ex Warsaw Pact ammo certainly didn't need to store and protect from thieves and the environment. The Czechs might just be behind the curve.
Twenty years ago a number of countries were invited to join NATO, and switched from 7.62x39 and 7.62x54R to 5.56 and 7.62x51. Yes, they bought from other countries but some also started to make their own ammo. They may have kept their production lines intact, but most countries were awash with ex Warsaw Pact ammo certainly didn't need to store and protect from thieves and the environment. The Czechs might just be behind the curve.
Also, governemnts tend to sell of the older stuff that's been in storage before the newer in-date stuff. That's why the Czech ammo started to show up with dates from the 60's at first, now we're up to the 90's.
It's a good way for them to refres htheir ammo stocks to more reliable stuff with some cost offsets.
AFAIK, the Czechs still issue this ammo, so I suspect this is more the case than any sort of calibre conversion scheme.
It's a good way for them to refres htheir ammo stocks to more reliable stuff with some cost offsets.
AFAIK, the Czechs still issue this ammo, so I suspect this is more the case than any sort of calibre conversion scheme.
Exactly! In the great USA they always have various surplus 7.62x51 and here we're unable to get any.
I hope we can get more 7.5 Swiss and 12 gauge Swiss ammo. That was very fine surplus.
I also hope we see some 5.56 and 7.62 NATO hit the market eventually, but it won't be for a while because of all the instability in the world.
7.62x39 has sort of become the modern world's 7.92x57 mauser and 5.56 x 45 has become the world's .303 British/30.06.
I also hope we see some 5.56 and 7.62 NATO hit the market eventually, but it won't be for a while because of all the instability in the world.
7.62x39 has sort of become the modern world's 7.92x57 mauser and 5.56 x 45 has become the world's .303 British/30.06.
- Location
- Georgetown Ontario
You can thank NRCAN's new regulations for the lack of surplus ammo. My understanding is that some dealer's have loads of ammo all bought and ready to import and now they can't. Now they are forced to sell it somewhere else. Many types that were approved for import a short time ago are now banned from import until reapproved by NRCAN and in many instances that is now impossible because the Manufacturer no longer exists to apply for approval. This info has been posted in more detail by dealers and people more knowledgeable with this then me so if you search a bit you can read more about it.
The prices you see for surplus should be an incentive for more folks to take up handloading. It's cheaper and more accurate to boot. I do a swack of .30-06, 7.62, .303, and 7.62x54 and would'nt bother with surplus anymore.
maple_leaf_eh
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
The good stuff our American neighbours can enjoy - http://www.rifle-company.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?t=431
FWIW, I use the links to see what the headstamps and packaging look like.
FWIW, I use the links to see what the headstamps and packaging look like.
