.223 component value - Nork 1600 round crate price analysis

harbl_the_cat

harbl_the_cat

BANNED
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
BANNED
Rating - 100%
53   0   0
I did a quick calculation to figure out the component value of .223 ammunition to see how much of a value the Nork 1600 crates are.

I'm assuming:

Primed .223 brass is typically 95.28 grains of brass (75% copper, 25% zinc)
55 gn bullet's jacket composition is between 10-30% cupronickel, with the remainder being lead.
Powder is USD$24/lbs and assume a load out of 24 grains
Using the market value for lead, zinc, copper, and nickel as of February 2013:
Copper $3.72
Lead $1.09
Nickel $8.3
Zinc $0.98

With that, the total component value of a single round of .223 is $0.127 to $0.133 per round, making 1600 rounds $203.2 - $212.8.

At $450 per 1600 rounds ($472 after GST) being the going price, the rate you and I as consumers pay is $0.295/round.

This means as a consumer, $0.162 to $0.168 / round covers all the input costs, from the miners who dug out the raw materials out of the ground, to all the truckers/sailors who operate the vehicles to transport them to and from the Norinco factory, to the Norinco factory workers, to the Canada post/Canpar/Fedex workers here in Canada, to Canada Ammo's and The Shooting Edge's employee's.

This is pretty useless information - but I just thought I'd share it.

Personally, I think it's a great value, given that the price of manufactured components makes it that I could reload .223 at $0.18 - $0.22 per round. That's not factoring in the time involved.

IMO, it's a great value.
 
I stocked up, 2 cases. Great ammo to have some fun at the range!!!

Cool to see the breakdown on the components! Which reminds me, I need to get reloading!!!

Cheers
Jay
 
I would argue that the mining, smelting, and other processing of the raw materials is covered in the cost of the base metals. Doesn't change much but it's a thought.
 
I'm a big fan of the Norinco yellow box 223Rem.

There is another thread where a shooter is worried that it's corrosive as he found blue residue and rust in his new Tavor. Yes, he cleaned it before hand.

Other people claim it's innacurate. Talked to a fellow today with such issues. His rifle is a Rem 700 with an after market trigger and a lightened firing pin/spring. He was getting light striker hits and inconsistent ignition. This can be a problem with bench rest and varmint rifles.

A Marlin bolt action I recently picked up, won't ignite any of it. The Cz 527 makes it all go bang and into very small groups.

The cases are brass and easy to reload. The bullets are all 55gr FMJ boat tail and have an extreme weight spread of .2 grains. The powder they are loaded with is a ball type and the extreme weight spreads are 26.7gr to 26.9gr. It weighs out and looks to be similar to BLC2.

I ran about a hundred rounds over a run out gauge and the worst I found was .004 in. That's very good.

I really do suspect the accuracy issues are due to the hard primers. They look to be military style and are very tight in the pockets.

Another issue with the brass is the primer flash holes are consistent in size, few if any internal burrs BUT about 2% of the holes are offset from center and can break decapping pins. I set the sizing die a bit loose in the press and it isn't an issue.

This is good ammunition. Especially for the shooters with Mini 14s or AR style rifles.
 
bearhunter i have a little different number on the powder, mine are loaded with 25.6grs. of a flattened ball type powder just over 1 grain less than what you found. Also the bullet was 54.6 grains, i may have to do a full box to get an average and extemes. No problems with 2 boxes through the su16f
 
buckbrush said:
how about now, every dealer I have done buissness with latley have put up powder and primer prices by 20-25% in the last couple of months. This is for there current stock not future stocks.
Click to expand...

Remember as the end consumer, you cover ALL the costs over and above the component cost and I suspect the increased price for reloading components is a reflection of the extreme consumer demand.

I did raise the price to $24/lbs to reflect the increased price, but the price I paid for the A2230 was the price a retailer would pay, not MSRP, hence why it was so cheap in the first place. I'm going on the assumption that an ammunition manufacturer would pay that price to source the powder in bulk.
 
dead meat said:
bearhunter i have a little different number on the powder, mine are loaded with 25.6grs. of a flattened ball type powder just over 1 grain less than what you found. Also the bullet was 54.6 grains, i may have to do a full box to get an average and extemes. No problems with 2 boxes through the su16f
Click to expand...


You worried me a bit, so I went out to the shop and checked my records again. I also pulled a few more rounds just to make sure I wasn't having a brain fart.

Same weights I mentioned. 26.8 grains of powder average and 55 - 55.2 grain bullets.

It takes up slightly less volume than BLC2 for weight to volume ratio.

Unusual that there is a difference between your cartridges and mine. In a cartridge the size of the 223rem. one grain is a big difference.
 
The year stamp on my sample is 93. Some korean ball ammo i have has 27.5 grs of powder of a similar type. May have to spend this cold day in the loading room pulling some more apart.
 
dead meat said:
The year stamp on my sample is 93. Some korean ball ammo i have has 27.5 grs of powder of a similar type. May have to spend this cold day in the loading room pulling some more apart.
Click to expand...

Was at a friends place tonight. His cases held powder weights that averaged 25.0 grains of ball powder. His case of cartridges are in the yellow boxes as well and his cartridges came from the same order and dealer as mine. Maybe my case was the luck of the draw?

His date stamps and mine are also 93.

This is likely why this stuff was surplussed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom