Price of ammunition through time.

curtmg said:
My thought is that anyone in the 20's-40's would have to work pretty much their entire life to afford 1k rounds 308, time machines were much more expensive back then :p


(308 Win didn't get released until 1952)
Click to expand...

Who wants to go forward in time to get a group buy of 6.8 SPC?:dancingbanana:
 
In the late '50s, I can remember .22 ammunition for $.55 - $.75 per box. Not long after that minimum wage was $1.25.
At that scale, what would a box of .22 cost now? $4.00?
You cannot look at prices without considered wage rates and cost of living.
 
i will have to a look, i have a couple of old catelogues as well as a receipt for some weatherby ammo from the 1960's.

my impression is that ammo was more expensive (in real terms) back in the good ol' days. as were most manufactured goods. most people had very little. FFS, i've known old guys that pull and staighten used nails.
 
I started shooting rimfire around 1954, and Dominion 22 shorts "Whiz-Bang" or "Super-Clean" was 39 cents, longs were 49 cents and Long Rifles were 59 cents. We bought 22 rimfire ammunition from Xelex Explosives [Ammomart, now Higginson's Powder] It came in flats of 100 catridges, and was made in France IIRC. The cost to us at the time [late 50's] was 79 cents per 100. My first box of 30-30 Dominion 170 grain KKSP was $2.29. 30-06 was around $3.10 for 20 rounds. To put things in perspective, my first "real" summer job paid $1.65/hr. That was 1961. Regards, Eagleye.
 
As a young teenager, I remember a friend's grandfather saying that he bought 44 S&W shells for $.50 per box. That was when he was target shooting at university and would have been around 1900 - 1910. Putting it in perspective, wages would have been around $3 per day, $4 tops so we are looking in today's prices at 1/6 to 1/8 of $150 - $200 or somewhere around $30 per box of 50. In comparing with today's prices hard to say whether to compare that price with a high volume (therefore cheap) shell like 9mm or a lower volume and more expensive round

cheers mooncoon
 
Some 1931 Prices

Dominion:
.22LR .40 per 50
.44WCF $2.00 per 50
.45 Colt $2.75 per 50
.270WCF $2.60 per 20
.30-06 $2.60 per 20
.30.30 $1.70 per 20

Western:
.22LR .45 per 50
.44WCF $3.15 per 50
.45 Colt $3.35 per 50
.270WCF $3.00 per 20
.30-06 $3.00 per 20
.30WCF $2.10 per 20

Winchester:
mostly same prices as Western but they have several more calibres available, including:

.45-70 $2.25 per 20
.45-90 $2.40 per 20
.50-110 $3.10 per 20

I also have prices from 1921, 1948, and 1958 but they only list wholesale. Lots of good info there, though. Note that in NONE of the old catalogues is .45 Colt listed as .45 LONG Colt, and in 1921 many calibres were only available in black powder loads.
 
In 1970, most milsurp ammunition was about 10 cents a round. Sometimes it was a bit cheaper, such as 48 round boxes of 303Brit for $2.50. That was normal for a few years, then it started to dry up and of course became more expensive. It usually stayed right in line with inflation. Can Am is correct, in relation to wages, surplus ammunition is cheaper now than ever. Especially 7.62x39 com bloc stuff. Because of the shortage of other types of ammunition coming in, mostly because of bureaucratic red tape and regulations, the other stuff is pricier.

It wasn't always that way though, only since International moved to the US. That was a black day for Canada indeed. I was really hoping Marstar and Tradex would fill in the vacuum. They do bring in the stuff but we never get to see much of it. Understandably, most of it goes into the US and only passes through here.
 
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