I was in Sydney I. Robinson on Friday and was picking up a few bricks of rimfire ammo while I was in the city..Winnipeg.
I was amazed to see the dramatic increases in prices on ammunition and was informed by the sales staff the increases were due to the Iraq war and the price of brass had gone through the roof.
They also said they had tried many different sources and could not find a large rifle primer available anywhere. They said it is not going to get any better and once the prices go up, they never seem to come back down.
Example---Federal gold medal 711B went from $28.99 to $34.99 for a brick of 500.