|
|
Posted by D. Sherman on Monday, December 31, 2007 at 12:02:03 :
In Reply to: .308 posted by Igor on Monday, December 31, 2007 at 08:01:54 :
Pick any military caliber and it's the same. All ammo's doubled or tripled just due to metals prices. Even though old surplus ammo shouldn't jump in price just because the price of lead, copper, and zinc have jumped, the dealers know that so long as they're only a little bit cheaper then new ammo, they can still sell all they can get. I saw Korean surplus .30-06 go from $35 to $60/can overnight. Foreign military surplus, even older calibers, is drying up due to that UN treaty against "weapons trade". US military surplus hasn't been sold directly for a long time, but has been "demilitarized" by disassembling the rounds and reassembling them with civilian powder. The company that did it, Talon, shut down permanently last year. When it did, the price of .50 BMG jumped from $1.5 to $5 per round. The DRMS is now requiring anybody who buys surplus .50 BMG to crush the brass. The best prices I see now on surplus .308 is $235/400 rounds.
The way I see it, the days of blasting away all afternoon at tin cans and paper with centerfire ammo are gone. Metal prices may come down some day, but UN treaties and DRMS restrictions aren't going away. Even on the low end, the bargains are gone. People will be telling their grandkids about how they bought a brand new Norinco SKS with 1000 rounds of Chinese steel-core ammo for $150 back in 1990 the way the old-timers tell us about buying never-driven CCKWs for $200 at the end of WWII.
Follow Ups: