Gun Related Pictures and Chat

[AzScorpion]

I used to be a member in the before-times. Then they price gouged majorly and removed the ability to get a refund for the membership fee so many people like myself were stuck paying a fee for nothing. So I avoid them now. I also had to bug them to get my free gift and it was 10 individual rounds of 38 special in a ziplock bag. Brownells has a code March125, $125 off so if I place multiple orders of $500 we are talking 23 and 35cpr for 9mm and 223. Wondering if now is the time to restock.

I've never had any problems with them and did the "prime" membership the first year it came out. I forgot all about the free gift and one day it arrived. They were one of the cheapest around especially when they didn't charge sales tax. I was getting cases of 9mm with free delivery for $150.00 OTD.

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[MountainGoat]

I've never had any problems with them and did the "prime" membership the first year it came out. I forgot all about the free gift and one day it arrived. They were one of the cheapest around especially when they didn't charge sales tax. I was getting cases of 9mm with free delivery for $150.00 OTD.

When the panic hit they ran out of their bulk ammo, every time it was restocked the price jumped, and even then it was OOS immediately. I have screenshots somewhere of them changing the membership agreement in the middle of it, so you were stuck with a non-refundable membership fee to a store that had no ammo. I think bots were buying it faster than any person could and Target just rode the wave and screwed all their long time customers.

price per round is coming down a little. Shipping on the other hand is not.

Some places like Velocity Ammo have free shipping. The Brownells deal is $13. And both don't charge tax to MO.

 

[BS67]

What's considered a good price for 9mm and 223 these days? Prices are starting to drop a bit I see.

I have a Lee Classic turret press but absolutely zero desire to use it for bulk rounds. Brass prep on 5.56 alone is like a second job.

Im reloading 9mm for .16cents each. $8/50rds. Reloading 223 for .19cents each $9.50/50rds

 

[MountainGoat]

Im reloading 9mm for .16cents each. $8/50rds. Reloading 223 for .19cents each $9.50/50rds

I only do small rifle and while I can do 223 for .22 cents I'm using it for 300 blackout now. Maybe if prices ever go back to normal (they won't) I'll get a better press.

 

[AzScorpion]

When the panic hit they ran out of their bulk ammo, every time it was restocked the price jumped, and even then it was OOS immediately. I have screenshots somewhere of them changing the membership agreement in the middle of it, so you were stuck with a non-refundable membership fee to a store that had no ammo. I think bots were buying it faster than any person could and Target just rode the wave and screwed all their long time customers.

But why would you think you should get money back on your membership? I mean it was out of their control that ammo was scarce and when they did get it it was gone fast. Every company was in the same boat at that time so it wasn't just them. As far as raising their prices it's simple supply and demand and again everyone did it not just TargetSports. You don't need their membership to get free shipping on cases of ammo. The membership was good if you wanted to try different ammo or grains so you could buy 1 box and still get free shipping.

As much as I didn't like it, it happens in every industry. Us contractors do it when there's a building boom and as you know the auto industry is doing it now.

 

[MountainGoat]

But why would you think you should get money back on your membership? I mean it was out of their control that ammo was scarce and when they did get it it was gone fast. Every company was in the same boat at that time so it wasn't just them. As far as raising their prices it's simple supply and demand and again everyone did it not just TargetSports. You don't need their membership to get free shipping on cases of ammo. The membership was good if you wanted to try different ammo or grains so you could buy 1 box and still get free shipping.

As much as I didn't like it, it happens in every industry. Us contractors do it when there's a building boom and as you know the auto industry is doing it now.

Because they had it in their membership agreement.

Ammo was popping up elsewhere for better prices too, so Target was not offering the lowest prices despite the fact you were paying a membership fee for those prices. It's like if you had a Costco membership and when you went there the chicken cost more than it did at Shoprite and the gas was $5 a gallon. That is IF you could get it but you couldn't because by the time you got the restock notification it was already gone.

I am spiteful as hell when it comes to Target Sports. In the final days of my membership I kept ordering one 50rd box at a time of 22 short (iirc like $4) to screw them on shipping. As soon as it showed in transit I ordered another.

 

[BS67]

I only do small rifle and while I can do 223 for .22 cents I'm using it for 300 blackout now. Maybe if prices ever go back to normal (they won't) I'll get a better press.

Believe it or not I do all my 223 on a single stage RCBS with Dillon dies. Works for me the system I have down!

 

[Langwilliams]

I went to a gun show at a fair ground an we stopped at the "Fin Feather Fur" sporting store after an found better prices on most stuff. They had 9mm for $14 a box which is as cheap as it's been here in forever. At the peak demand it was $33 a box in their stores. 223/556 seems to be about $.60 a round there.

 

[BS67]

We have our local gun show here in a couple of weeks. Used to help run it and stand security at night. Prices here at the gun shows are ridiculous. I usually go to look for that really good deal where the dealer fell and hit his/her head just before pricing their item.

 

[Glocker]

I've got some insights to offer on the pricing of ammo - and man it is neat to me.

The margin on ammo isn't that awesome, but it's way better than the margin on new firearms. The problem is, when politics are good and our rights aren't in danger, there isn't a huge demand for ammo. Retailers cut the prices very low and barely make anything. Basically, they (we-because I work for an ammo retailer) exist in a break-even state. When the political situation gets ugly and demand is high, prices go up with the demand. This is price gouging, but in a way, it's not. Companies rely on this high (for them) to build a war chest to sock away for when the political cycle comes around, and demand drops again and they are basically selling it at cost again. Also, any growth for the company is going to also have to ride out on those profits brought during that high demand time.

On top of that, you have to contend with manufacturer pricing. We dropped Blazer 9mm 124 grain FMJ down to $0.26 a round by the case or $0.27 if you bought a half case. This, plus free shipping, was so good of a deal that I put it out on my company's social media, and I had people angry and posting that in 2019, they were buying it from us for $0.20 a round and we should be selling it for that today! Well geez - $0.20 is less than we're paying for it. If we sold it off at that price, we'd literally be subsidizing people's shooting hobbies and taking a massive loss!

People have already forgotten the massive hit the industry took during COVID when components (especially primers) were hard to get. Labor was hard to get. Shipping was difficult to manage. Then forward on to today, and look at inflation. The cost of shipping is extraordinarily high. And ammo isn't light! So it was expensive to ship, to begin with, and now we are factoring in higher fuel costs on shipping heavy stuff. And believe it or not, a huge source of components has basically been taken off the field. First off, components & ammo are not coming in from Russia anymore (and I predict the supply of 7.62x39 will get dicey in the future) and other former Com-Block countries (specifically, the Ukraine) have manufacturing tied up for other efforts outside of commercial!

It's neat seeing how the economy of ammo works - I'm loving it!

 

[AzScorpion]

I've got some insights to offer on the pricing of ammo - and man it is neat to me.

The margin on ammo isn't that awesome, but it's way better than the margin on new firearms. The problem is, when politics are good and our rights aren't in danger, there isn't a huge demand for ammo. Retailers cut the prices very low and barely make anything. Basically, they (we-because I work for an ammo retailer) exist in a break-even state. When the political situation gets ugly and demand is high, prices go up with the demand. This is price gouging, but in a way, it's not. Companies rely on this high (for them) to build a war chest to sock away for when the political cycle comes around, and demand drops again and they are basically selling it at cost again. Also, any growth for the company is going to also have to ride out on those profits brought during that high demand time.

On top of that, you have to contend with manufacturer pricing. We dropped Blazer 9mm 124 grain FMJ down to $0.26 a round by the case or $0.27 if you bought a half case. This, plus free shipping, was so good of a deal that I put it out on my company's social media, and I had people angry and posting that in 2019, they were buying it from us for $0.20 a round and we should be selling it for that today! Well geez - $0.20 is less than we're paying for it. If we sold it off at that price, we'd literally be subsidizing people's shooting hobbies and taking a massive loss!

People have already forgotten the massive hit the industry took during COVID when components (especially primers) were hard to get. Labor was hard to get. Shipping was difficult to manage. Then forward on to today, and look at inflation. The cost of shipping is extraordinarily high. And ammo isn't light! So it was expensive to ship, to begin with, and now we are factoring in higher fuel costs on shipping heavy stuff. And believe it or not, a huge source of components has basically been taken off the field. First off, components & ammo are not coming in from Russia anymore (and I predict the supply of 7.62x39 will get dicey in the future) and other former Com-Block countries (specifically, the Ukraine) have manufacturing tied up for other efforts outside of commercial!

It's neat seeing how the economy of ammo works - I'm loving it!

The common law of supply and demand. lol I watched ammo go through the roof back in '08. Federal .22's were going for $14.50/box of 550 then shot up to $100 at every gun show. The bacon 2016 they came back down and I was getting Federal Black label bulk box of 1,600 for $.03 cents a round. They had Black Friday special rebates going on back then so I stocked up heavily knowing what happened the last time. Between that and 9mm I have more than enough stocked up. God forbid my garage catches fire though. ?

 

[Glocker]

The common law of supply and demand. lol I watched ammo go through the roof back in '08. Federal .22's were going for $14.50/box of 550 then shot up to $100 at every gun show. The bacon 2016 they came back down and I was getting Federal Black label bulk box of 1,600 for $.03 cents a round. They had Black Friday special rebates going on back then so I stocked up heavily knowing what happened the last time. Between that and 9mm I have more than enough stocked up. God forbid my garage catches fire though. ?

The best part was when people were charging $100 for a box of ammo, most people believed the retailers were pocketing mad profit, but in truth, inventory was so thin that it's how most retailers managed to keep the doors open! Retailers weren't leaving the gun shows and running out to buy new Caddies with the profits. LOL

I was lucky I was working in the training division of my sheriff's office during the really bad COVID ammo price spikes. We had a harder time getting the ammo, but happy truth is we already had negotiated the price on hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammo, and it was all in a contract with the PO's already written. So while it was delivered really, really slowly to us - we still got it! And I still got to shoot A LOT! ?

 

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I need more ammo now, P365-xmacro

 

[DocE3Gun]

before and after!

75gr Hornady BTHP
CFE223 powder

with 18” Proof Research and 18” Bartlein barrels it ended up at 2718fps and 2715fps

 

[Skeezix]

My "new" 1979 Ruger MkI Target.

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