I thought ammunition prices were coming down?

[bill cooksey]

I realize there are other manufacturers, but those are the major ones. It wasn't that long ago the "Big 3" were Federal, Remington and Winchester... and they were all separate entities. BOSS is a new player but strictly Bismuth and direct to consumer. Kent emerged some time ago but were not new.. they were already a major player across the pond.

Kinda hard to find a viable void to fill in the current no-tox market. Any new company will have a hard time competing with the buying power of a conglomerate. Vista becoming what they are parallels a Wal-Mart moving into a small town.

Those three combining is definitely a negative. I just took a quick look at what was on my shotshell shelves. In addition to the brands you mentioned, I have ammo from Fiocchi, Eley, Rio, Clever, Challenger and Estate, and all of them make steel shot ammo. There are actually plenty of players ready to exploit an opening when things stabilize.

Question is, when will things stabilize?

 

[NW BIRDHUNTER]

Neither does 'our' store here in small town Indiana! And I have plenty of "hunting" ammo, I just need more target loads as I shoot 100 -200 rounds a week which now is every two weeks or to certain clubs. I know this might seem to be hoarding, but I like to keep around 5-6 cases a year for Sporting Clays shooting.

That's not hoarding to me, I was going to post a picture of some of my ammo, but I don't want ATF to come visit me.

 

[Northhunter]

Those three combining is definitely a negative. I just took a quick look at what was on my shotshell shelves. In addition to the brands you mentioned, I have ammo from Fiocchi, Eley, Rio, Clever, Challenger and Estate, and all of them make steel shot ammo. There are actually plenty of players ready to exploit an opening when things stabilize.

Question is, when will things stabilize?

Vista owns Estate. Challenger is a Canadian company based in Quebec. I agree there are many players, most of them do not manufacture their own components. Part of the problem lies in Vista acquiring "manufacturers" that source materials from the same resources as those they are competing with.
Example; Challenger, Kent, and Environ-Metal utilize the same hulls and wads.. made and sold by Cheddite (France), and Baschieri & Pellagri (Italy). Vista now owns EM. Now Challenger and Kent have to compete with the buying power of Vista Corp, not just EM.

It's not simple. And none of it is good.

 

[duckbuster5901]

No kidding I don’t shoot bismuth ,but DAYYYUM over$600 for a case

This will be my first season shooting Bismuth in my 20,s. Seen quickly reloading is the way to go. Hadn,t reloaded anything in at least 15 years but if you can find the materials its the way to go.

 

[bill cooksey]

Vista owns Estate. Challenger is a Canadian company based in Quebec. I agree there are many players, most of them do not manufacture their own components. Part of the problem lies in Vista acquiring "manufacturers" that source materials from the same resources as those they are competing with.
Example; Challenger, Kent, and Environ-Metal utilize the same hulls and wads.. made and sold by Cheddite (France), and Baschieri & Pellagri (Italy). Vista now owns EM. Now Challenger and Kent have to compete with the buying power of Vista Corp, not just EM.

It's not simple. And none of it is good.

Definitely not as simple as most try to make it. If the rest of the economy and supply chain were in decent shape, I believe we would have already seen a significant price decline, but this has been, and remains, a perfect storm with ammo costs. There's enough competition to drive prices down though if the input costs and availability stabilize.

I'm not saying we'll see $7.99 Xperts and $3.99 specials on dove/target loads again, but I won't be surprised at all with some 20-30% price declines in the future. How far into the future is, to me, the bigger question. I'm just glad my son isn't shooting scholastic trap anymore. I couldn't finance that amount of ammo.

 

[duckrogers]

I finally found what I'd been looking for for a long time: Rem .30'06 165 grain Corelocked. Considering how infrequently I manage to draw, that forty rounds could last me quite a while.
Can someone name anything that goes down in price once raised?

O, please. Wake up and smell the capitalism: Lead shot in the late 80's, Gas in 2009, price of corn in 2013... Shall I continue?

 

[Warren Wingshooter]

Walmart 2.75" steel xperts for $14.72 at my nearby store. Those will kill any decoying duck dead. $15 a box isn't my problem....$5 gas is what's going to hurt ohhhh so bad.

Seconded. Only time I shoot anything else is just to get rid of old surplus.

 

[3labman]

Just happened to be by Dunn's in Pevely, MO yesterday and stopped in looking for some ammo. They had Kent Fast Steel 3" #2 & BB $24.99 a box didn't look at any other shotgun ammo since I was looking for powder and primers for an inline muzzleloader I picked up back in January.........no luck with it either.

 

[NWh2ofowlr]

Well, I went to the Rogers website and it doesn't look like the prices are coming down anytime soon! Top Guns still at $119.99/case BUT FREE shipping (that's the same as I paid almost 2 years ago-up from $65.00/case)! I was looking at steel Dove loads: $149.99/case of #7? DAMN!

Rogers is making huge margins as many shops selling ammo. 50-70% in some cases is consumer gouging.

 

[CanardNoir]

Well, I went to the Rogers website and it doesn't look like the prices are coming down anytime soon! Top Guns still at $119.99/case BUT FREE shipping (that's the same as I paid almost 2 years ago-up from $65.00/case)! I was looking at steel Dove loads: $149.99/case of #7? DAMN!

When consumer Demand exceeds Supply - this is what happens to Price.

Try to find reloading components and you may better understand what happens when government stockpiles and practices yet another form of checkbook diplomacy...