I’m relatively inexperienced with firearms, but have noticed that the price off ammo has fluctuated greatly over the last 1.5 or so years. For example, where I am, a 50 count box of 9mm has nearly halved in price from ~$20 to ~$12.
Is this due to COVID or is this sort of thing typical of the industry? Thanks in advance.
People were hoarding ammo during covid in case shit hit the fan. Extreme right wingers hoard ammo every time there’s a presidential election with a Democrat leading in the polls. So expect prices to go up again in 2024. They likely won’t be as high as they were in 2020-2022 though, since that was hoarding combined with supply chain issues.
Prices match market desire. During election years (where one politician has an anti gun platform) or during times like COVID people go out to buy guns and ammo. There’s a reason the expression ‘buy cheap stack deep’ exists.
If you can buy ammo before an election year or (harder) before you find out about global pandemic. Also use Ammoseek to find deals and buy the cheapest brass cased non-remanufactured ammo for range use.
The company that made primers for shells was having supply chain issues during covid and that drove the prices up across the board.
https://www.outdoorlife.com/guns/ammo-shortage-2023
What you’re seeing now is a normalization on pricing.
Aside from the random news cycle panic buying, there’s also a decade long cycle when the government restocks and causes shortages. Usually accompanied by news reports that the government is stocking up to come after your guns.