Yes, that’s a lot of money. And we see it all the time these days…readers in the comment section OUTRAGED that retailers are “gouging” them on ammunition prices. We know they’re outraged because the caps lock is on.
We have some breaking news for you: we’re not living in the pre-pandemic world any more. And with a hostile administration about to take office, the high demand for ammo — along with manufacturers working like hell to try to meet it — isn’t going to change any time soon.
We’ve heard from one large ammo maker who doesn’t expect to catch up on their current backlog of orders for three years. You read that right, three years.
As for the price above, when you have tens of millions of gun owners chasing a commodity they all need at the same time, the price is going to rise. And it has. You can’t repeal the laws of economics no matter how hard you (and clueless politicians) may try.
So if you made hay while the sun was shining and topped off your stores of gun food prior to 2020, good on you. If you didn’t and you need ammunition, waiting for the price to come down probably isn’t going to work out for you. If you need it, you’re going to have to bite the bullet (so to speak) and pay the current market rate.
The fact is, range ammo priced at 64 cents a round isn’t gouging. It’s the going price. We all wish it were otherwise, but wishing won’t get anyone anywhere.
Your best course of action is to keep your eye on the bigger, more reputable sellers like Palmetto State, Brownells, Sportsman’s and others (including your local gun stores and ranges), then buy when they get a shipment. PSA has cases of Federal Independence range ammo in stock now. We don’t know how much they have, but we’d bet on it being out of stock by the end of the day.
Act (and buy) accordingly.