by Jubbles » Tue Nov 29, 2016 6:17 pm
When I first started shooting centre fire rifle cartridges in 2007 the prices were as follows
£12/100 .223 Wolf
£20/100 5.56 Radway Green
£30/100 .303 British Privi Partisan
I use these calibers as they are what I shot at the time and now.
Current prices I see are
£27.50 - £35/100 .223 Wolf/Tula/Barnaul
£45/100 5.56 Radway Green
£67 - £87/100 .303 British
A 129 to 191% increase in price for wolf/tula/barnaul .223 , 125% increase for Radway Green 5.56 and 123 to 190% increase for PPU .303 british
Inflation increases however between Jan 2007 and march 2015 was only 27.53%-RPI and 23.64%CPI
Copper price per ton in Jan 2007 - $6587 (In 2016 $ same for the below) and in Oct 2016 - $5950 a 9.67% decrease in cost.
Lead price per ton in Jan 2007 - $1911 and in Oct 2016 - $2020 a 5.7% increase in cost
Zinc (Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc) price per ton in Jan 2007 - $4353 and in Oct 2016 - $2310 a 43.59% decrease in cost
Hot rolled steel price per ton in Jan 2007 - $633 and in Nov 2016 - $500 a 21% decrease in cost
So the materials prices have either fallen significantly or just about increase above inflation by no more than 0.5-1% yet ammo prices have increased by more than 75% above inflation.
So what has changed? Have wages in Serbia grown doubled? Have gun shop owners become millionaires or have their costs increased significantly?
Handloading the cheapest .223/5.56 I can load is roughly £27/100 and thats buying 3.5kg of powder, a 1000 bullets, and a 1000 primers at a time and using range pick up brass.
Its not sustainable. There is no way a 17-21 year old can join the sport and pay their way short of only shooting .22LR and frankly that's boring and will keep very few interested. At 14 when I started shooting it didn't interest me greatly, now at 25 I can say with certainty that even though I am on a very good wage if prices increase further I wont be able to justify continually burning money on ammo and will find a new sport/hobby/lifestyle to enjoy instead.
Something needs to change or the sport will without a doubt die.
Sources: indexmundi, my brain and a 2007 to 2016 dollar value calculator.