I just ordered 200 rounds of Remington Core-Lokt 35 REM 200 grain soft point ammo. I used to get this stuff for under $25.00 box maybe even under $20.00 per box but that was several years ago. Lately, in fact for way too long, it has been hard to come by and is very expensive when you find it. For instance, I just checked Ammoseek.com to see what they showed it going for. There was a total of one place selling it at $99.99 per box of 20 rounds plus shipping and I would guess plus tax. That was a little too expensive for my pocket book. So, as I do fairly often, I checked the Remington website (I think now owned by Federal) not expecting to see any for sale but still hopeful. I have not seen it for sale on their site in over a year and have only seen Core-Lokt 35 REM 150 grain pointed soft point available. I have three rifles in 35 REM, two of which - a Marlin 336 and a Remington 141 - are tube fed and thus could be a potential hazard if using pointed ammo, the other is a Remington Model 81 that is box magazine fed and can use the pointed ammo - no problem.
Well, while I am the penultimate pessimist (not quite the ultimate) and knowing that deer hunting rifle season is opening in many states soon, I decided to check Remington again today. I was happy I did so because there it was. They were selling it direct to the consumer for $67.99 plus tax and I think $12.99 shipping. That was quite a bit lower than $99.99 per box but still not low enough; so, I went to ExpertVoice.com of which I have been a member for several years now (if you are not a member I think you should be). Once there, I logged in and brought up Remington Ammunition. Then I looked for the discount code (only can be used once every 3 or 4 months and you need a new code each time), copied it and went back to the Remington site. I ordered 10 boxes for $407.90 plus tax, the total being $449.71 with tax of $41.81 (AR has higher sales tax than does NY). It came with free shipping, shipping would have been $12.00 otherwise. So I got it for $44.97 per box; that is much better than the $99.99 per box (plus shipping and I am guessing tax) as seen on Ammoseek and also much better than the normal retail price of $67.99 from Remington.
Is it too much to pay for this ammo, I think yes it is still way to much, but I wanted it and the price was right as compared as to any other prices for it that I have seen. Granted, I can get Hornady Leverevolution FTX 200 grain 35 REM for about $35.00 plus shipping and tax but I have a good deal of that and wanted some additional Remington ammo. By the way, when I have tried to sell some 35 REM in the past (shame on me) the Remington Core-Lokt always sells, the Hornady is a tough sale at best (even though inherently more accurate). I guess folks don't like the fact that the Hornady has plastic tips.
Anyway, ExpertVoice has something like 900 brands affiliated with it and they offer discounts or discount codes for many of them. If you sign up and want discounts, you need to do training for each brand as far as I am aware. That usually consists of watching videos or viewing advertising pages, then taking multiple choice tests about the products. May sound tedious but it is well worth the savings as I see it.
One last thing, I just found out Remington is offering a 20% rebate on ammo through sometime in October. I kind of, sort of, almost definitely doubt they will honor the rebate on my purchase since I already got it at a 40% discount but I will try and see what happens as another 20% off would be marvelous.
All the best,
Glenn B
