Ballseye's Gun Shots 137: The Variance In Ammo Prices, What Could It Mean

Today I went shopping, online, for some 7.62x39 ammunition. I discovered that Wolf Ammunition in said caliber was out of stock at all of the dealers from whom I usually buy ammo. I mean completely out of stock! So I decided to get some Silver Bear Ammo instead of the Wolf. It is a brand I have used before and that I trust almost as much as Wolf ammo.

So, I searched for Silver Bear 7.62x39, 123 grain, hollow point ammo, in a lot of 500rounds or in a half case (some sell this as a case and I may refer to it as either in this article but be advised all prices below are for 500 round lots). I was pretty surprised to see the huge difference in prices among the various dealers I have used. The prices can be seen below and do not reflect any discounts for membership, or coupons:

AIM Surplus
$115.00 per case of 500 rounds (they offer it at 25 boxes @ $4.60 ea) plus shipping
http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.aspx?item=ABS76239HP&name=Silver+Bear+7.62x39+HP+123grn+20rd+Box&groupid=39

Ammo Man
Not Offered
http://www.ammoman.com/index.htm

Centerfire Systems
Not offered
http://centerfiresystems.com/762x39.aspx

Cheaper Than Dirt
$146.29, plus shipping
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/AMM6421-5.html

Classic Arms
Not offered
http://www.classicarms.us/ammunition.htm

J&G Sales
$144.95, plus shipping
http://www.jgsales.com/product_info.php/ammo-for-rifles/7-62x39mm/p/7-62x39-silver-bear-hp-500rds-/cPath/12_41/products_id/1629

Keep Shooting
Not offered
http://www.keepshooting.com/ammunition/rifle-ammunition

Military Shooters
$104.99, plus shipping (only 2 available when I checked)
http://shop.militaryshooters.com/catalog/product.asp?ret_id=140211&pid=1028166

Natchez Shooter’s Supplies
Not offered
http://www.natchezss.com/ammo.cfm?contentID=ammoGroup&ammoGroup=1&ammoSize=331&type=0&category=3

RGuns
Not Offered
http://rguns.net/ammo.shtml

SG Ammo
$109.00, plus shipping, (only 1 available when I checked)
http://www.sgammo.com/product/silver-bear/500-rds-silver-bear-762x39-123-gr-hollow-point-ammo-case

Sportsman’s Guide
$149.97, plus shipping
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/silver-bear-762x39-123-grain-hp-ammo-500-rds.aspx?a=472407&bi=147867

I also checked some dealers I have never used before. These included:

Lucky Gunner (Found the link to this site at The Breda Fallacy)
Not offered
http://www.luckygunner.com/rifle/7.62x39mm-ammo

Alamo Ammo (link to this site found on Days Of Our Trailers)
Not offered
http://alamoammo.com/cart/rifle-ammunition/7.62-x-39

Remember, all of the above inquiries were made relative to Silver Bear 7.62x39 HP ammo all because not one of the above dealers had any Wolf 7.62x39 HP ammo in stock at all! The highest price that I found for a single case of 500 rounds of the Silver Bear ammo was at Sportsman’s Guide. The lowest price I found for a single case of 500 rounds of the Silver Bear ammo was at Military Shooters. The difference between the highest and the lowest prices was $41.98. That difference amounts to an almost 28 percent off of the high price. That is one heck of a difference in prices without any coupons or sales savings being involved. So a substantial savings could be had by shopping around for all of 15 minutes. Why such a big difference? I think that it is possible, that since a couple of the smaller businesses had better prices but also had very limited stock of the Silver Bear ammo, the smaller dealers had old pricing on old stock. I am guessing that the bigger dealers had new pricing on either new higher priced stock or simply raised it on old stock in anticipation of price increases.

As I say, that is guess work on my part; I cannot be sure without more information. You may recall though, not too long ago, I wondered, here, and here, if ammo prices might soon be rising based on some info I had seen and some news worthy events round the world. A price of virtually $147.07 (the average of the high 3 dealer prices above) for a half case of 500 rounds of Silver Bear 7.62x39 HP ammo is higher than it has been at most dealers for quite awhile. So I am hedging my bet that ammo prices are rising. Acting accordingly, I can say with certainty that Military Shooters has one less 500 round case of Silver bear 7.62x39 HP ammo in stock and I can also say with certainty I wish I had had enough to have bought more of it. Next time though, I think I may have to get some of the same caliber in soft point rounds.

It's up to you if you buy more now. With things going the way they seem to be going, I can only see prices going higher in the near future.

All the best,
Glenn B