Are the golden days of shooting gone?

[wakefield724]

Recently as we all have noticed the market for guns and ammo has skyrocketed. Mosins used to be under $100 now they are increasing price by the day. 22 Ammo used to be 2 cents a shot. Now it is much more. People are paying WAY above retail at gun auctions. It is almost impossible to shoot on a regular basis and be stocked up on ammo too. Has the golden days of shooting where ammo and guns were cheaper gone away? Will things get better? What are the future of firearms?

[Gunsnwater]

Recently as we all have noticed the market for guns and ammo has skyrocketed. Mosins used to be under $100 now they are increasing price by the day. 22 Ammo used to be 2 cents a shot. Now it is much more. People are paying WAY above retail at gun auctions. It is almost impossible to shoot on a regular basis and be stocked up on ammo too. Has the golden days of shooting where ammo and guns were cheaper gone away? Will things get better? What are the future of firearms?

You just described a resurgence in firearm interest. High demand high prices. These are the golden days.

[nfafan]

Once a less-hostile 2A administration is in-place in WA DC, we should see some let-up.

Meanwhile, guess .22-hoarders will continue feeding their children bowls of Thunderbolts and milk sprinkled with handgun-powder as their breakfast cereal.

[Grey Bearded One]

I know that I don't go shooting much anymore because I don't like the idea of flinging a half a buck down range with every shot. When .50 BMG was a buck a round, I thought that was expensive but now .223 is priced there.

[harold63]

Ammo is expensive and harder to get. More people have bought firearms which makes ammo harder to get. DHS is shooting up and hoarding up everything known to man, so it makes ammo still harder to get. My opinion is to savor every round you shoot. Don't be satisfied with hitting a steel plate at 7 yds. Take your time and try hitting the same plate at 25 or 50 yds, or focus solely on trying to bust out the X. Tune your sights so you are dead on at 25 yds and make each shot count. The biggest reason I got interested in slow fire pistol shooting is expense and ammo availability. I'm just as satisfied when I leave the range, I have to prep a little more, mentally, so that helps savor my shots, and; with reloading and hand loading being a hassle, I'm definitely not going out to blast plates too often. I'm going for the X with every shot and I don't want to leave the range knowing the 10 out of the 100 rounds I just shot may have accidentally made it to their mark. I leave wondering why 10 of the 100 DIDN'T hit the mark, and it took me twice as long to get there. YMMV.

[HSMaxim]

Compare your wages when .22 was .02 to your wages now and .22 currently being .045 if you do not buy from a gouger.

The price of Mosins is simply due to the supply drying up. And even so, the $169 M91 that used to be $99 is still a relatively good deal.

Often I will think of when I was paying $89 for a case of 7.62X39 and $89 for a Russian SKS to go with it. I used to buy 500rnd boxes of loose packed 30Carbine WWII era ammo for $40 at Springfield Sporters. But then I also think that at that time I was making half of what I am now. That box of ammo was almost a day and a half in wages after taxes.

IMO, the days of shelves filled with many different types of low cost mil-surps are gone. 1000 rnd boxes of Israeli 5.56 for $125 are gone.
Like 300WM said, we have to adjust our shooting habits accordingly.
I have started reloading milsurp ammo, stuff I would have never done before. I have been saving my steel cased 7.62X54R and 39 and have been picking up any 6.5 Swede cases I can scrounge at shows.

[MOUNTAINORACLE]

In the '60s I could buy Colt Pythons for under $175.00 and Generation One Single Actions Armys for around $235.00. I could also purchase .22s for around 49 cents a box. I won't tell what I was earning but min wage was $1.75. I was drafted in '63 and the military pay back then for an E-1 was $78.00 a month.

This IMHO is the still the golden age

[Pilot321]

Shooting, and black rifles have become more mainstream. I think the market will sort out ammo demand, and prices will reflect that at some point when people realize they are still making .22's.

[Grey Bearded One]

I could also purchase .22s for around 49 cents a box. I won't tell what I was earning but min wage was $1.75.

At the end of the last century, I was still finding .22 for about a buck a box. Before Sandy Hook, I bough a ton of .38 Spl reloads for about $6 a box with brass trade in, now it is at least $10 a box.

[Gunowner99]

I hope not, I am a relative newbie.

Just in the last year, and yes I know I picked the wrong time to start, I have seen Mosin's rise along with their ammo. I have seen 223 and 5.56 fall as well as AR prices, after the panic of course. 22 has gone from possible to impossible. I mean I haven't bought any in months. 380 forget about it.