Ammunition.

[harleyboy]

Why is it that ammunition for these firearms is becomming more and more extinct.

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[jonnyc]

Not sure what firearms you're talking about, but ammo for some milsurps hasn't been made by govt.s for their military use since WWII. Most of what there was has been used up in war and by civilians since 1945. If it's not commercially viable, civilian manufacturers won't make much, or any at all.

[onlycrimson]

Mostly because nobody has produced rifles in these calibers for many years. There's no chance of the number of milsurp guns growing larger, but there is a chance of more .223 and .308 rifles being produced.

[rdpinwa]

I remember when I purchased my first rifle with my own money (at 16). It was a Savage Model 99-E in .308 Caliber. At the time the shop had open like 5 gallon tins of loose .308 military hardball ammo selling for 3 cents apiece. That was when they were switching over from the M14 to the M16. Those days are long gone, and so is the ammo. Just not enough demand, so prices go up. You will always be able to get the ammo, but you might have to sell the kids to afford it. Especially 30 Cal carbine.

[browningautorifle]

I just load for all mine. Doesn't matter what caliber. I squirrel away components until I'm ready to work and then have lots. I couldn't afford to shoot like I do if I didn't.

[TDH]

Here here BAR

[Patrick Chadwick]

You think you have problems? Here are some of mine, in approximate historical order:

.577 Snider, 11.43x50R Egyptian Remington, 11.15x60R Mauser, 11mm Gras, 11.15x37R Grenzaufseher, .577-450 Martini-Henry, .44 Henry Rimfire... (yes, I have a revolver in that caliber - and it works!)

Hey, is there such a thing as ready-made ammo? Not for my spectrum of old bangers. I can't even find suitable bullets for most of them. And have to be inventive when it comes to cases.

Once upon a time, the ammo you may be looking for was churned out by the hundreds of millions:

"So how many million are you looking to purchase sir?"
"200"
"OK, we can tool up for 200 million."
"No, not 200 million, just 200."
"Sir, may I draw to your attention that this is a factory, not a delicatessen."

So please, nobody cry because you can't buy milsurp ammo at hundredweight prices any more. Milsurp = military SURPLUS, i.e the leftovers when the original armed forces no longer need it. The leftovers have been pretty well consumed. Make your own and get (in most cases) better performance from your old service rifle.

Patrick

[smellie]

Yup, I remember 8x57 at $27 a thousand.... when I didn`t have $27, mind you.

I think we can assume that German military production of the 8x57 pretty well stopped right around May 8, 1945. The single thing the Wehrmacht did not rn out of was small-arms ammo. But once the War was over, there was no need (and no resources and no money) for more, so production stopped. What was left over lay around for a few years, then got policed up and a lot sold on the surplus market. Guys bought it and shot it.

A LOT of guys bought it and shot it a LOT.

And then the well was dry.

Simple.

The only thing left was fresh hunting ammo that cost a lot more because it was NOT surplus, it was fresh production.

.577 Snider went from 2 cents a shot to half a dollar a shot.... and that half-dollar was a third of an ounce of silver. It is now 8 to 10 bucks a shot. MUCH cheaper to load your own.

Add to that the factories that just didn`t want to be bothered with stuff that didn`t sell millions. When IVI took over the old Dominion plant in Quebec, they de-listed more than 2 DOZEN cartridges which CIL had been makng money on, albeit slowly. I have firearms for a lot of those cartridges..... and I can`t find ANY shooting quantities of .25RF, .25 Stevens, .22 Remington Auto, .22 Remington Special, .32 RF, .32 RF Long, .38 RF, .38 RF Long, .22 Savage High Power, .32-40 WCF, .43 Mauser...... because they SCRAPPED all that was on hand, just to keep it off the market.

If they have another war, there might be some 7.62 NATO and 5.56 surplus, there could be some 7.62x39, 5.45x39, 7.62x54R..... but there sure won`t be any .57 Snider or .43 Mauser surplus.

It all got shot off, along with the 6.5 Dutch and 8x50R and .303 that all was so cheap.
.

[jamie5070]

You would miss out on half the fun and satisfaction if you didn't have to scrounge and reload your own. Add 50-70 gov., 8x60 kropatschek, and .310 cadet to the list.
john

[Terry N.]

Don't overlook the fact that the machinegunners go through a lot of our favorite milsurp ammo in a short time. Remember the conversion kits for the Browning MGs in whatever caliber was inexpensive and available at the time? I don't begrudge them - I envy them!

I sure wish I'd had the cash to buy a tractor trailer load of 8X57 and .308 when it was comparatively cheap, and a place to store it!