Has anyone seen .223 or 5.56 for sale?

[ChuckNorris]

Wow i laugh at all the desperate ammo buyers paying $1 per round for crappy ammo when i can reload with premium bullets for about 27 cents per round or regular fmjbt for 20 cents. And no its not that much of a chore as i enjoy it and i didnt spend more than $200 with dies for a really good working setup. I can easily do 200-300 rounds in an hour if my brass is prepped in advance. Seriously if you shoot a lot go get a lee classic turret press kit from cabelas for $175. It was even less about 2 years ago.

[yuppiejr]

Wow i laugh at all the desperate ammo buyers paying $1 per round for crappy ammo when i can reload with premium bullets for about 27 cents per round or regular fmjbt for 20 cents. And no its not that much of a chore as i enjoy it and i didnt spend more than $200 with dies for a really good working setup. I can easily do 200-300 rounds in an hour if my brass is prepped in advance. Seriously if you shoot a lot go get a lee classic turret press kit from cabelas for $175. It was even less about 2 years ago.

Yea, I laugh also at people to brag about how they can save a ton of money reloading cases of .223 on their Lee press and fail to account for the huge time sink involved. Brass prep is probably the most time consuming part of reloading rifle cartridges, your time must not be worth much if you can simply write off 4-5 hours to assemble ammo on top of at least as much time doing proper brass prep (clean, deprime, lube, size, trim and clean again). Reloading stuff is just as hard to find as loaded ammo these days so if you aren't already in the game sourcing components is probably harder to sort out than just buying loaded ammo.

Lets fact check that math... generously assuming you can assemble 1000 rounds in 4 hours (which is a lot on a Lee Turret press which I've owned and operated) and properly prepped your brass I'd expect we're talking about 8-10 real hours down the tubes for that 1000 rounds. Lets talk about your materials cost estimate as well:

Figuring 24 grains of powder for something at factory M193/M855 performance you are running around 290 cartridges per 1 pound of powder, so you need at least 4 pounds which is at least $80 at pre panic prices. You're looking at $40 for 1000 primers. Bags of 500 once fired brass went for $35 a pop at Gunstop pre panic, so there's $75 with tax. You're at $195 before buying bullets... lets be generous and call it $100 for 55 grain FMJ's with some shipping so $295 worth of materials to roll up 1000 rounds of ammo that cost between $300 and $350 pre panic from PRVI or Federal. Hope your time (around 10 hours worth) and reloading setup is cheap... I figure my free time is worth a lot more, but lets say $20 an hour is what yours is worth, factored into the cost you're talking $500-$550 worth of time and materials to roll up 1000 rounds of ammo likely inferior to what you can still buy today post panic (Capras Winchester 45 grain Frangible 5.56 for example).

Unless you shoot a few CASES a year or more of .223 (and likely have the money to buy new barrels and internals for your AR's annually) to make a high capacity reloading setup and already bulk purchase of components worthwhile, or roll up a lot of hunting/precision ammo AND already have a huge stash of primers and powder lying around, welcome to the "I reload because I like to do so, it doesn't save me money" crowd. I'm a reloader so I'm not knocking the activity at all, it's just not the giant money saver some people like to brag it up to be (which is a huge disservice to prospective new reloaders who only realize the error of their ways after they have invested in a pile of equipment).

[Hammered Squirrel]

Wow i laugh at all the desperate ammo buyers paying $1 per round for crappy ammo when i can reload with premium bullets for about 27 cents per round or regular fmjbt for 20 cents. And no its not that much of a chore as i enjoy it and i didnt spend more than $200 with dies for a really good working setup. I can easily do 200-300 rounds in an hour if my brass is prepped in advance. Seriously if you shoot a lot go get a lee classic turret press kit from cabelas for $175. It was even less about 2 years ago.

Yea, I laugh also at people to brag about how they can save a ton of money reloading cases of .223 on their Lee press and fail to account for the huge time sink involved. Brass prep is probably the most time consuming part of reloading rifle cartridges, your time must not be worth much if you can simply write off 4-5 hours to assemble ammo on top of at least as much time doing proper brass prep (clean, deprime, lube, size, trim and clean again). Reloading stuff is just as hard to find as loaded ammo these days so if you aren't already in the game sourcing components is probably harder to sort out than just buying loaded ammo.

Lets fact check that math... generously assuming you can assemble 1000 rounds in 4 hours (which is a lot on a Lee Turret press which I've owned and operated) and properly prepped your brass I'd expect we're talking about 8-10 real hours down the tubes for that 1000 rounds. Lets talk about your materials cost estimate as well:

Figuring 24 grains of powder for something at factory M193/M855 performance you are running around 290 cartridges per 1 pound of powder, so you need at least 4 pounds which is at least $80 at pre panic prices. You're looking at $40 for 1000 primers. Bags of 500 once fired brass went for $35 a pop at Gunstop pre panic, so there's $75 with tax. You're at $195 before buying bullets... lets be generous and call it $100 for 55 grain FMJ's with some shipping so $295 worth of materials to roll up 1000 rounds of ammo that cost between $300 and $350 pre panic from PRVI or Federal. Hope your time (around 10 hours worth) and reloading setup is cheap... I figure my free time is worth a lot more, but lets say $20 an hour is what yours is worth, factored into the cost you're talking $500-$550 worth of time and materials to roll up 1000 rounds of ammo likely inferior to what you can still buy today post panic (Capras Winchester 45 grain Frangible 5.56 for example).

Unless you shoot a few CASES a year or more of .223 (and likely have the money to buy new barrels and internals for your AR's annually) to make a high capacity reloading setup and already bulk purchase of components worthwhile, or roll up a lot of hunting/precision ammo AND already have a huge stash of primers and powder lying around, welcome to the "I reload because I like to do so, it doesn't save me money" crowd. I'm a reloader so I'm not knocking the activity at all, it's just not the giant money saver some people like to brag it up to be (which is a huge disservice to prospective new reloaders who only realize the error of their ways after they have invested in a pile of equipment).

+ way more then I want to type out to yuppiejr

If I could find a emoticon for clapping I would use it

[FJ540]

If you can only prep 100 cases an hour - you're doing it wrong, or you're a cnc programmer for boberg.

The time the cases spend in the tumbler is not labor hours. You're not a slave to them while they tumble, you let them do their thing and go do something else.

Reloading does have the distinct advantage of being a progressive process. You don't need to plunk down 300 bucks for a case of ammo at one shot. You can buy a bottle of powder for 25, then some bullets for 20, then some primers for 30 - when you're out doing something else. Not huge cash outlays - just grab a box when you're in the store or in the area. Then, when you want to load, you have the supplies. If you weren't stashing ammo up until now, you have nothing. Sure, it takes some leg work to get components now, but they are out there and can be bought. If you're buying whole ammo - look at all the "none to be found" threads.

Bullets, powder, and even primers can be back ordered if you know where to shop. It's far less hopeless than .80 .223 retail. Even .50 .223 is pretty obscene when you consider with a "little" effort you could shoot premium for 30% less money.

If your time is so valuable, you wouldn't be posting here going "where can I find cheap ammo" either - you'd whip out your credit card and buy it. It is available, if you're willing to pay.

[grousemaster]

Lot's of .223 at Gander Eden Prairie yesterday at noon....

[killakallies]

Gander in Blaine has been pretty good about getting .223 in on Thursdays. It's usually a mixed bag on the brands but they usually have the .223AR in 20rd and 100rd valu pack. Try giving them a call around noon to see if any is in stock. Otherwise just show up before about 5PM and you should be able to get your hands on some. 9mm is the same way. 22lr is more of the caliber that you have to be there when it gets wheeled out in order to get your hands on some. There current limit is 10 boxes total for ammo.

[bpacman]

I'm a reloader so I'm not knocking the activity at all, it's just not the giant money saver some people like to brag it up to be (which is a huge disservice to prospective new reloaders who only realize the error of their ways after they have invested in a pile of equipment).

Bravo Yuppiejr!! You must have had brass in the tumbler to take so much time away from the reloading bench to write such a detailed and articulate analogy of the craft.

When it all comes down to it. What would you prefer? Scrambling for the Commercial Off the Shelf Ammo...or building your ammo how you need it and when you need it?

This is the true calling of reloading. Options that exceed the market and the skill to persevere in tough times.

Bp

[subwofer2]

I'd like to shamelessly show support for one of our own members.

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=39951

He has 5.56 available, why not check which him and waste less time searching. You'll feel good about helping a friend and stock some quality brass ammo.

[mecra]

I'll check him out. I'm in need of some 556 so I'm not blowing through my emergency ammo on zero'ing.

[scottstay]

I just left Cabelas in Rogers, 1 p.m. Tuesday the 26th, and they had about 50 or 60, 20 round boxes of 223 full metal jacket 55 grain zinc plated steel cased cartridges, MFS brand

[qualcorp]

I just left Cabelas in Rogers, 1 p.m. Tuesday the 26th, and they had about 50 or 60, 20 round boxes of 223 full metal jacket 55 grain zinc plated steel cased cartridges, MFS brand

$$$?

[grousemaster]

I just left Cabelas in Rogers, 1 p.m. Tuesday the 26th, and they had about 50 or 60, 20 round boxes of 223 full metal jacket 55 grain zinc plated steel cased cartridges, MFS brand

$$$?

I was there to, I passed on that stuff

[scottstay]

I just left Cabelas in Rogers, 1 p.m. Tuesday the 26th, and they had about 50 or 60, 20 round boxes of 223 full metal jacket 55 grain zinc plated steel cased cartridges, MFS brand

$$$?

Sorry, $8.99/20 I believe

[Tronster]

Hindsight being 20/20, I should've bought more of the 1000 round cases of LC 5.56 at FF when it was $329. Kept thinking "oh it'll be on sale for $299 some week soon".
At least I got "some" 5.56, but not nearly enough. When it does come back in quantity it'll probably be $499 a case.