-
If you enjoy the forum please consider supporting it by signing up for a NES Membership The benefits pay for the membership many times over.
Dafruck happened to 7.62x54r ammo?
- Thread starter Love Machine
- Start date
warwickben
bubba Kalashnikov
My friend just called whining there was no 54r @ the plymouth show. I asked him why he didn't order a few tins when they where on sale from a vendor for 119$ shipped? Or why he didn't stop at the several spots on the way back from Maine......you need to buy it when it's cheap and buy as much as you can afford to....
Looking around my normal vendors most are sold out.
Looking around my normal vendors most are sold out.
I was talking to Chris (the NY ammo guy) about 7.62x54r today. He says its drying up and what's here is here. This is also what I'm hearing from every dealer I've been asking about it. I heard prices at the last Knob Creek shoot/show were through the roof.
Might be the time to buy some boxer-primed brass in 54R...
...runs about 50 cents a piece, new.
Prvi Partizan 182gr FMJBT is available for ~$363 per 500 rounds which makes it~$113 over the brass cost alone. Rich compared to surplus fodder, but none of that is in stock usually.
Either that or grab some solder and tape to covert 7.62 NATO for your Mosin.
Last edited:
I thought about selling the ~160 rounds of PPU x54r but I may just hold onto it for now in the event I reload down the road. But with the amount of surplus ammo I have, that won't be anytime soon.
Perhaps ZQI would start making 54R ammo and sell it at Wal-Mart for $11 a box, similar to their 7.62x51 offering...
http://zqiammo.com/
http://zqiammo.com/
MKE (people that make ZQI brand of ammo) will not be renewing their contract with Walmart. they came up with their new brand of ammo that they will market and distribute themselves w/o walmart or any other middleman involvement.
their new US brand is 'Guardian Ammunition' and it's already out on the market. walmart will sell off remaining stocks of ZQI and we will most likely not see any more ZQI from that point on. also probably should forget about bargain price point of ZQI. As far as i heard MKE intention is to compete price wise with other quality brands of brass ammo and not with bargain basement variety brands.
their new US brand is 'Guardian Ammunition' and it's already out on the market. walmart will sell off remaining stocks of ZQI and we will most likely not see any more ZQI from that point on. also probably should forget about bargain price point of ZQI. As far as i heard MKE intention is to compete price wise with other quality brands of brass ammo and not with bargain basement variety brands.
Oh well...so much for that idea!
I knew that once they established some market share, the bargain pricing would disappear.
Do you know if MKE ever produced 54R?
I know I've shot their "MKE" marked 8mm Mauser ammo before (even though I've never seen it on their product list).
Love Machine
NES Member
Time to reload, comrades.
i doubt it. market share of 54r is tiny in US.
moreover turkey never had to make 54r so they don't have equipment or knowledge.
places like ppu or s&b at least produced that stuff for decades for their own consumption, so they are not new to this.
Tukey on other hand went from making german and own calibers to NATO calibers. they never-ever build anything russian.
presumably they could buy new equipment and hire new engineers to make russian varieties of ammo but that would be investment however samall. they need to know it will pay-off quickly. but like i said market share of 54r is small and folks are used to paying surplus prices. to them there is just virtually no money to be made here on that. they can continue stamping out NATO amm on their current equipment with ZERO investment and US market will gobble it up and say thanks.
good think can come of it though. more competition means lower prices for us.
turkey is a good cheap place to make ammo. cheaper than US, cheaper than EU. they can drive costs down or for very least carve a niche of more affordable quality mil-spec ammo for themselves. currently market is over-run by US manufacturers. there is a bit of import on NATO stuff froma abroad but hardly enough to make a big enough splash. MKE certainly big enough to do this. now whether they want to or not is whole another question. time will tell.
Last edited:
How long until some crybaby blames the 54r shortage on us 'hoarders'?
And do you think this will have an impact on the value of rifles? I know they have already more than doubled in the past few years, but since their popularity was largely based on cheap ammo, will the end of cheap ammo change anything?
I'm guessing not, since the supplies have mostly dried up already.
And do you think this will have an impact on the value of rifles? I know they have already more than doubled in the past few years, but since their popularity was largely based on cheap ammo, will the end of cheap ammo change anything?
I'm guessing not, since the supplies have mostly dried up already.
Waaaaa! Waaa!
Again, not to repeat...
Guess I should have patented my JSWC:
Woodleigh Hydrostatically Stabilized Solid Bullets 303 British (312 Diameter) 215 Grain
Love Machine
NES Member
Well, I ordered the Lee classic loader for the 7.62x54r. I just gotta find some bullets, powder and primers and we should be good to go.
if x54r continue to grow in popularity (and tens of thousands of rifles bought in the past decade should be conducive to that happening) eventually Hornady will come up with the load of their own and/or other bullet manufacturers will step in.
if nothing else, Ukraine will eventually establish their own production facilities either for NATO ammo in which case they will sell-off their stockpiles of commie ammo or
if they continue to use commie ammo for a decade or so then we will have reliable source of commercial ammo. it won't be cheap as surplus but it would be cheaper than brass cased S&B and PPU.
another thing i can not predict with 100% reliability, but i can see that as a possibility. CNC machines get cheaper and cheaper every year. right now mini-cnc lathes are already within a reach of most people. that means that one day CNC bullets from solid brass or copper or maybe even some completely diferent and inexpensive alloy may become a common place and affordable option for many reloaders. We might even see small portable bullet turning table top machines created for this explicit purpose. they will probably cost a few grand but precision shooters and wildcatter will gladly pay that for a chance to roll their own.
if nothing else, Ukraine will eventually establish their own production facilities either for NATO ammo in which case they will sell-off their stockpiles of commie ammo or
if they continue to use commie ammo for a decade or so then we will have reliable source of commercial ammo. it won't be cheap as surplus but it would be cheaper than brass cased S&B and PPU.
another thing i can not predict with 100% reliability, but i can see that as a possibility. CNC machines get cheaper and cheaper every year. right now mini-cnc lathes are already within a reach of most people. that means that one day CNC bullets from solid brass or copper or maybe even some completely diferent and inexpensive alloy may become a common place and affordable option for many reloaders. We might even see small portable bullet turning table top machines created for this explicit purpose. they will probably cost a few grand but precision shooters and wildcatter will gladly pay that for a chance to roll their own.
bdb
NES Member
I was blown away at Collectible in Merrimack on Monday. Grabbed some more Golden tiger food for the AK and looked at the spam tins of x54r. $250!! Sweet Jesus it was only a few months ago I was seeing them at $130-$140 and saying, nah too high. Oh well, I guess I should have grabbed a few more tins 6 months ago.
Was that the price for a crate or for a single can?? My guess is that the spam cans Collectible had, were the x54r surplus target/match ammo in crates? Each can has 225 rounds so a crate would have 450 rounds. $250 / 450 rounds = .55 cents each which is about what it's going for online. I could be wrong though. I suppose I could call to confirm.
I really hope I'm right but if I'm wrong, I suppose my 5 spam cans are worth a lot now lol. I'll sell you one of my spam cans for $240..it's a bargain!
Last edited:
Damn! If only my 91/30 would shoot like that...
FWIW, I called Collectable and Keith said they're no longer selling spam cans, just x54r by the 20 round boxes (damnit I forgot to ask how much lol maybe someone else can confirm). He said there is no more coming into the US at the moment and does not think he will be getting anymore..
And to think I was considering selling most of my x54r spam cans...Good thing I didn't.
- - - Updated - - -
$250 when I called a few min ago.
Last edited:
