Shot Gun Shell Shock !!!

[sjohnny]

Too High! I have noticed that Gander Mountain is about the most expensive place I have looked in the past month. They were a little higher than Bass Pro Shops. I usually go to Walmart or Cabelas. I have been trying to buy a box or two of "something" every month. Sort of dollar cost averaging my entire ammunition stockpile :roll:

John

[SwitchGrassWPG]

I generally wait until the end of the year when WalMart puts their stuff on clearance... Kind of nice paying $4-5 for a $15+ box of shells.

Jay

[sjohnny]

They have 28 gauge shells at some of the Walmarts around here but they aren't cheap there either. Not much selection but generally have a few 8s and 7 1/2s.

[Chaingang]

Get used to it..... Not only has the price of lead almost doubled, but metals used in making the hulls have gone up dramatically as well. I first saw the first of the big price hike's last winter and another one came April 1st. Reloading doesn't help much either as you will be paying considerably more for your bags of shot as well.

[phermes1]

20.96 for 4 boxes of Federal 12 ga at Walmart down here. Best price anywhere. The trap club I go to used to have great deals on target shells, but they can't keep up with Wally World.

[romeo212000]

I would highly recommend reloading.

[tfbirddog2]

Why take the time to reload and save .28 to 32.cents that is about it let me know if you can save more than that with bags of shot that $20 bucks or better.I see a kinds of prices from the guys coming from Colorado they get raped for some prices.There is one giant down fall to shooting 28.ga shell price.It all depends on what you want to pay and if you will shop around.

[Chief_dog]

Why take the time to reload and save .28 to 32.cents that is about it let me know if you can save more than that with bags of shot that $20 bucks or better.I see a kinds of prices from the guys coming from Colorado they get raped for some prices.There is one giant down fall to shooting 28.ga shell price.It all depends on what you want to pay and if you will shop around.

I can reload 3/4 ounce 28ga loads at $3.89 per box. I can't find factory loads at Walmart for under $12 per box.

[Chaingang]

Why take the time to reload and save .28 to 32.cents that is about it let me know if you can save more than that with bags of shot that $20 bucks or better.

I agree. The last going price for a 25 lb bag of magnum shot that I've seen is running around $40-45. I've been buying my Estate target loads from a small independent retailer for $51/flat, so basically $5.10/box. No other retailer (Cabela's, Gander Mountain etc..) can come within $10 of that.

20.96 for 4 boxes of Federal 12 ga at Walmart down here. Best price anywhere. The trap club I go to used to have great deals on target shells, but they can't keep up with Wally World.

Yeah, I've seen those 100 packs as well. If you break it down that's $5.24/box. Not bad, but I like my deal better.

[tfbirddog2]

Well Chief your only the second person I've known to reload 28.ga, I bet you can reload cheaper I think they just bend the 28.ga owners over the table.Cgang the last time I heard that price for shot was about a year ago.Our Orcshlens here in town has 20 ga Super Dove loads 8 and 71/2s for $5.69 talked to manager to geta few cases.Just 2 years ago I was getting a case of Kents 12 or 20's for $52 bucks a case, I miss the good old days.
The Good Ol days 1997
1. Gallon of gas .86 cents
2. Can of Skoal Long Cut Mint $2.18
3. 20.oz Mt.Dew .69cents
4. 2 boxes of 12 ga. 71/2s $4.88
5. $5 for 4 rounds of blue rock at gun club(member price)
6. Where's Marty McFly and that "bleep" time machine when you need it.

[Chief_dog]

IMO, the smaller gauges (28/410) are where a person is going to be able to get ahead by reloading, especially because the factory ammo is so overpriced. I don't save much at all reloading the larger gauges, especially 12 gauge.

tfbirddog2, Do you have a Duckwalls nearby? You can get Winchester super-X ammo at about $4.20 a box. I bought every box of 12 and 20 gauge ammo at our local store. I checked Walmart the other day, and that was about $3.50 a box cheaper than Walmart.

[Chief_dog]

Estate hull? I have a ton of those. I don't have any current reloading data all mine is from way back when. Howie Hill

Parshal, who posts on this board sometimes, loaded me a couple boxes of 28ga shells using Estate hulls a year or two ago. You might want to PM him and get some of his loading data.

[Chaingang]

The last I looked at shot prizes it was darn near $1.00 a pound.

Don't look now you may go into cardiac arrest. Probably close to $2 a pound for magnum.

[romeo212000]

I can get shot for $35 for a bag of 25lb hard shot at my local skeet range. With me being able to re-use my shells that cuts a large deal of cost off of just buying at the store. It is about $3.00 cheaper a box for me to reload.

[tfbirddog2]

Sorry Chief no Duckwalls nearby for me. Got am email from a cousin I saw at a reunion acouple weeks ago is going to give me around 825 rounds of 12, 20, and 410 shell 7/12 to 6's and some 4's. wont get them till September though should make shooting cheap for a little while.

[Chief_dog]

A guy gave me 5 1/2 flats of 28ga shells a few years ago after he sold his last 28ga. I didn't even have a 28ga then! So, of course, I had a good excuse to buy another gun. The shells lasted me a couple years anyway.

[BANG-BANG]

Stop by the local GunsUnlimited store yesterday just to kill some time and happen to wonder to the shell area and OMG... the price has JUMPED big time. I usually shoot 12g Goldenharvest that cost $10 last year and it went up to $17 yesterday..... It is going to be a very tough hunting season coming up. Will definitely see less hunters out in the later season for sure.

Solution: Trian you dog to catch the bird... and quit buyin those over priced amo

Seriouly, I'm doing all I can to reduce the cost of hunting trip this year... First one is to buy a smaller truck that is more fuel efficiency and cut down on the number of trips out. Shoot only if it is in range. Someone needs to start a post on "Things to do to cut down on the cost of hunting this season" and NOT Hunting is not one of them. I'm sure many of you have good tips on cost cutting. GOOD LUCK & GOD BLESS....

[snips]

Well, I have vowed to hit every bird on the first shot! And not near as much blanking with the shotgun

[Southwind]

I was in my local Wal-Mart yesterday, and saw they had some Federal shells on sale. The had the 20 ga. Heavy Field Load in #6 shot for $4.50 a box compared to the normal $5.97/Box. These are the shells I normally shoot, and they are cheaper now than they were 2-3 years ago. They also had some of the Hi-Powers on sale as well at $9.00/Box compared to $11.50/Box. I hope these sales last throughout the summer!

[mtjim]

Us 16 ga. shooters don't have a choice. We either pay almost $9.00 a box for shells or else we reload.

A 16 ga. hull better not hit the ground around me or I'll hurt you getting to it!!!

[nj gsp]

Us 16 ga. shooters don't have a choice. We either pay almost $9.00 a box for shells or else we reload.

A 16 ga. hull better not hit the ground around me or I'll hurt you getting to it!!!

I was just in a certain sporting goods store where the guy behind the gun counter told me he couldn't see why anyone would buy a 16 gauge when the shells cost so much more than 12 or 20, and they don't work any better. I found the comment interesting because I'd bought three cases of 16ga Remington Game Loads that I got a 10% discount on, and were priced exactly the same as the 12 and 20 gauge loads in that same store.

I don't even want to start about how little the guy apparently knows about the ballistics part of the equation...

And yes, I reload my 16ga hulls too...

[Cowboy]

Why take the time to reload and save .28 to 32.cents that is about it let me know if you can save more than that with bags of shot that $20 bucks or better.I see a kinds of prices from the guys coming from Colorado they get raped for some prices.There is one giant down fall to shooting 28.ga shell price.It all depends on what you want to pay and if you will shop around.

I can reload 3/4 ounce 28ga loads at $3.89 per box. I can't find factory loads at Walmart for under $12 per box.

same here right at 4.00 bucks a box.

[brdhntr]

I haven't reloaded a shell since the 80's. The last I looked at shot prizes it was darn near $1.00 a pound. Still have 2 Mec 600 Jr's, 1 20, 1 12. Maybe I'll have to by one for 28ga.. Can you reload the 28ga.
Estate hull? I have a ton of those. I don't have any current reloading data all mine is from way back when. Howie Hill http://www.northwatersgsps.com

The estate is the same as federal plastic target, or chedite.

[Michael Jobe]

Why take the time to reload and save .28 to 32.cents that is about it let me know if you can save more than that with bags of shot that $20 bucks or better.

With shot at $40 a bag, loading 3/4 oz loads means you're spending 7.7 cents per shell in lead. Claybuster AAHS wads are $8 a bag of 500, or 1.6 cents per shell. 1 pound of Unique is around $18, so loading 13 grains per shell is 3.4 cents per shell. Win 209s are (in my area) around $28 per 1000, or 2.8 cents per shell. I've got plenty of AAHS hulls, so I'm not going to figure them into the cost. If you buy them, expect to pay 15 cents per hull, but you should easily get 10 reloads out of them, so they come out to less than 1 cent per shell. So, reloads cost 15.5 cents per shell, or $3.87 a box. Trying buying 28 ga. skeet loads for less than $13 a box. Even if I go to the more expensive PT28 wad or a powder like Longshot that uses a heavier powder charge, to load up hunting loads near 1300 fps, I'm still waaaaaaayy ahead of the game compared to the near $25 a box the theives at Gander are charging for 28 ga. game loads.

There's a HUGE savings reloading .410 and 28 ga. And Win, Rem, and Fed's excuse that they simply don't load as many of them as they do 12 or 20 ga and that's why they cost so much more doesn't float with me. In the 28 ga. they're using less shot, probably the same powder as at least one of their 20 ga. loads, and the same primer as all their other shells. The only additional cost in the hull and wad. And I don't buy that a different hull and wad can raise the price that much over a 12 ga, especially when I can buy Winchester wads, primers, shot, and HS-6 or Longshot powder, and basically duplicate the Win 28 ga. factory load for less than half the cost of factory ammo.

They charge more for 16 ga, 28 ga, and .410 because they can.

~Michael

[wchua24]

now a days everything had gone up what do you expect but the price that you post are far more higher than other shops.

[mtjim]

Bought AA 20ga. 9's at a Walmart in Newnan, GA this past week for $5.00 per box. All they had left was 2 boxes!

Check your local walmart - you never know what you might find.

[mtjim]

Found 13 more Boxes of 12 ga. today at my local Walmart in Mo.

3 Rem STS 8's
3 Win AA Light Recoil 8's
7 Win AA 9's

At $5.00 a box you can't beat the price these days.

[Razor]

I saw this thread and headed to Wally World. I bought a case of AA's for 5 bucks a piece. Great deal!

[Chief_dog]

Wow. That's $2.50 a box cheaper than you can get them at Walmart in this area.