I do a LOT of shooting and lately I've been watching the cost of shooting go up month after month. I still carry my G23(3) and love it. Also own a G19(4) and like it as well. They are set up rather similarly and obviously my holsters and lights are interchangeable. Overall, I just shoot the G23 a bit better......chalk it up to time spent.
BUT.....damn it, the cost of .40 has really gone up over the last 8 months or so. Today, I went to restock my ammo. Boxes of 200 9mm were $34.95 , not bad at all, but the .40 was $54.99 per 200. That's just wrong. (0.17 per vs. 0.27 per)
Interestingly, the cost of my .223 is remaining per box of 20 as it has been for years. Go figure !
I know, I know, "the .40 is dead" but why all of a sudden is the cost of ammo killing it further?
At least for a while, I will still carry the 23 and have fun with the 19.
Best of luck in your ammo quest. I personally don't have the need for .40 S&W, but don't want to open the 9 vs 40 vs .45 debate.
But if you can afford to make larger buys (1,000 a time) via on-line sources (sgammo, target sports, etc) you can find case lots of .40 FMJ, often with "free" shipping down to the .20-.22 per round cost. Assuming you can receive it via shipping in your locale. Other sources (bone frog and I'm sure others) also have SD/Duty loads at what is usually better than LGS prices.
Honestly most recently I have seen prices coming down to a degree. I don't pay attention to 40, but it is easy to find sub $14/ box 45 ( although mostly I shoot my own reloads in that caliber) and sub 10 for 9's. My local sportsman warehouse is currently having a sale with 15% off all pistol ammo and 20% off rimfire. In the span of about 18 months rimfire went from scalper priced scarcity to on sale. Yesterday picked up 4 boxes of 9, 2 of 45 and 600 rounds of 22 and my bill was $114. Not bad at all. If you shoot a lot the long term logical answer is to start reloading
Shipping is a bit steep with SG. Academy ships free most of the time and their about the same on cost. I usually get 200 rounds 115gr 9mm Winchesters for $45 shipped.
My shooting has increased quit a bit this year and I need to look at a reload rig. Better start keepin my brass. Can anyone suggest a complete kit for 9mm that would get the job done?
Buying in bulk is the way to go if you don't reload. I've been getting 9mm as little as $0.16 a round and .40 as low as $0.21. You would be looking at $200 a case give or take
I do a LOT of shooting and lately I've been watching the cost of shooting go up month after month. I still carry my G23(3) and love it. Also own a G19(4) and like it as well. They are set up rather similarly and obviously my holsters and lights are interchangeable. Overall, I just shoot the G23 a bit better......chalk it up to time spent.
BUT.....damn it, the cost of .40 has really gone up over the last 8 months or so. Today, I went to restock my ammo. Boxes of 200 9mm were $34.95 , not bad at all, but the .40 was $54.99 per 200. That's just wrong. (0.17 per vs. 0.27 per)
Interestingly, the cost of my .223 is remaining per box of 20 as it has been for years. Go figure !
I know, I know, "the .40 is dead" but why all of a sudden is the cost of ammo killing it further?
At least for a while, I will still carry the 23 and have fun with the 19.
Too bad you didnt have a Gander Mountain near you. when they were going out of business they had all ammo discounted. i think at the end like the last week it was 70% off the only thing left and there was a ton of it was S&W .40 , 10mm practice, and .32 that was it i dont think it ever all sold.
As others have said, reloading is really your best route. I shoot 45 ACP, 10mm and 44 magnum and I reload for all of them. Every once in a blue moon if I happen upon a good deal on factory 45 ACP ammo, I'll pick up a case of that. Other than that, mine's all home rolled.
I bought a mountain of Perfecta from Walmart a couple of years ago. It was half-price compared to anything else, even WWB and have been shooting it since. The delta between .40 and 9mm is exactly 0.10 per round (0.17 vs. 0.27) in the Memphis area. Given I have a G19 and G23, I'll just shoot the G19 for practice, maybe even totally make the switch after a while.
Outfit my son works for is looking for new pistols in 9mm. He said in three years the cost savings switching from 40 is well over a million dollars. He managed to get on the selection committee.
Does outfit = law enforcement? Well then; I am retired but when I was a Lawman I wanted the best ammo. Only geeky admin type wants to save money. As a Lawman you may only have a chance to put 'a' shot on a bad guy and you want the best possible hollow point to do that. Saving money was the excuse for LRN instead of JHP, 38 Special instead of 357 Magnum, revolvers instead of autoloaders.
A real Lawman will want his brothers and sisters in blue to have the best because they are 'sheepdogs'. But not every cop is a Lawman and that is JMHO. Lot of cops are just civil servants.
Gunbot and ammoseek are your friends. It's usually hard to beat Targetsports and SGAmmo for name brand bulk. For off brand, freedom munitions and LAX have good deals too.
In wal mart yesterday and they have new 200 round packs of 9/40/45 the aluminum case federal. Prices come to under 26 cents around for 40. The 9 is under 17. When you can buy 9mm for under 9 bucks a box can’t see how it could get much better. For the younger crowd keep in mind in the 1970’s there was no bargain blasting line ammo from the major companies. And there was very little ammo available here beyond the big three of Winchester Remington and federal. Back in the mid 70’s the typical cost of a box of 9mm ball was about 4-5 dollars. A doubling of price in 35-40 years is pretty good. Back then no one I knew who was an avid shooter shot much except reloads as costs of factory ammo were simply too high to afford much. Today it is not unusual for avid shooters of the mainstream calibers to not reload as it is affordable enough based on ammo price and current wages to simply buy factory.
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