I’m relatively inexperienced with firearms, but have noticed that the price off ammo has fluctuated greatly over the last 1.5 or so years. For example, where I am, a 50 count box of 9mm has nearly halved in price from ~$20 to ~$12.
Is this due to COVID or is this sort of thing typical of the industry? Thanks in advance.
Kinda both. Commercial ammunition production is a capital intensive industry. This results in a market that is slow to respond to changes in demand due to the large costs to increase/decrease capacity. COVID/Summer Protests brought a lot of new gun owners and old gun owners looking for ammo, but this kind of thing has happened before. If they’re old enough, people will remember the Obama and AWB/Clinton years brought about similar price increases. Major ammo producers are reluctant to invests in capacity unless they deem the bump in demand to be more or less permanent.
The solution to this is to buy infrequently, and in quantity to get the best price per round. E.G. the Costco method or ‘buy cheap and stack deep.’ Consider buying a case of 500 rounds instead of 50. You should consider using an internet based reseller if your state allows. https://ammoseek.com/ is a good resource to find the best prices.