Buying Ammo At Wholesale Prices?

[Jay585]

Is it possible for a consumer to buy a large enough quantity of ammo to qualify for wholesale pricing? If so, from where? What quantity of cartridges or dollars?

For those who have done this, did you have any regrets? How did you get it off the truck, did you need a forklift?

I alone can afford $2.5k of ammo, and I'd ask around locally if anyone wants to go in on the order. I'm looking for 9mm, ideally Federal 124 gr, but so long as it is quality, brass cased 124gr FMJ ammo, I'm not particular on brand.

And no - I don't reload (space and time constraints) but I would save as much brass as I can for the day when I DO start reloading. Down the road I would make additional purchases (as funds allow) of 223/5.56 and 308/7.62 so whatever business I go to, I would be a repeat customer (but perhaps on a yearly basis rather than monthly).

[andre3k]

Catch a good sale online and youre buying at wholesale prices. Catch a great sale online and you're likely purchasing at less than wholesale. You wont get much of a price break on ammo from a distributor until you start doing lots of business with them which includes writing some very large checks. I've had an 01/06 FFL for a long time and still purchase my ammo retail, when it's on sale.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[Clay]

I routinely buy 9mm from Target Sports, and sometimes SGAmmo, at lower prices than a friend who owns a local range and buys at wholesale from large distributors.

[Lester Polfus]

I've looked into it and gotten similar results as everybody who posted before me.

Also, I reload, but at .20 a round, I just buy 9mm rather than fool around with reloading, but save my brass anyway, because you never know. I have buckets and buckets.

[RJ]

Looks like Freedom Munitions sells in quantities of 25,000:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170726/6fb99b1078b9de3f964f4fbe4292f464.jpg

[CCT125US]

That's still $9.21 / 50 for bottom tier fodder.

[HCM]

Is it possible for a consumer to buy a large enough quantity of ammo to qualify for wholesale pricing? If so, from where? What quantity of cartridges or dollars?

For those who have done this, did you have any regrets? How did you get it off the truck, did you need a forklift?

I alone can afford $2.5k of ammo, and I'd ask around locally if anyone wants to go in on the order. I'm looking for 9mm, ideally Federal 124 gr, but so long as it is quality, brass cased 124gr FMJ ammo, I'm not particular on brand.

And no - I don't reload (space and time constraints) but I would save as much brass as I can for the day when I DO start reloading. Down the road I would make additional purchases (as funds allow) of 223/5.56 and 308/7.62 so whatever business I go to, I would be a repeat customer (but perhaps on a yearly basis rather than monthly).


I recall ToddG mentioning buying ammo for his endurance tests in bulk, directly from the manufacturer. Bulk as in a pallet of ammo. I seem to recall it being $8k or $10 worth of ammo inorder to make the minimum order.

[RJ]

That's still $9.21 / 50 for bottom tier fodder.

Yeah, I wouldn't buy it either, but OP did ask where you could buy a palette. I admit, I've never looked to see whether say sgammo dot com offered bulk. I'll go look.

I also won't buy Federal wms199 115 FMJ from WalMart at 9.99 a box, either. I had 4 FTFs in my recent 2 day class with that stuff (out of about 6xx rounds).

[Jay585]

Looks like Freedom Munitions sells in quantities of 25,000:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170726/6fb99b1078b9de3f964f4fbe4292f464.jpg

Ah I forgot to say I was looking for factory new.

[ranger]

My shooting buddies are looking at buying a pallet of 9mm (I do not have total number of rounds with me) from a commercial reloaded. With shipping I think it works out to $155 per 1000 for 115FMJ reloaded into assorted brass cases. So, I buy from SGA and Target Sports (or reload).

[HCM]

Ammo is normally ordered a year in advance at the wholesale level. Right now we are seeing online sellers selling at or in some cases below cost because they "over ordered" in anticipation of a hildabeast victory and corresponding panic.

You can find premium brass case 9mm for about $180 per 1,000 right now. If you are ok with Blazer aluminum PSA has Blazer aluminum 9mm 115 grain for $7.99 / 50 with free shipping on 20 or more boxes. That is $159 / 1,000 shipped.

Federal also has a 25% rebate on .223 and AE pistol ammo up to $4,000. If I were you I would take my $2,500, buy cheap and stack deep now because the market will eventually correct itself.

There

[RJ]

Ah I forgot to say I was looking for factory new.

Uh, it was.

https://www.freedommunitions.com/9mm-luger-124-gr-rn-new.html

$4,845 for 25,000, 124 gr.

Just sayin'. :cool:

[Jay585]

Ammo is normally ordered a year in advance at the wholesale level. Right now we are seeing online sellers selling at or in some cases below cost because they "over ordered" in anticipation of a hildabeast victory and corresponding panic.

You can find premium brass case 9mm for about $180 per 1,000 right now. If you are ok with Blazer aluminum PSA has Blazer aluminum 9mm 115 grain for $7.99 / 50 with free shipping on 20 or more boxes. That is $159 / 1,000 shipped.

Federal also has a 25% rebate on .223 and AE pistol ammo up to $4,000. If I were you I would take my $2,500, buy cheap and stack deep now because the market will eventually correct itself.

There

Wait, I thought the limit was $50 per household? Where are you seeing the "up to $4k" deal?


Uh, it was.

https://www.freedommunitions.com/9mm-luger-124-gr-rn-new.html

$4,845 for 25,000, 124 gr.

Just sayin'. :cool:

Right.

I forget that they load new rounds too, I always associate them with reloads. I have heard enough negative things about them that I haven't tried them. Not sure if that's the right call, but...

[BN]

Uh, it was.

https://www.freedommunitions.com/9mm-luger-124-gr-rn-new.html

$4,845 for 25,000, 124 gr.

Just sayin'. :cool:

Those are plated bullets. :( When they are good they are just OK. When they are bad they are horrid.

[Jay585]

Yes, but not to be a party pooper (or a douche bag), he also said he had $2.5k to spend. $2.5k is no where close to a pallet. In 2010 (via Todd's connections) I bought 52,000 rounds of 9mm directly from ATK for a little over $8k delivered and that wasn't anywhere close to a pallet either.

$2.5k and/or ~20k rounds sounds like a lot, and to your average shooter it is, but that's not really a "bulk order" and not enough to get a deal from a manufacturer or distributor. Add a zero to those numbers and things might change, but even then you're still looking at the better part of a year to take delivery.

ETA: here's a shitty image from Google of my 52k:
18444


Good to know. Surprised at the amount of dollars and time needed to actually get a pallet. How many cases consist of a pallet anyway?

So sounds like I'm just better off getting ammo from Target Sports.

[HCM]

Wait, I thought the limit was $50 per household? Where are you seeing the "up to $4k" deal?



Right.

I forget that they load new rounds too, I always associate them with reloads. I have heard enough negative things about them that I haven't tried them. Not sure if that's the right call, but...

Sorry up to 4,000 rounds of .223 up to $200

$50 per household limit is is only on the AE handgun ammo.

[Malamute]

Good to know. Surprised at the amount of dollars and time needed to actually get a pallet. How many cases consist of a pallet anyway?

So sounds like I'm just better off getting ammo from Target Sports.

If you mentioned what Target Sports charges, I miised it, but buying multiple case quanitites from SGAmmo or some other suppliers may get you shipping discounts. Just buying cases, a few or many from SG or similar suppliers may still save you money.

About 10 years ago, one place I used to buy ammo had a deal, if you bought over 200 pounds of ammo, shipping was free, but I think the increased cost of shipping today probably nixed that type of deal. Still, sort of fun ordering 10k or more rounds at a time of each type. :)

[HCM]

Good to know. Surprised at the amount of dollars and time needed to actually get a pallet. How many cases consist of a pallet anyway?

So sounds like I'm just better off getting ammo from Target Sports.

If you order $2,500 in ammo from target sports or SG I would call them regarding actual shipping costs. On 20k rounds it may be cheaper to ship a small pallet via freight rather than UPS.

When ordering ammo for work, anything more than 5k or so always came via truck / freight line.

[Malamute]

I bought 52,000 rounds of 9mm

18444



You are my internet hero for today. :)

[Jay585]

Target Sports has free shipping if you order in cases. Out of curiosity I added 10 of the 1k cases (Fed AE 124gr) and estimated shipping. Subtotal with estimate says shipping is free.

[JohnO]

Uh, it was.

https://www.freedommunitions.com/9mm-luger-124-gr-rn-new.html

$4,845 for 25,000, 124 gr.

Just sayin'. :cool:



Those are plated bullets. :( When they are good they are just OK. When they are bad they are horrid.

I can't imagine having 25,000 rounds of something that does not work.

Here is a picture of a friend's CZ P10C jammed solidly with Freedom Munitions 9mm. The only way we could clear the malfunction was to remove the magazine base plate, empty the tube, extract the tube once the pressure was relieved then beat the round free with a squib rod. Then the same ammo would not run in a G17.

18447

[Bobcat]

I can't imagine having 25,000 rounds of something that does not work.

Here is a picture of a friend's CZ P10C jammed solidly with Freedom Munitions 9mm. The only way we could clear the malfunction was to remove the magazine base plate, empty the tube, extract the tube once the pressure was relieved then beat the round free with a squib rod. Then the same ammo would not run in a G17.

18447

Repeat, 25,000 times :eek:

[MSparks909]

New manufactured Freedom has been GTG in my experience (5K rounds this year so far; just ordered 3K more this week). Their reman stuff in the other hand...I wouldn't. Ive had worse luck with their reman stuff. Extremely short OALs, brass that had visible stretch marks, I even had a .380 case in one of my boxes of 9mm reman stuff. No thanks.

[olstyn]

Ive had worse luck with their reman stuff. Extremely short OALs, brass that had visible stretch marks, I even had a .380 case in one of my boxes of 9mm reman stuff. No thanks.

Between those and other examples of extremely poor QC and the screwy stepped cases that I'm unwilling to reload, I almost wish they just weren't in business at all.

[BN]

I can't imagine having 25,000 rounds of something that does not work.

I reload. I once bought a large quantity of West Coast 9mm plated bullets. I don't remember exactly, but it was probably 10,000. I had successfully shot several thousand and reordered this batch. They would keyhole. Just a few out of each hundred. :( Once, at a match, I shot at a target and hit a non threat 3 feet away. :( It took forever to shoot up all those bullets in practice. I switched to FMJ for matches and then to coated when they came out. No more plated bullets for me.

West Coast Bullets went out of business about that time. The company was sold and renamed. :rolleyes: Guess what??

[JBP55]

Between those and other examples of extremely poor QC and the screwy stepped cases that I'm unwilling to reload, I almost wish they just weren't in business at all.

This!

[1986s4]

I reload. I once bought a large quantity of West Coast 9mm plated bullets. I don't remember exactly, but it was probably 10,000. I had successfully shot several thousand and reordered this batch. They would keyhole. Just a few out of each hundred. :( Once, at a match, I shot at a target and hit a non threat 3 feet away. :( It took forever to shoot up all those bullets in practice. I switched to FMJ for matches and then to coated when they came out. No more plated bullets for me.

West Coast Bullets went out of business about that time. The company was sold and renamed. :rolleyes: Guess what??

Uuuhh are the initials F.M. ?

My experience with Freedom is mixed. Their American steel line is rubbish as far as I am concerned. On the plus side they bought back the rest of the order after I called. I bought some new .38 super auto from them that works great, it must be near a 165 power factor.

[BN]

Uuuhh are the initials F.M. ?

My experience with Freedom is mixed. Their American steel line is rubbish as far as I am concerned. On the plus side they bought back the rest of the order after I called. I bought some new .38 super auto from them that works great, it must be near a 165 power factor.

Actually, the former West Coast is now X-Treme. I don't know anything about Freedom except the ad said they used X-Treme bullets.

[Mitch]

Target Sports has free shipping if you order in cases. Out of curiosity I added 10 of the 1k cases (Fed AE 124gr) and estimated shipping. Subtotal with estimate says shipping is free.

They do, but they price the shipping into the case. When I buy more than one case at a time SG Ammo has been cheaper in my experience.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Super77]

It took forever to shoot up all those bullets in practice. I switched to FMJ for matches and then to coated when they came out. No more plated bullets for me.

I sort of thought plated bullets were an upgrade from coated. Have you found the opposite to be true? What brand of coated bullets have you used?

To the OP $2500 would get you a nice reloading setup and tons of components. Factoring in the $2500 you would have spent on factory amoo you would hit your break even point really quickly.

[BN]

I sort of thought plated bullets were an upgrade from coated. Have you found the opposite to be true? What brand of coated bullets have you used?

To the OP $2500 would get you a nice reloading setup and tons of components. Factoring in the $2500 you would have spent on factory amoo you would hit your break even point really quickly.

In my experience, plated bullets are much more susceptible to having the plating be cut by the crimp. I shoot mostly range pick up brass with varied case length. A too heavy crimp on a longer case cuts the plating and results in poor accuracy.

I simply don't use plated bullets unless there is no alternative. I've been shooting Bayou Bullets and had great success. I've probably shot 20,000 with good accuracy. Another plus to coated bullets is you need less powder to get the same velocity over both plated and jacketed.

[ranger]

Another vote of confidence for Bayou. I shoot their coated 9mm in my pistols.