Unfortunately, more than 5 years past the point at which ammo prices really started to balloon, it doesn’t look like we’re going back to the old status quo anytime soon. High ammo prices are the new normal.
Fortunately, there are many things you can do to save on ammo - specifically, ammo, not just save money shooting, which we’ve written about before - which we will cover here.
Here are 7 of the best tips to save money on ammo, from shopping police trade-in specials to shooting steel-cased loads.
Buy Bulk Ammo
Probably the best way to save on ammo, especially if you are particular about what you shoot, is to buy in bulk.
The higher the round count of your bulk ammo purchase, the lower the per-round cost will be. It’s just simple math.
Just make sure that when you do buy ammo in bulk you store it wisely. Keep it somewhere cool and dry, protected from temperature swings, and don’t handle the loose rounds if you can help it until you are ready to shoot.
Buy Military Surplus or Police Trade-in Deals
Military surplus and police trade-in specials are two other ways to save on ammo, because the ammo you will find in these collections was loaded for official purposes and needed to be offloaded.
Often you can get really good deals on milsurp ammo and police trade-in specials, but you also need to be decisive about it. Deals are often fleeting, and when the stock is gone, it’s sometimes gone for good.
Buy Aluminum or Steel-Cased Ammo
Brass-cased ammo is great. It’s consistent, flexible and often can be reloaded several times. But it’s more expensive than steel and aluminum-cased ammo, so it’s getting earmarked here.
If you really need to cut costs on high volume shooting and aren’t a reloader, one of the easiest ways to do so is to adopt steel-cased ammo, like TulAmmo, or aluminum-cased ammo, like CCI Blazer Aluminum, into your fold.
These are substantially cheaper and remember - the old thinking that they will ruin your gun or damage your chamber is a myth. People have been shooting steel and aluminum-cased ammo without incident.
Buy Round Nose Instead of Wadcutters
Wadcutters are excellent for scoring since they punch clean, round holes in paper targets. However, they are more expensive than round nose bullets, and if you are just practicing or drilling and not really hung up on accurate scoring, you can probably save a buck or two on round nose ammo rather than wadcutters.
Besides, most round nose bullets feed more smoothly than wadcutters, anyway.
Buy FMJ Instead of TMJ
Both FMJ and TMJ offer very similar benefits. They protect your bore from excessive lead fouling accumulation. They help protect you against vaporized lead exposure. They are cleaner, more stable, and more accurate than lead-nosed bullets that lack a jacket.
But there is a slight difference between them. FMJ is open at the base and TMJ is fully closed. This means TMJ protects better against lead fouling, but it’s a little more expensive. Otherwise, there’s basically no difference. If you really need to cut costs, go with FMJ instead of TMJ.
Don’t Waste Hollow and Ballistic Points at the Range
There is one and only one reason that you should be using hollow points or ballistic tip ammo at the range, and it is to pattern your gun or sight it in. You should shoot the rounds at the range that you intend to shoot in the field so you know how they will feed in your gun, but beyond that, you are wasting ammo.
Make sure your gun will feed, get sighted in, and save the rest for the field.
Shoot Lighter Bullets and Skip +P Rounds
One cheap way to cut the cost of ammo is just to shoot rounds that are loaded with slightly lighter bullets. It saves on materials costs which can then be passed onto you.
As for +P rounds, just like other defensive rounds, the only reason to shoot them at the range is to pattern or sight in your gun. Once you’re done with that, switch back to FMJ for training.
Bonus: Learn to Reload
Lastly, if you really want to cut ammo costs, get a good handloading manual, a press, and start buying powder, primer and bullets in bulk. Load your own, especially from pre-fired brass that you already bought, and you might be able to cut costs a little bit more.
Shop Police Trade-in Specials and Hot Deals
While you’re here check out our bulk ammo deals as well as our police trade-in specials to see what we offer. Bookmark the page and check back frequently. You never know what you might find and when what’s good is gone, it’s gone!