7.62 x 39mm Ammunition Shortage

I've never heard of a shortage of 7.62x39 ammo, it could be that you just aren't looking in the right places, or possibly its being bought in bulk by so many people?

There are quite a few commercial manufactureres of the 7.62x39, including:
Remington
Winchester
PMC
Wolf

Now I have heard of a shortage of FMJ ammo for the 5.45x39, which I own. The 5.45x39 is the Soviet "answer" to the .223/5.56x45, and fired from the AK-74 and its civilian counterparts (like the SAR-2).

I do have plenty of HP ammo in 5.45, but have had trouble finding FMJ...

Hey Orangetom, I hope you're not saying the accuracy of the Arisaka is comparible to that of the SMeLEy.

I would seriously doubt that even in the hands of a skilled rifleman such as I, the Arisaka would out-perform the Lee Enfield. I wouldn't know, never having fired a Japanese WWII rifle but the Lee Enfield has stood the test of time against the best of the rest and came out trumps.

7.62 x 39 Ammo Shortage

I haven't heard or seen any type of shortage for any type of ammo here in Kansas. Actually, the 7.62 x 39 for my SKS is more readily available than the .223 for my AR-15.

www.sportsmansguide.com

That's where I ordered my ammo, by the way. If I don't want to order online, I can drive 30 miles east (since I live in a small town) and go to any Pawn Shop, or Gun Club affiliate, and pick up whatever I need.

If nothing else, you can always go to your local Wal~Mart to get whatever you need as well, and they've got the lowest prices guaranteed, Always.

[edit on 11/22/2006 by Infoholic]

Originally posted by fritz
Hey Orangetom, I hope you're not saying the accuracy of the Arisaka is comparible to that of the SMeLEy.

I would seriously doubt that even in the hands of a skilled rifleman such as I, the Arisaka would out-perform the Lee Enfield. I wouldn't know, never having fired a Japanese WWII rifle but the Lee Enfield has stood the test of time against the best of the rest and came out trumps.

I have handled the Smeley several times through one owned by a friend. However ,I have not had the privelege of shooting one at the local range. I know one thing immediately when I pick up a Smeley...She is strictly buisness. Rugged and dependable but no frills and thrills..flashy looks. This is precisely what the doctor ordered in this rifle. My knowlege of history shows that this rifle has served the Empire long and faithfully through all of her upgrades.

What I was refering to in a previous post some time back was that since I am a reloader of intrest to me where the comparisons of the ballistic tables of the two cartridges. The 7.7mm Japanese and the .303 British are pretty close as cartridges go. As to the rifles I cannot attest not having actually fired the .303 Enfield.

Of my 7.7mm Arisaka I have surmised that my rifle must be of a early batch as later batches of these rifles were of very crude manufacture...some actually dangerous. Same with the ammunition. The Arisaka too is not a pretty rifle..but this is ok with me as long as she is reliable Reliability/dependability is paramount to me in any tool I purchase.

By the way... I was informed in one board that Enfield rifles of the 7.62X51mm caliber were available on the market. This calibration being what most here stateside call the .308 Winchester. I was never fond of the rimmed cartridge of the .303 Enfield but ballistically it is difficult to argue with its performance. The 7.62x51mm is a significant improvement to this rifle and she is built sufficiently rugged so as to take the increased pressures. As I recall this was done to make common ammunnition with NATO requirements.
Were I to acquire a Smeley..this 7.62x51mm calibration is the one I would want.
No disrespect intented to the .303 cartridge.

Also of intrest to me Fritz..was the articles coming out of Iraq to the effect that in several house to house searchs they found Enfield rifles of the longer barrelled types. They must go back to before WW1. I surmised that some of these found thier way into the War Museums.

Thanks,
Orangetom

I have both the SMLE (two, in fact) and the 7.7mm Arisaka. I personally like both, and have a special fondness for the .303 Brit., being the first mil-surp rifle I ever fired.

My complaint with the SMLE, however, is the peep sight - my accuracy is horrible with my SMLE's, but much, much better with my 7.7 Jap.

In this case, I don't think its the gun, but me.

"Last-Ditch" Arisakas should not be considered safe to fire as mentioned above.

reply to post by Desert Dawg


Ammo of all sorts is being bought up in large amounts and I had to
go to many stores to get a modest amount for my personal use.

I was buying .30-06 and .45 ACP.

Both were pretty low in the affordable brands/types.

Pricey specialty ammo in those calibers were available thou.

This is what is coming:

Ammunition Accountability Act

It has passed in only a few states, but they will be pushing for it
in most states nationwide.

They want a micro serial imprint on the casing and the bullet,
and it will make the cost of ammo go up a fair bit.

I wish them luck passing it in hunting country.

ammo shortage?????????? The sportsmansguide has been a great place to buy surplus ammo, but as of recent, most bulk is not available at this time....... at our local gun shows, the lines to buy surplus are long, and see customers buying by the hand truck load, and when they're out, they're out..... we'll ALL have to wait and see what is up with getting replenished.... but my thoughts, HOLD ON TO WHAT YOU HAVE!!!

reply to post by Desert Dawg
Here in Idaho there is most certainly no shortage of the Wolf ammo, both the hollow point and the slug. You can buy it buy the 1k round case for about 200.00(it has been a while since I checked the price). Also there are quite a few guys in town that reload the brass with a wide variety of bullets. I know I am not supposed to promote other sites,so I wont. But a good search of Idaho gun stores and pawnshops will certainly be helpful to anyone who is experiencing an ammo shortage.

Do not use steel case ammo in a rifle designed for copper case. This is especially true for rifles such as the ar-15 where clearance is already tight enough. Steel casings simply do not deform and will stick in the chamber. If your gunna spend $1000 + on a rifle why put cheap ammo through it? Makes no sense, besides you can get American eagle 5.56 20 rd box for $10.00, it's 55gr fmj and shoots great. Just mAke sure your weapon has 5.56 on the side and not .223

We Have 7.62x39 for days here in NJ. You can Get wolf military and JHP's , brown bear , fiocchi , golden tiger or some crap. I mostly use the wolf because it's cheap for training , I've got 2 Mags left of CorBon DPX for social work. Now what there IS a shortage of is 45 GAP!

Ammunition shortage which is now coming to an end and supplies are coming back.

-DOD/DOJ Made a HUGE order for Iraq only to throw it all away and re-outfit the Iraqis with US made service rifles (AR platform) at the same time Venezuela (Chavez)bought up MASSIVE amount of AK arms manufacturing machinery as well as bullet supplies from older Russian armories on the order of millions for the AK type rifle. This along with the panic buying spree all came together to cause the shortage.

But don't worry if you know where to look its about 250$ for 1K rounds of 7.62 + shipping (glad I'm in TX)

Can anyone remember it being 100 bucks per 1K (that was when I was 18 and bought my first AK I'm 21 now.) Also South African 7.62x51 was around 150 per 1K it is now over 600 per 1K....

You also had a lot of world powers with tons of old surplus ammo hit the market around the same time (end of cold war) well those surplus supplies dried up.

Right now however the rifle to get is the Mosin Nagant or anything in 7.62x54R which Right now the ammo is 100$ per 1K rounds and the guns are 75-150 bucks.

Good luck fellas Stack it high stack it deep.




[edit on 17-9-2009 by Slug64]

here's another good source. Pricier, but they almost always have stock.

Ammoman

on sale now actually, 259$ per 1000 rounds including shipping.

Try to buy the 1000 round lots, at this price it comes out to about $5.20 USD per 20 rounds. Save up and buy all at once rather than paying more for a box here and there. Also you don't have to worry as much about consistency.

reply to post by Desert Dawg


Nothing out of the usual, there has been an ammunition shortage for as long as I can remember.