M118 7.62

[Matt K.]

What is a reeeaaallly, reeeaaally good price for m118 ammo? I have been offered 4 cases and the cheapskate in me needs a unbeatable deal.

Thanks.

R/Matt

[mhb]

cheap is good, if doable. I was once offered several cases of M118 at 10 cents per round - and passed.
Of course, this was in 1984, and the Army was issuing it to me for free at the time...
Currently, the stuff seems to be going for around a buck per round, or a bit more: personally, I don't think it's worth that much, and I can load better ammo for less than that.

Sigh.

mhb - Mike

[raymeketa]

There are 3 different M118 cartridges. Match M118, Special Ball M118, and LR M118. Within those three different types there are years of manufacture where quality control was great and years when it was shabby at best.

I assume if you are considering buying such a large quantity that you intend to shoot it? Competition or plinking? Some lots are very collectable, some are very common.

So, it's not an easy question to answer.

[Matt K.]

It isn't super old. Brown box LC M118 Special Ball, but I don't have the dates.

[raymeketa]

M118 Special Ball always came in a brown box so that doesn't mean anything. It was manufactured by Lake City from 1983 to 1994. It is not Match ammunition. It was intended to be a tactical round with a 173 grain FMJ bullet making it legal for sniper use. Primers are crimped. It was first loaded with IMR powder and, after 1987, with Spherical.

It was hated or well liked. Take your pick. Of the three different M118 cartridges it is the one sought after the least and, therefore, the cheapest. In a large quantity such as you are interested in, $10 a carton would probably be a good price.

Ray

[Matt K.]

Well, I haven't quite gotten it down to $10 a box. My concern having done some more research since my initial post is the quality and consistency varies greatly from lot to lot. Some lots shoot great and others can't hold a group. I may gamble on one case and see how it goes. I doubt I can talk him down to $10 a box/$.50 a round, but given the price of 7.62 there should be a number that makes me happy enough.

[rickgman]

Matt and Ray, Are you guys kidding? M80 is going for over $0.70 per round right now in the marketplace. Rick

[Shooter5]

Matt and Ray, Are you guys kidding? M80 is going for over $0.70 per round right now in the marketplace. Rick
Dude, what he said…just buy it and fire it. Have fun.

[Matt K.]

Did I mention the cheapskate part? Just before the unfortunate Sandyhook school shooting I was in the ammo buying mood and stocked up on M80 even though it was outrageously priced at $0.40 per round. I consoled myself with the thought that at least the brass was worth $0.10 each.

[raymeketa]

80 cents a round for M80 is too high. Unless you simply must have it today. Patience always pays off. As tempted as I am, I never pay more $20 for a carton for Match ammunition and half of that for surplus Ball. As an example, I recently bought, on GB, 2 full bandos and one full carton for $30. You do the math.

Ray

[rickgman]

Ray, I hate to say this but what we are seeing now is probably going to go on for a very long time - maybe forever. What buyers are willing to pay has been etablished and manufacturers and retailers have learned it well. The days of inexpensive ammo now only exists in our memory. Even the CMP is charging something like $14.40 per carton of Federal LC XM80C ammo. My math says that is $0.72 per rd without shipping or sales tax. I've seen cartons of the Winchester white box 7.62 NATO ammo for $21.95 at a local dealer. I find that price to be outrageous but obviously someone is willing to buy at that price or the principles of micro-economics would have come into play and the prcie would been reduced. If you can find 7.62 NATO ammo for better than $0.72 per rd, I would advise buying it immediately. Rick