.224 Sierra Price

[littlebang556]

The WARA has just listed new prices for 2009 and a massive shock it was/is...My jaw is still on the ground.

Sierra 308 = 42c and .224 = 46c ea.

A 16c or 53% increase for .224 can not be good for the sport.
We managed to get 110 new members in 2008, I wonder how many will continue in 2009 with such an increase.
About a 40% increase in price for Sierra 308 projectiles but only 10% increase in total cost of factory round...??? go figure...

The BJD stuff is still reasonably priced though...pity they are not tooled up for the smaller calibre.

For me this equates to about another $200/year that I will need to find just to get me on the range.

Don't get me wrong, I am by no means a tight arse when it comes to my sport but it will have some impact.

Are these the prices that other states will follow???

[johnk]

If you consider the $A to $US exchange rate, increases of this order of magnitude were inevitable on imports. I would be buying existing stock of my favourite imported products now or deciding to use domestic equivalents.

[littlebang556]

Existing stocks will be exhausted rapidly.

This costing roughly works out for an Aussie to US $ of $0.65 so if the $ was to slip to $0.50 should we expect to pay in the order of $0.60ea?....don't know about many others but at these prices I would have to seriously consider an alternative sport or shoot half as much.......not something I really wish to think about.

I personally may have to do some load development with the Hornady but wonder why the current economic crisis has had little effect on their price.

Surely one would normally expect that the massive down turn in scrap metal prices would act as a slight counter measure in normalising the market.

[timothi3197]

irrelevant

[AlanF]

I think the NRAA does a reasonable job of keeping the costs of the sport at affordable levels. If they start accepting cheaper and lower quality components then it will only widen the performance gap to the sharp end of the field.

On the bright side, most shooters are finding the current drop in fuel prices is offsetting any increased costs of ammunition components.

Alan

[mike H]

As a relative newcomer from Tasmania I will put my two cents in, please don't shoot me down too badly: I get a lot of enjoyment shooting my old .303 SMLE range rifle with reloads worth a grand total of 35 cents each at a club level and will hang up my Omark.308 Target rifle permanently if the price to reload goes any higher(Currently 55 cents each shot with sierra projectiles at 35 cents each), I will not be held to ransom by the NRAA and I believe that subject to a maximum weight you should be allowed to use whatever projectile you want(I only paid $28.50/100 for Sierra 150grain JHP hunting rounds for my deer rifle- 23rd December). I am not a diehard TR shooter and am just out to enjoy myself, there are other organisations(I am also a longtime member of the SSAA) who listen to what their members want and if the NRAA is serious about increasing their membership they should look at what is boosting other organisations numbers so dramatically. "F" class is a really good start and is the next logical evolutionary step on from TR, I promise I will try F standard one day(if the cost of approved projectiles doesn't keep rising) but can't see myself shooting F open due to the costs involved to be competitive.I can shoot SSAA any weekend with a scoped hunting rifle and enjoy myself as much for a lot less than the cost of NRAA ammo. Kind regards, Tim

Tim,
The NRAA is not holding anyone to ransom, also if you would like a less expensive option, why not try Field Rifle, it is an enjoyable match, similar to Service Rifle. Read up your SSR`S. You will probably have to do some spade work to get it going in your club.
Good luck.
Mike.

[Razer]

Getting old, I must also be getting more than a tad cynical. Have you ever noticed that when the Aussie dollar increases in value that nothing comes down in price? When Aussie dollar gets weaker every importer is awful quick to jack up prices regardless as to how much stock they bought at the "good" exchange rate!!!!!
The price of copper,because of lack of demand,has dropped to 40% of pre recession prices,some Aussie mines cannot produce it at the prices offered and I believe they have ceased production until things improve. I can only assume this also applies to other base metals such as lead. 155gr SMK's increased recently to 38 cents,another price rise would be hard to justify. Somehow I feel like they are having a lend of us!!!!.
This is a time to buy Aussie BJD's and maybe if the demand for these is increased the price will remain more in keeping with reality.If the demand for .223 is growing at the suggested rate "maybe" BJD could be approached to produce projectiles in this calibre also,BUT, someone will have to do the sums re:demand and then get [I assume] the NRAA to make an approach.
As I said,I am getting a tad cynical regards these price hikes,maybe we need more shooters to get in the same frame of mind?
Seasons greetings to all,may all your shots be centres.
Regards, Ray.
PS,seeing it was the US shoddy home mortgage loans that triggered this "recession", why do we still use the US dollar as the base for exchange rates,isn't it about time this system was dumped??

[johnk]

We've been protected by the NRAA contract on projectile prices. If you lurked on one or two US shooting sites like I do, you would realise that price & availability of components there have been rising over the last year or so and certain products, like Fedral primers are virtually unobtainable.

There have been several elements contributing to costs & availability:

The US has been fighting a couple of significant wars for the last several years, diverting production capacity there instead of the civilian market. China & India have ramped up their manufacturing capacity & have diverted quite a bit of raw product from established consumption to their use, thus causing the exponential increase in the cost of raw product up to the middle of last year. Since then, our dollar's purchasing power in the States has dropped at least 33% (from 90 cents to 70 cents in the dollar at the most generous - 98 to 65 at the worst).

In any case, any benefits from the reduced cost of raw product hasn't percolated through the manufacturing system yet & won't until higher cost stocks are exhausted. Meanwhile, what's in Australia now is likely made from high priced raw product & purchased with devalued Aussie dollars.

If like me, you shot match rifle with 200 & 210 grain SMKs, you would have found that the price rose 20% in the 2007/8 financial year after a few years of stable, unchanged prices & we're warned that it will rise at least another 20% for the next delivery - and this is based on good price purchasing of substantially more than 10,000 projectiles at a time. My local gunstore could offer 210 Amaxes at 57 cents in November 2008 - now they are 81 - that's 42% in six months since they were launched here.

You may have seen the Aussie Sierra distributor (who has been trying to break the Sierra/NRAA contract for some time) published a brocure a year or so ago offering you projectiles direct, you lucky shooter, at a price that was substantially more than you could buy from your state association. Do you really think that you have the clout to better NRAA prices, unless you find a co-operative gunstore & establish a buying group?

[timothi3197]

Irrelevent

[AlanF]

The prices have risen in TAS at last and I will hang up my target rifle when I run out of ammo (36 shots left) and once my membership runs out I will only shoot SSAA where I can use what I want (I am not a top shooter in TR anyway, just a hacker). Enjoy yourselves and try to remember that any sport should be enjoyable and affordable not just competitive at any cost, I think some of you have lost your way a bit. Nice knowing you all and many thanks to those that have helped.

Good luck - sounds like the SSAA will suit you better.

Alan

[littlebang556]

Has anyone looked into importing items such as projectiles, shells, primmers, powder and the like for distribution at reasonable prices?

Just a thought.

Regards

Rob Alman

[M12LRPV]

Has anyone looked into importing items such as projectiles, shells, primmers, powder and the like for distribution at reasonable prices?

Just a thought.

Regards

Rob Alman

Primers and powder are hazardous goods so forget that one straight up.

Projectiles and cases can be imported but you need (are supposed to have) a b709 certificate from your registry to say that you're permitted to do it. For some things like sierra, you can make significant savings. For others is won't be as big.

It's something that i'm looking at mainly because I bought stocks of projectiles through the NSWRA, worked up loads and sets of windage and elevation settings only to have the projectiles become unavailable as stock has run out.


Cost is a factor in todays world and the NRAA has done good things for us in this regard and is to be commended for that.

Unfortunately supply is becoming a bigger issue and may be a catalyst for a relaxing of the SSR's with regards to projectile choice, particularly for the .223's.

[littlebang556]

Yes, primers and powder are hazardous goods but others import them.

I think my main issue here is with the price of the 80gn SMK projectile...
Many people out there still think the little rat gun is good for new members and women because of the minimised recoil but the simple fact is many more shooters are beginning to get serious with this calibre also and at current prices something needs to be done to minimise the cost to the consumer.

I have no doubt that the controlling body within Australia have done us many favours but in my opinion this is NOT one of them.

I wonder if B&J will ever consider the smaller projectile for production...I for one would love to see such a thing as they seem to be right on the money with the larger calibre.

Motor racing have a control tyre for use by all (Holden & Ford) but do allow limited use of a sprint tyre (a tyre that gives better braking and accelleration)...
Rifle shooting is nowhere close to achieving anything near to this apart from the fact that we have a holden & ford situation being 7.62 & 5.56.
There is no control ammunition...7.62 have 2 factory rounds available verse none. Its almost, shoot 7.62 and we will look after you...we will keep dangling the carrot in front of the rat gunners whilst others are allowed to eat it.

So there you have it...my bitch session...
Dont get me wrong though...I love my 5.56, I love the Sierra (just not its elevated price, I love reloading and love the range and the company on it...even those shooting other calibres and disciplines.
I just think the sport needs a bit of a shake up....lets stop thinking so much about the minority shooters and get a grip of building a future for our sport.

Regards

Rob Alman