Pellet prices

[BTair]

I've noticed the price of premium pellets keeps climbing higher. For example, JSB .22 500-count tins are now $18.99 (~$0.04/pellet). And as you go up in caliber, it gets worse (.25 is $0.05/pellet, .30 $0.12/pellet). 

For comparison, now that .22 long rifle has become plentiful again, the price has dropped considerably. 500-round bricks are around $20 ($0.04/round) and bulk ammo even less.

Just seems odd that a 40gr lead bullet + brass case + primer + powder is the same price as an 18gr lead diablo pellet. Maybe if these were match-grade pellets I could sort of see it, but given the thread below discussing the inconsistencies in JSB pellets, what are we paying for? 

Fortunately Crossman HPs can still be had for ~$0.01/pellet, and they work fine for plinking, so I save my better pellets for long range shooting or hunting.

[SteveP-52]

You might try calling Jeff at Trenier Outdoors, he tends to have the best pricing on JSB and packs very well.

https://www.trenieroutdoors.com/ammo/jsb/

[Bicycleman]

If you would like to get your breath taken away, go check the prices on AMAZON.  OUCH!!!!
JSB 15.89 gr [250 count] almost $19 US.

[Wolverineshooter]

Is it because air gun pellets hard to make, requiring higher spec?

I have noticed the same thing for a while. But I rarely go to range so little chance to shoot PB. I mostly shooting 177 and 22 at home basement. Fortunately they are still cheap. although the price has also gone up. 1-1.5 cents per shot still do-able.

[Wayne52]

You might try calling Jeff at Trenier Outdoors, he tends to have the best pricing on JSB and packs very well.

https://www.trenieroutdoors.com/ammo/jsb/

Steve I got some .177 Redesigned Monster Diablo's from Trenier about 10 minutes ago along with medium height UTG 11mm dovetail scope mounts.  You can't beat their deals IMO.

[SteveP-52]

Another place to consider having a look is Airguns of Arizona. Shipping is pricier but pellet prices are at least $4 a tin cheaper than PA.

[Bicycleman]

Okay, folks, don't forget about the "Buy 3 and the 4th is FREE" deal at Pyramyd Air. 

[Bryan Heimann]

I think that scale of production makes a big difference.  CCI for example is cranking out so much ammo so fast, it is unreal.

Most bulk pack ammo that is less than a nickel a round is worth less than a nickel a round. Meaning, won't always go bang, and the ones that don't might need the rim struck another time or two in different spots before it will actually fire.

Finally, accuracy.  The cheapest bulk pack ammo is not going to be near as accurate even in a match .22 as the "nickel" pellets might be.  I am gonna tell you right now, at least at 10 meters, I can shoot my RWS 34 with shelf pellets better than I can shoot my daughter's Crickett with good ammo.  And the crickett shoots pretty good.

[SteveP-52]

Okay, folks, don't forget about the "Buy 3 and the 4th is FREE" deal at Pyramyd Air.

I didn't but I also made a recent purchase of .20 caliber pellets from AoA after seeing the price difference between them and PA. I put 5 tins of JSB and 5 of the H&N FTT's in carts at both places and even with adding in both the Buy 3 get 1 free and the GTA 10% discount code, AoA even with shipping for those same 10 tins of pellets was $36 cheaper than PA.

The FTT's at PA are $19.99 each. At AoA, they're $11.50 each...I saved $8.49 a tin.

The JSB's at PA are $18.99 each. At AoA they're $14.37 each and they had and still have a Buy 4 get the 5th free deal going....I saved $4.62 a tin.

[Springrrrr]

If you would like to get your breath taken away, go check the prices on AMAZON.  OUCH!!!!
JSB 15.89 gr [250 count] almost $19 US.

And if you are foolish enough to buy them, the packaging is a double ouch.

I bought H&N Barracudas from them at a good price and the tin was dented in 3 places due to the extra large box with no padding.  Calls to customer service were a joke.

[Bryan Heimann]

Definitely gotta be careful where you order from.  Pyramyd are the only people I trust to ship pellets.  Then again, I haven't had pellets shipped in agood long time.

[Wayne52]

I've never gotten any bad pellets from Trenier !!!

[justinp61]

Trenier, Air Gun Depot and PA all pack their pellets very well, I've never had any damaged tins from any of the three. The last two pellets orders I've placed were with Trenier, their prices have been the best.

Black Friday is the day to buy pellets, I plan on loading up.

[Joe Brancato]

FYI, we match any advertised price, and we are known for packing our pellets securely.  Just tell Adam if you see it cheaper.
AirTanksForSale (714) 907-0067

[SteveP-52]

I've never gotten bad pellets from Airguns of Arizona. They don't pack like PA does, but my orders have come very well packaged, never any damage and to save that kind of cash, you bet I'm gonna order from them. Their shipping cost might be higher but the savings per tin of pellets more than covers that depending what you're ordering.

Nothing whatsoever against PA and I've ordered more than plenty of pellets from them, but when their price for a tin of H&N FTT .20's is $19.99 vs that same tin of pellets at AoA only costing $11.50, something isn't right. There's no way AoA is selling them $8.49 cheaper and losing money, NO company does that. Same with those JSB's being $4.62 cheaper and because I checked, Trenier sells those same JSB's even cheaper at $13.52 a tin, so $5.47 cheaper. At least for those, that's a pretty crazy profit markup.

I'm like everyone else, I like saving money. If PA has them cheaper, that's where I'll get them. If someplace else does and I know they pack well, it's where I'll be buying what I need.

[dan_house]

Economies of scale

Millions more rimfire shooters than airgunners......

[anti-squirrel]

Economies of scale

Millions more rimfire shooters than airgunners......

This, always.

I still have a hard time finding .22LR ammo anywhere by my home at what I construe as "reasonable".  I know a dozen people with over 200K rounds of 22LR, and they rarely shoot... just hoarding and stock-piling.  My Savage MkII hasn't budged in a couple years, but my 392 is used daily- they cost the same, ammo is close to the same in cost, but one is illegal to shoot inside city limits.

[Bryan Heimann]

Economies of scale

Millions more rimfire shooters than airgunners......

This, always.

I still have a hard time finding .22LR ammo anywhere by my home at what I construe as "reasonable".  I know a dozen people with over 200K rounds of 22LR, and they rarely shoot... just hoarding and stock-piling.  My Savage MkII hasn't budged in a couple years, but my 392 is used daily- they cost the same, ammo is close to the same in cost, but one is illegal to shoot inside city limits.

At least pellets on the shelf are still far cheaper than any .22 LR.  About $7 for 500 Crosman HP's.  Cheapest bulk .22 LR I have seen nearby is still $30 and less than 500 rounds.  I stick to CCI only, and use standard velocity and minimags almost exclusively.  A GTA member nearby recently turned me on to the CCI Quiet though. Anyway, at least $3+ for a box of 50.  We don't shoot powder burners very often, so it doesn't kill me to pay for good ammo that goes bang every single time.  The new polymer coated CCI bulk packs are tempting, with the red and green bullets.

Compared to crosman hollowpoints that are superbly accurate in my RWS 34, and the Crosman Pointed pellets that are lights out accurate in my cheap Crosman 2100, seriously.  Pellets are still pretty doggone cheap.  Until you start getting into .25 cal and above, most of the top premium pellets are still cheaper than shooting the cheapest and dirtiest .22 LR that can be found locally on the shelf.

Just my own experience, "your mileage may vary", haha.

[Oldgringo]

I've never gotten any bad pellets from Trenier !!!

I'll second Trenier.  In my experience, Trenier trumps PA on both price and delivery.

[Brazos]

The last 6 months or so I have got the impression prices have been going down.  I have been buying pellets just for the sake of buying more pellets as there have been some great deals (instead of buying because I am out and need them).  For example I have ordered from Field Supply 3x over the past few months because they had great deals on H&N pellets and some others I wanted to try.  I just ordered AA 10.34gr & 8.44gr pellets from Airgun Depot and after shipping it came out to $6.67/tin,  I have ordered Crosman Premier Heavies (brown box) from Walmart for $17.95/box and from Amazon for $17.95/box (both no tax or shipping cost) in the past couple months.  I shoot 177, maybe that makes a difference.  My only secret is following the Brgain Gate on this website and when someone posts a deal I swoop in.  The good deals have been pretty steady to the point I am afraid my wife is going to put a stop to me.