Revolver ammo prices...

[Martinjmpr]

I've always been a revolver guy. Love my S&W revolvers and even have a couple of Rugers.

But man, the price that .38 Spl ammo is going for is nuts! It's literally 3x as much as 9mm.

I get that 9mm is much more popular and so you get economies of scale but has anyone found a good place to get less-crazy priced .38 range ammo?

(before you all say it - reloading isn't an option. BTDT. Not interested in getting back into it because I just don't have the time.)

I may have to switch my pistol shooting to all semi-autos just to be able to afford ammo.

Makes me wish I bought one of those S&W K frame 9mm revolvers back in the 80s when they first came out! Now they sell for nosebleed prices if you can even find one.

[gnihcraes]

Have a friend to reload for you?

[ray1970]

Maybe you need a more affordable hobby?

Or bite the bullet (no pun intended) and buy a 9mm revolver.

Or possibly start enjoying some rimfire therapy?

[Scanker19]

You can find aluminum cases 38 for about $19 a box sometimes, online. Or a dual cylinder revolver so you can shoot 9mm. Also just search around for good deals. It sucks, I shoot silhouette and paying $30 a box for a match is nonsense.


Edit: Cabelas has Herter?s 38 for about 25-26 a box. It?s repackaged Winchester. Head stamps and all.

[.455_Hunter]

The best OTC deals I have seen are mid-$20's, with 9mm being about 1/2 that at the same location, but yes, it's unfortunately frequently approaching 3X. I could definitely see a convertible Blackhawk in my future.

[Erni]

Ammo cost and or lack of time is why I switched from revolver to 9mm pistol.

Sell some spare revolvers and get a 9mm moon clip revolver.
Or find a friend with a reloading machine.

[BREATHER]

The manufacturers are as bad as the f&#(!)g gubment. And like the gubment WE THE PEOPLE allow them to get away with if

[eddiememphis]

I realize you said no reloading because you don't have the time. Lee makes a progressive press that is relatively inexpensive. I have one for 9 mm and am able to put out 200+ rounds in an hour. Depending on how much you shoot, it may be worth looking into.

Another option is to use ammo seek, and keep your eye out for sales. Distributors often offer flat rate shipping and waive hazmat fees.

If you buy in bulk, it often helps the price of shipping.

I haven't been to a gun show in years. Gun show reloads used to be an affordable option to factory ammo. I do not know if that is still the case.

[Hoser]

I shot my Smith 929 a lot.

And 38 Special SD ammo availability a couple years ago made me go buy a 947. It turned out to be a turd. I was way too heavy to carry for 5 rounds.

But I reload...

[Great-Kazoo]

thankfully i reload.

With that said, try amoseek.com

miwal and others have reman and steel case for $0.32+ Since you don't reload, why not shoot that steel case . Or the ppu 158gr brass. Even the cci Al case is running $340 per 1K

[Martinjmpr]

Or bite the bullet (no pun intended) and buy a 9mm revolver.



I was on GB yesterday looking and I guess S&W makes a version of the 686 in 9mm. But it's a big honkin' thing with a 6" barrel and fugly as hell.

https://www.smga.com/smith-and-wesson/686-9mm-revolver-1126

OK, Googling I came across this: A company that will convert a .38/.357 S&W to 9mm for $350:

https://tkcustom.com/pages/9mm-rechambering

Might have to give this one some thought. Apparently even a converted gun can still shoot .38 or .357. I'm wondering if I might want to do this with my S&W M64.


Or possibly start enjoying some rimfire therapy?

Well, yeah, that goes without saying. Happy to see that .22LR is now pretty widely available at semi-reasonable prices (price seems to have stabilized around $0.07/round which is not the pre-panic price but still not awful.)

On Ammoseek I see .22LR selling for as little as $0.048/round but by the time you factor in shipping it's back up to $0.07 round so I might as well buy locally. Local Wally World has 325 rd boxes for $22.50 which works out to just under 7 cents/round.

[MarkCO]

Have a friend to reload for you?

As long as the friend does it for free. [dig]

9mm Revolver is an option.

Or just bite the bullet and get a Lee Pro-1000 for $200.

[Martinjmpr]

Hmmmm.....the more I think about the 9mm conversion the more interested I get.

Question for the group: If I were to just buy a spare cylinder and have it converted, would it need to be "fitted" to the revolver or are they fairly swappable?

I've always heard (anecdotally) that unlike semi-autos which rely on interchangeable parts, revolvers have to have their parts "fitted" by a gunsmith. Is this true?

Just thinking that a cylinder in 9mm could be the best of both worlds - allow me to keep my S&W revolvers intact, but be able to swap in a 9mm cylinder when I want to shoot 9mm.

The TK conversion doesn't require shipping the whole gun, just the cylinder. Which means no FFL hassles.

EDITED TO ADD: Next question would be: Where can I buy just a cylinder? Does S&W sell them directly to customers or do I need to go through a parts company like Numrich?

[Scanker19]

As far as I understand it should need to be fitted unless you get lucky and find one that fits already.

Taurus makes a 692 revolver, it has a quick change cylinder system so you in seconds swap from 9mm to 357 cylinders. With just a push of a button. They?re about $550-600 but they are a 686 size revolver.

They also have a 905 which is nearly identical, dimensionally, to a S&W J-Frame. And it costs as much as a TK customs conversion.

I know people turn their nose up to Taurus, but Ruger makes an SP101 and LCR in 9mm as well.


also eBay has a bunch of cylinders.

[Scanker19]

Also the more I think about it the more I wonder how the conversion lets you shoot both?

9mm headspace’s off the case mouth. And 38/357 off the rim. 9mm cylinders have the chamber cut into the cylinder for that reason. So it wouldn’t have the chamber cut into it. It says you MUST use a moon clip to shoot, so now the round is head spacing off the moon clip since it’s now cut deeper to also allow 38/357. The cynical side me wonders if you HAVE to use TK customs moon clips.
But also wider now too, for the 9mm. 9mm technically isn’t a straight walled cartridge, it has a slight taper to it. Which is wider than 357, hence why a 9mm won’t fit in a 357 cylinder unmodified. So I wonder how the 357 cases would look after being fired from a now wider and tapered chamber? And would that cause issues with hot 357 loads?

[.455_Hunter]

Also the more I think about it the more I wonder how the conversion lets you shoot both?

9mm headspace?s off the case mouth. And 38/357 off the rim. 9mm cylinders have the chamber cut into the cylinder for that reason. So it wouldn?t have the chamber cut into it. It says you MUST use a moon clip to shoot, so now the round is head spacing off the moon clip since it?s now cut deeper to also allow 38/357. The cynical side me wonders if you HAVE to use TK customs moon clips.
But also wider now too, for the 9mm. 9mm technically isn?t a straight walled cartridge, it has a slight taper to it. Which is wider than 357, hence why a 9mm won?t fit in a 357 cylinder unmodified. So I wonder how the 357 cases would look after being fired from a now wider and tapered chamber? And would that cause issues with hot 357 loads?


The Ruger convertible Blackhawks are supplied with two separate cylinders- 9 mm and .357/.38.

[Scanker19]

They are! I just picked up a Blackhawk convertible for this very reason.

[.455_Hunter]

They are! I just picked up a Blackhawk convertible for this very reason.


I think the few guns that have tried to have just a single cylinder have not been very successful. As you indicated, the dimensional requirements promote undesirable case expansion issues. It's kinda like shooting .38 Special in the .38 S&W Commonwealth Victory Revolvers that had their cylinder chambers reamed-out in the pre-'68 era- it works, kinda...

[Ripper]

Dad's wholesale off washington and 62nd used to have good reloads at a decent price. I used to buy ammo from him all the time. it was a bit dirty but never had a reliability issue. Great for range plinking.

[Hoser]

TKs conversions are awesome and worth every penny.

However they require moon clips for 9mm which you need to factor into your budget.

[rondog]

Sure glad I started reloading again years ago! Problem now is storage of all the ammo I've stuffed up over the years. I'd have to retire to a country place with a backyard range to shoot it all up. But then I'd just fill 'em up again.....

[Clint45]

I would not at all be surprised if another ammo shortage happens by Summer, none of the popular calibers available in stores and out of stock online... unless you want to pay triple price for garbage ammo like Prvi Partizan.

[O2HeN2]

Didn't y'all see the 9mm Ruger SP101 that was for sale a couple months back? That would have solved your problem!

O2

[theGinsue]

At work today I opened a browser window which defaults to a news feed. I saw the headline for this article (https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/other/357-vs-9mm-two-of-the-most-popular-handgun-cartridges/ar-AA1l6Zlo?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=a7f79b94ecf64ff294a237ff02995191&ei=46) and immediately thought of this thread.