Guys,

Chinese ammo was banned from import in 1993. So, once that was gone, what else imported was on the shelves? Was 7.62x39 still readily
available but more expensive? What other countries offered it? How long before Russian imports became as prolific as they are today? Surplus?

Thanks for any answers!

Tag for an answer.... I feel a panic coming

Not saying to panic, but stock up now because even if it is not banned prices on ammo are always going up.  Look at how much has 9mm and 7.62 x 39mm gone up in the last 2 years - prices have rose at 7-13% increase depending on what you buy.  I am still concerned that .22 is never coming back to normal plinking prices on 500 round bulk packs.

When was a kid, we would buy 500 rnd packs of 7.62x39 for 50$ at gun shows. I'm only 28.. That wasn't that long ago

I'm in my mid 30's and I have a stack of Wolf 7.62x39mm 122gr JHP 500rd packs with a $39.99 sticker on them.

I have some Aussie, S. African & Malaysian 7.62 NATO battlepacks that were not much more expensive.

This is a shitty time to be a shooter, but a great time to be a collector. I bought more firearms in 2014 than the last decade. $650 VEPR .308, $550 Yugo M77 .308, $400 Yugo M92, $99 ATI 12ga pump, $275 3rd gen Smiths, $300ish VZ-58s, $300 Turkish & Filipina 1911's, $300 Turkish 9mm's of all makes and models, sub $500 AR-15 builds, cheap Swiss surplus Bolt guns, $230 Savage Axis rifles... the list goes on.

If only I could afford to shoot this shit.

Two lgs owners I know said their prices on .22lr hasn't went up much at all. Just the availability of it has. Sucks to know we have to pay for it. But to shine a positive light I did see 333 rds of 22 at cabelas for 18.99 last week and they still had many boxes yesterday.

We get cheap ammo from Romania and Ukraine - but Russia supplies the most volume and controls the price (low). With these restrictions, prices will go up. Not sure how much, but I would expect other former combloc countries might get in the game. Bulgaria is already doing premium exports (brass). It might also improve local production if prices go up.

I've made it a point to diversify in different calibers - particularly common calibers like .223 because of shit like this.

That Romanian Red Army Standard that I got from you last week is really nice ammo. I would rather pay the extra cent per round and get it over poly WOLF any day.

"Chinese ammo was banned from import in 1993. So, once that was gone, what else imported was on the shelves? Was 7.62x39 still readily
available but more expensive? What other countries offered it? How long before Russian imports became as prolific as they are today? Surplus?
Thanks for any answers"

To actually answer your question, Russian followed quickly on the heels of the Chicom ban.  I still have a Russki can dated 1994, and there was probably some which preceded that.  It cost only a few cpr more than Chinese at the time.  Romanian was around shortly after that.  Then too there was EG surplus available.  Unfortunately I don't remember prices at that time, but don't recall anybody going apeshit over the numbers back then.

Pretty much this. I remember buying new production Russian 7.62x39 for $80-$90 per thousand in the mid to late 1990s.

Thanks for the information. This is the type of thing I was looking for.

I always hear people lamenting the ban of affordable Chinese ammo, but rarely does anyone discuss anything about comparable alternatives at the time the Chicom stuff stopped being imported.

I am old enough to remember what happened, and it wasn't pretty.  The first Russian ammo that came in was in plain white boxes w/ hunting ammo written on it.  Some was steel core w/ a hollow point!  Others were corrosive, though it said non corrosive.  The worst part was the price!  The first shippment came in 1440 round case in wax paper battlepacks.  It cost from $399 a case and up!  Highway robbery until the panic settled down.  The Chinese ammo disappeared in record time, and became the stuff of legends because of it.  Some countries like Romania and Bulgaria brought in ammo, but were never able to compete w/ the Russian flood when they came in by the boatload.  The price went down to $80 a 1000 at gun shows for the Wolf black box stuff,and others too.   If Russia goes down like China, no one can fill that gap.  The other E.European countries can't provide the quantities China and Russia can.  Hopefully this won't happen, but if it does it will be cheaper to shoot your AR with 223 than the SKS and AK.  At gun show this weekend I saw Federal 20 boxes of 223 for $6.25, and Russian steel for 6.00.  For a quarter more you get brass cased, copper jacketed, boxer primed stuff!  Sadly no one makes the Russian calibers that cheap here.

How tough is it to get dual citizenship with Canada ..."Yes Mr. border guard, I am going to take some of this fine Norinco ammo over to my property in the US for a weekend hunting trip."..LOL.