I was paying around $17 for 50 round boxes of PPU, normal price for Armscor was $18 bucks a box. Best deal I found was this time a year ago, Outdoor Limited had scheduled a sale on the Armscor at $11.99 a box of 50. I stumbled onto that 1st week of the current panic and bought 4000 rounds so quick my debit card screamed
I've still got 3000 rounds of that. Last summer through Nov 6 the Korean surplus was still plentiful and holding a decent price so I would buy that at $44 bucks a 120 round bandolier as I went to the range (I live near AIM Surplus) plus I bought 2-3 cases. Last summer I mainly shot my Carbines because it was the only ammo I could replace at a decent price.
That stopped the week of the election. Everyone ran out then restocked a week later at almost double the price.
Right now I've 5000 rounds of .30 Carbine for 6 Carbines (3 shooters, 3 safe queens) I plan on allowing myself to shoot 1000 rounds of the Korean I have through the summer then parking my Carbines until I can replace it.
Grabagun sent me a notice in the past week that they had the PPU in stock at $35 a box, double what it was last year. Their out now.
I really don't expect .30 Carbine to become plentiful for 2 years minimum. This same thing happened post Newtown/Sandy Hook. .30 Carbine dried up and there was zero being made for at least a year. Ammo makers were using the materials for more common calibers.
Back then I had 4 Carbines and only 500 rounds of Carbine ammo. I sold off 2 of my "commercial" Carbines because I couldn't feed the poor things. This time out I'll keep what I have and hope ammo prices come down in 2 years