BulkAmmo.com 5.56
More useful than six gallons of olive oil.

Bulk Ammo: Because buying a thousand rounds of 5.56 makes more sense than a three-gallon tub of mayonnaise. And you’ve still probably got seven cases of toilet paper left from Y2K.

The current headline deal is 900 rounds of Federal 5.56 FMJ on strippers in cardboard with spoons for $300.

Also, save $25 off your first order if you use the coupon code GrandOpening

They’ve also got an email newsletter, a Twitter feed, and a Facebook page to keep you up to date on the latest deals.

Allegiance Ammunition by Extreme Shock

Release from Blue August PR:

Extreme Shock Creates New Brand of Ammo

CLINTWOOD, VA – Extreme Shock Ammunition has announced that it will be producing its own line of high quality copper plated, lead core ammunition under the brand name “Allegiance Ammunition.”

This new line of ammunition comes in response to the demand for affordable, high quality ammunition and a shortage of components in the market. Each Allegiance round will undergo the same strict quality control procedures as the Extreme Shock tactical line. The 9mm, .40 S&W, .45 ACP, .223 and .308 will have the case mouth and primer sealed, or waterproofed to US mil spec standard. This procedure will give the Allegiance brand of ammunition an estimated 20-year shelf life.

Allegiance is economically priced for target shooting, yet performance enhanced for self-defense situations. Though the .380 ACP is the first caliber available, a 9mm will be available in late October, 2010, with .40S&W, .45ACP, .223 and .308 following soon after. Ask your dealer for the most high quality, performance-driven, target ammo in the world–Allegiance!

MSRP for a 50-round box of Allegiance .380 ACP is $23.66.

M.D. Creekmore at The Survivalist Blog – a survival blog dedicated to helping others prepare for and survive disaster – with articles on bug out bag contents, survival knife choices and a wealth of other survival information is giving away a 1,000 round case of 9mm – 124 Grain FMJ (a $200 value – donated by LuckyGunner)! To enter, you just have to post about it on your blog. This is my entry. Visit The Survivalist Blog for the details.

Contest over at Ramworks.

Hell in a Handbasket writes about Ammo Shelf Life

On self defense ammo:

Modern cartridges are made to amazingly high tolerances, with the different components fit together so well that the inside of the case is pretty much sealed off from the world outside. But life isn’t perfect, and wet will slowly seep into even the best. That is why I recommend that everyone buy a new box of their favorite defensive ammo every year on their birthday, and also treat themselves to a trip to the range in order to shoot off the old box.

Go read the whole thing.

Lots more here.

Mattis pushed for 6.8mm ammo

Before Marines in Afghanistan received enhanced 5.56mm rounds last month, an influential four-star general advocated behind the scenes for an option that packs even more punch: 6.8mm ammunition…

The Corps first considered fielding 6.8mm ammo in 2007, after rank-and-file members of Special Operations Command designed it with their command’s approval to address deficiencies with the standard 5.56mm round, Eby said. Neither SOCom nor the Corps fielded it, in part due to the cost and logistics it would have required to make the change.

For now the Marines are going with the SOST 5.56.

I’ve also heard that at one point the Marines were looking at the SCAR and had some 6.8 versions put together for testing.

UPDATE: Comment:

I keep hearing that it’s simply too difficult for the mightiest armed force on earth to field a new rifle round, even if it’s demonstrably superior. So there’s no point trying.

I’m sorry but that’s indistinguishable from what comes out of the rear end of a male cow-type beast.

Another offering from MasterPiece Arms:

New Guns for the 460 Rowland from MasterPiece Arms

Release:

BRASELTON, GA – MasterPiece Arms, the nation’s only true MAC-10 manufacturer, introduces the MPA 460 Rowland, a brand new addition to its unique and impressive product line.

These firearms are chambered for the 460 Rowland Round. The .460 Rowland round is a high performance proprietary cartridge intended to attain .44 Remington Magnum level performance in a semi-automatic pistol or carbine. The overall cartridge length is identical to a 45 ACP, but the case length is 1/16” longer. The overall performance of the 460 Rowland Cartridge is nearly double that of a standard 45 ACP round.

The 460 Rowland is offered in three varieties of firearms: the 6” 460 Rowland Pistol, the 10” 460 Rowland Pistol, and the 460 Rowland Carbine.

The 6” 460 Rowland Pistol, or MPA460-10, is chambered for 460 Rowland ammo, has a 6” threaded barrel with muzzle break, scope mount, side charger and 30 round magazine. The MSRP is $579. Also available with extra 45 ACP Upper included for $669.

The 10” 460 Rowland Pistol, or MPA460-15, is also chambered for 460 Rowland ammo, has a 10” threaded barrel with muzzle break, scope mount, side charger, and 30 round magazine. Its MSRP is $675, but is available with extra 45 ACP Upper for $799.

The 460 Rowland Carbine, or MPA460-1, is chambered for 460 Rowland ammo, has a 16” threaded barrel with muzzle break, AR-15 hand guard, scope mount, 2-7×32 scope with illuminated reticule, side charger, MPA low profile fixed stock, 30 round magazine, 1:16 barrel twist- RH, 3.8 lbs trigger pull, parkerized finish, American-made, Lifetime guarantee. The MSRP is $853, but is also available with extra 45 ACP Upper for $999.

I’ve heard of the 460 Rowland but don’t know anything about it other than it’s meant to provide .44 Magnum power from a .45-size cartridge. Anyone have any experience with it?

Seems like this would be a lot of kick for a MAC 10-style gun. The carbine model might be interesting, but I haven’t seen exactly what that looks like.

That hurts just looing at it. Click for even bigger hurt.

Review over at Military.com by Ralph M. Lermayer:

The .458 SOCOM (.458 Special Operations Command) was reportedly given birth over a barbeque and some cold brew. It was at an informal gathering of special ops personnel, specifically Task Force Ranger, when the subject of stopping power came up. It seems it took multiple hits to permanently take the opposition “out of the game” in Mogadishu, Somalia.

The consensus was a one-shot stop would sure be nice. Marty ter Weeme, founder of a company called Teppo Jutsu, L.L.C., went to work. In 2000 a sledgehammer cartridge that would launch 250- to 600-grain .45 caliber bullets from a standard size AR-15 with a proper barrel and chamber was born — enter the .458 SOCOM.

I’ve fired the .450 Bushmaster and have wondered how the kick of this monster shorty round compares to that one. And advantage of the .458 SOCOM over the .450 Bushmaster is that the lower receiver does not have to be modified. Even standard magazines, apparently, work with the .459 SOCOM.

Big order by DHS:

The Department of Homeland Security has placed an order for 200 million rounds of pistol ammunition (.40 caliber, hollow-point) over the next five years for use by its Immigration, Customs and Enforcement division.

Let’s see now, ICE has approximately 15,000 employees. Not all of them are licensed to carry firearms, but just to keep the math simple, we’ll divide the whole shebang into 200 million. That works out to a little over 13,000 rounds per employee over five years, or approximately 2,600 per employee per year.

Someone points out that they’d be ordering FMJ if it was for training, but another commenter says that they use hollow points for training, too. Here’s more:

According to my source, who used to be a firearms trainer, each agent must qualify quarterly with his or her Sig P229R .40 caliber pistol. Each qualification requires 120 rounds. 4 x 120 x 10,000 x 5 = 24 million rounds. In addition, each agent is issued a least one 50 round box quarterly for practice. Most use considerably more. So if we conservatively estimate 100 rounds per quarter, we have 4 x 100 x 10,000 x 5 = 20 million rounds. It is not uncommon for conscientious agents to expend 250 to 1000 rounds a quarter in practice. Accordingly, it would be reasonable to expect that ICE would easily use 50 to 100 million rounds (or more) of the Ranger ammunition over five years.

Regardless, big government orders won’t do anything to help alleviate high ammo prices for civilians. But I also don’t mind seeing companies getting nice big government orders, either.

Via Instapundit.