This calculator gives the true cost per round with shipping and tax folded in, which is where the cheapest-looking box stops being cheapest.
Here is how I read this chart
Every number in this table is a published figure, copied from the source named underneath it — none of it is my own measurement. The card shows the top rows; the complete table is further down this page. Read across a row to compare one entry, and down a column to compare them all on the same measure.
Ammunition is advertised by the box and bought by the round. This works out what a listing actually costs per round once shipping and tax are on it, compares up to four listings side by side, and tells you which one is cheapest delivered — which is not always the one with the lowest price on the shelf.
Compare up to 4 stores. Type in what each store charges. We add the shipping and tax, then split them across every round, so you see what each round really costs.
The formula
There is only one, and it fits on a line:
cost per round = (pack price x packs + shipping) x (1 + tax rate) / (rounds per pack x packs)The two places people go wrong are dividing before adding the shipping, and comparing a 50-round box against a 1,000-round case without putting both on the same footing. The calculator above does neither.
A worked example
Three listings for the same 200 rounds, with illustrative numbers:
| Listing | Delivered per round | Sticker per round | Order total | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Listing C, bulk case | $0.2689 | $0.2490 | $268.95 | 1,000 |
| Listing A, free shipping | $0.5598 | $0.5598 | $111.96 | 200 |
| Listing B, cheaper box | $0.5746 | $0.5098 | $114.91 | 200 |
Listing C, bulk case wins on both sticker and delivered price here, which is worth saying out loud: the cheapest box is not always the wrong answer, it is just not automatically the right one.
Pack price to cost per round
If you only want the conversion, it is here. This table is division and nothing else -- it states no price and makes no recommendation, so it is as true next year as it is today.
| Price per pack | 20 rounds | 50 rounds | 100 rounds | 250 rounds | 500 rounds | 1000 rounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10.00 | $0.5000 | $0.2000 | $0.1000 | $0.0400 | $0.0200 | $0.0100 |
| $15.00 | $0.7500 | $0.3000 | $0.1500 | $0.0600 | $0.0300 | $0.0150 |
| $20.00 | $1.0000 | $0.4000 | $0.2000 | $0.0800 | $0.0400 | $0.0200 |
| $25.00 | $1.2500 | $0.5000 | $0.2500 | $0.1000 | $0.0500 | $0.0250 |
| $30.00 | $1.5000 | $0.6000 | $0.3000 | $0.1200 | $0.0600 | $0.0300 |
| $40.00 | $2.0000 | $0.8000 | $0.4000 | $0.1600 | $0.0800 | $0.0400 |
| $50.00 | $2.5000 | $1.0000 | $0.5000 | $0.2000 | $0.1000 | $0.0500 |
| $100.00 | $5.0000 | $2.0000 | $1.0000 | $0.4000 | $0.2000 | $0.1000 |
| $200.00 | $10.0000 | $4.0000 | $2.0000 | $0.8000 | $0.4000 | $0.2000 |
| $300.00 | $15.0000 | $6.0000 | $3.0000 | $1.2000 | $0.6000 | $0.3000 |
| $500.00 | $25.0000 | $10.0000 | $5.0000 | $2.0000 | $1.0000 | $0.5000 |
Questions people actually ask
How do you work out cost per round?
Add the price of the goods, the shipping on the whole order and any tax, then divide by the number of rounds that order actually contains. The formula is cost per round = (pack price x packs + shipping) x (1 + tax) / (rounds per pack x packs). Everything else is presentation.
Why does the cheapest box often lose?
Because shipping is charged on the order and then spread over every round in it. A small order carries the whole shipping charge on few rounds. In the worked example above, the listing with the lower sticker price still wins delivered, but the margin is thinner than the sticker suggests once shipping is included.
Should I compare cost per round or cost per 1,000?
They are the same number scaled by a thousand. Cost per 1,000 is easier to hold in your head and easier to compare against a case price, which is why the calculator prints both.
Do you publish ammunition prices?
No. Prices move week to week and a published price is wrong within days, so this page publishes arithmetic instead. You supply the prices; the arithmetic does not expire.
Does tax go before or after shipping?
It varies by state and by seller, and some sellers tax shipping while others do not. This calculator applies tax to goods plus shipping, which is the more common treatment and the more conservative one. If your seller taxes only the goods, enter the shipping as a separate listing line or set tax to zero and add the tax you were quoted into the shipping field.
What this page does and does not do
- It publishes no prices. Every figure in the tables above is arithmetic on numbers you supply, or a conversion grid that holds for any price.
- It does not know your seller's tax rules. Tax is applied to goods plus shipping. Where a seller taxes goods only, that is stated in the questions above.
- It does not rank sellers. The verdict names whichever of your own listings comes out cheapest on your own numbers.
- Your inputs stay in your browser. They go into the address bar so you can share or bookmark a comparison, and into local storage so the page remembers them. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Related
- Reloading cost calculator -- what a loaded round costs, and how many rounds it takes before the press pays for itself
- Caliber comparison chart -- when the question is which cartridge to feed rather than which listing to buy