Ray, I hate to say this but what we are seeing now is probably going to go on for a very long time - maybe forever. What buyers are willing to pay has been etablished and manufacturers and retailers have learned it well. The days of inexpensive ammo now only exists in our memory. Even the CMP is charging something like $14.40 per carton of Federal LC XM80C ammo. My math says that is $0.72 per rd without shipping or sales tax. I've seen cartons of the Winchester white box 7.62 NATO ammo for $21.95 at a local dealer. I find that price to be outrageous but obviously someone is willing to buy at that price or the principles of micro-economics would have come into play and the prcie would been reduced. If you can find 7.62 NATO ammo for better than $0.72 per rd, I would advise buying it immediately. Rick