Why does "surplus" 7.62x39mm cost more than NEW AMMO

[ammolab]

Funny now how Corrosive, 20year old Yugo surplus ammo costs more than brand new Russian mfg. AK ammo. Ammoman has some surplus, maybe South African, for like $129.00/M which makes it about twice what Russian NEW NONCORROSIVE AK ammo sells for..... I used to be in the Surplus Ammo business, and I had to sell it for LESS than new ammo. That was the "good old days"!

[16r40]

a lot of it has to do with 'availabilty" surplus AK rounds is not all that common and ammo dealers know this, so they jack up the prices, because folks will buy it just becasue it's "surplus". also the notion that is it somehow better then commerical stuff, because it's "military surplus" which has got to be better, right?

but for what we use them for punching hole in paper, it's a moot point ......surplus stuff goes for a premium, because folks ohhhh and ahhhh when they see surplus AK ammo....if anything else it's just a bunch of voodoo advertisment.......nothing to do with the performance of it.

why do folks buy that chinese 'steel core" stuff at about a bucks a round........ohhhhhhhh, because it's steel core, ahhhhhh, gotta have it

[battlepack]

It appears to also be due to the fact that the surplus is brass cased, not the lacquered steel case stuff.

[Nickle]

Funny thing is that Russian Ammo (Barnaul and Wolf) are made in the same factories as Military Ammo.