Ammo Price Index Methodology

Home › Ammo Prices › Methodology

By Mendy Segelman, Tactical Surplus USA · Data as of October 21, 2026 · Published October 21, 2026

In short: The Tactical Surplus USA Ammo Price Index is the median listed price per round of in-stock ammunition in the Tactical Surplus USA catalog, split into range and defense loads, with any group under 10 SKUs withheld. It covers our catalog only and is not a market-wide price.

Scope

This index covers Tactical Surplus USA's own catalog only. It is not a market-wide price. Calibers tracked: 9mm, 5.56/.223, 7.62x39, 12 gauge and .22 LR. .22 LR shotshells are excluded from .22 LR figures.

Data Source

Data comes from a read-only BigCommerce catalog snapshot, filtered to a verified list of loaded ammunition. The October 2026 snapshot was taken October 21, 2026 at 11:17 a.m. ET. Non-ammunition items (magazines, cases, accessories and similar) are excluded.

Which Listings Count

  • The listing is in stock and visible on the storefront.
  • It has a positive price.
  • It has a round count we can read from the listing.

Listings at $0, or with truncated or unreadable counts, go to a review queue and are never estimated.

How Price Per Round Is Calculated

Price per round is the listed price (USD, before shipping and tax) divided by the rounds in the unit sold. For a listing such as 20/500, that unit is the box of 20; 500 is the case count. 12 gauge is priced per shell.

Load Classes

  • Range: FMJ, TMJ, ball and target. For 12 gauge: target loads and birdshot.
  • Defense: JHP, HP and defensive lines. For 12 gauge: buckshot and slugs.
  • Other: neither, for example match, soft point and frangible. Counted, not headlined.
  • Blended: all SKUs in the caliber together. Published as a secondary figure.

Statistics

Quality Rules

  • Minimum sample: a group with fewer than 10 in-stock SKUs is marked insufficient sample, and its prices are withheld. Its SKU count is still published.
  • Large moves: a median that moves more than 25% from the prior month is held for human review before publication. October 2026 is the first snapshot, so this check starts in November 2026.
  • No estimates: unreadable listings are reviewed by hand, never guessed.

Publishing Schedule

The index is published monthly, with a dated report page for each month linked from the Ammo Prices hub.

License and Citation

The data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Please cite it as: Tactical Surplus USA Ammo Price Index, October 2026, https://tacticalsurplususa.com/ammo-prices/report/october-2026/.