re: 5.56 $ cost philosophy vs Russian rounds

Domestically produced commie calibers will likely never be as cheap as Russian/ex soviet bloc manufacturers. Partly because of manufacturing ability and more importantly materials, steel, steel, and more steel. US manufacturers don't touch steel cases and the brass is what is very costly.

Eta: surplus will dry up South African/Greek 308 has all but disappeared. I remember buying South African 308 battle packs for dirt cheap. Haven't seen that stuff in years. Point is, stack deep what you shoot/want to shoot when prices are good. In my experience we aren't gonna see prices lower but only increase over the years.