.22 Ammo - Will It Ever be Available Again?

[Cypher]

I think I am just going to buy the equipment and make my own .22 ammo. This crap is getting ridiculous, how long will it be before it is in stock on a regular basis again? The only places that have it locally jack the prices up so high I can just buy large caliber ammo at Wally World.

What I don't get it why don't these companies up their production of .22, I could see not making the investment if it was a 6 month fling but this has been going on what 3 years now? This is stupid, ammo companies could have paid on their investment in the first year alone most likely.

[L1A1Rocker]

I don't know but it is ridiculous. The current level of productions seems to only be sufficient to supply the scalpers.

[El Duce]

LGS had some 500 round bricks of cci. 40.00 each. Not hurting. So I passed.

[copterdoctor]

Bass Pro sometimes has 525 round bulk packs for about $25. Limit of one. It sells out fast.

[l921428x]

as much as I do not like saying this, I am beginning to think it is intentional. this has to be
a real money maker for the manu. for something that cost so little and to be able to quadruple
the profit and it sells out no matter the amount produced. just my thoughts.

[Cypher]

as much as I do not like saying this, I am beginning to think it is intentional. this has to be
a real money maker for the manu. for something that cost so little and to be able to quadruple
the profit and it sells out no matter the amount produced. just my thoughts.

I agree, it doesn't make sense.

[Partisan1983]

I concur as well.


I gave up looking at .22's years ago (along with the ammo)...it's become a joke (like king 0 in a way)

[Kadmos]

What I don't get it why don't these companies up their production of .22, I could see not making the investment if it was a 6 month fling but this has been going on what 3 years now? This is stupid, ammo companies could have paid on their investment in the first year alone most likely.

It simply doesn't make sense for the ammo companies to invest in capacity for handling "panic buying". They already churn out a couple billion rounds per year. It may make sense to say add 5% more supply to handle new gunowners as our numbers grow. It it doesn't make sense to ramp up 30-40% in order to overstock to the point where people no longer "panic buy".

That investment would end up as a loss, they would have to drastically oversupply the market which would of course bring the price plummeting.

Until "panic buying" stops then the supply will remain sporadic.

Any company that really ramps up supply will end up bankrupting itself by investing enough to meet the false demand of panic buying once the situation changes and the panic ends.

The answer is stop buying it!

Realize that from a practical standpoint even in a SHTF situation you likely won't really need more than 1 round a day to take small game, and that having 200 rounds on hand is actually more than enough to last you for months in a bad situation. Sure, we all would like to have more. But if every time you hit walmart and you buy as many as you can, then you are helping to guarantee this lasts longer.

Sadly, even talking about the "shortage" makes it worse. Threads like this will cause several people to do a search of ammo, or check in at their local shop. If they find any at a decent price they may very well but it "just in case", which causes the next person to come in and doesn't see it panic. He then checks other places and/or pays more making the problem that much worse.

[Aggressive Perfector]

I'm sitting on 40 rounds of .22. I'll probably burn through it and not bother trying to buy more, and definitely will not be buying any more .22lr firearms. It's way too much hassle.

[alismith]

I have to admit that I've been very lucky in the .22 RF shortage. I just found about 2,000 more rounds that I stuck in a couple of bags a while back and forgot about. With my friend buying them almost every day at WW, I've got about 15,000 rounds stored up. I'm seeing more and more .22's, but they are pretty jacked up in price almost everywhere.

I've got another friend lined up to go shooting with in about 2 weeks and plan on shooting up some of them in a couple of new .22's I've acquired. I hope to have a range report telling about how they, and a few other guns, did.

[jet3534]

Hoarders don't seem to consider the possible shelf life of rimfire ammo. I had a brick of Remington .22 long rifle sitting in my garage for about 15 years and when I went to shoot it a few months ago about 1/3 of the rounds didn't fire or were something less than full power. Centerfire ammo exposed to heat and cold in my garage for a similar period of time has always fired with full power. However, some of the reloads I loaded 40 years ago using the old double base IMR 4831 have increased in power over the years to where I consider them possibly unsafe to shoot. On a related note I should note that I once loaded a Colt Navy reproduction revolver with black powder, sealing the chambers with bore butter grease. I let it sit for ten years and then fired the gun. All six chambers fired but with severely degraded velocity. Bottom line IMHO is anyone hoarding .22 ammo should at a minimum probably try to avoid exposure to extreme temp changes.

[FunkyPertwee]

^^^^^

All of your ammo should go in sealed ammunition cans inside of a controlled environment.

[Phil125]

I was at about 5000+ when the shortage hit. If I see one cheap I grab it. But I'm not hurting for it.

The shortage does make me not want to shoot it. So I sit on it.

[Ruskiegunlover]

I never shoot it. Always 9mm or 5.56. Think if the companies are really just maximizing profit, it won't be long before people finally decide enough is enough. I also thought CCI was building an entirely new facility just to make .22? Am I wrong on this? Heard it about a year ago.

[skorpion]

I was at about 5000+ when the shortage hit. If I see one cheap I grab it. But I'm not hurting for it.

The shortage does make me not want to shoot it. So I sit on it.

Same here. After 0bongo's first election, I had this intuition to start collecting .22LR. Before that, I would only keep a couple of bricks handy. After a few months I bought enough to fill up a .50-cal ammo can to the max with loose .22LR. Just so ya'll know, a surplus .50-cal ammo box can hold 6600 rounds of loose .22LR and weighs 52.4 pounds.

I will only bust open that can as a last resort. I still have a couple thousand rounds of "non-emergency" .22 that I've been using conservatively. My semi-auto .22s have been collecting dust while my bolt-actions have been getting a work-out.

I remember buying this 9 years ago and thinking $8 was too much...

[Avanarts]

Hoarders don't seem to consider the possible shelf life of rimfire ammo. I had a brick of Remington .22 long rifle sitting in my garage for about 15 years and when I went to shoot it a few months ago about 1/3 of the rounds didn't fire or were something less than full power. Centerfire ammo exposed to heat and cold in my garage for a similar period of time has always fired with full power. However, some of the reloads I loaded 40 years ago using the old double base IMR 4831 have increased in power over the years to where I consider them possibly unsafe to shoot. On a related note I should note that I once loaded a Colt Navy reproduction revolver with black powder, sealing the chambers with bore butter grease. I let it sit for ten years and then fired the gun. All six chambers fired but with severely degraded velocity. Bottom line IMHO is anyone hoarding .22 ammo should at a minimum probably try to avoid exposure to extreme temp changes.

I've had that problem with Remington .22 ammo that was new. On the other hand I have some Federal .22 ammo that I bought back in the late 70's that was stored in a barn for a number of years. The Federal ammo still works like new.

Don't ask how much .22 I have. LOL

[Cypher]

It simply doesn't make sense for the ammo companies to invest in capacity for handling "panic buying". They already churn out a couple billion rounds per year. It may make sense to say add 5% more supply to handle new gunowners as our numbers grow. It it doesn't make sense to ramp up 30-40% in order to overstock to the point where people no longer "panic buy".

That investment would end up as a loss, they would have to drastically oversupply the market which would of course bring the price plummeting.

Until "panic buying" stops then the supply will remain sporadic.

Any company that really ramps up supply will end up bankrupting itself by investing enough to meet the false demand of panic buying once the situation changes and the panic ends.

The answer is stop buying it!

Realize that from a practical standpoint even in a SHTF situation you likely won't really need more than 1 round a day to take small game, and that having 200 rounds on hand is actually more than enough to last you for months in a bad situation. Sure, we all would like to have more. But if every time you hit walmart and you buy as many as you can, then you are helping to guarantee this lasts longer.

Sadly, even talking about the "shortage" makes it worse. Threads like this will cause several people to do a search of ammo, or check in at their local shop. If they find any at a decent price they may very well but it "just in case", which causes the next person to come in and doesn't see it panic. He then checks other places and/or pays more making the problem that much worse.

I would agree if it had been going on for 6 months but after 3, 4, 5+ years it's not panic buying it's increased demand that is not being met, really this has been going on every since Obama got elected almost 7 years ago. That along with the fact that this happens every time a liberal politician sneezes in the vicinity of a gun, I'm pretty sure it would be economically feasible for the larger companies to increase their ability to produce more.

[Kadmos]

I would agree if it had been going on for 6 months but after 3, 4, 5+ years it's not panic buying it's increased demand that is not being met, really this has been going on every since Obama got elected almost 7 years ago. That along with the fact that this happens every time a liberal politician sneezes in the vicinity of a gun, I'm pretty sure it would be economically feasible for the larger companies to increase their ability to produce more.

I see your point, however I disagree. Just looking at this thread it's apparent that those who are still buying, aren't buying it to use but to hold onto.

Look at alsmiths post "With my friend buying them almost every day at WW, I've got about 15,000 rounds stored up"

Nearly as soon as the shelves are stocked they are emptied, either to supply themselves, supply friends, or to sell on the secondary market.

As long as those shelves can be cleared pretty rapidly then the situation will continue, the secondary market will continue to sell at higher prices, and people will continue to store rather than shoot.

Some stores have done what they can to help, by putting a limit of a box or two, but that's easy to get around. Even if you just tell the clerk that you promised your friends a box likely you can get 3. Or come back in a few minutes when someone else is working and get 2 more, or the next day, or send your friend, wife, employee, etc.

What the big stores like walmart would have to do it sell one box, 50 rounds max, per verified address, per month. And frankly they would much rather shrug and say "we're out" than piss off every person who comes to buy it by having some sort of "ammo registration".

For the ammo companies to end the situation they would have to literally flood the market to the point where the folks buying to put it on the secondary market couldn't afford to strip the shelves.

They would need to overstock the shelves of every store that sells ammo, all across the country.

That would take a massive investment, and as soon as the situation normalizes they have shot themselves in the foot by the radical drop in demand.

Even the little guys, the mom and pop gun stores are hitting walmart for everything they can buy. Lets face it, it's pretty easy to buy out a single walmart of .22. They've barely raised the price. Even a full shipment at the rate individual stores can get it now, probably $100-200 would be their entire stock.

Walmart doesn't want to gouge the consumer by drastically raising the price, but a little guy can double the price and shrug it off to his costumers as "this is the only price I can get it in stock at". Plus he can sell it off on the internet for 3 times or more the price he bought it from walmart at, and do it quietly so as not to piss off his regular customers.

And of course as soon as Obama leaves the White house some of the fears will subside. If a republican gets elected, then the panic buying may lessen as well. And the ammo companies know this. If they invest to what is not a sustainable level, then they screwed themselves.

As gun owners the most we can do is stop buying. We can also not buy anything from those who try to jack up the price on the secondary market. If he's selling .22 at a high rate, then don't buy anything...not just .22, but no guns, no accessories, etc. And let him know why.

Also, try to shame people like alsmith's friend (and sorry alsmith but to some degree you as well) to knock it the fuck off, they are part of the problem

[Aggressive Perfector]

With prices of .22LR approaching the price of 7.62x39, I'm amazed 7.62x39 hasn't gotten more popular. :-/

[Focused Gunfire]

It’s pretty much everything said so far and then some. This issue involves the panic, neckbearding, hoarding, devaluing of the dollar, new shooters, bad economy, who is in the W house now, value of the base materials, and even the development of other countries. Someone could write a book on this whole messed up situation. I personally have not bought any 22. since 2012, barely shot any since then too. Not going to by any rifle chambered in 22. L/S/LR/magnum ether. If people ask me about plinkers/first gun, I try to sway them to other things, like air guns. The best thing me can do in the short term is to buy other cambering/ammo.