.22 Ammo Shortage Likely To Continue

[Blacksmith]

The shortage of .22 ammo is likely to continue for awhile. The CMP is out of stock but has been accepting back orders for .22 manufactured by Aguila which they are expecting delivery of in October. The head of the CMP posted, on May 28th, on their forum the status of their order backlog:

The orders are still coming, but have slowed down a little. We are currently about 20,000 orders behind. over 6,000 of those orders are for .22 ammo which we do not expect till Oct at the earliest.

CMP sells this ammo in case lots and a case contains 5,000 rounds or ten bricks. I am sure that many of the 6, 000 orders are for more than one case. Probably before October arrives the complete shipment from the manufacturer will be allocated and it will be another six months wait for the next shipment. Probably when this ammo finally arrives many will immediately reorder for the next batch.

Just a heads up so you can plan ahead.

[smoked turkey]

I talked to the guy in the local Wal-Mart today about .22 LR ammo. He told me every Monday morning at 7am the same guys are in line waiting for the ammo to arrive. They quickly buy it all out and go sell it for a nice profit. Seems as long as people will continue to pay the high prices that the shortage will continue for those of us who are waiting for things to get back to somewhat normal.

[starmac]

Our wallmart limits everyone to 1 brick period, id doesn't matter if you live 300 miles from town. It must be a store manager thing.

[drsfmd]

It's been slowly trickling back into the stores in my area... but it still sells out pretty quickly.

[smokemjoe]

I been thinking of buying a new Sav. rifle, but then think about the shells,got some but not that many.

[Iowa Fox]

My personal feeling is that the 22LR thing is going to last for a long time. I look for some improvement but inventories and stock levels will be low for years. Ruger has really sold a lot of new rimfire guns in the last few years pushing ammo demand to the production limits of all the plants producing it. 10/22s and SR22 pistols eat a lot of ammo and I know Rugers production of both is at capacity with no slow down in sight. Lots of personal inventories of rimfire ammo are being used up that folks are going to want to replace if things ever do improve. Plus, I think a lot of older guys like me have made the circle back to rimfire shooting because of our age. I still shoot plenty of center fire everything but 99.9% of it is mild light cast bullet loads.

[beagle]

We may be fooled. I believe as long as there is a good market looking say 2-3 years in advance, one of the big ammo companies will bring additional manufacturing capability on line. Looks like what is fooling everyone is the unusually high demand caused by hoarding. Once they see this, someone will upgrade to newer technology for future use and we'll get .22 LR back into the market at reasonable prices. One of these ammo companies is going to take the opportunity to get ahead of the game in the long run seeing as money for upgrade is easy to borrow at cheap interest rates. Then, in the future, they'll be the "big gun" in town. Just my guess./beagle

[Smoke4320]

Both Remington and Aguila have announced building new facilitys to double their ammo production.. problem is they both said it would be at least 2 years before the frist rounds came off those lines

[Hogdaddy]

Remington 22LR has been popping up all over here & there, along with CCI's at normal pricing ; )
H/D

[bangerjim]

Shoot only what you can reload! That's my motto.

I own several 22 s/l/lr platforms but they are just gathering dust in the safe. Will not shoot up the collection of 22lr carts I now have. And I will NOT sell any nor buy any at these rediculous prices.

[DougGuy]

The sad part of this, is it is not going to "blow over" like many think it will and people are mistaken when they keep thinking it will get back to "normal." Normal, is gone. History. Done deal. Over with.

We as a shooting population (or hoarding population) have shown the industry how deep our pockets are, and what we are willing to pay for our firearms and supplies. Do you think for one instant that they are going to roll prices back down? I hardly think so. They just got a 10 fold shot in the arm financially, and they are going to keep that financial edge, but they will ramp up production to meet demand, and cite the rising costs of that ramping up as the reason prices aren't coming down.

[starmac]

I don't think manufacturer have got that (10 fold shot) in the arm so much as some of the internet salesmen or the more greedy retail stores. Ar's are built by everybody and their dog, and the prices Have been dropping back close to normal.

[BSalty]

Thanks for the heads up on the CMP stock. I don't see the "old normal" ever returning to that level. Once the manufacturers started raising their prices, that old normal was replaced with what will be the future pricing. $50 a brick of 22 LR won't last forever, but the prices will never be what they were in November 2012 again.

As for demand, it will slow down once people get comfortable with what they have stocked up, but until this administration leaves office (and even then only if the left doesn't win again in 2016) elevated firearms sales and especially ammo sales will continue.

All the conspiracy theories aside, people are worried (and rightly so IMHO) about the mid-term elections loosing the House to the left, one of the right leaning SCOTUS Justices retiring or dying, the next mass shooting, the economy taking another downturn, etc etc etc.

Scared people buy the same things from the beginning of time. Weapons, Gold, and Land. I don't see this time being any different.

Then again, what do I know? I have been wrong before, and will be wrong again.

[sparky45]

Can't disagree very much in what you've said, but I'll add Lead to the list of "what scared people will buy". The .22 thing is incredible to me! I was in Walmart this afternoon (2:30'ish) bought some Yogurt and Butter then strolled by the Ammo counter on my way out. A line was already forming to purchase ammo when the delivery was to come in at 7:30 - 8:00 . This store allows 3 bricks per customer per day and the guy at the head of the line was the same guy I have seen at the front of the line the last 4 times I've been in the store. That's why there is a ammo shortage for average working guys. Ammo is getting out, but its the re-sellers that are scooping it all up.

Thanks for the heads up on the CMP stock. I don't see the "old normal" ever returning to that level. Once the manufacturers started raising their prices, that old normal was replaced with what will be the future pricing. $50 a brick of 22 LR won't last forever, but the prices will never be what they were in November 2012 again.

As for demand, it will slow down once people get comfortable with what they have stocked up, but until this administration leaves office (and even then only if the left doesn't win again in 2016) elevated firearms sales and especially ammo sales will continue.

All the conspiracy theories aside, people are worried (and rightly so IMHO) about the mid-term elections loosing the House to the left, one of the right leaning SCOTUS Justices retiring or dying, the next mass shooting, the economy taking another downturn, etc etc etc.

Scared people buy the same things from the beginning of time. Weapons, Gold, and Land. I don't see this time being any different.

Then again, what do I know? I have been wrong before, and will be wrong again.

[otter5555]

Thanks for the heads up on the CMP stock. I don't see the "old normal" ever returning to that level. Once the manufacturers started raising their prices, that old normal was replaced with what will be the future pricing. $50 a brick of 22 LR won't last forever, but the prices will never be what they were in November 2012 again.



As for demand, it will slow down once people get comfortable with what they have stocked up, but until this administration leaves office (and even then only if the left doesn't win again in 2016) elevated firearms sales and especially ammo sales will continue.

All the conspiracy theories aside, people are worried (and rightly so IMHO) about the mid-term elections loosing the House to the left, one of the right leaning SCOTUS Justices retiring or dying, the next mass shooting, the economy taking another downturn, etc etc etc.

Scared people buy the same things from the beginning of time. Weapons, Gold, and Land. I don't see this time being any different.

Then again, what do I know? I have been wrong before, and will be wrong again.

i didnt even like the "old normal" prices for 22lr
even today, i can shoot all my centerfires for around a nickle a shot using cast boolits/shotgun powders and 4 cent primers. i love rimfire but it's cheaper to shoot cf.

[27judge]

I agree light to medium cast bullet loads in 30-06, 300 blackout, 30-30 ack imp, 357 mag, 41 mag, 45 auto and 44 mag and I shoot for a long time without taking my 22 rifles/pistol out of the safe. Its still a shame as I have a couple of real nice 22s that see very little use .I am holding back enough ammo for Squirrel hunting tks ken

[starmac]

22's are hard to beat for rabbits and grouse though, plus they are just plain fun.

[Charley]

Picked up a 375 round box of Federal for $25 at Waltopia last Saturday. Price wasn't bad, considering the scarcity.

[quilbilly]

Still haven't seen any fresh 22's around here but some of my retailer customers are now at almost full stock on primers.

[ffg]

Local gun/ pawn shop is selling regular ole plain jane .22 bricks for, are you ready for his, $150.
He said it is the only way he can keep it on the shelf, I told him he could keep it for sure.