the .22 ammo shortage, who are you?

[lx2008]

hi, this has been troubling me as i`m sure it has all of you for some time now.
this shortage is about as bad as it gets. but, i`m asking all that reply to this post to be honest!

how many of you that found bricks of walmart 525`s or 550`s or other good bulk ammo
bought thousands & thousands of rounds, more than you can use in a few months and then
when out and sold them at the extremely high going rate on the web? and still continue to
find them at store price ( when available) and keep selling them at these high prices?

people can say what they want about manufacturers not keeping up but if prices are to come down
these horders and sellers are going to have to stop!

i know people who wait at the counter when they off load trucks at my local walmart, buy them all
at their price and then go auction them off on web sites. ( i know this to be fact because one of the fellows
is a friend of mine and he says he has done this for the past year now). he said he makes enough profit
to get his for free. until these people stop this ****, or others stop buying at these high prices, we are never
going to be free of this shortage!

[WallyM3]

I know this is a negative answer to your question, but, despite a seller account on GB, I have neither bought nor sold (except a one 525 to an acquaintance at loss) 22 LR ammo in three or four years.

[bangerjim]

I keep what I bought years ago. Since the prices went to crapola, I have not bought any. And I do not shoot any either! I can reload ANY of my cal's with reduced loads of cast PC'd boolits for less than I can buy 22's these days!!!!!

I despise those filthy clowns that stand in line at Walmart every morning to try and cash in on the limited number of bricks they have, then flip them at gun shows or on-line. Evil, disgusting people, the lot of 'em. If you want to earn money.......GET A JOB you bums!! Instead of stealing ammo for kids.


bangerjim

[destrux]

I think most of the people doing that are people outside of the shooting community.

They're the same people that watch to see what kids toy will be popular each Christmas and then they camp out at stores to buy as many as they can even though they don't even have any kids. Then they sell them on eBay to the people who were behind them in line that didn't get them cause they sold out.

That's the free market.

Even if people didn't do it, the stuff would still be gone from the shelves because people are still buying from the scalpers even for absurd prices so they'd buy it all up from the stores anyway.

It's a combination of all the new shooters we gained this past two years and the people who aren't happy to have "only" a couple thousand rounds on hand.

Edit: I just want to be clear that I don't agree with the scaplers and mark-up artists doing what they're doing, I still think they're scumbags. They're just not the cause of the shortage.

Also, I've never sold any .22LR, just want to make that clear here too.

[bubba.50]

the key to the solution is in the second half of yer statement. this will keep on until people quit payin' gouger prices. when they hafta start eatin' their hoarded stash for supper it'll come down.

[RogerDat]

I'm annoyed that the shops seem to not care. By simply moving the time of day they put out stock around at random they can put a stop to the "zombie" buyers camping out to be first in line. I have made a point of suggesting this at every store I do business with that sells ammo or reloading supplies. No interest from managers I have talked to. Just sort of an eh? reaction.

I had to dig some out of my stash to provide to my brother in law when he gave a .22 rifle to one of their grandkids. BTW - my stash is from purchases years ago and is probably about 500 rds.

[500MAG]

If I was able to get them at Walmart, I'd buy all I could. I would not sell them. The key to stopping this problem is to stop buying it a those stupid prices. It's the same situation with all the reloading items last year. I'm sure people ended up getting stuck with a bunch of stuff.

[Beagle333]

It's not even close to over. I been sitting on one brick (just so I don't have a reason to sell my .22 rifles) for 2 years. But our WM got a pallet in, and one of the guys from work was bragging about how he took his wife, daughters, in-laws and brother up there, twice, to get all he could at the 2 brick limit. He said he got 10K. Until folks like that get a basement full of .22 shells..... I'll just keep on shooting my cast loads and not thinking about it. Let em stockpile. It's a bit annoying, but it's not keeping me from shooting. I wouldn't be on the CastBoolits forum if all I shot was .22s.
Thanks to all who posted their wisdom and experience and freed me from any worry about the supply. I make my own boolits now!!

[calaloo]

I have a boat load of all types of .22 ammo. All of it from long before the crunch. I have not bought any at the ridiculous prices but I did think about selling some of it. But I didn't. I have given some away though. I don't know what it will take to get things back on an even keel but I wont be a part of the problem.
Calaloo

[FLHTC]

I have about 20,000 rounds of combined rimfire ammunition because i've gone through this kind of shortage before with Slick Willie. Just shoot something else until it passes because it will, but it might take a few more years.

[historicfirearms]

I had a brick of thunderbolts in my hands at Cabellas this week. $26 for 500. I put it back on the shelf. Who are these people that are buying it for $60 plus from the scalpers?

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

hi, this has been troubling me as i`m sure it has all of you for some time now.
this shortage is about as bad as it gets. but, i`m asking all that reply to this post to be honest!
...snip

YAY, another 22LR thread...but I'll pipe in anyway.


This 22LR thing is about over, I've seen 22LR ammo in most places local to me, that are serious about selling ammo, but it's at the NEW price, which is $5 to $6 per box of 50 for the econo-ammo. I don't think you'll see it on the shelf for much cheaper ever again.


Who cares, nothing you can do !


NOW, do you want to keep worrying about 22LR
OR prepare for the next shortage ?


Next up is Powder.

Yeah, it's been spotty lately, but it's about to get worse, much worse. Yes, It's gone up about 25% in the last 18 months, but the manufacturers see what has happened to 22LR and they'll want a piece of that. I predict a powder shortage to rival the 22LR shortage ...afterwhich, the new price will be $50+ per pound for the previously inexpensive powders, and $75+ for rarer powders that are typically "batch run", so there will be annual seasonal shortages, just like the brass manufacturers do with 30-40 krag and 22 hornet and other rare calibers.


So, lx2008, Are you gonna stock up ?
or am I gonna be able to tell you, "I told you so"
Good Luck,
Jon

[GRUMPA]

Next up is Powder.

Yeah, it's been spotty lately, but it's about to get worse, much worse. Yes, It's gone up about 25% in the last 18 months, but the manufacturers see what has happened to 22LR and they'll want a piece of that. I predict a powder shortage to rival the 22LR shortage .


So, lx2008, Are you gonna stock up ?
or am I gonna be able to tell you, "I told you so"
Good Luck,
Jon

I see it now, I have folks that want this and that so I give them a list. A person that had a list traveled from the north to the south of AZ and came up short.

As most know I offer reformed brass, just in the 300BO line I went from 25-30k a month to maybe 4-5k a month. Most of them pretty much say the same thing, they can't find the powder they want like they used to.

[nannyhammer]

We are starting to see .22 show up again. I refuse to pay anybody their jacked up prices and hope that they get stuck with the ones they are trying to sell. When the shortage first started I had about 1000 rounds total. Those rounds where split up between my dad who is disabled, my brother's teenage son and myself. Since they live on a farm they needed .22 ammo more than I do. As an interim fix I just shot more .38/9mm cast bullets to make up the difference. As .22 rounds have re-appeared I have built back up to about 2000 rounds of WW bulk/CCI mini-mags and CB Longs. I don't ever see myself sitting over several thousand rounds of any kind of ammo.

[fatelk]

The bulk of the problem is with people who think that for some reason or another .22 ammo or gunpowder will be unavailable or extremely expensive in the future, so they need to stockpile absolutely all they can get their hands on now. if all these folks suddenly stopped buying more than they would have in normal times of plenty, it would be back on the shelves in short order.

People who think that this is a bubble that will end someday don't stockpile the basement full. The "gougers and flippers" only reinforce the fear by clearing the shelves; it's the "hoarders and preppers" causing the shortage.

I think perhaps a better question would be, for those of you who are stockpiling like it's the end of the world: what specifically leads you to believe that rimfire ammo or powder will be exceptionally rare or expensive in years to come?

1. Future government regulation causing crazy high prices? (our friends in other countries know about this)

2. OPEC limiting production to maintain profits? (Organization of Powder Extruding Companies)

3. Never-ending high demand with supply never catching up? (Contrary to the law of supply and demand)

4. Some end-of-the-world scenario, where supply is completely cut off? (Martial law & UN death camps, zombie apocalypse, meteor strike doomsday, etc.)

Personally I think that eventually manufacturers will catch up, and people will wise up and stop buying quantities they'll never use. But that's just me, and I have been wrong before.

[fatelk]

Oh, as to the original question; yes, I sold a bunch of 22 ammo last year on gunbroker, for an embarrassingly huge profit.

I haven't actually bought any in years. I had many thousands of rounds that I had accumulated over the years and not shot, most from an estate sale. I had also just gotten laid off, new baby and medical bills, sold our house for a loss and moved for a new job, in that order and over the course of just a couple months.

I somehow felt a little guilty from the crazy prices the ammo got bid up to, but the buyer set the price, not me. It was a rough time that I don't even care to remember and I needed the money. Even then I wouldn't do something as cheesy as wait in line at 5am and call various relatives and acquaintances to come help buy me their quota so I could flip it to some poor desperate sucker online for a few measly bucks.

Even if I didn't think it was unethical (I do), no way it would be worth my time. I'd just as soon stand on a street corner with a cardboard sign.

"Anything helps"? Nah
"Out of work and hungry"? Nah
"Why lie, I just need a beer"? Nah, not for me.
"Please give me money for booze and drugs because I'm either too lazy to work or just plain unemployable"? No
"Will Work For Ammo"? There we go!

[trails4u]

I had 3-4K rounds....piled up over the years. Some I still have...some I gave to a Boy Scout troop through this site. I really don't think about 22lr too much. We hunt squirrels with it, shoot targets with the kids....but I've never experienced a personal 'shortage' of it, so we just keep rollin'.... Find me a kid that can't shoot because they don't have it, and I'll have less than I have now.

[plmitch]

We've been lucky here. No real shortage of .22 at all. Just cheap people not willing to pay the asking price. OK with me, give me a better selection. Haven't sold any myself. It would be pointless to try. Too easy to find anywhere.

[bobthenailer]

From my 50+ years of being a avid shooter , reloader and boolet caster it seemes about every 10 years or so, just about everything almost doubles in price !

as far as 22lr i have pleanty on hand for my needes for a few years, i currently shoot 100 to 150 rounds per week and would shoot more if the supply & prices ever went back to normal.

Ive sold a few hundred to 2 friends,

and gave my BIL 3 boxes of fed AM for his BD and 5 boxes of fed AM for Christmas 2013.

also gave my grandson 2- 550 packs when i handed down his moms and aunt's Chipmunk 22 rifle i bought for them when they were 9 ,
I gave it to him in the summer of 2013 when he was 8

I just recently got him his first deer rifle a Rem #7 youth model in 7/08 with a 2x7 vx2 leupold scope , i worked up some reduced pratice loads with the speer TNT 110gr hp and 5744 powder @1,700 fps will group 1/4 inch at 50 yards , he is not gitting it until next year when he is 10 ,

I tried cast and the throat is to short for use in his rifle.

[Bonz]

I quit shooting my 22's until after this drought is over. Hard enough these days to cover the cost of reloading components ...