Anyone else move away from .22s because of the shortage?

[Silvercreek Farmer]

I used to shoot a fair number of 22s, but during the shortage, I hoarded my small stash of .22s, and replaced them with light 38s as components were reasonably available. Now that the shortage is over, I don't really find myself shooting many 22s at all. I keep them in stock for the kids and wife, but I guess I just got into the habit of grabbing box of 38s. Anyone else?

[birch]

I still have a strong love affair with the 22. The only thing I have noticed after the shortage was over is I developed a new fondness for CCI standard Velocity. For a while, that is all our LGS could get in. Now, I have found that it is one rock solid and reliable .22 and I can't hardly stand to shoot the bulk ammo anymore.

.......but, a light loaded 38 special is something special as well.

[Bazoo]

I still love the 22. I lost all my stash right towards the end of the short in a housefire 3 years ago. I now have a few boxes on hand to keep moms single six and my model 60 going. I love the history of the 22, its mild report and no recoil. I like being to shoot a 22 rifle without ear protection.

[samari46]

Was in our local Walmart and shocked to see 22's on the shelves. Guess either the employees or gremlins figure they have enough salted away or since prices have dropped and availability increased they don't need to either sell it for inflated prices or hoard it. Frank

[therealhitman]

I am currently hoarding for the future. Federal for >.05 a round at Cabela's. Did the same around 2008 and so I never ran out during the long shortage. But I did slow down on .22s and shoot a lot more 9mm.

[Gtrubicon]

I did the same thing, I have a lot of 22, I mean a lot. I also have a 12 year old son that loves to shoot, a lot! I always replenish what we shoot, and once I couldn’t I put a 6” Ruger black hawk in his hands loaded with mild 38 and started teaching him how to shoot a pistol. He loved it so much that we bought him a model 92 Rossi lever in 38/357. That’s been a couple years now and when I ask him what he wants to shoot his answer is the 38, 357 guns.

[am44mag]

About the time I REALLY got into guns was when .22s became very hard to come by back around 2011-2012, and they stayed that way for years in my area. You still don't see the bulk packs like you used to. This had a major impact on what I bought, so as a result I've only owned two .22s over the years, and I only shoot them occasionally. Had the shortage not happened it might not have turned out that way, but when I can load and shoot 9mm, .223, and even 45 ACP for just a little bit more than what I could shoot .22 LR for, it just doesn't make a lot of sense for me. Those rounds are much more useful for real world applications than a .22 LR is, and while I see .22 LR as a valuable training tool, it just doesn't beat the real deal. If it ever gets to where I can reliably buy bulk ammo at $0.05 a round in my area, then I might become more interested in .22s.

That said, I love my Ruger Mark III and I'm gonna keep it until the day I die.

[Walks]

I had a case of REMINGTON std velocity target ammo & another case of FED 710. Plus at least another 3-4000 rds of odds & ends.
So there was no shortage for me. I also have a superbly accurate WINCHESTER Model 55. A single shot WIN made for only a few years in the late 1950's. A single shot rifle is a slow way to burn up ammo.
And SINGLE-SIXES & COLT PEACEMAKER .22's are a bit slow shooting too.
But take a REMINGTON 552 with one of those extra tube feeding devices & you can blow through a brick in a hurry.
I also learned not to shoot .22's with friends. They have ABSOLUTELY NO COMPUNCTION WHATSOEVER ABOUT HELPING THEMSELVES TO YOUR AMMO AT THE RANGE!!!!!! ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE ARE TWO OF THEM!!!!!
Made me stop shooting .22's unless I went alone.

[Bzcraig]

I had done the same and not shot 22 for about 10 years until 2 weeks ago. Man I had forgotten how fun shooting 22 was. Stocking up again.

[fatelk]

I never stopped shooting 22s, because I don’t shoot a lot and always had plenty for my needs. Now that the Federal bulk packs are plentiful on the shelves at Walmart for 3.6c/rnd I’ve been stocking up on them.

I enjoy the light .38s and 9mms too, but even though the monetary cost of components may be similar to the cost of .22 ammo, I just can’t compare the two. All I have to do for a thousand rounds of .22lr is pull a couple twenties out of my wallet, whereas a thousand .38s takes the same twenties plus all day casting, powder coating, and loading.

As much as I enjoy reloading, there does come a point when it becomes a chore, and when it’s no longer enjoyable I really have to start considering my time.

[bedbugbilly]

I pretty much did the same thing. I got tired of standing in line during the shortage and switched over to 38s just as you did. I ended up selling a couple of my 22s. I still have a couple that have sentimental value but I doubt if I will ever shoot them as much as I used to. I have a small stash of 22 S, L and LR put away - not large quantities worded but probably a couple K rounds total - some of it going back to when I was a kid over 50 years ago.

What always amazed me during the shortage was when I would go in to a gun shop and there would be people buying 22s. Maybe they had ammo at home but there certainly wasn't any on the shelf. I have a little Henry lever action 22 that I really like - but the shortage sort of soured me on 22s.

[GhostHawk]

Well I'm split on this one.

A part of me loves my Ruger 10/22, and I had stash, never ran out. But she got cleaned, oiled and put away in the safe.

Throughout I did continue to shoot my pair of Ruger Mk III 22/45's. Paid 9 to 10 cents a round in order to keep the stash I had. Burned old ammo my father in law sent home with me and stashed the new stuff.

Since prices came down I have restocked 2 or 3 times. I have grandchildren I hope to teach to shoot someday.

But for most shooting, yes, I switched.
I have a handful of calibers from .223 to .44mag and .444marlin that I can load and shoot for about the same cost as .22lr with a lot more thump on the far end.

Currently working on a pair of Handi rifles both in .44mag. Primer, 6.5 grains of Red Dot and 200 gr cast makes a fairly inexpensive load.

Poor old 10/22 stays in the safe.

[Geezer in NH]

22's are avail now at reasonable prices "buy it cheap, stack it deep" is an old theme.

[Lloyd Smale]

yup I shoot cast out of 9mms and 38s and 32s just as cheap. I haven't even shot one of my 22s in 2 years.

[Hickok]

I like to squirrel hunt with a .22 rifle. When the rimfire ammo got scarce, I got a CZ 527 22 Hornet, loaded it with cast at 22 magnum velocity and went to back to shooting squirrels.

[Hickory]

I still have 2 cases (10,000 rounds) unopened CCI standard velocity I bought at Camp Perry when they were around $160.00 a case.
Plus, I have an assortment of different 22's that might number into 2-3 thousand I shoot.
I don't know how long they will last but, I suspect that I have enough for a while.
I might visit shooters row next month, just to see what's there this year.

[Outpost75]

Same thing here.

I have a reasonable stock of .22s, but if I shot up that ammunition, its replacement cost would be about the same as loading .38 wadcutters.
This presumes that I am casting bullets from free, hoarded lead, and not counting my labor of course, because I find bullet casting and reloading recreational and not "work."

.32s are even cheaper to shoot. I even had a couple .32 rifles built to feed the Bunny Gun Fetish!

I am hopelessly doomed to Bunny Gun Pergatory!

Like the OP, the .22s get used for teaching women and kids the fundamentals. I don't even carry a .22 target pistol in the "survival ruck" anymore, but instead a 6" barrel S&W .38 Special which is as-accurate, but has better potential for small game larger than rabbits, and for defense against any threatening predators either 2-legged or 4-legged...

If I were reduced to owning only one handgun, it would be a .38 Special. A 5-gallon bucket full of wadcutters loaded on a Star machine is almost enough.

[marlin39a]

I've got enough .22lr to last several lifetimes. But unless we get rain here in Arizona, I'll never get to shoot it.

[glockfan]

is it possible that , said shortage may be happening in some states,but not in others?

while i was spending part of the winter at our VT cabin,i've visited many LGS's around,and there was no shortage ,prices on bulk were maybe not what they were before the obummer era,but it was still affordable .

now that i'm north of the border for couple months still...pfffft, i realize how cheap 22 is south of here.

however i don't restrict myself, a shooting session still start with 2-300 22's ,then the bigger boys jump on stage haha.

[2wheelDuke]

Most of the matches at my club revolve around .22lr. Fortunately I had a case of Aguila on hand before the shortages hit. But that really did limit my practice time, and eliminated .22lr range time just for fun.

Before that I used to shoot nearly a brick of .22lr a week.

Sadly I don't get to just blast away on steels like I used to. I'm trying to get a good reserve going, and most .22lr shooting I do is either matches, practice, or Appleseed style practice.