What sense does this make?

[I'll Make Mine]

I went to Dick's Sporting Goods today, was going to renew my hunting license (expires Feb. 5, because I bought it for the last few weeks of last year's rabbit/squirrel season); I went to the back to grab a couple boxes of .22 LR ammunition, different brands to test in my new Marlin 795 (to see what it likes).

There wasn't a single box of .22 LR in the store (though I could see through the grids in the ammunition cabinet that they had some larger caliber in stock, I couldn't read what chambering it was for); the store associate said it's been going out as fast as they can get it in.

Now, I understand there's been some panic buying going on in the wake of the Newtown shooting incident and the expectation that Congress or the President may/will increase gun purchase restrictions or even start requiring background checks for ammunition buys -- but seriously, panic buying .22 LR cartridges? Really?!

[targeteer63]

Here in Columbia SC there hasn't been a box of .22 since obama's reelection. Wally world, Sportsmans whse. our own Palmetto State Armory cannot find a brick of .22 any where. Ellet Bros dist. one of the biggest in the country says their shelves are empty. 10 million rounds of rimfire ammo sold out in a couple of weeks. Look at midway usa website. All but the most expensive .22 are gone and a lot of manufacturers are giving a Feb or Mar delivery date. Hoarding? Manufacturers not expecting the demand? Who knows. All I know is I'm not plinking like i used to.

[wv109323]

Yelp
There is nothing cheaper to defend yourself with or put meat on the table than a .22 RF. Many of the Doomsdayers think the .22 LR is the ideal rifle to have. You may have to shoot some one 5-6 to keep them out of your house but the .22 RF beats nothing. Most use a semi-auto with a high capacity magazine. ( Ruger 10/22 with a 25 round magazine). For under $30.00 you can have 500 rounds. That much .223 would be 150-175 at least.

[Bwana]

I can load 9mm/38 rounds for less than people buy 22 LR rounds for. Another great thing about reloading.

[Doc65]

In this run on guns, around here anyway, first the AR's went, followed with a lot of overlap by any & all the high capacity handguns, then the M1A & Mini-14's followed by the 10/22's(other than the very highend purpose built game-gun version at double to triple cost, there isn't a 10/22 to be had off the shelf in northern Utah), finally on to all the surplus .30 carbines. and of course all the panic buyers that grabbed all these up needed ammo for them. I did see a few bulk packs of Federal .22 at the LGS yesterday when I walked thru it after the rally on the capitol steps at $35 a 550, that seems high still, but that is their normal price, they are always a little higher than everywhere else. Just after Thanksgiving I saw ads for a few places at like $20 a brick, I almost bought a few. I didn't, don't really need it, I still have a few bricks that have $9.99 stickers on them.

[Jim]

I think the panic buying is based on fear of the unknown. People don't know what the gummint can do and don't know what's going to happen so they grab what they can while the grabbin's good. I view it like an impending storm. People see a forecast of a hurricane, heavy snow, torrential rains and stuff like that and they rush to the grocery store to stock up on food, batteries and the like.

There's another category of people that are contributing to the unavailability of ammo and such. There are those that know the shelves will be bare soon and buy what they can, not because they're scared of what's coming, but because they know others are going to clean the shelves. So, they contribute to the lack of ammo by buying what they can while it's there.

Most of the people here in Floyd are fairly level headed (present company excluded, of course), so they're not too concerned about the gummint enacting laws that would ban ammo and such. The locals are getting what they can because they know the market is being wiped out by those that are panic buying.

[Doc65]

Jim,

I agree, but I'll add a third catagory: the Profiteer - The ones that may or may not even have a use for the product, ammo in this case, buy as much as possible, and re-sell at heavily inflated prices once the shelves are bare. I've seen olcal online classifieds for 22's at $50 a brick. Sadly I've also seen those ads flagged as SOLD.

Doc

[Jack Stanley]

With the past administrations this country has had perhaps people are starting to realize the sky is the limit when a thug administrator is in command . Jims analogy of a hurricane forcast is an excellent one , some of the thugs in charge have talked about ammo tax for a long time now . I can't imagine normal people wanting to be taxed any more than they are . So maybe it is an issue of getting while the getting is good , no matter if they have enough already or not .

Jack

[Forrest r]

Why not one of the most popular calibers in the USA.

Casters/reloaders are the minority of the shooting world. Most shooters play/plink with 22’s & think nothing of burning up a box (500+ round bulk packs) at the range playing around with their 10-22’s, MKI’s/MkII’s/MKIII’S, model 60’s, buckmarks, conversion kits, dedicated uppers, ect. Try buying 500 357’s on the other hand for $20.

Heck, I was at the range yesterday shooting some 50ft nra slowfire targets with my 1911 with a Marvel unit 1 conversion kit on it & managed to go thru 100 rounds of 22lr between plinking with a 38spl.

I have/own a lot of different target pistols/rifles in 22lr & I buy ammo by the case. Normally when I restock I’ll buy several different cases of ammo a year. Call it the mentality of a rimfire owner/shooter but when I buy ammo I don’t play around, I buy ammo. If there’s 10 bricks of ammo there then I buy 10 bricks. When I buy primers for reloading centerfires I buy cases (5000) of them at a time, not 100. Gun powder is the same way, I like to buy 4#/5#/8# caddy’s of my favorite powders if I can.
Every time I go to the range at least 1 rimfire goes with me.

[Jim]

Jim,

I agree, but I'll add a third catagory: the Profiteer - The ones that may or may not even have a use for the product, ammo in this case, buy as much as possible, and re-sell at heavily inflated prices once the shelves are bare. I've seen olcal online classifieds for 22's at $50 a brick. Sadly I've also seen those ads flagged as SOLD.

Doc

That's right, Doc. I didn't think of that and appreciate you bringin' that up.

If I'm to be shamed for participating in the panic buying, then I need to man up and own up.

A coupla' weeks back, I dropped by the local 'Mom & Pop' gunshop just to visit and chew the fat with Harold. While there, UPS showed up with a few boxes. Harold is on an oxygen tube and doesn't move around like he used to, so I offered to open the boxes and help him inventory the delivery. One of the line items was two bricks of CCI Standard Velocity .22LR ammo. I bought one of the bricks on the spot, thus eliminating his merchandise in that caliber by 50%.

It ain't like I didn't have any at the house, but I knew supplies were getting scarce, so I bought a brick. I'd rather have it and not want it than the other way around.

[2wheelDuke]

I haven't seen .22lr in stock in a while here. I don't use the expensive stuff for matches, but middle of the road price-wise. I'd been procrastinating about ordering from the CMP for months, and finally got around to it when I saw .22lr gone everywhere. Now they're backordered at least a month or two on .22lr there.

I'm glad I ordered a case when I did, or it may get to where I'd be really limited on practicing for matches and having ammo to shoot them.

I just saw a guy on florida gun trader selling bricks of .22lr for $50 each. I thought better of speaking my mind to him in an e-mail.