22 LR ammo woes.....

[imsoooted]

well, after trying hard to remember just how much 22 ammo i had stashed/collected, i decided i should make sure. so i go into the "gunroom" and open the ammo locker, and there are my tidy little Berry's Bullets containers, all holding 400 tightly packed 22 rounds. you all know where i am going with this i am sure. when we go to the club for a shoot, i send the kids to collect their own ammo. so to my dismay, i just found out by opening the containers, that they always picked a full one, leaving the last one with 50-100 rounds left in the locker.uh-oh... so.....where is all the 22LR ammo???????? i cant seem to find any locally that isnt 3 or 4 times the normal price.
$70/brick is not gonna cut it. any leads?? thx.........soooted

[Ickisrulz]

well, after trying hard to remember just how much 22 ammo i had stashed/collected, i decided i should make sure. so i go into the "gunroom" and open the ammo locker, and there are my tidy little Berry's Bullets containers, all holding 400 tightly packed 22 rounds. you all know where i am going with this i am sure. when we go to the club for a shoot, i send the kids to collect their own ammo. so to my dismay, i just found out by opening the containers, that they always picked a full one, leaving the last one with 50-100 rounds left in the locker.uh-oh... so.....where is all the 22LR ammo???????? i cant seem to find any locally that isnt 3 or 4 times the normal price.
$70/brick is not gonna cut it. any leads?? thx.........soooted

Plenty of shot shell and premium LR to be had--ha, ha. The bulk stuff is out everywhere. Try to hit Walmart in the AM and you might get lucky. If my memory is correct, 22 hasn't exactly been all that plentiful in the last 4 years anyway. I had to pay attention to when it was actually in stock and normally bought 5000 rounds when I could online. Put your e-mail on some of the sites that give notification when stuff comes available (Grafs and others).

I really do enjoy shooting the 22s. No labor and quieter. I only have about 5K rounds left and that won't last me even a year as I shoot everyday. I am set for all centerfire I shoot for about 3 years. So I should be happy--but I'm not.

[DCM]

As Ickisrulz said reasonably priced good 22LR has been very hit or miss for a while now.
I do have some old T-bolt I would be willing to send you for the cost of shipping it though. [smilie=1: :bigsmyl2:

[Trey45]

I gave my last living uncle a 550 round bulk pack of Federals last week and traded the neighbor a 550 round bulk pack of Remington 22's (not thunderbolts) for some food storage supplies a couple days ago. If I had known that bricks are going for 70 bucks I might have asked for a few more supplies than I did.

[xs11jack]

I worked at Wallyworld for a short time, and we usually got the nightly resupply truck about 12am to 1 am. All the frieght that came on the truck had to be stocked by 6:00am. Coming in somewhere around 5:00am, you might get a head start on the usual crowd. Obviously not every wallyworld will get thier truck at that time, but next time you are there ask an employee what time they get the trunk each nite.
Jack

[imsoooted]

thanks for the generous offer DCM, you are a good sort. i am sure there is some kid close to you who needs that ammo more than mine. i will take the advice posted here and try to get on a backorder list somewhere. thanks to all .
soooted

[WILCO]

any leads?? thx.........soooted

http://www.gunbot.net/

[Blacksmith]

Military surplus .22 LR from the CMP that sold for $150 a case delivered last fall is now selling on GunBroker for as much as $655 a case delivered. The CMP is accepting backorders for new manufacture Agila .22LR which they don't expect delivery of until the end of April, and they expect the shipment will be sold out before it is delivered.

Keep checking I just scored two bricks for $49.90 each at a LGS. I only got that because I am a regular customer and the ammo is for a junior shooting program. They have .22 but have a two box limit and the price is $4.99 a box for CCI standard velocity. Now I just need to find two more bricks before the shooting camp the end of March.

[bob208]

i have a good supply of .22. seams like i get into a project and buy a bunch then finish up with a bunch left over. then about a year ago i saw this comming. i started then buying 4-5 boxes a week or more when ever i got buy the wally world.

[HighHook]

4 years ago this was my story. Next year when this settles down be sure to buy buy buy.

[dakotashooter2]

What you have to do is check the little " hole in the wall" places.......... often the little "backwoods" gas stations have some that everyone overlooks because it may be the only ammo they carry.................

[shooter93]

I was actually suprised at how high 22 rim fire went. Last time I bought 22 ammo it was 109 for 5000 and we literally bought a ton. Still have a number of cases left. I may be optimistic but I think prices will begin to fall by summer maybe a but sooner if they stop the weapons ban.

[jonas302]

Picked up some at mills fleet farm last weekend rem golden bullets 525 for $18
It was the only 22 they had and I sure appeciated no price hike they always have the lowest priced ammo anywhere

[Ickisrulz]

Midsouth allowed me to place Federal bulk packs on backorder. I paid about $220 for 10 525 packs shipped to my door. When that will be...who knows, but I'm in line.

[btroj]

I would have bought way more blazers locally when they had em for 8.99 per 500 years back. Only have about 8 more of those left.

[bob208]

i still have some remington mohawk with a sticker that has .65 on the box of 50.

[MtGun44]

". . . . $0.65 per 50"

Back when the dollar was still worth something.

In addition to the panic buying, copper is at almost $4 - highest ever was
$4.50 or so in late 2010. Lead is over $1 with a 5 yr high of $1.50 in early
2008, so not only shortages of the ammo, but the raw materials are still
very high - or the dollar is very low, depending on your point of view.

Double whammy, demand 10 times normal and expensive raw materials.

Bill

[1Shirt]

A friend of mine reports that he was in a Cheaper than Dirt store in Texas, and that they were selling a box (50rds) of 22LR (didn't say what brand) for $10. 87. Definate gouging!
1Shirt!

[WILCO]

A friend of mine reports that he was in a Cheaper than Dirt store in Texas, and that they were selling a box (50rds) of 22LR (didn't say what brand) for $10. 87. Definate gouging!
1Shirt!

Supply and demand sets the market price. Vote with your wallet. I do.

[WILCO]

". . . . $0.65 per 50"

Back when the dollar was still worth something.

In addition to the panic buying, copper is at almost $4 - highest ever was
$4.50 or so in late 2010. Lead is over $1 with a 5 yr high of $1.50 in early
2008, so not only shortages of the ammo, but the raw materials are still
very high - or the dollar is very low, depending on your point of view.

Double whammy, demand 10 times normal and expensive raw materials.

Bill

You're right Bill. But folks just like to demand products at cheaper prices without understanding basic economics. It must be greed......

[Rex]

Anyone remember Remington Rockets? Came in a flat box like chicklets chewing gum. Our small town grocery store carried them and they were the cheapest thing us kids could get ahold of. Don't remember the price but us kids would run the grader ditches picking up pop and beer bottles to sell to afford them.
Rex

[Blacksmith]

Yep, and it kept the ditches clean at $0.02 a bottle.

[quilbilly]

Picked up a brick of 500 American Eagles yesterday for $27(incl sales tax) at Forks Outrfitters in Forks, Wa. The manager has about a dozen bricks left out of a couple pallets six weeks ago. He mailed a brick to a fellow on Whidbey Island last week who didn't care about the shipping charge. Shooters from hundreds of miles away have been stopping at the store which is also an Ace Hardware. You can't get much farther off the beaten track than Forks.

[marlin39a]

I'm sitting on a good supply of .22LR these days. But went to my local Wally for some CB's. Almost 10 bucks for a 100 pack. I guess I should buy today before they hit $20.00.

[shooter93]

And 5 cents for the big bottles which was like discovering a gold mine.

[Rex]

We got 5 cents for a beer bottle to.

[LAH]

We got 5 cents for a beer bottle to.

Big money those days.

[Rick N Bama]

A friend of mine reports that he was in a Cheaper than Dirt store in Texas, and that they were selling a box (50rds) of 22LR (didn't say what brand) for $10. 87. Definate gouging!
1Shirt!

A friend of mine that has just bought his one & only 22 paid $13.00 for a box of SK at a local LGS. Time was when the dealer would have tossed a couple boxes in on the deal!

Rick

[oldred]

Anyone remember Remington Rockets? Came in a flat box like chicklets chewing gum.


Yep and the Peters "Thunderbolt" version also packaged the same way.

[Iowa Fox]

Anyone remember Remington Rockets? Came in a flat box like chicklets chewing gum. Our small town grocery store carried them and they were the cheapest thing us kids could get ahold of. Don't remember the price but us kids would run the grader ditches picking up pop and beer bottles to sell to afford them.
Rex

I shot a lot of the Rockets and Thunderbolts when I was a kid. The Remingtons were in a red pack and the Peters were in a blue pack. If my old memory is halfway close they were selling for 29 cents a pack when they first came out here. I think there were 30 in the pack.

[ROGER4314]

I know the shortages are frustrating so I won't lecture. The fact is, though we had months of warning when .22 LR went from not common to NONE! You don't have to be on the backside of the wave. We saw this coming for a long time. Why not evaluate what you have and what you need BEFORE the blade drops?

The only things that are readily available and inexpensive right now are 12 gauge shotgun shells. 20 gauge and .410 shells are getting uncommon. What does that tell you about what shortage is coming next?

Flash

[Ickisrulz]

I know the shortages are frustrating so I won't lecture. The fact is, though we had months of warning when .22 LR went from not common to NONE! You don't have to be on the backside of the wave. We saw this coming for a long time. Why not evaluate what you have and what you need BEFORE the blade drops?

The only things that are readily available and inexpensive right now are 12 gauge shotgun shells. 20 gauge and .410 shells are getting uncommon. What does that tell you about what shortage is coming next?

Flash

The fact is that people on this forum range from the very wealthy to the dirt poor. For some, stockpiling several years worth of everything is just not doable. There are people that buy a pound of powder, a box of primers or carton of 22s when they can. Laying out a thousand dollars at one time might not be possible.

[ROGER4314]

If you evaluate your needs and figure that you need three bricks of .22 for the coming year but only have one brick. You see a shortage coming so buying two bricks for $30-40 total just makes good sense. I'm retired. You guys can't be living on less money than I'm living on!

From witnessing our market habits, I suggest that 12 gauge shells will be next on the "where the heck did the ammo go?" list, so you might want to ponder on that while it's available. Five boxes of Estate field loads would cost about $30 and if you need it, it would be in your supply cabinet. That's doable, too.

My suggestion was that the time to do that is now, not after the hammer falls and that the shortages are easy to see coming.

Flash

[Ickisrulz]

If you evaluate your needs and figure that you need three bricks of .22 for the coming year but only have one brick. You see a shortage coming so buying two bricks for $30-40 total just makes good sense. I'm retired. You guys can't be living on less money than I'm living on!

From witnessing our market habits, I suggest that 12 gauge shells will be next on the "where the heck did the ammo go?" list, so you might want to ponder on that while it's available. Five boxes of Estate field loads would cost about $30 and if you need it, it would be in your supply cabinet. That's doable, too.

My suggestion was that the time to do that is now, not after the hammer falls and that the shortages are easy to see coming.

Flash

If you read some people's posts, you will see that some are worse off than you are and cannot afford to buy multiple bricks of ammo all at once. Fortunately, this is not me...but there are some this applies to.

[imsoooted]

actually, in my case it was simply not paying attention to my stock.22 ammo has always been "there".now it is scarce, but it is available. i just came home from the gun club after serving my "range day" as rso. a man came to the range and told a very sad tale about his wife who has been diagnosed with cancer. he then said that he waws in dire need of cash to keep things going at home. he dropped the tailgate of his old ford and there he had 60000 rounds of cci standard velocity ammo. 10 cases.thankfully us rso's were right there and the vultures never got to him. the club president took him aside and a deal was struck. now our smallbore team, the boy scouts, and 2 rotc groups will have ammo for a long time. the man left grateful for being paid more than he asked. the club is grateful to have the ammo. all is good. the posters here have valid points, look to the future, and do your best.
soooted

[gifford]

It is certainly taking diligence and quick on the CC and order form. The .22 ammo thread here and similar ones on other sites do help out. This is the first time I've seen current conditions on .22 ammo. I've got a reasonable supply as I buy continously as funds permit, the buy two and shoot one way of building up an ammo locker.

[Blacksmith]

Just as an visual illustration of the status take a look at the chart of .22's on this site, out of everything (some I didn't know existed) except shot shells.
http://www.ammobank.com/cgi-bin/cshop/store/catdisp.tam?xax=95124&cartridge_gauge.ctx=.22%20LR&catagory.ctx=RIMFIRE

[ffg]

When I was a kid ( a long long time ago ) I would buy a box of 22 shorts for .19 cents no sales tax and LR .35 cents at the Western Auto store.
Every grocery store and drug store had ammo, and would sell to a kid .
Boy have things changed.

[Got-R-Did]

I feel your pain Fellows. I learned from my Mentor to buy it cheap and stack it deep. Before I retired the first time, I took my retroactive payraise check to the CMP North Store in the late 90s and picked up 37,500 rds of the old Olin White box SV ammo from the 70s like I used to shoot on the JROTC Smallbore teams. Also picked up 13K rds of the M2 Ball for my Garands. Stupid van only got 19 mpg coming home, but then gas was only $1.89 per gallon so not too bad. I am down to a few cans of the M2 and less than 10K rds of .22 so I am curtailing my usual shooting schedule with the rimfires. As a handloader, the .30-06 ammo isn't an issue, but finding a suitable replacement for my rimfires will be a problem.
Will be chatting with my local Wally World stock clerk very soon.
Cheers,
Got-R-Did.

[Bad Water Bill]

I am afraid a lot of mom and pop gun stores are going to close their doors. Even if they jacked up their prices they will not be able to keep their doors open with empty shelves and display cases.

Then IF some stuff becomes available how will they be able to pay the new inflated dealer prices.

[beagle]

This reminds me of when I was a kid. This was during the war and .22s were very scarce and shotgun shells were non-existent. My dad had a Model 34 Remington .22 that he used when we killed hogs and he'd squirrel hunt with it in the fall. He had about half ajar of .22 short HPs that stayed in the kitchen on the top shelf. Being a youngster, I was not allowed use of the .22 due to a near accident when day was younger. Finally, he decided to let me use it at grandpa's farm and I had a ball. I emptied his jar of .22s and still thinking that .22 was short, he was not a happy camper. Then, he discovered that .22 was again available and all was forgiven. I'll never forget the look on his face when he discovered that his carefully hoarded stok of .22s was gone in an afternoon of glory./beagle

[kaptain kartridge]

I checked the garage and found I had 2000 rds. I have a friend who knows a shop owner, and we are buying 6 bricks more at same price the shop pays, I think about $20.00 a brick. That should last a couple of years for me.

[Blacksmith]

I saw 10 or 12 100 round boxes of CCI .22 Short for $10.39 a box at a LGS, I left them for the next guy.

[tiwimon]

50 round box of Eley Match 22 LR here in Southeast MO in the store yesterday was 14.99. I believe that's about normal for match ammo - but its a sign of the times when folks are stocking up on match ammo at 15 bucks a 50!

[dakotashooter2]

50 round box of Eley Match 22 LR here in Southeast MO in the store yesterday was 14.99. I believe that's about normal for match ammo - but its a sign of the times when folks are stocking up on match ammo at 15 bucks a 50!

Might as well be shooting a 22 hornet at that price....................

[spunky5180]

Have been putting my name on some of the lists that will actually notify you when something arrives and have been able to stock up about 10,000 rds that way. You have to be quick when that notification arrives. Watched Natches' site crash one night.

[Blacksmith]

On Feb.21 the CMP updated their ammo announcement, the first one was on Feb.4. Here is the section of the update dealing with .22LR.

AGUILA .22LR AMMO. As is the case with many other sellers of .22LR ammo, the CMP has been sold out. We had posted information that we were expecting a resupply in April or May. The distributor has just informed us that the manufacturer "maybe" will deliver 200-300 cases by the end of May, but the remainder of our order will not be delivered until "maybe" October. Many of our customers have already ordered from us and we will fill the orders as the ammo arrives, oldest order to newest order. Thank you for your understanding of what is currently happening to the ammo market in the US.

[km101]

I was in the local Walmart last night, and went by the "outdoor counter". (they dont sell guns anymore) They did not have any 22lr and the only handgun ammo on the shelf was Wolf .380acp in FMJ.

The kid at the counter said that they had not had any .22lr, or handgun ammo come in for better than a week. Nothing at all!! You know its getting bad when the "World's Largest Retailer" cant get ammo.

Tighten your belts boys! It's gonna be a long hard ride.

[Bad Water Bill]

Not to worry.

That is the reason many of us took up casting and reloading years ago.

[kavemankel]

The BWB you are absolutely right.
On past reloading component stock that I purchased I can shoot everything else almost as cheap as shooting 22lr at current prices.