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.

[FISH4BUGS]

I shoot cast 9mm, 38, 357, 44 special and 44 mag cheaper than a .22. Why bother?
The last 22 I shot was getting rid of a chipmunk that took up residence in the garden. Those were shotshells that I have had for 25 years.

[WebMonkey]

the "shortage" irritated me for sure.

i, however, enjoy/utilize the .22 rimfire quite a bit so i continued to shoot it.

hunting small game for myself or kids grandkids.
plinking fun and serious firearm handling instruction for whoever :)
dispatching meatgoats or trapped varmints.

those will always have a prominent place here at the homestead.

i did swap out the suppressed p22 for the g26 with cast handloads for woods walking.

i'm trying to be more prepared for the next .22 rimfire drought.

;)

[375supermag]

Hi...
Barely noticed the shortages around here.
I had and continue to have a large supply of.22 ammunition.
I shot as much .22 as I wanted during the shortages.
I also was able to replenish my supplies.
My experience was that if you looked hard enough you could find .22 ammunition although prices were much higher than pre shortage and the selection and availability might be hit and miss.

[WILCO]

I still have a strong love affair with the 22.

Me too! During the drought, I purchased an air rifle and pellets. Now they're on the shelve.

[WILCO]

I am currently hoarding for the future.

Wise man. Congratulations.

[jimlj]

I did not shoot as much 22 during the shortage, but I still shot it when I wanted to.

It was true you could reload some calibers of ammo for less than the price of .22lr, but as was pointed out before, the time involved in reloading had to be taken into consideration.

Lucky for me after the first "shortage" several years ago I stocked up and had a fairly good stash on hand. I usually buy more than I shoot now for the next time.

[TenTea]

Shortage? What shortage? :kidding:

Had a plenty and shot a plenty before, during and after...still have a plenty. :-D

[JoeJames]

I was ok during the Hussein shortage. For years before that I'd pick up a carton or so at Walmart on a regular basis. But after I got my 44 Special, I got back into reloading due to factory ammo running about a dollar a caliber - 50 round box for $44. And then I learned I could load more accurate loads than the normal factory ammo that was available locally. Then got back into loading 38 Special wc's and swc's, and 32 S&W Longs. Turns out that now I just don't shoot much 22 anymore.

[fatelk]

I’ll pick up a box or two at Walmart, $19.92/Federal 550rnd, and think now I’ve got plenty.

A month later I’ll be there again, see the shelves stacked high, and think “That’s sure a good price compared to what they were”, and I’ll buy a couple bricks with the thought that now I have plenty.

Then, a month later...

[RogerDat]

I still have some of my Y2K prep supply of 22's on hand. If you are too young to know what Y2K was use Google!
Had a tendency to use some and replace some. Don't use it much, kids are grown and only wife and one daughter use it as a rule. However I still will pick up a bulk pack from time to time. Like knowing a long day of plinking, even with family along won't make me feel like I'm running low. My motto: shoot 200 then pick up a 333 bulk pack. Same thing with primers. Use one box then go buy two.

I do light load 38's and milder .223 rounds as a substitute. I think a lever action for the 38/357 would be a nice addition but a mild accurate 30-30 load could fill the same purpose.

[mold maker]

I'll never be without again. The shortage taught me a lesson not to be forgotten in this lifetime. During the shortage, I had 3 granddaughters become responsible enough to learn and had no ammo for their crickets. Although the situation has been rectified, not being able to spend that time with them hurt.
They are now proficient with 223 and 9mm and are learning to reload.

[bangerjim]

I haven’t shot a 22 in over 2 years. I light load 30cal, 38SPL, and 45LC (both revolvers and long guns) for use in 22-like plinging. Using those is more like loading and shooting a REAL gun, rather than those little teeny toy-like 22’s.

Shot a ton of 22’s in the by-gone days when they were dirt cheap, but it is so easy and cheap to use REAL cals now, why bother paying 7-10 cents/round for those silly little things. But.....I have a s-pot full of 22’s stored up. Guess I need to start burning thru them.

Bring on the rains in AZ! I am sick of shooting inside at Caswells.

Bangerjim

[redhawk0]

I'm an ammo hoarder...always have been...didn't change my shooting habits during the drought...but I have since replenished my depleting stock...back up to over 10K again.

redhawk

[reddog81]

I never stopped shooting it during the shortage. I did and still do regularly shoot a box or 2 at each range trip. It was still possible to find the stuff during the shortage, it just took more work. The manufacturers were pumping the rounds out as quickly as possible.

The problem was a self inflicted spiral. I bet 95% of people posting on this thread had their stockpile double or more during the "shortage".

The biggest cause for me to drift from .22's was starting to cast and being able to shoot 9mm, .38's and even .45's for about the same price as .22's.

[RogerDat]

I'm still kicking myself for not buying a couple or three 22 firearms when everyone was dumping them due to no ammo available. There were some real deals to be had. A nice lever action or a bolt action with a scope at fire sale prices could be found then but now with ammo availability decent again those deals are gone.

If you reload you saw .38 or 9mm as being potentially almost as cheap as the .22 rim fire. If you cast the economics favored the center fire cartridges even more. Probably still do. However if you only buy your ammo then the .22 is still an economical choice. At 7 cents each it is half the price of 9mm even in bulk. At a cost of 7 cent per round one can shoot 200 rounds for $15 and have a choice of rifle styles or pistol types to shoot them from. Going to Wally Mart and buying center fire ammo $15 won't go nearly as far.

[Big Tom]

I had a few thousand rounds of .22 that got me through the shortage. Primarily shoot my 10/22, 1911 conversion and AR15 conversion with it - fun and inexpensive. Initially I started reloading more of the other calibers, but then started using them - ultimately, that was why I had them piled up to begin with. Now slowly rebuilding that stock...

[ShooterAZ]

I love shooting my 22's, and would never give them up. I had plenty of ammo throughout the shortage, and still have plenty now. If you aren't stocked up, prepare now for the next shortage because you never know what's gonna happen next!

[trapper9260]

I use the 22lr on my trap line and even when Zero was in office. but limit on how much I use.I made sure to just use it on the trap line only. Just got to stock up now with bulk of 22lr of Blazer for 4 cents for it and just made the order and will be here some time next week. i had you can say bite the bullet to do it for how it is for me. But it will be a life time stock for me with what I have on hand also. With this past of how it was with 22lr. I had got to have just about most of my other center fire rounds to shoot like a 22lr.. So I can take them also with the regular rounds out in the woods. It is thanks to all of you on here that made it possible for me to do it. use light boolits to do it. So I will be set now.

[Biggin]

I've got a pretty good stash of 22 ammo. I admit I did get caught short in the last obummer shortage. I think someone said buy it cheap and stack it deep. Since starting casting and getting back into reloading I'm reasonably comfortable with what I have. However this hillbilly is a hoarder by nature so I'm always looking for more. ��

[Biggin]

Btw, I still love my 22s just don't shoot em as much as I used to. Save them for future grandchildren.

[DCM]

I hardly shoot 22s any more since the shortage.
I shot cast 9mm for pistol league during the shortage because it was cheaper than replacing my 22 stash, use air-guns for most other 22tasks as they are still cheaper, cleaner, quieter and often more accurate.
Bought laser trainers for better dry fire practice almost anywhere I please.
Prolly should sell the 22rifle as it just collects dust now.

[fatelk]

Just curious, is the shortage ongoing anywhere still? I see 7 cents per round mentioned. Around here I can get all I want locally for 3.5 cents per round. When you factor inflation, that’s really not out of line with historical prices. It never really was that much cheaper than it is now.

[bangerjim]

Just curious, is the shortage ongoing anywhere still? I see 7 cents per round mentioned. Around here I can get all I want locally for 3.5 cents per round. When you factor inflation, that’s really not out of line with historical prices. It never really was that much cheaper than it is now.

Your profile needs to be updated to let us know where you are with all that cheeeeep 22 ammo!

[fatelk]

Oregon. Walmart has stacks of Federal 550 packs for $19.92. I just bought a couple boxes of Federal 275 packs at Bi-Mart for $9.49 each (on sale). A couple weekends ago a vendor at a show had a stack of bricks for $20 each. I picked out 2 bricks of CCI Standard Velocity and bought them.

I assumed it was like this everywhere. I feel bad for you all that still have to pay the crazy prices.

[FISH4BUGS]

It was true you could reload some calibers of ammo for less than the price of .22lr, but as was pointed out before, the time involved in reloading had to be taken into consideration.


I don't mean to hijack the thread but I strongly disagree. How can you take into account your time doing your hobby?....your relaxing time?.....
I had a small lobster boat when I lived on the Seacoast of NH. I pulled about 25 traps. Lobster probably cost me $25 a pound when it was all said and done. Bait, lost gear, blown outboard motor.....I could have purchased it off the boat for probably $5-$7 a pound.
But to be on the water at sun up, and to get the exercise, and to simply enjoy doing it, the price of lobster never even entered my mind.
The time casting and reloading is worth every penny to me. Sure, i could buy the ammo but then I wouldn't be casting and reloading.
I'll put aside maybe 2-3000 rounds of .22 and let it go at that.

[sparkyv]

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.


Same with me, birch!

[762 shooter]

Buy now.
Target USA has aguila and cci sv for 4 and 5 cents to your door.
If you wait, shame on you.

762

Primers are 3 cents.

[trapper9260]

Target sports is where I order the 22lr I order for 4 cent in bulk. I am set after that for all I need. I will just need to work on pay the bill now.

[fatelk]

I don't mean to hijack the thread but I strongly disagree. How can you take into account your time doing your hobby?....your relaxing time?.....
I had a small lobster boat when I lived on the Seacoast of NH. I pulled about 25 traps. Lobster probably cost me $25 a pound when it was all said and done. Bait, lost gear, blown outboard motor.....I could have purchased it off the boat for probably $5-$7 a pound.
But to be on the water at sun up, and to get the exercise, and to simply enjoy doing it, the price of lobster never even entered my mind.
The time casting and reloading is worth every penny to me. Sure, i could buy the ammo but then I wouldn't be casting and reloading.
I'll put aside maybe 2-3000 rounds of .22 and let it go at that.

It’s a personal judgement call, a matter of perspective. I have young children and a full time job. My “hobby time” is a bit of a premium. I enjoy tinkering, reloading, and casting, but there does come a point (for me) when it becomes a chore. The idea of spending all day casting, powder coating, and reloading a bucket full of ammo for my kids to burn up is not attractive to me in the least, when I could just buy a couple bricks of .22s and they’ll be just as happy.

If you enjoy spending all your time casting and loading, that’s your call; more power to you. I’m in a different place myself. I can and do take into account my time doing my hobby. For one thing I have other more important demands on my time, and for another, at some point its no longer fun or relaxing; it’s just work.

[Char-Gar]

About 55 years ago, I broke the code on this. Some basic math on a Big Chief tablet, told me I could handload my own cast bullet for a 38 Special for slightly less money than I could buy 22 LRs.

I have shot relatively few 22s since then. I have a hoard of 30K rounds, but still shoot mostly cast bullets in 38 Specials and 45 ACPs.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I enjoy the .22s, no chasing through the grass for every empty. No recoil, low noise, little fuss, true relaxation as opposed to the 'work' of reloading, as enjoyable as it might be. Plenty of choice for rifles, pistols, revolvers and ammunition. Rapid fire, point shooting, speedy action manipulation all without losing a piece of cleaned, polished, and prepped brass. I try to never have less than 15,000 around, just in case.

[fatelk]

.22lr is also more than just cheap shooting to me. Sometimes I just want to shoot a twenty-two. I love my old Ruger Standard that I've put umpteen thousand rounds through over the decades. I love the old Mossberg .22lr that my grandfather gave me as a kid, that he got when he was a young man after coming home from WWII. I enjoy watching my kids having fun shooting spinning steel targets and clay pigeons.

No I don't burn through cases of ammo competing or training, and I enjoy shooting all the other calibers that I can reload cheaply also, but usually when I shoot a .22 it's because I want to shoot a .22. Maybe I can load .38s as cheap, but that doesn't matter if they won't fit in my .22.

As to enjoying my time at my hobby, I want to continue to enjoy it. I used to hunt long ago. I grew up thinking that as a man your job was to get that license and tag each fall, tromp through the woods and bag a deer for some cheap meat for the winter.

One day maybe 20 years ago I realized that I really didn't enjoy it. It was a chore that took up a lot of my time and never actually saved me a dime. So then and there I quit, and haven't hunted since. Just not my thing.

I've come close to doing the same thing a time or two with casting, but I do enjoy it (sometimes) and it does save me money. I get burned out on it pretty easily if I'm not careful.

[Beagle333]

I had mothballed mine. I didn't move away from the caliber, or sell em. Now that I can get ammo again, I'm back shooting them.

[Traffer]

In 2015, I decided to do some plinking. Before that I had not discharged a firearm since 1985. I went to buy a "cheap" 22, thinking someone would have one for under a hundred bucks. Everywhere I went they all said "you are crazy to want to buy a 22, you can't get ammo for them anymore. But I persisted and found a little semi auto at Walmart for $99. Mossberg 702 Plinkster. I checked out the write ups on it and figured it would be a pretty good little gun. It is.
Then...no ammo. Here I am with a brand new gun and can't shoot it? I was P-Oed. Talking to my brother, he felt sorry for me and gave me his stash of 22lr. 3, 50 round boxes of old Remington Viper's from the 80's.
Went to the range and was very pleasantly surprised at the great function of the cheap gun.
But with no place to replenish my supply of ammo, checked the internet again to see if it was possible to reload the little devils. Found a couple of youtube videos about a "kit" for reloading them ...it was almost a hundred dollars... and people reported that 600 fps to 650 fps was all you could hope for with it. That was a deal killer for me. Way too much money in my estimation. So I figured as long as it was possible, to reload rim fire, I would make the tools myself. So I set out to reload 22lr with no reloading tools, but with a dremel type tool and a drill press. After a while on the internet I found that the primer could be made from strike anywhere matches or toy caps. I tried both. The toy caps worked like a charm. The only tool I had do buy was a mold ... got a 55 grain .224 Lee mold for about $20 on eBay. I melted some lead that I found laying around in a little cast iron pot (holds about 4 lbs of lead) and poured the lead straight from the melting pot into the mold. Again...worked like a charm. Then I took the boolits and stuck them in a hollowed out bolt that had two different sized holes bored from the ends. One was a (if my memory serves correctly) number drill 1 that the boolit fit into just barely. The other hole was a bit smaller so the bullet would stop when it got to that transition. With the boolit in there I took a drill bit and twisted it in by hand against the base of the boolit and cut it down until it was about 40 grains. I sharpened the drill bit with a rounded point so it would cut the hollow base. With the boolit the right weight and diameter, I took a cheap pair of small linemans pliers and ground a channel into the face with the dremel and diamond chainsaw sharpening bits. I made the channel to be about .204". (that was a guestimate ...no measuring device) This rig allowed me to squeeze the rebate into the boolits. I also made this channel with a very thin "ring" around the end so I could also use it to crimp the cases after loading them. Again...worked like a charm.
Testing:
I had no idea about gun powders. Tried to figure that out on the internet only to come up blank about what to use for 22lr. Until I read a blurb about Vihtavouri originally developing 3n37 for 22 rim fire. Since my local place that sold powder didn't have it I figured a substitute would be Hogdon HS-6.
Not having a scale, I just pulled a commercial load and compared the "fullness" to see how much was in there. Starting out with small loads, first probably under a grain, then up to roughly the amount that was in the commercial loads. Again...worked like a charm. I got cocky with my old Remington 514 bolt and loaded a couple way stronger than factory loads. That was not good. Ruptured the case, blew the extractor off the bolt and got a face full of hot gasses, sparks and burnt powder particles. (wearing safety glasses).
Since then I have reinvented retooled and refined the process. Now I have a way to make the dies to swage the boollits very accurately. And have made several dedicated tools that are not required for reloading center fire cartridges.
The process has become more fun than the shooting. My goal has been to make 22lr ammo that will out perform the best match grade ammo. It looks like I have a chance to do that. With the encouragement of another member here named "Marshall" I am in the process of recording the whole evolution of my tools and techniques.
Of the many discoveries made in this odyssey is a process to make any caliber of boolit with swage and powder coat. I am looking forward to making boolits with this technique for my 9mm.

[corbinace]

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.
.

Yep, me too. I love that rifle. Only thing I do not care for is hot brass in the cook of your arm.

[GhostHawk]

Yesterday I shot some 12 rounds of .44mag.

6.5 grains of Red Dot bought at aprox 22.50 per pound by buying in bulk. Or 2.3 cents worth of powder.
200 grain cast boolit, lead bought at 70$ for 65 pounds. A pound of lead gets me about 35 boolits or 3.14 cents each.

Add a CCI Primer at 3-4 cents each depending on when I bought them.

2.3
3.2
3.5
all rounded up.

9 cents per round. I don't count brass, tools, dies. To me that is an investment in a hobby I enjoy.
No different than buying a fly tying vise to get started tying flys.

9 cents each. So my trip to the range yesterday cost me a dollar and 8 cents.
The other 88 rounds are sitting in the box, loaded, ready.

Both of the Handi Rifle single shots performed well. At 50 yards I have no question I could bust 5 coke cans with 5 shots.

I shot one shot at 100, it was 2 inches low and less than a half an inch right. This was with a Red Dot sight.
If I had been aiming at a deers heart, it would have been a dead deer.

Given a choice between shooting 10-20 .22lr or shooting 12 .44mag rounds, I'll take the .44mag every single time. Simply more fun, more bang for the buck. No I can't reload it as cheap as .22lr. But a dime each? Come on, that is living large!

YMMV.

[Big Boomer]

Haven't fired a rimfire round since the early '90s. When I determined that I could cast boolits and assemble centerfire ammo as cheap as I could buy rimfire, I gave up on rimfires. Gave them all to my son, including a Colt with dual cylinders for 22 magnum and long rifle. However, I do shoot .22 centerfires in rifle and a TC Contender - .223 and 5.56 with both cast and jacketed stuff I load. More fun to shoot the large calibers. Big Boomer

[high standard 40]

I have not moved away from 22 since the shortage. 90% of all my shooting is with a 22LR. This involves a small amount of squirrel hunting and a large amount of silhouette shooting. Here in Louisiana, we are limited to shotguns, rimfire, or small bore black powder rifles for tree rats. No centerfire cartridge guns of any kind are allowed, so it's 22LR for me. Likewise, there is no centerfire substitution for smallbore silhouette shooting. I fully understand why some folks have looked into other options to fulfill their shooting needs. I have to have 22LR to meet my chosen shooting obsessions. Most of the rimfire ammo I use is not available at Walmart anyway. I usually have to order online to find the ammo that suits my needs, and at the best price I can find. To each his own. We should all do what turns our own crank.

[Traffer]

This thread helps to illuminate a question that was making it's way around during the shortage.
WHAT ACTUALLY CAUSED THE SHORTAGE?
There were many theories floated out there. One of which was that there were hoarders buying up all the ammo as soon as it hit the shelves.
I read one analysis that showed the production number against the numbers of people buying them up to show that hoarders could actually account for the shortage.
The amount of people here celebrating their hoards confirms the theory in my opinion.
Congratulations folks your selfishness has caused a false shortage of ammunition for the rest of the shooting public.
Something to brag about.
One consolation is that many of you paid waaaaaay to much for your ammo. I enjoy the thought of that as I shoot my 1.5 cent per round, better than commercial, 22lr ammo.

[shdwlkr]

Traffer
You forgot the huge increase in new shooters that also fed into the .22 lr shortage. Many things fed into the shortage, don't forget those selling the ammo that price gouged the buying public, no one thing created the shortage or will cause the next. If we end up in the fighting situation in North Korea what the price of everything the civilian shooting population uses.

[Traffer]

Traffer
You forgot the huge increase in new shooters that also fed into the .22 lr shortage. Many things fed into the shortage, don't forget those selling the ammo that price gouged the buying public, no one thing created the shortage or will cause the next. If we end up in the fighting situation in North Korea what the price of everything the civilian shooting population uses.

OK, I will grant you that. But I believe that hoarding was one of the major causes of the shortage.

[Harter66]

I had about 3000 when they became unobtainium . I have about 5500 now my grandson is 5 now so it's been 6-7 yrs since I shot any .

I did get a 223 and by association a 222 down to really angry 22 mag . They shoot great , are reloadable and ear friendly. Since they are in full size rifles they are probably better than 22s for the training. I did grab a Heritage 22/22mag so the RF shooting may pick up some but I have a 454RB and an ACP cylinder for the big single action and a 360 RB for 38s so maybe not .

[GhostHawk]

You forgot the huge orders for pistol and rifle ammo the government made.

Now if you had to balance profit and loss of cranking out .22lr vs cranking out pistol ammo for a fat contract.
Which do you think has more profit in it? So which would you feed and which would maybe get the short end of the stick for a couple of weeks?

Given all the other factors, it would not take much of a delay in production to start a ripple effect, hording, price gouging which we all saw.

We may never know all the reasons other than "all of the above".

It happened, chances are it will happen again.

Might only take a mass shooting in a well populated area to spark the wave.

For sure, they are making boys faster than they bury old men. And boys love to shoot, and tend to shoot more. Population is not going down, shooting sports are on the rise. And that is a good thing.

[Traffer]

I have learned to make my own, I can laugh at the days to come.

[FLINTNFIRE]

I always liked the 22lr and always used to buy some as having a stash is a good thing , fell out of shooting for a few years and before the big shortage I could not believe the price of a bulk pack , during the shortage I never worried as I had plenty and have quit shooting them as to me the cost is overpriced compared to what it was . Still have all my 22lr rifles and pistols , just do not use much . The target rifles have not been fired in years and I do not use the caliber like I did years ago . I still think they are over priced and do not buy , now having said that they do have there place and are still the best for younger newer shooters to learn on .

[lefty o]

You forgot the huge orders for pistol and rifle ammo the government made.

Now if you had to balance profit and loss of cranking out .22lr vs cranking out pistol ammo for a fat contract.
Which do you think has more profit in it? So which would you feed and which would maybe get the short end of the stick for a couple of weeks?

Given all the other factors, it would not take much of a delay in production to start a ripple effect, hording, price gouging which we all saw.

We may never know all the reasons other than "all of the above".

It happened, chances are it will happen again.

Might only take a mass shooting in a well populated area to spark the wave.

For sure, they are making boys faster than they bury old men. And boys love to shoot, and tend to shoot more. Population is not going down, shooting sports are on the rise. And that is a good thing.

rimfire machinery is entirely separate from centerfire machines, zero interchangeability between them. i was working in an ammo factory during that time period, and the problem wasnt the manufacturers.

[fatelk]

I still think they are over priced and do not buy

I feel the same way about a lot of things at times, then I get thinking about all the years that have gone by, and how little my income was way back then, and a little thing called inflation! :)

I'm telling you guys, decent .22lr ammo at 3.5 cents per is really on par with about as cheap as they've ever been. I challenge anyone to prove me wrong. The very cheapest I've ever bought 22 ammo for was $9 per brick in the early to mid '90s. Plug that into an inflation calculator and it comes to over 3cents/round in 2018 dollars, not far off what what you can find them for right now. My grandfather used to tell me he bought 22 ammo when he was young for twenty five cents per box. Plug that into the inflation calculator for circa 1935, and it's more than we're paying now.

Pick a memory, pick a year, calculate it. If you can find 22 ammo under $20/brick, it's a good deal. Sure it was less than $10/brick back when, but I was also making less than $10/hr back then too. The fact that I can buy a brick now for significantly less than my hourly wage is a good thing.

[Traffer]

I feel the same way about a lot of things at times, then I get thinking about all the years that have gone by, and how little my income was way back then, and a little thing called inflation! :)

I'm telling you guys, decent .22lr ammo at 3.5 cents per is really on par with about as cheap as they've ever been. I challenge anyone to prove me wrong. The very cheapest I've ever bought 22 ammo for was $9 per brick in the early to mid '90s. Plug that into an inflation calculator and it comes to over 3cents/round in 2018 dollars, not far off what what you can find them for right now. My grandfather used to tell me he bought 22 ammo when he was young for twenty five cents per box. Plug that into the inflation calculator for circa 1935, and it's more than we're paying now.

Pick a memory, pick a year, calculate it. If you can find 22 ammo under $20/brick, it's a good deal. Sure it was less than $10/brick back when, but I was also making less than $10/hr back then too. The fact that I can buy a brick now for significantly less than my hourly wage is a good thing.

Especially when you consider ammo is not made n China. If we could buy ammo from China we could probably get 22lr for about a penny per round.

[richhodg66]

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.

Me too. A light loaded .22 Hornet with cast is better and cheaper than a .22 LR if you don't count the time reloading. I prefer to use my Savage 219 in .22 Hornet now.

I also got a couple of older Sheridan Blue Streaks when the shortage was on and killed squirrels with them too.

Worst case, for hunting, Wal Mart never ran out of 20 gauge #6s, and just about any .30 caliber rifle downloads real east with light bullets ad works well on small game.

[FLINTNFIRE]

Well 2003 I was buying 550 packs federal hollow point for 5.95 rollback price at walmart in town so as price was about half of what you were paying and price locally last time I looked was low $20 and up it is quite a culture shock and still have enough of the stuff from back then . Factor in pistol caliber carbines and I am happy to shoot 9mm 40 s&w and 45acp , fits pistols to same loading , 22lr is fun and great for some things , but my wages have not went up the same amount compared , to each his own and your mileage may vary . Shoot whatever you want .

[fatelk]

Not questioning your veracity, but $6 a brick in 2003? Are you sure that wasn't a Walmart closeout price? I don't remember ever seeing 22 ammo remotely that cheap in my lifetime, let alone in this millennium. I was paying $10/brick back in the 1980's.

Not doubting you, but that sounds more like a one-off closeout price. I've seen that kind of thing at Walmart when they blow something out. From a practical perspective I'm glad so many of us don't shoot 22 rimfire. That leaves more for me.

[Geezer in NH]

I shoot cast 9mm, 38, 357, 44 special and 44 mag cheaper than a .22. Why bother?
The last 22 I shot was getting rid of a chipmunk that took up residence in the garden. Those were shotshells that I have had for 25 years.

Know what you mean but .22's I don't have to load other than into the magazine.
I'm shooting primers bought at under $5.00 a K at auctions still.

My son and I since he was 8 years old shot up 3-4 cases of 22 each summer. We got into the NFA when he was 12 and my favorite was mil surplus. Being an FFL got many cases [by the pallet] cheap with no need to reload.

Now at my age and he is over 30 we still shoot at least 1K every time we shoot of 22. Add in the 9mm we load and price around the same or under when using the 4 gang Lyman TC that weighs 136 grains, but that is still not as easy as loading 22 magazines.

All my FA has been sold they gave my DW new knees! Family comes before the toys.

[FLINTNFIRE]

No it was not closeout , roll back price for remington or federal bulk pack 550 rounds hollow point , I would buy a brick every trip to range , same price every month and their price was 5.95 with the roll back sticker . I remember when cci blazer came out and it was cheap and it was ammo of last resort , manchesters in longview carried some oddball south american ammo back in early 80's was cheaper then G.I. joes sale prices on remington , was good ammo only a weak one here and there and a hot one every once in awhile . I was a member of the range outside longview in late 90's and shot several times a month every month on my time off work. Take the bull barrel 22 target rifles and the ruger mkll target pistols . It was no closeout price and it is why I would buy a brick or so each month , still have most of it , have not bought any since and other then kids shooting it , I do not shoot it anymore . At that time I would not have paid $10 a brick , now I would as that would seem a logical price increase over time , but not interested at $20 or more a brick . Remington thunderbolts were what we called thunderduds cyclone was a little better not nearly as may failure to fires , winchester wildcats were not bad but cost more , have a ammo can of eley match and some other match 22lr , now that was always more expensive . Also still have the 22lr case gauge for sorting by rim thickness and it did seem to make a difference .

[fatelk]

Now I feel like I was missing out on something back then. Anyone else buy $5.95 bricks of 22 ammo anytime in the last 30 years? I know for a fact that the Walmarts that I frequented were probably double that price in that same time period. Maybe it's a regional thing.

[kayala]

Short answer is no. During drought was still able to buy every now and then online. Nowdays still buying, keep stashing it away; next drought gonna hit us it's not "if" it's "when".

[fatelk]

I don't mean to offend anyone with my comments, and sticking up for the humble 22 rimfire. This thread is interesting to me. I've long pondered about how we gun lot are a bunch of cheap old buzzards. I include myself. :)

We'll spend thousands on nice guns and fancy gear, but we'll spend days shopping around for the very best deal on what we're looking for, trying to save a dollar or two. We'll buy hundred dollar molds, dies, and sizers, and spend days cranking out 9mm or .38 ammo that we calculate costs us exactly 3.68 cents per shot. Then we pack up our gear for a trip to the range for some cheap shooting. We get into our $50,000 pickup truck, and stop for a $30 dinner on the way home.

Not trying to pick on anyone; I do the same thing (except I don't have a $50k truck). It's so easy to get caught up in false economy. Reality is, we do what we want to do. If you prefer to shoot .38 Special or .45 auto, and can justify shooting a lot because you can load it cheap, that's great. If I want to shoot a .22lr because I enjoy it, I will, thank you very much. I'm not going to let a fraction of a cent here or there stop me from doing what I want to do. That seems silly to me.

[trapper9260]

I like the 22lr .but not how the price was . So i just limit on how much I use. Now i got a order in and will be enough to last my life time unless things change. but with all that av happened learn to load center fire to shoot like 22lr. So it is all going to work out in the end.if the 22lr was made in China.I wonder how many miss fire there would be.

[EMC45]

Now I feel like I was missing out on something back then. Anyone else buy $5.95 bricks of 22 ammo anytime in the last 30 years? I know for a fact that the Walmarts that I frequented were probably double that price in that same time period. Maybe it's a regional thing.


In the early 2000s I was getting Blazer by CCI for 10 bucks plus tax for a 500 round brick. They went up from there. When they hit 19.99 for the same brick I said I'm done until some sanity came back. I watched them get around 60 bucks after Newtown and I swore I would never shoot rimfire again.............

Now I can get the Federal Auto Match and the Federal bulk pack for under 20 bucks for either and they both shoot great. I still prefer centerfire shooting for the obvious advantage of being able to reload the casings. The kids do like shooting the .22s though.

My son approves of this message!:guntootsmiley:

[trapper9260]

I had talk with my gunsmith some time ago and he said alot was selling him there 22lr and get a 17 . Because the ammo was easy to find and then when the 22lr start to be easy to get the ones with the 17 was find it hard to get the 17 and wish they kept there 22lr guns.

[fatelk]

I heard a lot of that in recent years: people getting rid of their .22lr guns because they couldn't find ammo. It never made sense to me because I'd never get rid of my guns like that.

Then I realized that my perspective was just different from theirs. While I'm not a true collector, my guns are more than tools to me. I don't hunt. I don't compete. I'm not even a particularly good marksman. I have guns because they interest me, I enjoy tinkering with them, I enjoy reloading, and I enjoy recreational shooting.

If my interest were primarily a sport or discipline, and guns were mere sporting equipment or tools, then I understand completely. If I was an ice skater and had some skates that I couldn't find new blades for, I'd get rid of them and buy something else. Heck, if they quit selling staples for my stapler on my desk at work, I'd toss it and buy a different stapler. When I started looking at it like that it started to make perfect sense.

I'd still never get rid of MY .22lr guns, though.

[FLINTNFIRE]

I will not get rid of all of them , but some I will as for the 50,000 dollar truck ,well I am driving a 94 toyota I bought in 99 and plan on driving it till it or I am done , meal for $30 , well thats on way up to the dept. of natural resource land which is about all thats left open to shoot on and thats food for the kids and myself , I still belong to the local range but do not shoot there often and see nowhere near the same amount of fired 22lr brass on the ground.

Yes it is true that as shooters and especially as reloaders who cast we tend to look for better deals to save some money , which we spend on another firearm or mold or press and dies , powder and primers , loved the tula and wolf primers when they were cheap and available , surplus powder was great shoot more for less per shot , like to cast and reload and molds will last a long time , yes we spend the money , but overall it cuts the cost and during the shortage I was not without .

I could go to the range or up in the woods to shoot and there was few to no one else up there shooting , gi brass had or may still have wc844 for $99 a 8lb jug that is a good buy and makes the 223 so much cheaper to shoot , early 90's when 7.62x39 chinese ammo was 69-79 for 1200 rounds that was fun.

Shoot what you want collect what you want , so moving on from 22lr what about 22 win. mag always thought that was to expensive as I could not reload it , prices of ar15 rifles have came back to about the cheapest they have been , I know people who reload who will not load 9mm as they say its so cheap to buy , I think thats funny but to each their own .

[Shawlerbrook]

No way ! I have a good supply and this may a good time to increase it.

[fatelk]

I will not get rid of all of them , but some I will as for the 50,000 dollar truck ,well I am driving a 94 toyota I bought in 99 and plan on driving it till it or I am done , meal for $30 , well thats on way up to the dept. of natural resource land which is about all thats left open to shoot on and thats food for the kids and myself , I still belong to the local range but do not shoot there often and see nowhere near the same amount of fired 22lr brass on the ground.

Yes it is true that as shooters and especially as reloaders who cast we tend to look for better deals to save some money , which we spend on another firearm or mold or press and dies , powder and primers , loved the tula and wolf primers when they were cheap and available , surplus powder was great shoot more for less per shot , like to cast and reload and molds will last a long time , yes we spend the money , but overall it cuts the cost and during the shortage I was not without .

I could go to the range or up in the woods to shoot and there was few to no one else up there shooting , gi brass had or may still have wc844 for $99 a 8lb jug that is a good buy and makes the 223 so much cheaper to shoot , early 90's when 7.62x39 chinese ammo was 69-79 for 1200 rounds that was fun.

Shoot what you want collect what you want , so moving on from 22lr what about 22 win. mag always thought that was to expensive as I could not reload it , prices of ar15 rifles have came back to about the cheapest they have been , I know people who reload who will not load 9mm as they say its so cheap to buy , I think thats funny but to each their own .

Just to clarify, I wasn't knocking the frugality of the average reloader. You and I probably have a lot in common. My Toyota is a '97 that I bought in '01, and I'm nowhere near done with it yet! I wasn't knocking the $30 meal either. Feeding the family at McDonald's cost almost that much.

As to .22 Win Mag, I just bought my very first firearm that will shoot it, last week. It's a Rough Rider revolver. I'll probably buy one box of 22 mag ammo, and rarely ever use the magnum cylinder. I have to admit, I never saw much of a use for it either, as ammo cost as much as or more than reloading .223 ammo. To each their own, though.

I sure miss the cheap surplus powder and Chinese ammo. It was early 2000's sometime when I bought $400 worth of surplus Yugoslavian 8mm Mauser for 5 cents per round, delivered. My wife about had a fit, but I was unapologetic, said I wish I could have bought ten times as much.

[Tom W.]

I haven't fired my .22 in many years. I've been casting and handloading for 9 mm as of late, with a few .30 caliber rounds every now and then. I was loading for my .45, but no longer have them.

[Shingle]

I replaced it with cast 9mm during the shortage and have never went back to shooting them.

[Elkins45]

Getting rid of a gun just because ammo was temporarily a little hard to find seems short-sighted to me. Especially when it's the most popular and used rifle caliber ever produced.

Of course, if people always made good decisions there wouldn't be pawn shops or rehab clinics.

[762 shooter]

Reloads won't fit in my Anschutz 54 match.

762

[richhodg66]

Getting rid of a gun just because ammo was temporarily a little hard to find seems short-sighted to me. Especially when it's the most popular and used rifle caliber ever produced.

Of course, if people always made good decisions there wouldn't be pawn shops or rehab clinics.

There was a stretch there where a lot of pawn shops wouldn't take in .22 rifles and the ones they had could be bought cheap. Seems a guy could have made some smoking deals if he was looking for one.

[GhostHawk]

rimfire machinery is entirely separate from centerfire machines, zero interchangeability between them. i was working in an ammo factory during that time period, and the problem wasnt the manufacturers.


Yes sir, and I know that. But, what feeds that machinery? Takes powder.

Even if the problem was not the manufacturers, just the rumor of a problem could be enough to set it off. True?

[lefty o]

just paranoid people.

[Geezer in NH]

Now I feel like I was missing out on something back then. Anyone else buy $5.95 bricks of 22 ammo anytime in the last 30 years? I know for a fact that the Walmarts that I frequented were probably double that price in that same time period. Maybe it's a regional thing.
Yes bought many at Wally world for $5.95, 6.95 etc. Stopped buying when they went above $10.00. I would get a case or 2 per month at the $5.95 cost.

[fatelk]

Wow, I really was missing out. I remember them being around $10 here, but the only time I recall buying them for less was sometime in the mid 90’s. There must be substantial profit now in rimfire ammo, if they could afford to manufacture, distribute, and retail them for that.

It’s especially funny because a couple years ago people all over the gun forums were saying that $35+ was the new normal for 22 ammo; it would Never be cheaper because the greedy ammo companies found out we’d pay it, cost of metals, cost of manufacturing, Doe Run, etc...

Now that it’s down to about half that, it’s still too much for some of us, because we remember it being cheaper. :)

[jimlj]

Wow, I really was missing out. I remember them being around $10 here, but the only time I recall buying them for less was sometime in the mid 90’s. There must be substantial profit now in rimfire ammo, if they could afford to manufacture, distribute, and retail them for that.

It’s especially funny because a couple years ago people all over the gun forums were saying that $35+ was the new normal for 22 ammo; it would Never be cheaper because the greedy ammo companies found out we’d pay it, cost of metals, cost of manufacturing, Doe Run, etc...

Now that it’s down to about half that, it’s still too much for some of us, because we remember it being cheaper. :)

I remember it cheaper...less than $5.00 a carton. Mid to late 60's. I didn't have a job at the time so I could never afford it. My dad, who did have a job couldn't afford to buy it in the quantity that would keep his 5 boys shooting. When I started buying my own ammo it was about $7.00 a carton and I couldn't afford to buy enough to keep me and my son shooting all we wanted. In the 60's I doubt my dad made more than 5 or 6 bucks an hour. When I retired a few years ago I was making about $50 an hour. 22 ammo was about $40 a carton when you could find it at the time. It was no more then than it was in the 60's, and it's cheaper now at $18 a carton than I have ever seen it when you factor in inflation.

What caused the last shortage (in my opinion) is the surge in gun ownership before the past 3 elections. I'd venture a guess that the majority of guns purchased were 22 rimfire. Add millions of new shooters and you can see where there would be a shortage of ammo. Add hoarders and profiteers to the mix and the price went way up and supply was almost non existent. Other than cost increases to produce it, I don't think the "greedy ammo company's" had much to do with the price increase.

[fatelk]

That was the point that I was making: that when you factor inflation, today's prices are well within the historical norm.

FLINTNFIRE and Geezer kind of blew me out of the water with the $5.95 bricks in the early 2000's, though. I have to apologize to FLINTNFIRE, by the way; I shouldn't have doubted you. I just don't remember seeing it that cheap at that time. That was definitely a historical aberration, but I wonder why? It seems like that would have been below the cost of production.

I know there was some incredibly cheap surplus ammo on the market around that same time. Maybe that was a factor. I remember I was buying 8mm Mauser for 5 cents per round in the early/mid 2000's, 7.62x25, 7.62x54R and fresh Russian 7.62x39 for 7 or 8 cents each, even 7.62x51 and 30-06 for around 10 cents. Those were the days for cheap ammo.

[kevin c]

I shot my 22 Glock conversion quite a lot. Still do, but when the time came when I could reload centerfire 9 mm for less per round than buying any 22 LR (if I could find any at all, and only a few brands would run in my conversion) I cut back. When I started casting my own, my cost for 9mm just about halved, so I expect even less 22 shooting. I will definitely put by some 22 though.

[Geezer in NH]

When I had a manufactures license [07] Wally World sold 22's cheaper than I could buy from any supplier unless I wanted to order a million rounds or so.

Before OB got elected I had 20K rounds in my own basement. I believe the 22 is the best ammo for storage. Cost and use is tops. It is not for protection from attack but it will get you arms to do so.

Compared to ammo costs today disregard any reloads it still is the buy now ammo. Yes we shot lots more 9mm during the shortage but I do like shooting suppressed in the yard again without spending hours casting and reloading.

All the primers I am still using cost me less than $5.00 per K. Bought them on auction from some of the bigger auction houses in New England. Not small amounts. They got bought because the cost of Hazmat and shipping vs. picking them up in my truck. Stores closed their loss my gain.

What primers do I like = CHEAP!!!!!!!!

[Tripplebeards]

I haven't shot my 22 pistol since the mid 90's and got rid of all my 22 rifles. Bigger was better. Last fall I decided that I needed rimfire said again. I bought a cz452 ultralux super exclusive 22 lr and a ruger American 22 wmr. After getting the wmr my CZ collets dust. My American can shoot smaller groups at a 100yds than my CZ can at 50 and squirrels stopped crawling off with the win mag. Almost too destructive. Both fun to shoot. You don't need muffs for the CZ.

[therealhitman]

Getting rid of a gun just because ammo was temporarily a little hard to find seems short-sighted to me. Especially when it's the most popular and used rifle caliber ever produced.

Of course, if people always made good decisions there wouldn't be pawn shops or rehab clinics.

https://i.imgur.com/irhLz6s.png

[lightman]

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

This is my strategy too! Buy it when it's cheap!

I was fortunate enough to have enough stashed back to be able to continue to shoot despite the shortages and price gouging. I use the same strategy with lead, powder, primers and brass.

[EMC45]

Saw a ton at Wal Mart a few minutes ago. Cheap too.

[arlon]

Sort of the opposite. During the shortage there were some fine bargains to be had on .22 guns in general. I picked up half a dozen nice .22s for cheap. I figured supply would over shoot demand soon enough. It did, now I have some fine .22s and enough cheap ammo to last the rest of my days..

[Mackay Sagebrush]

Co-workers trash talked prior to the .22 shortage at the amount of .22 I had on hand and the fact that every time I went to the store, I bought more. During the shortage, I kept shooting, and they were pissed that I would not give/sell them any. I told them that they had a chance to buy some but instead they were short sighted, and chose to spend their money on other things. My kids never knew there was ever a shortage.

Between my father and I, the kids and grandkids will never know of the shortage of the early 2000s. :) We are still sitting pretty. with 2 more minions to raise, they will shoot as much as they like and I will not worry about our supplies. Proper planning and all that. Same with primers, powder, etc.