throwing in .22lr towel?

[unclebill]

seriously considering selling all my .22s and going all the way with airguns
modern ones are NOT like the ones from my youth.
i see 357 caliber rifles that throw a bullet at speeds higher than my 1911 .45acp
and .22 cal ones that go every bit as fast as a regular .22lr
in other words
screw .22lr ammo
the prices
AND the scalpers

[rking22]

I see our point, and somewhat agree. I love air guns but cannot give up my 22s. The airguns go as fast as 22LR but with a lot less lead and less accuracy. Also weigh more. Now is it a meaningful difference? I can,and do, take squirrels out to 75 yards with my 22s ,that is about twice as far as I will with an AirArms or Beeman airgun. Wind plays havoc with the pellets. Again does it matter?? I consider 22lR enough for Coyotes at less than 100 yards(done it many times, never lost one yet) not so with the typical airgun. Now ,the large bore PCPs can and will do it, but at the cost of 10 shots /fill and the need of an air source.
Allmost all my plinking fun is with airguns now, 22LR is now reserved for hunting. I have been a 22 horder since high school in the 1970s ,so got plenty,but question resupply and cost. I prefer a 32-20 or 357 to the big bore airguns so my descision is based on "typical" high end airguns VS 22LR. It's a matter of what you like. I like the light weight ,portability and flexability of the 22LR in the field and training with a spring piston gun. If it comes down to no primers and no 22s, then a flint gun and a Sheridan or R9 can cover the sprectrum.

[richhodg66]

Get a .22 Hornet and a mold. The loads I squirrel hunt are just as good or better than .22 LR and cost about half what pre panic prices were.

[rking22]

Got one, actually 2 ,, but I got enough 22 to last the rest of my life squirrel hunting! TN also has some crazy issue with small game rounds that have a centrally located primer , poletitions , sheesh!
But I whole heartedly agree, nuthin like a hornet pretenting to be a 22WCF , I might sneek out with it to my woods anyway.

[NavyVet1959]

Sell a firearm?

Wow... Radical concept...

I think I'll pass...

I haven't shot one of my .22s in probably nearly 8 years, but I'm not going to sell any of the guns. Maybe prices will come back down "one of these days". Until then, I'll just reload a cheaper caliber (9mm, .357, .38, etc).

[Lead Fred]

I have been trying to find 4 boxes of CCI stingers to fill an ammo can. Its been 4 boxes short for over two years now.

Got lots of 20 cal pellets, and the Sheridan silver streak does a number on just about anything that wander though the pond-D

[tomme boy]

Sold my 22's 3 years ago. Did not want to hunt for the ammo. I can shoot everything I have cheaper than what 22's sell for today.

[Bonz]

I'm keeping my .22 rifle & pistol. At some point, the panic buying will stop, the shelves will begin to fill up and the prices will come down.

[Doc Highwall]

I shoot a lot of small-bore rifle matches along with my 22Lr plinking guns so I cannot give it up.
I just bought a lot of 22 match ammo that works out to .1477 cents a shot delivered, call it .15 cents a shot with no work involved.

[RogerDat]

Seems like a bit of a long term decision (selling 22 firearms) in response to a short/medium term situation (price and availability of ammo).

Maybe a good time to purchase from the folks that are unloading their 22 firearms?

[NoAngel]

Screw anything you cannot reload for. With the exception of size in relation to ammunition storage and transportation, the .22 rimfire offers nothing I can't get from other centerfire guns. It might take some leg work to get your load right, but as has been said, a Hornet and a mold. Or a .223 which is ubiquitous in the brass department. You match and [easily] exceed the rimfire.

I don't and won't own a single rimfire gun for this very reason.

[Bonz]

I've owned my .22 rifle and pistol for over 40 years

[NavyVet1959]

I've owned my .22 rifle and pistol for over 40 years

One of my .22s was from my father and grandfather before him. It's probably close to 100 years old and still shoots fine. Even if I can never find another piece of .22 ammo, I'm not going to sell it.

[Love Life]

With the current prices for bulk stuff, I have taken the opportunity to stock my larder with premium match ammo.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I hope I don't incur ire by rambling on a bit (old guys tend to do that!) but you might find this interesting. I also have some .22s and probably 4 bricks of ammo laid aside that I just purchased over the years when they were irresistibly priced on sale in the discount stores. I don't shoot them much, but I bet my grandkids could use the ammo up in a couple of weeks. Anyway, I got tired of all the lame excuses one reads in the gun magazines about where all the .22 ammo has gone, so I decided to go right to the source (well, one of them anyway) and about two weeks ago I phoned CCI and asked to talk to someone in charge of production. Surprisingly, I was almost immediately connected to a pleasant, patient fellow who told me that they run around the clock and produce 7 million rounds of .22 ammo daily. He said that if they sent one case of 10 bricks to each Wal-Mart every day that there would still be 320 Wal-Mart stores that wouldn't receive any, and none of the other dealers, shops or stores would either. He also emphasized that once they sell their production to the distributors they have no control over where it goes or how it's priced. He said that I could become a distributor for an initial order of about $8 Million, if they had any distributor openings, which they don't. I said that I'd have to pass on the offer. I expressed my opinion (kind of like Bonz, above) that even if a bucket has a hole in it that it will eventually fill up and overflow if enough water is poured in. He said that, yes, he agreed and that there are some signs that .22 ammo is returning to the shelves but mostly in the eastern part of the country. Then he asked me if I watched the TV program "Hoarders" (had to confess that I don't), and he said that in one episode there was a fellow determined to acquire 1 million rounds of .22 ammo in his basement for future needs, and in another episode a guy with a 4-member family who thought that he should acquire 650,000 rounds per family member, and that these folks apparently had the money to fulfill their perceived needs. That was about where the conversation ended, but I came away with the impression that the shortage is due entirely to scalpers and hoarders, and that we can look forward to the availability of .22 ammo returning to normal. Doubtful though that we will ever see it for $15 a brick again. Maybe $20 or $25? Reading over all the preceding posts it's apparent that we're all in the same boat. Seems like shooting bargain priced .223 Rem. is close in cost to shooting .22 L.R., and I think that's what I'd do rather than dumping my .22 L.R. firearms. Hang in there.....and when the stuff returns to the shelves buy a few extra bricks for next time. Don't buy them all at once though........!

[NavyVet1959]

If you have a single shot .22 firearm, you have other options. You can use the .22 blanks that are for the power tools (putting nails into concrete, etc) and load a cast bullet in front of it. Depending upon your chamber, it might work without the leade needing to be increased. I've seen the power tool loads for as low as $25 per 1000 -- maybe even less if you order a whole pallet from Alibaba.

[Rustyleee]

A few years ago I heard a spokesman for S&W interviewed and he stated that the little question card that people fill out and mailed in was revealing that 60% of their guns were being sold to first time gun buyers. Think of how many first time buyers that is. There is also a "rumor" that Sig Sauer is about to start making rimfire ammo.

[tja6435]

Cabela's , this morning, had loose pack bricks of Thinderbolts for $28.99, CCI AR Tactical 300rd box for $23.99, brick of Federal 40gr for $34.99, lots of 50rd boxes of Remington hyper velocity 33gr. There war at least 100 bricks, another 100+ boxes of 50rd pack and tons of .17. It's coming back around, but it goes just as quick. I'm sure it'll be cleaned out in the next few hours, hopefully I'll have time I make it back out there for another brick. It's out there, you have to be in the right place when it's in stock though

[bangerjim]

If you have a single shot .22 firearm, you have other options. You can use the .22 blanks that are for the power tools (putting nails into concrete, etc) and load a cast bullet in front of it. Depending upon your chamber, it might work without the leade needing to be increased. I've seen the power tool loads for as low as $25 per 1000 -- maybe even less if you order a whole pallet from Alibaba.

I have tired that with the several different loads (colors) of nail gun ammo I use and had horrible accuracy out of my long gun 22's. They definitely go boom! But there is a warning on each box not to use in firearms. Have no idea why. I know they just do not push 22 lead accurately enough for me. And it is a PITA to load the rifle like an olde time ball & powder gun!

I will sit on my several 22 guns and hope the shortage does go away in my lifetime. I doubt it, what with all the kids and new shooters out there that have been told "shooting 22LR is the ONLY way to start." That is olde school advice today. I do not believe in that. Lite loaded anything is better than 22's.

I load and shoot BATOR 223's with excellent accuracy & performance and better accuracy than my 22 long guns. But can easily control the power with the load. Can't do that with com-ammo.

Still, every time I go to the range, I see tons of 22 brass on the floor. Somebody is paying thru the nose for it!

banger

[NavyVet1959]

I have tired that with the several different loads (colors) of nail gun ammo I use and had horrible accuracy out of my long gun 22's. They definitely go boom! But there is a warning on each box not to use in firearms. Have no idea why. I know they just do not push 22 lead accurately enough for me. And it is a PITA to load the rifle like an olde time ball & powder gun!

I will sit on my several 22 guns and hope the shortage does go away in my lifetime. I doubt it, what with all the kids and new shooters out there that have been told "shooting 22LR is the ONLY way to start." That is olde school advice today. I do not believe in that. Lite loaded anything is better than 22's.

I load and shoot BATOR 223's with excellent accuracy & performance and better accuracy than my 22 long guns. But can easily control the power with the load. Can't do that with com-ammo.

Still, every time I go to the range, I see tons of 22 brass on the floor. Somebody is paying thru the nose for it!

I was in Hawaii last year and noticed a quite a bit of .22LR brass on the floor also. One guy had a semi-auto rifle and was going through a lot of it.

I suspect that with a single shot breech load (break action or rolling block), a .22 loaded with a separate powder charge and bullet *could* still be accurate if you pay attention to what you're doing so that you have consistency in the amount of space between the powder charge blank cartridge and the actual bullet. You would need to seat the bullet so that it was just touching the lands at the same depth each and every time. You could probably use the .22 BATOR mold for it.

I've loaded .223 with the BATOR mold at what was probably .22LR velocities. You don't even need to resize the case afterwards. Good use for those steel .223 cartridges...