Where do you think the price of 22LR ammo will settle?

[dverna]

My concern is what is the quality of the ammo we are getting for those prices. I've been in manufacturing long enough to know that when demand is high, standards can slip. I think the Eley, Lapua, SK quality probably won't suffer much, but I'm not willing to drop big bucks on most American 22 right now. My major use for rimfire is NRA/ISU 50 yd 3-Position. Good match ammo prices really haven't increased that much in relation to blasting ammo prices.

My experience is that even before supply got short, the quality of .22's had deteriorated significantly. It was "acceptable" to be paying $2/box for "crap" to plink with, but I am not paying $4/box for the same, or worse, crap. Maybe I am too critical, but I expect 1" groups at 50 yards from a decent bolt gun, and less than a handful of FTF's from a brick of .22's. If I have to pay $6-8 a box to get that, I have better options that .22 LR's.

[Gussy]

I'm seeing prices dropping on some rimfire shells (WRM and 17hmr).

Now I'm seeing a steady supply of junk plinker 22s. But, at about 1\3 of what they were a few months ago. Still way to high. It is still a sign that the supply chain is exceeding the purchases by the basement stashers. It will be coming down and better ammo will be available whenever you want it in the next 6 months. Barring another act of stupidity by an AH.

[Randy Bohannon]

Local store has a good pile of the Winchester .22LR -36 gr copper plated HP 500 count for $40.00 OTD. I picked up a box to see how they do in my CZ rifles.

[Outer Rondacker]

Local store has a good pile of the Winchester .22LR -36 gr copper plated HP 500 count for $40.00 OTD. I picked up a box to see how they do in my CZ rifles.

mine hates them. hope you have better luck.

[Randy Bohannon]

mine hates them. hope you have better luck.

Grandkids can bang them away in their Cricket rifles should they prove inadequate for the CZ rifles.

[farmbif]

dont know where the price will end up but if federal in 300/bx at Walmart are currently about $20 and online box of 50 is about $8 that's about where we will be.
ive got about all the common brands over the years and the worst, absolute worst in my experience are the norma tac22's they won't cycle an automatic and the lube on them makes one big sticky mess of everything it touches. ive had better luck over the years with Remington Goldens than with some winchester pistol primers I got in the mid 90's. but it struck me like a brick over the head back when Clinton started banning stuff. that if I want my guns to be more than fancy door stops I better have ample ammo to shoot in them.
so even if primers end up at $75/1000 and 22's at $20/300 for bulk stuff. long as its available that's what matters most.
I dont think we will ever again see $1/gal gas or $0.03 primers or 22's
maybe and hopefully I'm wrong and case of 5000 armscor 22's will once again be $129
by the way, if this is your first trip to the rodeo, if you want to be shooting in the future stock up when you can

[Gussy]

The mooch.....

Got any buddies that come over looking for ammo? Do I look like Walmart??

Bought a case of CCI std velocity a couple years back and ask my buddy if he wanted to split the case. He took 3 bricks. He then found out how well they shot. Next year he came back wanting a couple more. Last spring back wanting a some more and some for his son and grandson! Well, I did sell him some..... Some Blazers! I'm expecting he'll be back in another month or two when we are getting ready for squirrel shooting. He's darned lucky he's a good buddy, not many people can still buy bricks for under $20!!!

[FergusonTO35]

For the foreseeable future I'm going to be practicing with .22's. They are usually available, even if they aren't the exact kind I want at prices higher than what I would prefer. I haven't been able to buy powder or primers of any sort for the last 6 months from the usual places I shop. Makes more sense to use .22's for just ventilating paper, the fundamentals are the same anyway.

[sniper]

I surely don't know...what I DO know, is after counting most of my storge, I have somewhere north of 5.000 rounds put by, and that will last me till the dust has settled...somewhat. Orrr...at 83, time will take its toll.

[BadgerShooter]

5000 rounds? Thats almost out!

[FergusonTO35]

I've decided I'm getting into air rifles. High end pellets are cheaper than the worst .22 LR and get recycled into boolits. Gonna make a little range in the basement.

[dverna]

I've decided I'm getting into air rifles. High end pellets are cheaper than the worst .22 LR and get recycled into boolits. Gonna make a little range in the basement.

I made the move last year. No regrets. Sub 1” groups at 50 yards with a cost of less than $15/1000 shots.

[BadgerShooter]

I've been shooting ISU 10 meter Air Rifle for more decades than I want to acknowledge. It is probably the best program for building excellent offhand fundamentals you can do. Your barrel time is so long compared to rimfire or centerfire that your followthrough and trigger control have to be perfect. Its a humbling sport.

[rbuck351]

I picked up a Benjamin Discovery in 22 recently and it actually has very acceptable accuracy. With certain cheap pellets (about $15 per thousand) it will shoot under 1" at 50 yds. It shoots a bit better with expensive pellets ( about $40 per thousand ) but not enough better to buy the high end pellets.

I also have enough 22lr to shoot the rest of my days and still pass on ammo to my grand kids so it doesn't matter to much to me where the price settles out.

[Outer Rondacker]

I picked up a Benjamin Discovery in 22 recently and it actually has very acceptable accuracy. With certain cheap pellets (about $15 per thousand) it will shoot under 1" at 50 yds. It shoots a bit better with expensive pellets ( about $40 per thousand ) but not enough better to buy the high end pellets.

I also have enough 22lr to shoot the rest of my days and still pass on ammo to my grand kids so it doesn't matter to much to me where the price settles out.

Pick up a muzzle brake from one of the guys. I have a mikes TKO and it is night and day. Also you can speed up the pellet a bit and those groups will get better. Simple mods. Mine loves crossman 14.3 hps I have taken pests out to 121 yards.

[dverna]

Pick up a muzzle brake from one of the guys. I have a mikes TKO and it is night and day. Also you can speed up the pellet a bit and those groups will get better. Simple mods. Mine loves crossman 14.3 hps I have taken pests out to 121 yards.

I shot 45 five shot groups at 50 yards and averaged .77" with those "crappy" Crosmans. I could not believe how well they performed for $6.24/tin. The first five shot group was .77" and I thought it was a fluke. Smallest group was .44" and largest 1.30".

BTW, ran a short trial with a very light coating of Ballistol on the pellets. 10 groups averaged .66". Puts those pellets in the same class as the JSB's Exacts and Air Arms out of my gun. I bought 14k of those "crappy" Crosman pellets for just under $175 on Amazon.

Have not shot critters with them yet so cannot report how effective they are but lots of cheap and fun trigger time ahead.

Screw .22 LR's for $40/brick. 14k rounds of LR at a cost of $1120 vs $220 for pellets and air. Even if LRs get to $25/ brick I will save almost $500.

[Gussy]

I'm not sure what you use to charge your rifles. I've never used that type. Mine is a break barrel.

For what it's worth, I bought a dual guage regulator and got a nitrogen tank for under $200. I needed it to charge the Fox shocks on my truck and was thinking it would work for an air rifle.

[wv109323]

In a capitalist society, the price will settle on cost of raw materials plus distribution plus profit. I don't think there is a sharp increase in raw materials or transportation. Profit is determined by demand. The other factor that is unknown is the grouping of several manufacturers under the same ownership. I think Federal, CCI, Winchester and Remington are owned by the same company. Thus they may influence price.
But I think prices will be within 10% of pre-panic prices. Much more then that and other new manufacturers may get into production of rimfire ammo.

[hk940]

I don't think the price is coming down any soon, this last week i was on an auction site and a brick of 550 had a bid of $101.00! and that was not one bid. Many other lots of .22 had similar bids.

[rbuck351]

My discovery shoots those crappy Crosman domed premier pellets a bit better than the HPs but will put either a bit under an inch at 50yds. It really likes the Benjamin domed but I haven't found any more of those yet. I did put a TKO brake on mine and it did make a lot of difference. I just ordered a second barrel/air tube band for the front of the barrel to see if that improves accuracy.

Do you shoot the ballistol coated pellets wet or dry them first?

wv: you are correct about price settling on cost of materials, transportation and profit but you have missed one of the main driving forces now. That is inflation. With an additional 8 trillion in deficit spending you can expect that devaluing of the dollar to push the prices of doing business up a matching % of the drop in the value of the dollar. That 8 trillion is about a 30% drop in the value of the dollar. Just look at the cost of everything lately.