What is a good price on 22 long rifle ammo these days? I haven't bought any in years but I plan to stock up as I can find it.

Thanks in advance.

There aren't any good prices now. Before the panic I was paying about 3.5 cents a round (usually 169.99 for 5,250 rounds of Federal bulk). That was about the cheapest.

From about January until recently .22 ammo was rarer than Hen's teeth. Now it's just as rare as Hen's teeth.

It's going to be tough to "Stock up" unless you want to pay a premium. I think the prices will return to close to pre-panic, but right now they are artificially inflated. But I fear that once the panic is gone, the new normal will likely be about 4.5 cents a round for the cheapest bulk.

And I bet some think that estimate is Pollyannish.

About a month ago, I was at one of the Wal-Marts near my house, I live in Ga. And behold, they had Federal Lightning 40gr LR in 500 round bricks. Of course Wal-Mart still has the 3 box limit. I was the only guy at the counter and asked the lady for 3 boxes. All three boxes were less than $65 for all 3 boxes. So far the local Wal-Mart has not went up on their price, YET! I keep reading about the price of metals going up so this will drive the price of ammo up. How much I guess we will see. Thankfuly I learned about the ammo shortages the first time the president was elected, the same thing happened, but I beleive it is worse this time. In 2008 yu could buy 22lr ammo almost everwhere, but not this time. After 2008 when things went back to normal, I started picking up one or two boxes either at the stores or the gun shows. Ammo does add up when you buy it like this. When and if the ammo shortage gets better again, I plan to do the same thing again, just stock up on what I need, as I go..Ray

Before 2008 a brick was $9.95
Post 2008 a brick was $19.95
Post 2012 a brick is between $40 and $100!!!

I highly doubt we will ever see a brick of 22LR below $30 ever again since the ammo companies now know what some shooters are willing to pay. I for one will not pay over $20/brick so I have not bought any 22LR since January.

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ArchAngelCD - You're right that prices are sky high, but I think most of that is price gouging happening at the local retail level. When I'm able to find ammo at Walmart, it costs about what it has for the last several years. That wouldn't be possible if the manufacturers were jacking prices up 400-1000%.

Now is not the time to stock up.
The supply will catch up sometime this Summer and prices will surly stabilize I suspect the time to buy will be late Summer/early Fall.
This is just my gut feeling and not based on any real research, but based on 50+ years of shooting experience.

Right now I think you are a day late and a dollar short. If you can find it at Wally World buy it their prices have stayed the same through all this. Best bet is to wait it out if you don't absolutely positively have to have it now. If you have to have it now look to pay anywhere from.10 to .40 cent or more per round. Cabela's has had it reasonable if one is close you will only be getting a box or two at a time though so take plenty of friends to get more. Buying online will kill you on shipping with hazmat fees, but sometimes you can find free shipping with coupon's. Right now is a good time to stock up on fishing supplies.

I just bought some 22 ammo locally. This is the first 22 ammo that I have seen in a store this year! I paid $22 for a 525 rnd box of Remington gold bullet. I was able to order 10 boxes of 325 rnd Federal earlier in Feb. from Cabela's. Now is not the time to stock up. This shortage is not going to ease up anytime soon. Do you realize that this has continued for over 6 months? Go to the local wally world and look at the amount of ammo that they have in stock. Around here it is very little. Hunting season starts at the end of august around here. I honestly think there won't be any 22 ammo on the shelves then either. FWIW- I have never seen 22 ammo disappear like this and I am 51 years old. I look for it to ease next year but not this year. Good luck in your search.

Bulk ammo is around.You can find it locally or online at .5-.6 a round total cost if you look for it.

Sadly this is right. I got into the 22lr game late, bought my first 22 in late Nov early Dec weeks before the madness and picked up 6k of ammo quickly. Have 3k left haven't bought a single pack since mid Dec, I refuse to pay inflated prices, I'll shoot my centerfires since I had time to stock reloading components for those.


It's sad when your 45 is cheaper to shoot than your 22, but I guess it give me an excuse to get more range time with it.

I've picked up 3 bricks since January.Luckily I had around 3 k rounds that had accumulated over the years.Ive only bought ammo that was priced in the low to mid $20s and that was for bulk.I suspect $25-$30 a brick for bulk will be the going rate (when you can find it) at the big chain stores until supply exceeds demand.

I just now bought a box of Rem 525 bulk pack from Cabelas. The price was $23.99. I used my club points and brought the price down to under $15 delivered to my door. That is the best deal on 22 ammo yet- at least for me. Of course I had to spend some to get the club points in the first place.

I agree with your assessment. I have actually sold some of my 22 ammo stash to the parents of my son's best friend. I sold it at the price I paid, I did not gouge. They were very happy to get it! I have sold over 1000 rounds just to one family at normal prices.

The key words in your post are "when you can find it".

It's hard to find under $30.Ive probably given away 1k rounds in the last few months taking new shooters in my family out plinking,but it's worth it to me.We have a lot of fun 😊

you can still get a brick for $20ish when it is to be found. The most I paid was $35 at Big 5, but I have found a few here and there at Academy Sports for ~$20. Obviously more for something like cci

At my local Dunham's, Remington Golden 525 Value Pack @: $21.99.
-10% coupon = $19.79. +6% sales tax = $20.98

Or just hair under $.04/round.

I managed to get two of these last week as they actually lasted on the shelf until the next morning (One per customer per day.), so maybe I'll have enough to get me through a couple of months if I ration them out carefully. (Current shooting schedule takes about 100 rounds per week just in competition...)

I've seen Remington Thunderbolt at about $.03/round, but I've had far more duds and other reliability problems with them.

When I buy anything at Dunham's, I get another 10% ammo coupon, good for sometime later. The coupons usually put their price closer to what I see listed for Walmart.

I heard at the gun show that the 22lf lines were converted to meet the HLS purchase of hollow point ammo. The vendor said it could be 2-3 before the order is filled and converted back to 22lr. Any truth to that?

.22 LR and some handgun ammo has started to show up again after a long absence at the local Academy Sports store, but people are still lining up at the front door to buy before opening time.