for all those here who have been thru other "panic/hoarding" events like this, how do these issues compare to the past? Does it seem worse, the same, ?
Just trying to get a handle on it, i have no interest in hoarding anything, just to get a few boxes here and there to take an old pistol to the range. If it looks like this is truly a long term concern, then i'm more inclined to jump on more ammo now...... but if it's the same as some of you may have gone thru before and it will end, then i can be more patient on how i play this little game. Again, just a newbie being curious.

This is the first time I remember a shortage of .22 ammo, and I just don't get it.

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Wayne
Torn & Frayed

This is the first time I remember a shortage of .22 ammo, and I just don't get it.
+1- .22 ammo has been plentiful & inexpensive my whole life. I don't get the .22 shortage either.
Regards,
turnerriver

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turnerriver

There was a .22 ammo shortage in 2008, but not this bad.

Personally, I think we're just hitting a bump in the road. At least I hope that's all it is.

If nothing else, it's a good wake-up call for those who might not have had as much ammo on hand as they would have liked.

At this point in time, I figure the best thing to do is just sit back, wait it out, and don't go needlessly burning up ammo shooting at tin cans.

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Pack light and cinch tight.

I think one reason for the 22 ammo shortage is the high cap mags some of the rifles have. One shortage led to another. Don

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"Don't worry be happy"

Even the AWB of 94 wasn't this bad.
I really have no idea as to why ammo is in such short supply this time around.
And I was around for the 86 GCA.

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Hold my beer and watch this!

I think more folks have been shooting .22s than ever before. Centerfire ammo isn't cheap, the economy has been rough the last few years, and gun manufacturers have been putting out a ton of new .22 centerfire look-alikes.

I usually keep around 10k+.22s on hand, but when all this started up I pressed the buy button and doubled up as to not get caught with supply issues and/or hyper inflated prices in the short term. My shooting pals at the club did similarly. My guess is the first wave of supply shock was caused by guys like us.

I agree, there are a lot more people shooting .22s, and these AR type .22s with high cap mags. In addition to all the panic ammo hoarding, this factor just pushed things over the top.

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NRA Life Member

In 2008 people were acting out of fear of what the current occupier might do. This time people are reacting to a real threat by local & federal forces and a concerted push by the antis to capitalize on the tragedy at Sandy Hook.

Here in Kalifornistan we've been dealing with boxer, difi, yee & others for years. We recognize the tactics.

It's very important to remember that these people have no interest in "public safety," "reasonable-ness" or any of the other stuff. They WANT to ban all guns in the worst way. Small steps, a bit at a time, let no tragedy go to waste. Our own police chief has declared that the complete disarming of the law abiding population could be achieved in a few generations.

I agree with this mostly ^^^^
A lot of newer .22 rifles have come out in the last 5-10 years
that have large cap. magazines and as soon as the current
POTUS was elected along with recent shootings it has created
a "perfect storm" scenario. This one is far worse than any
other gun/ammo shortage that i have witnessed.
BTW i was born in 1960. Not an old-timer but getting there.
Hoping this subsides soon for all concerned but not counting
on it.

Chuck

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They hold no Quarter

We've had spot shortages over the years. Maybe the worst was during WWII when everything was dedicated to the war effort. Back then you needed a "permit" from the War Department to even buy any ammo you might have found. The hot ticket was for farmers and ranchers to request the ammo. Then shooters could "borrow" it to shoot critters like crows or anything else that bothered the crops. Even the government was smart enough to realize crops were more important to more people than a little ammo. For a reference or source, read Skeeter Skelton tell about his adventures. Those of us with relatives engaged in farming have a lot of stories about ammo in that time frame.

Even when everyone complains about no ammo, some folks still had a little socked away. As the supplies dwindled, the owners became very careful of how it was used.

Back in the Arab oil embargo days of the early 70s we had spot shortages of components, particularly primers and powder. The problem was finding it because gas was so expensive. Over a $1 a gallon! The world was ending, except if you wanted it you could find some. Just like ammo and components. It might force you to visit a half dozen shops, but most had some ammo, just not what you wanted.

Then in the late 1970s prices just went up. It continued into the early 1980s when primer prices blew through $8 a thousand. Those of us with any extra cash and foresight went buying.

By the time Klinton pushed his weapons ban in 1993-4 we had a real shortage on our hands. It wasn't as if you couldn't find any ammo, it was just a problem finding the brands you wanted and in sufficient quantities. And primers went up again. Some of us really took it to heart and swore we'd never get caught short again. You could still get ammo, just not what you wanted.

Then in 2008 the first nasty shortage occurred. Some of us just got upset and bought as much as we could find and afford. Probably more than our fair share, but I don't like sharing. And really you could find the scarce items like the gold standard of ammo, Federal 550s. At that time I had a job that allowed me to do as I pleased. So I just made a map of where WallyWorlds were located and visited a different one each day. If I visited 2 or 3 of them I could pretty much find what I wanted. Then I struck gold at one south of me. This big fat guy, pretty jolly, was sitting on a stool by the cash register. But sitting down low. He was occupied at some task and pretty distusted at the caller. The guy wanted all the ammo he had in stock. And he just told the caller he had to come in, he wasn't holding anything for anybody. When he got off the phone he explained the guy had visited before, and bought shopping carts full of ammo. Basically wiped them out and he didn't really like it.

Then he asked what he could do for me. I told him I wanted 22s and asked how many I could buy. He said if he can't limit that other jerk, he'd sure sell to me. So I asked if I could have the 2 cases on the top. He said sure, pivoted and picked up 2 cases and put them on the counter. That guy was strong. I guess he had to move 400 or more pounds every time he got up. 2 little cases of ammo were nothing. So I paid up and had to lift the cases down into my cart, one at a time.

We kind of recovered from that until maybe a year or so ago. It wasn't like you couldn't find any ammo, you just might not find your caliber. But a LGS or different store would probably have some. But the stocks we've been seeing over the last year or so have been thinning out. By the election last year it was getting bad. But then the stupidity up in the northeast cleared all the shelves. I've only been to a WalMart once in the last few weeks, and that was about 10:30 one night. Took my wife for one of those runs that she wouldn't drive herself. The ammo case was pretty darn empty, but it didn't matter because no one had the key. So all we had a choice of was what the stock boys were bringing out. The locked case worked both ways. We could buy what they had there.

And what I think I learned was the pipeline isn't dry. The makers are pumping out ammo at a steady pace. They're shipping it to wholesalers as always. And those folks are shipping it to retailers. The really only problem is everyone is thirsty for ammo. They'll buy anything they see.

I'm even a culprit. I bought my 3 box limit of .223 ammo. I don't own a .223 gun. But I can either resell it or just as good, give it to one of my sons who does shoot it.

The word we were hearing from the shot show last month was it will take 2 years to catch up. Who knows if that allows for the same level of demand or not. I'd think demand will increase as buyers get used to shortages and want to get theirs.

There's a Utube video of CCI making 22 ammo. It would seem to me that if they see a 2 year backlog, they'd be putting more production lines up and operating.

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Dick Burg

2008 seemed worse to me, but different. The 380 was the golden child then, and I saw people buying plinking ammo for $100 per box. Virtually all reloading supplies disappeared for a while; especially primers and powder. I don't recall 22LR ever being hard to find, however.

My local WM has been able to keep its shelves stocked, not full like before, but enough. I was there last night and bought my 3 box limit of WWB 9mm ammo @ $11.67 a box.

They also have plenty of .223 ammo.

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How many guns are too many?

I've been shooting since the 70s,started reloading in the early 80s,learned to keep supplies up in 08,but the 22 shortage caught me by surprise.Managed to find 1200 rounds at wallyworld a few weeks ago to add to the 600 cci sv that I had.Then I discovered 3 more bricks in my storage unit :-)

Ranger17 OP,
I think the reason this buying frenzy seems so terrible is that those that went out and jumped into being firearms enthusiasts is a lot further reaching across many demographic boarders age/gender and economic
wise.
This had been posted here and on other Internet Boards before.
This I also had a chance to witness 1st hand as working in a LGS part time. Also the time of year when this occurred also helped exasperate supply and demand. The internet and energetic individual entrepreneurs
helped also.

But maybe the general public is just?

Is it the times, Those that did not own a firearm went out and bought one and the ammunition to feed it?

Wish I had bought an M1 carbine years ago with some mags and a few hundred rounds to feed it. wow me and procrastination.

Carl

today, and said thank goodness I have enough for me now. The bad part is that for the last two years my health has pretty much kept me off of the range, so very little ammo was used. Hopeful that health is improving, club has me on schedule to run two matches this year.I would like to do it.

First match will be all .22, second one in the fall, all CF. We will have fun and get to laugh at each other.

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the world is round everywhere

It really depends upon which state you live in. In red states, supplies are more available as I suspect residents are not that worried as blue states. There is a store chain in the west, Wholesale Sports which shows inventory on their website. Their Idaho store seems to have the most supply.

Now, it would be nice if we could shop Canadian stores.

CMP encourages you to pass on their e-mails so copying a paragraph from one today should be OK. It doesn't look good.

"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."

Pick me up a couple of those $350 Norinco M1As while yer up there, eh?

in my case, over the holidays i was handed down a 60 yr old colt pistol that was my father in law's for years. So at the tender age of 50 i became a 1st time gun owner; though over the years i have enjoyed shooting guns as all my in-laws are big time hunters/target shooters/gun owners. I was thinking of picking up a.22 for target shooting anyway, just happened there was the old colt that was in his collection that the family gave me. I wasnt aware of any .22lr shortage until i was hitting sporting goods and chain stores on our drive back from WI to SC, and saw lines in the gun depts and nothing on the shelves. Figured that was part due to holiday gifts, the mass shootings, political climate, etc. I was finally able to get a couple boxes online, and 4 weeks after getting this old gun i finally was able to shoot it. Well worth the wait i may add.
I can understand temporary shortages as new owners hit the market, or certain times of the year when hunters stock up, but regardless of my feelings against any gun laws i cant understand nor approve those out selling at jacked up item and freight costs, or those buying everything they can get their hands on as both sides affect everyone.
If someone wants to keep 10k rounds in their garage, whatever, that's their right i guess. I'm just frustrated that the recreational shooters like myself are stuck playing games so we can go poke some holes in a paper target. I couldnt even imagine how maddening it would have been for a parent to give their child their first .22 for Christmas, only to find the poor kid cant shoot it.
I wont go crazy out there in the market place, will just pick up some ammo here and there, so i can still hit the range every few weeks until this does calm down.
thx all for the feedback!

It's the Internet. Before the Internet if local merchants didn't have what I wanted then I went without. Where I buy my ammo now I would have never even known about back then. Now we can click and buy from sellers all over the country. This allows for a greater number of sales to occur in a very short period of time.

As an example... sgammo had 200 cases of CCI SV in stock. They were allowing one case per customer. I was watching as their live inventory went from 200 to zero in couple minutes. Next inventory came in but this time they limited it to a couple bricks per customer. It went to zero just as quickly.

i'd say the internet feeds any frenzy these days. heck if anyone here tried to get a Wii when they first came out some years back (like the sad sack typing this post lol), it was no different. Stay up late at nite, watch online sites for stock, and enter your cc as fast as you can before it was gone..... consumers had to deal with re-sellers then as well. Makes me long for the days of no internet, no cable tv, etc... you got what you could touch in a store or thru a mail order catalog, it was that simple.