What you need to be asking is: Why is Walmart only getting "ONE CASE" of 22 ammo.[/QUOTE]

Just a thought. How many walmart stores are in the US? Thousands? As compared to hundreds of sporting goods stores.

Just a thought. How many walmart stores are in the US? Thousands? As compared to hundreds of sporting goods stores.[/QUOTE]


True but not very walmart sells ammo, many are their neighborhood stores that only sell groceries and of those that do sell ammo many still don't get much if any ammo. We have 10 locally and 2 get ammo on what can loosely be considered a reglar schedule but with reduced delivery as compared to previous years.

We can't keep these in stock. Every Millennial with a 10/22 just has to have one. Never mind that that their shot pattern at 20 feet resembles a screen door...

I admit that when Colorado was fixin to ban any magazines over 15 rounds I bought 1 BX-50 and 3 BX-25s.

Like many, I didn't really think I needed any until I was told I couldn't have them. I have a bunch of 10/22s and 77/22s so I figured I'd get a lotta use out of them.

The reality is, not so much. With no consistent source of ammo, it just doesn't make sense to use these mags. For me at least. I just have them stowed w my 10/22 takedown, ready to bug out when the Dead inevitably rise up to devour us....

Reading all of this stuff has made me realize that in this world it seems that there are 2 kinds of people, complainers and doers.

The complainers moan and groan about not being able to get what they want, that's not quite the right shape, flavor, size, quantity, price or whatever. They whine that it's the "evil" companies or individuals out there just wanting to make their lives unbearable.....for whatever reason....instead of having their store shelves full of a product that they know will sell.
It's as if it must be a lot more fun to piss people off, than to sell stuff and make money to pay the bills.

I'd advise any of the 22 ammo shortage complainers out there to take everything they own, then go to the bank and borrow several million+ to build a factory to make 22 ammo. Risk everything you have on the thought that 22 ammo sales will continue to grow in the USA and also remain profitible. If it were really the case, I'm sure any bank would lend you the money...and you'd be a huge success....if you're right. If you're not, plan on spending the rest of your life in the poor house. That is the risk every business owner takes.

If you were a doer, instead of a complainer, you'd put your money where your mouth is...and live happily ever after (if what you say about this alledged conspiracy is true). However, I sincerely doubt that any of you would have the balls to do it. It's easier to just sit back and complain about something you know very little about.

__________________
- "Sick" Mick

Talk about a bogus post. It will take anywhere from 3-5 years to site,permit and construct a plant let alone get the machinery into a plant, up an running, trained employees and to secure components to produce it. The barriers to entry as a major ammunition manufacture are enormous. Its not something one can do.


Your argument is sophistic.

So when exactly will your factory be delivering its first batch ?

Probably reselling. They know they can potentially make a 100% or greater profit. If I were the manager of the sporting goods department, I could have a lot of fun with those guys!

I just scored 250rds at Gander Mtn. I suggest you get there when they open. It is priced HIGH, but relatively speaking, expected.
I had to ask and see a person at the paperwork section. They were under the counter. CCI and Federal were available per their flyer.
Geoff
Who is feeling more comfortable, with his go to ammo supply.

Pilgrim on the surface one would think that is what would happen. Problem is when you think about it you begin to realize these people you speak of are buying for more than themselves. Personally I'm no only buying for myslf but for my gunsmith, my sons, their wives and my 4 grandchildren. That's 10 people not counting those I introduce to the hobby by starting first with a 22lr firearm.

I agree. I buy for me, for my son, for the Boy Scout troop, friends who may need a box...

From my perspective, it's something of a manufactured crisis. Whatever the causes, we're told there's a shortage so the panic buying mentality kicks in and seems to have become a self-perpetuating cycle. I know the four local Walmarts in my immediate area always put their stock out by 7:30 a.m. Each store has it's corps of loyal "waiters" who buy their limits and turn right around to deliver to a couple of local gun stores, who then add their markup. We've all seen the seemingly unlimited supplies for sale on the auction sites at the hideously hyper inflated prices. The good news there is that lots of the gouge artists are seeing their lots go unbid on, so that may be a good omen for the near future. Inevitably, supply will catch up with demand...just get ready for permanently "adjusted upward" prices. The gougers have proved the market will absorb higher prices and the MBAs at the manufacturers are duly noting it.

Gunbot for 22LR: GunBot 22lr rimfire ammo

My $.02 worth to add are that the art of marksmanship is about as dead as the Bill of Rights. There is no reason for anyone to go thru a 550 round box of .22lr or any ammo in a single range session. For what? Blasting? Oh yeah, that's great, but then dont complain when there is no ammo to be found. Dad's, in most every case you are to blame here. Leave the 25 round mag at home and just bring the 10 rounder if you have a 10/22 and only load 5 at a time. Teach your kids how to shoot, they already know how to do mag dumps courtesy of hollywood and their video games.

Here's my suggestion: Take 50 rounds of the ammo caliber of your choice and shoot ten (10) 5 shot groups while focusing on the principles of marksmanship. You may actual improve your shooting ability and not blow thru a ridiculous amount of ammo. I have often gone to the range with 20-30 rounds of .308 and spent more than 2 hours. The quality of my shots were far more important and gratifying than the quantity of lead thrown down range.

Flundertaker

You seem to assume only one person is shooting. For a gret number of us that is not the situation we find ourselves in.

After what I found out today thats not an option unless its a Midway,Cabelas or known firm. Several of these websites are owned by the same company. We have been had.

If you are spending more than 2 hours with only 30 rounds, you aren't shooting. That is 4 minutes between shots... ya, I don't think so... I go to the range to shoot, not stand around. My son and I will easily shoot a brick between us in an afternoon. Go to an Appleseed shoot and you will go through that much ammo as well. Pretty sure they are working on marksmanship there.

Aannd we have a winner.

I thought the crux of this argument was that "it is for the children" in order to "teach them proper marksmanship".

I guess I incorrectly assumed that after a time, father and son would graduate to purchasing center fire ammunition of a caliber more suited to real guns.

A Crossman .20 caliber air rifle costs less than $200, shoots 800 fps and 500 rounds of ammo is about $5-$8.

So, the cost of blasting .22 went from whatever 500 rounds used to cost to whatever they cost now. Big deal.

There are viable alternatives, either price-wise or skill-wise.

Nothing is obsolete if it can still put one in the 10 ring . . .

__________________
Wisdom comes thru fear . . .

And the beat goes on....

I've got enough 22LR to last me and my son and our circle of friends for a good looooooong time.

Bought a large portion of it during the panic.

How you ask?

I used the Walmart app, then I got up early and stood in line at Walmart, I used Gunbot, I used Brass Badger, I used Ammo Seek, I used my local shooting forum, I used my local FB shooting page, I placed adds on Craigslist and traded for ammo, etc...

I confronted the issue and got creative!

Stop complaining about not having 22LR! Figure out a way to become one of those who have ammo!

__________________
Molon Labe!

Not sure if serious... I consider a .22lr a "real gun". Why would we move to a larger caliber when practicing marksmanship. I pay less than $.06 per round for .22lr. Is there a centerfire round that can be had at that price? We have an AR, but at $.40 per round or more, mainly use that for hunting, not shooting paper.

Our range does not have an air rifle line and we don't have anywhere to shoot that. With a good .22 air rifle, you need a good backstop. The wood privacy fence doesn't cut it, as the pellets can go through.

Still not sure how shooting 250 rounds in a day at the range is considered "blasting"... Start out shooting pistols, move down to rifles...

An afternoon at sporting clays will use 250 to 300 shotgun shells per person... Is that "blasting" too?

Not something one can do? It's already been done. Who do you think makes .22 ammo?

My nearest Wal-Mart is in a neighboring municipality about eight miles from my home. That store has a 3-box limit on 22 and nothing in stock during the daytime when I happen to be in that area. I do not choose to get up early & be there when the store opens on the chance that some ammo might be available.

Dealer net prices for 500-round bricks of many types of 22rf ammo range from $20-30. There are brands (British Eley et al) and types (match target, etc) that cost more. Prices from 4-6 cents per round reflect today's prices of material & labor, which have increased due to inflation over several decades. (I can remember when 22s cost a penny a round.)

I agree that there are people buying all they're allowed and re-selling at at gun shows, etc, but I choose not to patronize such people. I don't choose to pay $65 a brick, so am doing without.

One post above mentions the idea that new shooters can be "turned off" due to unavailability & expense of ammo. This is a valid point, imo, and perhaps should be of concern to the GUN manufacturers. After all, if people cannot buy 22LR ammo, why buy a gun chambered for that caliber?

Several major gun manufacturers (& importers) currently offer handguns & rifles chambered for 22LR. One of these (Remington) also manufactures ammo. It is obviously in Remington's interest to have some amount of 22 ammo available.

The manufacturer of Winchester rifles is now part of FN, with no financial conection to the maker of Winchester brand ammo. Domestically, the new Hi-Standard firm in TX, Marlin, Savage, S&W and Ruger make guns chambered for 22LR, and there are US firms importing foreign-made 22s as well. Maybe they could get together & start a factory to make 22s. (Each could own a percentage of the new ammo company, thus avoiding any problem of "monopoly" or running afoul of anti-trust laws.) As long as the product is of good quality & priced (reasonably) to make a profit for the manufacturer, I think it might be feasible.

The "pure" ammo companies (CCI, Federal, Winchester et al) will continue to make their more profitable cf ammo, of course. Imo, the siruation will not improve as long as the consumer market continues to tolerate price-gouging resellers. The ammo shortage may well affect sales of 22-caliber firearms, if that has not already happened.

I suppose your idea of marksmanship and mine differ. To be honest, shooting 250 rounds of anything in a range trip becomes downright boring. But, if I were to feel the need, I have a back yard and a BB gun...

And every range I've been to allows air rifles to be used on the same firing line as the .22's because that's what a lot of NCAA, ROTC, CMP and NRA teams use.

And when you shoot an afternoon of clays, you put 300 rounds down the pipe?? Really?!

Shoot what you shoot, it's none of my business. My point is that those complaining about the cost or availability of one particular caliber of ammo do have viable alternatives and don't have to envision scenarios that place the blame on others for their predicament.

It is not that hard to use 250 rounds each. We start off with pistol. We both have cowboy style single action revolvers with loading gate. Not any blasting there.

Next bring out the rifles. Start at the 25 yd line. Shoot for groups and sight in. Then we will play a few rounds of Battleship, with the battleship targets, at 25 yards. The targets on the ships are about a 3/4" circle... we are shooting open sights.

Move down to the 50 yard line. Shoot a few there. No more battleship, as I can't see the circle at that distance. Then, depending on which range we went to, we might hang battleship targets at 100 yards and shoot with the scoped 17 hmr, or we might go over to the metal silhouette bay and shoot there.

Those are the days we take only .22lr to the range. Obviously, if we take other guns, we don't shoot as much .22lr. But more "blasting away" takes place out at our lease with the AR-15 and the SKS, than any day at the range. The range does not allow mag dumps, but the private land does.

Go to shoot clays, and 300 shells is just 3 rounds. At a minimum, we will shoot 2 rounds, plus a round of skeet or wobble trap as a warm up.

For recreational shooting I buy what a like to shoot, not what I get bored with quick.

For those who chose recreational shooting as an inexpensive hobby maybe they ought to rethink it and take up knitting.

These three are among my favorite recreational suppressed rimfire guns to shoot and I have never become bored regardless of the number of rounds I might shoot during a range visit.... which will often exceed the limits expressed in this thread.
Savage FV-SR
Ruger MarkIII 4'' barrel
S&W M&P 15-22

No problem here. That's assuming you want to pay $ 79.95 for a bulk box of Federals, plus tax, at our LGS. At Midway that same box is $ 20.99, but of course their out of stock. Now that's what I call markup.

I see you don't knit

Manage to pick up ,22's almost every week at Dicks picked up 2 100 rd packs of Rem Goldens for 10.00 each

I would be disappointed... $.10 per round for Golden Bullet is way too high. In the bulk boxes, they are about $.04 per round... that plastic case is awfully expensive!

Is anyone finding ammo getting a bit easier to find? My local Walmart has shelves stocked up to levels not seen since pre SH all except 22lr. I still see that sell off fast. I ran into Bass Pro Sat and they had maybe 200 boxes of Win 333s for 17.99 a box. I got one my Wife got one. I did not need them but grabbed them anyway. I have been buying sales on Magazines and ammo and stocking up. I do not want to get caught with my pants down like the Winter of 2013. Its easy to get complacent when prices are low.

All the .22 ammo in the world is sitting in a bank vault in Beverly Hills, California.

Shhhh! That's my safety deposit box you're talking about.

There is no .22 CCI ammo in my area. I checked at two gun stores in Templeton and Atascadero, Ca. Both were out. They said when they get a shipment, though, that they were rationing one 50 round box per customer. Templeton = $10/box, Atascadero = $16.95/box. Crazy......

Picked up a 525 rd pack of Golden at Dunham's this morning for $22. Seems they are getting some 22 each week now.

I've accumulated about 1200 rounds at < 5¢ per so I might start shooting 22 again.

11¢ 22 is easy to find here.

That seems high. Mine are averaging at $.065 each round.

Even if I have to do without I refuse to pay more than $25/brick of .22 ammo. (5 cents a round)

Supply and demand works both ways. If enough of us refuse to pay more than 5 cents a round the prices will come down. I know we will never see $10/brick again but I think under $20 is possible if we do our part.

__________________
Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

Congratulations, but not all of us have that much time on our hands.

The frog is almost completely boiled. People are now grateful they can get a 50-round box and walk away satisfied. Unbelievable.

In the amount of time you took to read the thread, quote Dezfan, and respond, you could have used at least one of those tools, and possibly found yourself some ammo...

Those days are over. I thought I was overpaying for CCI Blazer at Cabela's until I saw it at Walmart. It was cheaper at Walmart, by $.01 per 500 rounds... I'm buying at $.065 per round. I'm not going to let $.015 per round keep me from enjoying my hobby.

Even the cheapest stuff is running $.045 per round, which puts you above $20 for 500 rounds.

Thanks. I'm just as busy as the next guy, I just made getting ammo a priority.

As such, I haven't "hunted" 22LR since April of last year.

That doesn't mean that I haven't picked up more 22LR since then, I just haven't had to actively search it out.

Spending the time I did actively procuring ammo has since freed me from the chase that has become the norm.

The way I it, I actually saved time. I have ammo to shoot, ammo to share w/ my family & friends, and I'm not having to continually spend time trying to find ammo.

__________________
Molon Labe!

I picked uptwo of these at academy about 5 weeks ago--for $7.50 per 100. Not too bad I guess?

I don't hoard, and I don't resell, but I guess you could say I'm part of the problem. If I have to pay 4-5 cents over the mythical 5 cents that people used to pay for ammo that only exists for the lucky few who can stumble upon it, I will and here's why. I can do it without making multiple trips to wherever, hoping to find whatever, in whatever limited quantities they decided to sell me. I can decide what to buy, where to buy, and in a lot of cases how much I want to buy, usually without paying tax. If I don't like what's available for the price I want to pay, I move on, without actually moving. To me, convenience, time, and gas is worth that much if not more. On top of that, those few more cents a round get a 50 yr old dad and a 12 yr old daughter out of the house a couple of hours on the weekend to bond with their firearms. Priceless.

Just got back from a gunshow and noticed the guys reselling Walmart ammo have dropped their prices down to $55 a brick. Guess the supply chain is improving or no one was buying at the old $75 price.

__________________
The American dream is alive

"Why Can’t I Find .22 LR Ammunition?!?!?"

One word: Hoarders.

I stopped by the LGS this morning and he had a shelf full of Federal blue box 22LR ammo priced at $2.95/50. I asked him if he was still breaking down bricks and he admitted he was. Said he could put 5-6 bricks @ $35 each on his shelf and they would be gone by late morning. If he puts 50-60 individual boxes out at <$3 a box he makes a little less on the 22LR ammo but they last all day and he makes more on other sales. People buy 4-5 boxes of 50 and almost invariably buy something else like targets or cleaning supplies. Plus this way he has 10-12 people who leave the shop with something they came in looking for rather than just 2-3 who bought the bricks. Must be something to his strategy, they've been in business since 1964.

No, I wish it was but its not. There is simply not enough production to meet demand.

...due to HOARDERS.

How does this counter the claim that it's hoarders? I think it's the same darn argument, more hoarders / hoarding = more demand. I think it's clear from gunshow craziness to the people I have sold .22lr to, that there is more hoarding than before. And it may not be the one guy with a million 22lr in his basement, but even the individual who in the past would have kept maybe one brick on hand who know has 3 or 4 because thanks to the hoarders can't count on going to store and getting a box before his range trip. This causes a huge increase in demand.

My hypothesis would be this, given the low profit margin on 22lr, for years federal and other companies did not expand production and roughly tried to keep it equal with demand. With demand =~ supply, there were boxes on the shelf and everyone had 22lr available. For every box bought you had a new box to put on the shelf. Then come the elections, you have a spike in demand and now demand >> supply, the boxes on the shelf are bought and so is every new box put up there.

Now federal could make new factories but that's expensive and how long will it take to pay off with the profits from 22lr, assuming that the logistics would allow for more production in the first place. Add on top of that licensing, zoning, insurance all of that it doesn't make sense for what is likely a short-term fluctuation in the demand curve. Also suggesting that an individual should open an ammo factory is just absurd, it's not about being a "go-getter" or a complainer, it's just too darn expensive for what is almost certainly a sure loss in a decade.

The real solution is for federal and the other companies to raise prices if you want it to be available 100% of the time, but they are hesitant to do that since it doesn't change the demand curve. They aren't thinking about the next month or year, they are thinking a decade from now, that's why there's no new factories. They would rather have demand > supply than have supply > demand on a low profit item to guarantee sells especially since brand preference is largely moot for 22lr, a dollar increase over competition could harm customer loyalty / sells. And yes places are getting less than they used to, but there are more stores than even a few years ago and more online retail, it's not going to China, the people who say that just blame china for most things when it's pure capitalist invisible hand forces that explain the situation.