Cheap .22 ammo - from the past

[Professor Frink]

My father-in-law asked me to take care of his hunting weapons awhile back as he was going to be travelling at length and was renting out his house. Without going into detail, his son found out about this and insisted that they be stored at his house.

Without going into the drama that ensued, here is what I got for my trouble.

The .85 cent price tag ought to let you know these are from a bit back.

Considering what a box of .22 goes for now, I thought this was worth sharing.

 

[Smithhound]

Cool. I love old ammo boxes, they have a certain charm about them.
When I was 13 years old I worked in an old fashioned General Store, this was one of those one room, wood floored deals that held everything from toothpaste to shoes, it had been there for decades and was a local hangout for oldtimers who sat at a bench out front and BS'd. On the shelf behind the counter we had boxes of ammo that people could buy, not a large selection, mostly shotgun shells and .22 ammo, but the things was the owner would sell 3 or 4 or 10 individual rounds, we had people come in and ask for 20 - .22lr shells and 6 12 gauge shells and a bag of turnips. A really cool place to work. Some of the ammo boxes where at least 30 years old and this was in the early 1970's. The name of the place was E. B. Ellis General Merchandise, it sat on Highway 70 west of Dickson Tennessee. Some old timers here from that area may remember it, as well as a long haired kid that loved talking about guns and the locals WWII stories.
Those boxes bring back alot of good memories.
RD

 

[mkk41]

Back when I was in HS , I think a brick cost $8.99 and at Xmas , Remington gave ya a free pen knife or belt buckle.

 

[Smithhound]

These are just a few old boxes I have, I'd have to pull stuff down from everywhere to show them all. One of the best memories from my childhood is the smell of burnt .22 powder, just does something to me. I use old printers type trays for bullet boards, work great except when the cat gets curious.
RD

 

[ralph7]

I like old ammo!

 

[mkk41]

I like old ammo!

Me too!

 

[KEN L]

I remember going to Sears with my father when I was a kid and the price of a 50rd box of the Sears brand .22lr ammo was .50. This was probably in the early to mid 60's. The most I can remember him buying at one time was 2 boxes. We didn't do a lot of shooting back then. I believe .22 short was .65 a box. Ahhhh, the good ole days!

 

[scattershot]

, One of the best memories from my childhood is the smell of burnt .22 powder, just does something to me.

Me, too. That and Hoppes 9. I can still remember buying 22LR at 7/11 for .35 a box.

 

[gmiller0737]

My Dad told Me he bought .22 shorts in the early 50's for $1.80 a Brick .18 cents a Box! He said they would shoot Rats at the City Dump for fun & He prefered the shorts due to the lower noise & increased magazine capacity I have His .22 now a Autoloading Remington Model 550-1

 

[G-Mac]

I can still remember buying 22LR at 7/11 for .35 a box.

I'll have a box of ammo and a Slurpee, please!

 

[mkk41]

I'll have a box of ammo and a Slurpee, please!

Not in NY!

Gotta show yer pistol license and doctors note to buy a Slurpee (not over 16oz.)!

 

[mmracing]

Not in NY!

Gotta show yer pistol license and doctors note to buy a Slurpee (not over 16oz.)!

LOL... too funny. I grew up in PA so what do I know? LOL

 

[Salty RI]

I can remember going to the local hardware store near our house in the early 50's, I think a box of 50 was .40 and if you didn't have the .40, you could buy them loose for a penny a round and we would go to the dump and shoot rats.

 

[poordevil]

I could buy a box of shorts in the yellow Winchester box for a solid silver quarter when I was 6 years old.....all by myself in the Tiny tiny town of Calipatria, CAL I would take a single shot Winchester with a pull nob at the back that I needed both my hands to pull. I had to put the butt stock between my knees and that was still tough. I went to the Hobo Jungle near my house along the RR tracks. Boy! Talk about living like Tom Sawyer !

 

[Nevada Ed]

When I was a youngster in Calif. you did not need money to
get a new box of 22's..............
if you shot enough crows before you ran out of ammo and showed your "bag" to the person in the hardware store.

A good single shot bolt action and ammo.......... those were the days.

Some of those pictures have the "New improved" stuff that came out when I was much older and in high school in the 60's.

I still have an old red/green box of Remington shorts with 70% of the bullets. Don't know if I will ever fire them........ lots of memories behind that old box of ammo.

 

[Salty RI]

I had one of those Winchester's with the knob at the end of the bolt, had a ton of fun with that old gun, my father bought it at a Pawn shop for 3 bucks, it must have been about 1951.

 

[Narragansett]

I have a lot of old 22 ammo, that I bought and buried in ammo cans. I know I have some of the green Remington plastic boxes of 100 that have stickers that say 1.95 on them. Also have an old full brick of Western hollow points. I think they have nickel plated cases. We used to buy 22 shorts at the Navy exchange for 10 cents a box

 

[Salty RI]

Those were the days when Newport was an old Navy town, we would give a sailor a buck to buy us some beer.

 

[uechikid]

I was cleaning out my closet a fer months ago and found two boxes that were marked 89¢, bought them at JC Penney and for boxes that were marked $1.23. Bought those at Payless Drug Store. They shoot just fine.

 

[Alk8944]

Me, too. That and Hoppes 9. I can still remember buying 22LR at 7/11 for .35 a box.

I was going to call you on this but had to do some research first. I didn't think 7-Eleven went back far enough to have been around when .22 LR sold for $.35, but the company dates back to 1927 so it is more than possible.

OP thinks $.85 .22s are old, I remember being upset when the price went UP to $.75 back in the '60s.