Sad experience today

[Grayfox]

I suppose hoarding is a matter of perspective. If you own a couple or three .22s then a 500 round brick is plenty. But there are people on this board who own a dozen or more .22s and for them 5 to10K rounds is a normal supply. When the number falls below that they start looking for more.
I have bought very little .22 since the shortage hit. But I'm still shooting them on a regular basis and still will be in the foreseeable future. Does that make me a hoarder or just a guy who keeps his stock pile current?

If I had run into that father and son and they seemed seriously disappointed about not finding ammo, I probably would have given them a box or two out of my own supply. I'd like to think others here would too.

 

[Hohopelli]

Best to keep a one year supply of whatever you shoot.. That's not excessive..

 

[venomballistics]

Best to keep a one year supply of whatever you shoot.. That's not excessive..

Honestly, that's quite lean on the provisions.
It's been nearly 2 years in this wave, and we are only now seeing signs of hope.
I'd think a solid 5 year stock would be prudent.
Float through the next one with some comfortable buffer zone.
Helps to avoid feeding the monkeys.

 

[Ματθιας]

Hoarding .22 is so nonsensical I don't even know where to start.

Pathological compulsions to accumulate unneeded quantities of a commodity for unrealistic contingencies. Sad, really.

I saw the "panic" after 2008 and I went to the local wally world and and at the end of the 2010, I started to buy bricks of .22 and 9mm value packs (and surplus 5.56 from the LGS) every week and stashed them away. I also bought tons of magazines - I learned from the Clinton AWB - among other things.

All cheap and when demand was almost nonexistent.

Were they "unneeded"? Yeah! Especially when it started to get to the point where I was running out of space, and my garage looked like a warehouse but I was gambling on a hunch.

Was there an "unrealistic contingency?" Was it nonsensical? No and No. We are still seeing the effects of the "unrealistic contingency" that turned real, today.

All my "pathological hording" preparation paid off.

Was it sad? No! Not when I laughed all the way to the bank when people bid up my $.01 no reserve GB auctions to absurd prices!

So while people are still looking and complaining about the tight supply, I happily go about my business.

Tell me some more about my "pathological compulsion to accumulate unneeded quantities of a commodity for unrealistic contingencies" and I'll show you my bank account.

 

[rwsmith]

Their must be another word.............

"Hoarders" doesn't describe people like this. Maybe we should take a cue from the concert ticket crowd and call them 'scalpers'.

 

[LouisianaJoe]

This provides links to what is available online realtime

GunBot 22lr rimfire ammo

 

[Ματθιας]

"Hoarders" doesn't describe people like this.

People like what? People who plan ahead? - as if that's a bad thing.

It's kind of like the fable of The Ant and the Grasshopper.

Maybe we should take a cue from the concert ticket crowd and call them 'scalpers'.

Call "them" whatever you want as "they" have what you don't.

 

[perrazi]

if I had been there standing next to the father and son I would have given them some ammo. it really isn't hard to find now. Thursday I bought my limit of sk 22lr from grafs. they had it on their website on the front page. some other outfits have had sk in the last week too. must have been some hit the docks recently.

 

[coltle6920]

Certainly not good for father and son.

But ya know... There was a similar story posted here complaining about not being able to find ammo for the kids to shoot for over a year! Forum members quickly posted links to .22lr that was in stock and some of it wasn't greatly over priced at 5-6 cents. Turned out he didn't need it after all. There is plenty of rimfire to be purchased by those who try just a little. Great resource-- http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-wesson-m-p-15-22/292430-official-stock-22lr-ammo-thread-203.html.

For those who don't wish to do more than walk into store and buy what they want when the want, they are likely to be disappointed. It will return. Until then, those who wish to buy .22lr will need to work at it a bit online. If that is too great of a burden... then that's that.

The only thing you forgot to mention is that this subject has been beat to death and...

CLOSE THE THREAD!

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I got out of High School in 1974. The local sporting goods stores and discount stores treated ammo as a seasonal item. They got ammo in around August and cleared it out before Christmas. When it was on sale I bought all I could of everything I shot. Back then, the hard ammo to get a supply of was 9mm Luger, but you would see 22LR for $3.50 a brick. It was the plinking stuff and not that good, but I bought it anyway. I have target shooters come to me for 1977 Remington Thunder Bolt now, because it shoots better than the bottom grades of competition ammo. If I sell them any it is at the prices you would pay for the ammo it shoots better than! In 1998 the EPA changed the limits of lead allowed in priming compound, and it took American companies about a decade to get good 22 again, and some would say we still don't make a descent Match 22 round today.

In the early 90's we would visit my wife's sister in Kentucky-they had Wal-Mart but we didn't. I would buy the Federal 525 "milk carton" 22s for $8.88 and pick up 2 or three and people mocked me. Now, I got a break job done on my 4X4 for parts and 525 22LR. The mechanic took his sons shooting with his 1978 Anshutz target rifle, at 50 yards they had all 9's, 10's, & X's. It is hard to do that with anything less than $12.00/50 now. Top notch target ammo is $23.00/50 and entry grade is $5.85 / 50 (but it will do 8's or better) How are we suppose to teach new shooters with ammo that is either affordable or it hits something? I would be at the range an the 20 somethings would have semi-autos with 25 round mags and shoot up 500 rounds or more an hour (and never hit anything). It is their right to do so, but that is only gun ownership not marksmanship! But that is where much of the 22 ammo goes! Ivan (rant over)

 

[venomballistics]

The only thing you forgot to mention is that this subject has been beat to death and...

CLOSE THE THREAD!

That and it's up to the end user to work the problem to a solution.
This whole time, the wheezing geezer cartridges like 30-30, 45-70, and the like, have been godsends. Fairly easy to load for, reduce, and keep fed.
Think outside the cci minimag box and 115 grains at 1300+ is a whole lot of easy shooting solution.
Think about the days when firearm learning involved the old 58 cal flintlock.
Set the kid up to fire. When you hear the boom, start walking opposite the point of impact, till you find your son some distance back and ask him if he wants to try again after he's done looking at the sky.
We still have it easier than our forefathers.

 

[chud333]

To the Op: Did you offer the father and son a couple hundred
rounds so they could enjoy the weekend shooting??????
I would have given them some free ammo if they followed me
to my house. I would help out anybody that needs some.
Guess i'm one of those bad old Hoarders who actually buys
it when i see it priced right. I started doing this back when
Barry O. was first elected. Every payday i would buy a brick
at WallyWorld or wherever i found a sale. Knowing what the
left likes to do with regards to gun rights it's only logical to
assume if they can't get our guns they'll try our ammo next.
I reload my centerfires so i just buy rimfire. Never paid over
8 cents a round even last year. I have also never sold a single
round. Whatever i have in reserve will be shot by my grandkids
or friends when i can shoot no more.
Look around friends, it is out there at affordable prices.

Chuck

 

[CH47gunner]

Prior
Planning
Prevents
Pi**
Poor Performance

5 P's - pretty self explanatory.

 

[blujax01]

There are a few "if I were there I would have given them some" responses.

If I were there I would have given them directions to where I bought mine, because if they're where I am it's available EVERYWHERE - except, of course, WalMart.

What is it about WalMart anyway? Are people held captive there and not allowed to shop at an actual gun store?

 

[kozmic]

I spent many-a-frigid Saturday mornings the past year waiting for our local GM to open just for a couple boxes of 50 rounds or whatever their allotment was that day. I now have an adequate supply for which I didn't over pay.

Every range trip for us involves some level of .22lr shooting. Sometimes several hundred rounds. I have given boxes of .22, 9mm and other loads to folks who didn't get up early and freeze their backsides off. I feel bad for these folks and would probably invited them over for a box or 2 from my inventory.

Now no one will ship ammo to NY (to my knowledge anyway). It's likely l'll spend some more cold morning in line for a small amount.

My point is; that if you want to shoot you need to do whatever you must to find your own ammo.

 

[Alpo]

Faulkner, no, it's not.

I don't own a .22. I have no need or use for any of it.

As an 'outside observer,' the situation is clearly nonsensical.

If you don't own a 22, then you don't have a dog in this hunt. Why does it bother you?

 

[scooter123]

IMO hoarders are getting a lot of undeserved blame for the current shortage of 22 rimfire. IMO a lot of the cause is what I consider "knucklehead" behavior.

How many times have you been at the range and seen someone with a 22 rimfire copy of an AR blasting ammo downrange as fast as they can pull the trigger and they don't care a bit if they aren't on paper. Frankly I just do not understand what is accomplished by blasting through several bulk packs of 22 rimfire when they aren't even trying to hit a target. IMO all they are doing is making noise and that can be done a lot cheaper with firecrackers and won't be wasting ammunition in short supply. Yeah, I'm an old fart but I am getting to the point where a 10 round limit on magazine capacity for a 22 rimfire rifle is starting to make sense and become really appealing.

 

[M29since14]

Now, gougers I don't like so much. That would be those who keep buying so they can sell it for double the retail value at gun shows to those who failed to hoard.

Covers my thinking. I don't rush into the store and buy everything they have. In fact, I can't remember the last time I purchased .22s, but I have more than I need right now.

I'd have been happy to give the folks a box or two of .22s if I had been standing there. Was the kid looking for .22s on his phone? Sounds like something my son might do.

 

[Jessie]

For me its simple economics. I think it's Remington that sells the 3333 case of .22s.
I bought one a while back because it was much cheaper than buying packs of 50. Probably free shipping at the time also.
So, the manufacturers contribute to the issue in how they package and market the product.
I have a few .22 rifles and handguns, so that was the way to go for me.
If that makes me a hoarder, so be it.

 

[Smoke]

Best to keep a one year supply of whatever you shoot.. That's not excessive..

How do you define that? Average number of rounds per week times 52?