I have to stop...

[Art Doc]

As everyone knows for the past 3 years 22 LR ammo has been in very short supply. When this started I had about 2,000 rounds on the shelf. That's enough for several years at the rate I use them.

But i worried as the shortage continued. So I started dropping in at my local Walmart a couple times each week to see if they had any on the shelf. About 95% of the time they did not. When they did, there was a 3 box limit. I bought what they had when they had it.

Recently I started feeling like I had accumulated too much. Even with very hit and miss acquisitions I had built up my stores dramatically. I started sharing with friends who were low. I gave away 4 or 5 bricks. I gave some away to stranger I met at the store as he was desperately seeking ammo so his granddaughter could shoot the rifle she got for Christmas. But even as I unloaded some boxes I obtained more here and there over the months and the stack grew.

Today I stopped for some groceries and they had 525 bricks of Remington and 100 box Winchesters. I bagged the bricks (last 3 they had gotten in). By a quick estimate I now have about 20,000 rounds stored up. Far more than a lifetime supply. I shouldn't buy any more but I'm afraid that if I see it I will bag it out of paranoia.

I wish this situation would correct itself. If I saw a plethora of 22 ammo on the dealers' shelves I could stop buying in comfort.

 

[meaneyedcatz]

Wow. I wish I had your throw away money ( :

 

[Big Stick]

Well, while I can appreciate your generosity, I really hate seeing posts like yours, where a poster states "even though I have enough, I bought more just because it was there"......

Think about the others, who can't shoot, because its not there.....

And all you others who have enough "to make the rafters bend several inches....., or sink a boat......" You are part of the problem, and not the solution.....

 

[M29since14]

The .22 ammo thing is a ridiculous mess. I am taking the opposite approach. I am not buying any more .22 firearms or ammunition. When folks started considering 8-cents a round attractive the situation had tilted beyond any sense of reason. To heck with it. If things ever get back to something approaching normal I will jump back in then.

 

[arjay]

I stopped buying 22 ammo 2 years ago and also stopped shooting up what I have.I was in my LGS the other day doing the paperwork for an old Colt I bought and noticed he had cci mini mags.$15/100-I passed..

 

[PatriotX]

If you don't need it, why buy it ?

Someone coming in after you may have wanted to take their kid shooting.

 

[RJJ 1971]

Please feel free to send any extra 22lr that you feel guilty about my way.
I'll use, appreciate it, and ask for more.

Seriously, I know your pain (just much smaller scale). I have about 5k saved up now. I still buy here and there, but I promised myself that I won't go into "panic mode" anymore, just to get more 22lr.

 

[venomballistics]

I bought a box of 50 before the crunch.
Still have the whole box.
While I focus on other guns and largely leave the 22 in retirement, I still make sure that it had something to eat if it gets hungry.

 

[DWalt]

I have probably have around 5000-7000 rounds, all acquired during the pre-madness period. Some has even achieved collectible status. Haven't bought any more since. I just don't shoot .22 that much anymore, so that stash will likely last me for as long as I am able to pull a trigger.

 

[Cyrano]

I don't know what's enough, but it's more than I have now. I like target ammo, as I shoot a lot of target rifles and pistols, so I go for CCI Green Tab, which is just beginning to be available again. I should really lay in more. I'd really like to find some more CCI 22 short target ammo, but i'm not even sure they make it any more, now that the Olympics require 22 LR for the rapid fire event. But I have a Hammerli/Walther Olympia in 22 short, and I'd like to feed it good stuff. And I almost bought a German single shot (miniature Aydt action) in 22 short at the last gun show. Pretty slim pickings around here for good 22 ammo.

 

[LTC]

Before any recent panics I had amassed about 12,000 rounds of Federal Value packs from local Walmarts. It probably took me about 2 years of occasional purchases to acquire that amount of .22's.

I probably have gone 2 years without finding any more and wore my reserve down to a couple thousand at best. During the past 6 months or so I have found the odd brick or 100 round box here or there.

At around 4,000 rounds I feel my reserve is adequate to see me through the dry spells.

LTC

 

[Frank46]

Around here going to wally world and getting 22 ammo is like the search for the holy grail. It's out there somewhere you just gotta find it. Last gunshow they had plenty. 10 cents a round and up depending who was selling it. Frank

 

[Mydogmax]

I gave up on .22 a few months ago. Sold my M&P 22 to a gun club member and sold my 2000 rds of CCI mini mags to another gun club member for just what I paid for them. 8 cents per round. I'll stick with 9mm, .45 & 5.56. Just a personal preference.
Also got hooked on trap shooting this summer. Lots of fun but can be frustrating.

 

[Fishslayer]

I've been panic buying since 2008.

I have enough. I know I have enough. But the local Big 5 had 5 bricks of Blazer 40gr black solids recently & I bought all 5. You gotta understand though... this isn't the loose bulk box... this is the sho' nuff 10 x 50 boxes with the neat little trays & whatnot! The 40gr Blazer is one of my favorites...

It's a sickness I tell ya!

 

[rwsmith]

You can't buy too much.......

As everyone knows for the past 3 years 22 LR ammo has been in very short supply. When this started I had about 2,000 rounds on the shelf. That's enough for several years at the rate I use them.

But i worried as the shortage continued. So I started dropping in at my local Walmart a couple times each week to see if they had any on the shelf. About 95% of the time they did not. When they did, there was a 3 box limit. I bought what they had when they had it.

Recently I started feeling like I had accumulated too much. Even with very hit and miss acquisitions I had built up my stores dramatically. I started sharing with friends who were low. I gave away 4 or 5 bricks. I gave some away to stranger I met at the store as he was desperately seeking ammo so his granddaughter could shoot the rifle she got for Christmas. But even as I unloaded some boxes I obtained more here and there over the months and the stack grew.

Today I stopped for some groceries and they had 525 bricks of Remington and 100 box Winchesters. I bagged the bricks (last 3 they had gotten in). By a quick estimate I now have about 20,000 rounds stored up. Far more than a lifetime supply. I shouldn't buy any more but I'm afraid that if I see it I will bag it out of paranoia.

I wish this situation would correct itself. If I saw a plethora of 22 ammo on the dealers' shelves I could stop buying in comfort.

If it ends up in an estate sale (your own) your family will get the money back, no problem unless somebody in your family wants it, then it won't be bought in vain. Bulletproof investment.

 

[rwsmith]

Disagree.... more of a hoarder....

Well, while I can appreciate your generosity, I really hate seeing posts like yours, where a poster states "even though I have enough, I bought more just because it was there"......

Think about the others, who can't shoot, because its not there.....

And all you others who have enough "to make the rafters bend several inches....., or sink a boat......" You are part of the problem, and not the solution.....

He's doing this for the bullets he intends to use himself and even said that he was generous with the have nots. He didn't say he was going flip them. And he didn't wait in line at openings to get first dibs. He bought the limit when something was there, which was rarely and only when they passed by and they had some in stock.

 

[Cobroller]

"I wish this situation would correct itself. If I saw a plethora of 22 ammo on the dealers' shelves I could stop buying in comfort."
This is what I did during the previous shortage of all ammunition. I would get a value pack when available. Backed off when the price went to the $18 range, then bought some more when the shortage appeared to continue and most shooters did't seem to be aware of the problem. I still remember the last two value packs I picked up--with the shelf still full. I decided I had enough, so quit buying. Not long after that the panic buying started the current shortage. I guess I could have sold for $50 per box, but I have tried to live in peace and harmony.
The empty value pack beside the computer has the $15.47 receipt from 07/13/10--all shot by the boys last week. I think we had $50 worth of fun.

 

[CajunBass]

I've probably got 4-5,000 rounds of 22 around here. I haven't inventoried it lately. I haven't bought or fired any for the last couple of years. I'm just to lazy to go look for it.

I've also sold off most of my 22 guns. I used to have a dozen rifles, and another dozen 22 handguns. Now I've got just one of each.

I'd rather shoot my 38's and 9mm's these days. I never cared much for shooting 22's at paper targets anyway. I doubt I'll ever hunt again.

 

[TTSH]

.22 LR Anonymous

I am now a member of .22 LR Anonymous and am pleased to report that I have been sober now since last summer. Yes, it's been 14 months since my last .22 LR purchase and I'm still doing fine.

Of course, it helps that I haven't seen a single box of .22 LR in my local Walmart store during all that time... but I have seen some at other stores including some gun dealers and at our new Massachusetts "Cabela's-lite" store.

Yes, I was tempted... but fortunately for me, most times it was Remington or some obscure brand (not my favorite "Mini-Mags") and that made it a lot easier to walk away.

The truth is that I've got a very healthy .22 LR ammo stash including lots of Mini-Mags... probably enough of them to last me a lifetime since I am already quite old and fuzzy.

Could another full-blown, all-out panic start me buying again? I suspect one will be coming in late-2016 or early 2017... or even earlier should another horribly ugly "good crisis" come along.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

 

[M29since14]

...Also got hooked on trap shooting this summer. Lots of fun but can be frustrating.

Oh... this can be really bad. I hope you survive, but you may not!

I think it took me twenty years to beat that illness, and even today it still haunts me when I walk past a rack of trap guns.

Wednesday, I visited a gun shop about 80 miles from home. They had a like-new Marlin 39 in the used rack. I've always wanted one. It was in great condition, possibly unfired, and the price was maybe $100 less than I expected. I really should have bought it, but with the current prices of .22 ammo it just didn't have the curb appeal. I hated to walk away, but I doubt the situation will correct itself. Once the manufacturers get it twigged folks will pay crazy prices for the stuff - and they certainly have seen that - prices are never going back to $15.47, or anything close. (I hope I am wrong. )