Is the 22LR drought over?

Locally, it has gotten much better. My LGS has bulk packs of Remington and until recently the Federal Auto match for 6-7 cents per round. A brick or three can be had. Sales have slowed A LOT. Even 300 round packs of mini mags were available for weeks at under 10 cents a round. Even the CCI, AR Tactical reared it's head. The variety is what gives me hope.

I have cut way down on my 22 usage. I may have to grab another case and start enjoying my rimfires again. I miss the days when burning through a brick was just an afternoon of fun. And we usually just picked up the ammo on the way to shoot.

Nov could get ugly tho. It's a shame that things are just getting better and we may be starting over. I'll always keep 2-3 thousand rounds so I'm not caught flatfooted again. Even if I haven't been shooting volume as much, I want to be able to break them out occasionally.
 
susieqz said:
not sure why you guys have to buy in person.
online prices are better n it gets delivered to your door.
ups dropped off a case n it was too heavy for me to move.

no drought online. bulk is down, good stuff no so much but it's there.
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Where I live, ammo cannot be delivered to a home. I have to go out shopping or order from Cabelas and have it shipped to a store for pick up.
 
I'm seeing a lot more of it these days - now that all the retailers like Cabelas, Wal-Mart, Academy, Bass Pro, etc. have got their prices for bottom of the barrel bulk 22 jacked up into the 8-10 cents per round range, and the better quality stuff is going for 12-15 cents per round.

Kinda reminds me of all the "oil shortages" over the last 50 years. Its in short supply until they get the prices jacked up to where they want them - then suddenly you can find and buy as much as you can afford.
 
In Australia we have never seen a low supply issue sometimes mini mags arnt in stock. But they always have cci sv's in stock in the last 2 years they always have 5000 round boxes for $300us ish each which is a good deal here.

Powder can be hit and miss but never taken more than 2 weeks to get I want.

But then again your ammo prices are way cheaper. I buy bulk 308 steel cased ammo at $.70c us a round. Decent stuff a $2+ per shot.

Decent 223 $1. Per round Bulk steel cased $.30us/round
 
Either my Walmart hasn't had 22 lately or I just don't look as much as I used to but I have seen it quite regularly in gander mountain, Cabelas, etc
 
Brasky said:
Either my Walmart hasn't had 22 lately or I just don't look as much as I used to but I have seen it quite regularly in gander mountain, Cabelas, etc
Click to expand...

Same here. Walmart barren, but others always have some stock.
 
fiasconva said:
How many of us would have ever thought that 50 rds of 22 would cost as much as 50 rds of 9mm?
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And it will remain that high until we refuse to pay the inflated prices. Even though I don't like it I refuse to pay more than 5¢ a round. Even that is hard to swallow when we were paying only 2¢ a round just 7years ago before this false shortage began.
 
My local sporting goods stores have plenty. Last week Walmart for the first time in 3 yrs had some when I typically go there after 7pm.
I don't think anyone putting their foot down and not buying ammo until the price goes down will see ammo prices drop to what they consider an acceptable level is. New shooters are joining the fold every day and they don't remember $5/100 22LR prices. $9/100 22LR at walmart is still much less than $24/100 9mm at Walmart.
If you want to keep shooting you'll pay the prices as long as you can afford them I guess.
When I shot 4H skeet in High School 25yrs ago, those 100rnd packs of Federal shotshells were ~$6 each. Now they are $23 and that is about as cheap as shotshells get.
 
The days of 2 cents a round of 22lr have gone the way 19 cents a gallon of gasoline. One just has to adapt or quit shooting.

I can still get mini mags at Academy or CCI SV's for $7.99/100. Wish I could pick up some 9mm at those prices but the prices today are in a sweet spot compared to the recent past for 9mm so when I have free cash I try and pick some up.
 
ladyT said:
The days of 2 cents a round of 22lr have gone the way 19 cents a gallon of gasoline. One just has to adapt or quit shooting.

I can still get mini mags at Academy or CCI SV's for $7.99/100. Wish I could pick up some 9mm at those prices but the prices today are in a sweet spot compared to the recent past for 9mm so when I have free cash I try and pick some up.
Click to expand...

Look into Walmart's Perfecta 9MM at less tan $10/50
 
ladyT said:
The days of 2 cents a round of 22lr have gone the way 19 cents a gallon of gasoline. One just has to adapt or quit shooting.
Click to expand...
True, we do have to adapt.

BUT, this isn't the same as the 19 cent gallon of gasoline. That was 60 or 70 years ago, and it is to be expected that a lifetime of increasing taxation and inflation would result in today's gas prices.

2 cents a round was the price for 22LR ammo less than 10 years ago. What else has gone up 400%-500% in that period? In the last 10 years the price should have gone from 2 cents to less than 3 cents per round if it were just due to normal inflationary forces, and I know taxes haven't gone up that much in the last 10 years either.

No, this is something different. This has been an artificially created shortage, that then was exacerbated and prolonged by panic buying, hoarding, and profiteering. Like I said in an earlier post, now that the "normal" price is 4-5 times what it was before the "shortage" the supply is magically increasing.

Imagine that...
 
Whenever I hear "panic buying, hoarding, and profiteering," I go out and buy another thousand rounds.
 
arjay said:
I seem to recall paying $7-$8 a brick for the cheapest bulk ammo in the late 70s- early 80s which equates to $20-$23 today
Click to expand...

I for certain remember buying CCI MiniMags in 100 round boxes for $1.59 in the mid 70's. I can picture the boxes with the price tag on them in my head just as clear as day. The same thing is $10-$12 minimum today - when you can find them. That's a 6-7 fold increase. Definitely more than inflation at work there.

But the real measure isn't comparing today's price to 40 years ago, it's comparing today's price to 5 or 6 years ago - right before the shortage. Most of the increase has happened since then. Which I believe is exactly the intended consequence of creating the artificial shortage in the first place. Just my opinion.
 
BC38 said:
I for certain remember buying CCI MiniMags in 100 round boxes for $1.59 in the mid 70's. I can picture the boxes with the price tag on them in my head just as clear as day. The same thing is $10-$12 minimum today - when you can find them. That's a 6-7 fold increase. Definitely more than inflation at work there.



But the real measure isn't comparing today's price to 40 years ago, it's comparing today's price to 5 or 6 years ago - right before the shortage. Most of the increase has happened since then. Which I believe is exactly the intended consequence of creating the artificial shortage in the first place. Just my opinion.
Click to expand...



Back then I only bought CCI SV and was paying $7-$7.50/100
 
Wife and I went to the Cabela's that was recently built here. I'm here to tell ya... they had tons of 22. CCI, Remington, Federal, Norma... on and on... everyone was just walking on by. And so did I.

So yes, demand isn't what it used to be and supply is following accordingly. Falling prices next.
 
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