Solution to the .22 lr shortage

[Irn-Bru]

For over two years there's been a constant shortage of this ammo. The solution to the problem is pretty simple. All the big box stores, Walmart, Cabelas etc should start pricing it at $0.10 a round. What this will achieve is it will cut out the gougers who line up at 7 am to buy it up. There will be no meat on the bone for these people, and the shelves will fill back up. People who are well stocked won't buy, but people wanting to shoot will. Eventually there will be a surplus and prices drop back.

Just a thought.

 

[gregintenn]

Or you could purchase it online. Plenty of it there.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-wesson-m-p-15-22/292430-official-stock-22lr-ammo-thread-134.html

 

[Irn-Bru]

Finding it online is hit or miss, then factor in shipping. Most guys just want to buy it at the store and go shoot. Personally I'm well stocked on .22 and wouldn't pay $0.10 a round. I just think it's a way of putting an end to the gougers who line up at the Crack of dawn.

 

[Grayfox]

I believe that even once every store is well stocked and the .22 shortage is considered over that $.10 per round is going to be the new normal price. Prices will never go back to what they once were.

 

[gregintenn]

I've discovered the less I go in WalMart, the happier I am.

My local dealer usually has 22 ammo. 22WMR, however, is a bit harder to locate.

 

[cyphertext]

Finding it online is hit or miss, then factor in shipping. Most guys just want to buy it at the store and go shoot. Personally I'm well stocked on .22 and wouldn't pay $0.10 a round. I just think it's a way of putting an end to the gougers who line up at the Crack of dawn.

Finding it online at the big box store is hit or miss, but it is plentiful at $.10 per round, often including shipping.

But I do agree that the big box guys need to raise their prices and have inventory available vs. empty shelves....

 

[Practical]

No offense, but what does 22 cost in your neck of the woods?

Where I live it is 8 cents per round which is 80% of 10 cents per round and this is close enough.

People have a right to hoard. EVERYONE on this and other sights compared to occasional shooters hoards.

I am willing to bet EVERYONE complaining about ammo prices has the delusions they are caused by demand in this case. the reality is prices are driven by demand and raw material prices.

The price of raw materials for ammo is HIGH.

Prices for ammo are never coming down. The real question is are they high when adjusted for inflation? Also, how can YOU increase your income? that is the real solution to higher prices.

 

[scooter123]

IMO that whole gouger bit is getting a bit dated and just doesn't happen. If you want to know why 22 rimfire is so difficult to find take a look at the way that those who own AR copies in 22LR shoot the ammo they find. There was a thread this morning about the Slide Fire stock for the 15-22 and I'll bet that person wasn't shooting his rifle at 1 round per second. He as shooting it as fast as the rifle would cycle until the magazine was empty and moving on to a fresh magazine as quickly as possible.

When I started shooting the goal with a 22 caliber rifle was to hit as many pennies as we could at 25 or 50 yards. One small 50 count box of 22LR was all I needed for at least an hour of shooting. Today the goal seems to be to expend the largest mass of ammo possible in an hours time and it doesn't seem to matter if they hit the intended 12 inch target even 10 times.

I may be sounding like a grumpy old man but I think the reason why 22 rimfire is in short supply is because there are simply too many ammo expenders doing their best to wear out their rifles as quickly as possible.

 

[Frank46]

They have aliens at area 51 guarding it, must be one huge warehouse though. Frank

 

[murphydog]

"All the big box stores, Walmart, Cabelas etc should start pricing it at $0.10 a round. What this will achieve is it will cut out the gougers who line up at 7 am to buy it up."

It's a nice theory, but...all the mass marketers are constantly trying to undercut their competitor's prices. It doesn't take much to turn someone from "they're great" to "they pulled a fast one on the price of x, and I'm never shopping there again!" It would discourage the majority of casual shooters who don't buy ammo online. Also, I think the practical effect of $0.10 .22 LR rounds is the gun show profiteers will simply raise their asking prices to maintain their margins.

Ultimately, the market will settle down, but not likely at the less than 3 cents per round I paid the last time I was able to find .22 LR locally...

 

[gjamison]

What shortage? Field & Stearm store just down the road had 1400 round buckets for $70. Remington gold tip bullets I think. They had a lot of it and I think the price wasn't bad. IMHO

My local gun shops have plenty as well.

 

[Salty RI]

I haven't had a hard time finding 22's the hard part is finding the same brand.

 

[Sconnie]

Finding it online is hit or miss, then factor in shipping. Most guys just want to buy it at the store and go shoot. Personally I'm well stocked on .22 and wouldn't pay $0.10 a round. I just think it's a way of putting an end to the gougers who line up at the Crack of dawn.

LOL You are stocked up. And you wouldn't pay $.10 a round. If the retailers raise the price to a point that even YOU won't pay they will have fully stocked shelves for what reason? Retailers find the price point that it will sell and they sell it. They don't care if you take it and shoot it or resell it. I won't buy from resellers at gun shows. But as long as others do they will line up.

 

[Franklin]

Shortage?? What shortage?

Must be referencing the Model 617 shortage?

 

[MyDads38]

Until I started shooting 22 Bullseye competition, I didn't own a 22 cal. gun of any kind. Why? There was no ammo available to shoot! I bought the Browning Buck Mark used from the LGS/indoor range because they had some 22 ammo for competitors. I was lucky enough to find enough CCI Standard Velocity ammo to compete for 8 weeks (480 rounds). 22 ammo made a slight come back until Christmas, and has since dried back up.

Walmart, Dick's and Dunham's are the only discount stores around the area. All the LGS in the area are still at 2-3 times what regular prices are. At the last gun show, all the high priced 22 ammo stayed on the tables all weekend-no sales! Guess $120 for 1,000 Win M22 was just more than people are willing to pay!

I happened upon 4 boxes/50 of Rem. Thunderbolts a few weeks ago @ $2.49/box. Limit is 4 boxes anyway, so I bought them. I've stopped looking again and the Buck Mark is again silent. I had forgotten how much fun it was to plink with 22's, but I can still shoot my centerfire guns cheaper than .10/round thanks to reloading. Even when I could find 22 ammo, I never paid more than .08/round, otherwise, I left it for someone else. 22 ammo is not a necessity for me, but it's fun when I can find it, and keep all my body parts!

 

[HKSmith]

No offense, but what does 22 cost in your neck of the woods?

Where I live it is 8 cents per round which is 80% of 10 cents per round and this is close enough.

People have a right to hoard. EVERYONE on this and other sights compared to occasional shooters hoards.

I am willing to bet EVERYONE complaining about ammo prices has the delusions they are caused by demand in this case. the reality is prices are driven by demand and raw material prices.

The price of raw materials for ammo is HIGH.

Prices for ammo are never coming down. The real question is are they high when adjusted for inflation? Also, how can YOU increase your income? that is the real solution to higher prices.

Actually, the prices of lead, copper, and tin are close to their 5 year lows and are down about 20% in the past 6 months. Prices of common center-fire handgun cartridges are down 20-30% in the past year and there's no shortage anymore.

As for inflation, I paid a penny per round for .22 LR when I was in college (1964). The inflation factor since then is about 7.65, which is about what I'm paying now! Could these be "the good old days"?

 

[FCSpringer]

There is a shortage in MN yet. The last time I saw a box on the shelf was 2 years ago, limit 2 boxes. I had none, my dad had none. So I did the snake dance and would buy 2 go out and go back in for a couple more different till. Did that till I had 10 100 round boxes. Had the wife grab a couple too . That's all I got, I shoot rabbits, wood chucks, skunks, cats coon what ever vermin and gophers. Just because of my pheasant pen and rabbits because of fruit tree damage. No one traps anymore so its just a great load for control of mother natures little problems. It was 9 bucks for a box of Winchester super x 1,330 fps HP's. The good stuff. I don't mind paying 9 cents a round for that. But I wont pay that for this other garbage that don't cycle your auto. A thousand rounds will likely last me several years unless I fall victim to a whiny friend here and there . But that's the last time I saw any around here. I am not going to drive hrs to go to a cabelas. Shops and stores should take names or most likely know who these &%^%$ bleeps are that hoard it all and not let them buy. It would still sell just the same. But more normal folks would get a little, spread around I guess you could say. Every time I go to the store there is some poor sole staring at the empty shelf. And those Bleeps, just take it to gun broker etc to gouge ya. Not buying there would help too. If you have enough like myself, not tons, but enough. Then leave it alone. Everyone thinks the world war Z is coming. And that's why the federal rubber rooms need to go back on line. For those goofs. I ran in to one joker that said he had 50,000 rounds of 22 and he was looking for more??? 50,000 rounds? I cant print what I called him. But he does belong in a padded rubber room. I have seen plenty of gophers, but I have yet to see a zombie.

 

[Engineer1911]

Fuel the fire

I have a long time friend working in the Gun Department at a local store. I asked him what the wholesale price per 500 count brick of 22 LR was. His answer, "It varies depending on brand/bullet type between $25 and $30." I asked him this question 2 weeks ago.

Their 22 LR ammo was sold out, the shelf price was fair, and the 22 LR ammo deliveries were spotty. The center fire handgun ammo inventory was good. This wholesale cost means $0.10 per round is the new normal.

Sure am glad I stocked up 10 years ago.

 

[RUN2424]

There are still some good deals out there. Patience is the key, i picked up Federal 600 rnd unopened bulk pack yesterday for $40 off a guns and ammo group on face book.

 

[Arik]

A friend just bought 10k rounds for $400. It's out there. Having said that my solution is simple. Shoot other guns and other calibers. I have maybe 1k rounds of 22 that I've had for 16 years. Plenty of other calibers around that the 22 is almost no point in shooting