Unbelieavably High .22 Bulk Ammo!

[blujax01]

Not justifying this gouging , but when a shop has nothing to sell , they don't make any money. They don't make money , they don't pay the bills or the employees. It's all about cash flow. Some gunshops are nearing desperation and getting ready to close the doors.

...

I'm seeing this at Aumiller Gun Shop in Westerville. They are a two man operation in a basement shop with little or no pull from the wholesalers or distributers. They can't get squat to sell.

Dan is taking 99% revolvers out of his safe (the latest? M64 and M66 no dash) and putting them under the glass in order to pay the electric bill. They're priced on the high end of the scale and he's getting what he's asking. I think his old buddies are buying them up.

I bought a few thousand primers he had as well as a couple of pounds of powder. All 20 year old stock out of his personal stash but it helps him out and doesn't hurt me either. He sold it at the same price he had posted prior to December but that price was outrageous then and no bargain today. Do I care that the powder had a sticker under the $25 price tag that read $8.99? Or that the $40 primers were originally marked $15.99? Nah. It's not about his cost, it's about the current value.

 

[kbm6893]

KBM
Out of curiosity, what would be acceptable in this set of circumstances for a shop/individual to price a ValuePak of 525 rounds? Not trying to set you up, just wondering.
Ed

Anything other than 25% over what it cost him is unacceptable. .22 ammo isn't THAT hard to get. I saw another shop in PA had a brick of CCI for $35 (500 rounds). $155 is simply an insult. he's banking on the guy coming in with his kid who has his heart set on shooting that day and being forced to buy that ammo at that price. The Kel-tec Sub he had for $2700 is still there, but now it's $1700. Kel-Tec for more than a Springfield M1A?

 

[brucev]

Leave it on the shelf. Best way to communicate in a clear manner to the owner that he is out of line.

 

[steamloco76]

A large gun store in Butler, PA received a large shipment of Blazer .22 LR 500 round bricks. They are not selling the ammo to any of their in-store customers except for one brick per new gun purchased at $50/500. When any asks to buy ammo other than the one brick with an new gun, they are loudly told-The ammo is for their online auctions! Go bid on it like everyone else! What a kick in the jewels to their regular, loyal customers. Yes, I realize they are getting $100 per brick for ammo they paid $25 for, but they are thumbing their noses at the customers who have built their business over the past twenty years.

 

[rakstr]

Shop elsewhere from now on and, if necessary, do without until this passes. It's the ONLY way they will hear you.

A large gun store in Butler, PA received a large shipment of Blazer .22 LR 500 round bricks. They are not selling the ammo to any of their in-store customers except for one brick per new gun purchased at $50/500. When any asks to buy ammo other than the one brick with an new gun, they are loudly told-The ammo is for their online auctions! Go bid on it like everyone else! What a kick in the jewels to their regular, loyal customers. Yes, I realize they are getting $100 per brick for ammo they paid $25 for, but they are thumbing their noses at the customers who have built their business over the past twenty years.

 

[Maddog 521]

"fool me once shame on you--------fool me twice shame on me"

 

[fletre]

Just walk out of those places but don't burn the bridge down. Never say never

 

[Cooter Brown]

A buddy of mine told me that he went to Sportsman's Warehouse in Chattanooga to get some 22 ammo for squirrel hunting and that a couple of dozen people were lined up at the ammo counter.

SW wanted 100 bucks for a box of 525 count box of Remington 22s.

He left and said he was gonna get a .32 muzzleloader!

Frankly, a big part of the blame goes to what I'll call "lesser" gun boards populated with the sort of folk who believe every conspiracy theory that comes down the pike. Take a look at some of these boards, both local and national. These days hysteria builds up like a snowball running downhill by these types getting together and feeding on each others ignorance on the internet boards. It creates a surge in demand, which decreases supply, which gets talked about on the net, which further increases the desire of some to hoard, which creates more demand, and on and on.

Low supply, high demand equals high prices. I charge what the market will bear for my services. It'd be foolish for anybody including a gun shop not to. That's capitalism.

Of course I won't be buying any 22 rounds anytime soon. It'll settle out eventually and until then I've got half a dozen boxes of Fed. bulk packs.

 

[walnutred]

Stopped my my LGS last night and noticed Blazer 22LR bricks on the shelf. When I asked the price he said "You don't want to know." When I asked again he said $38.50. I actually thought about it for a second but passed. Right now it's cheaper for me to shoot 9mm and 40 S&W because I panic bought primers before the election. I may offer to trade him a brick of SPP for a brick of 22s though.

 

[joestacey06]

Good size gun shop in the next town over had a few bricks of Federal match .22 at $179.99. A small shop here in town had 1 brick of .22 for $189.99. Funny , when Walmart gets .22 in it's still $18.99 a brick?!?!

The first shop I mentioned had 9mm HP's at regular price, $21 per box.

 

[steamloco76]

Good size gun shop in the next town over had a few bricks of Federal match .22 at $179.99. A small shop here in town had 1 brick of .22 for $189.99. Funny , when Walmart gets .22 in it's still $18.99 a brick?!?!

The first shop I mentioned had 9mm HP's at regular price, $21 per box.

So, how stupid or desperate do people have to be to pay 38 cents per round for .22LR ammo? Insanity.

I am glad I took the advice in the back of my brain and bought more than I was shooting last year. Hopefully the idiocy will subside within a year, until then I'm not buying any more .22 Ammo and contributing to the problem.

 

[Xfuzz]

This ammo situation has been interesting to say the least.
Furstrating for many.
We may have to assume:

.22 ammo has double in price....forever.
The shortage is hopefully temporary.
Looks like .22 ammo will settle at---.08cents a round
.223----.55 cents

Never thought we would see prices like that.
For me, I can deal with the price increase..just don't like it.
The bad is the shortage.

 

[perrazi]

read an article last week that said winchester is about 8 months behind on current orders as of last week. this was in 22lr and centerfire handgun ammo. don't remember what it said about rifle ammo because that wouldn't matter to me. the real sticker is 22lr. if you reload and have components, you still have ammo.

 

[BAM-BAM]

Steamloco, I know the store of which you speak. They have,for years, been noted for buying ammo by the tractor-trailer load.

On top of their recent "customer service" for or at least the past 4-5 years any"good/ nice" used guns that comes in go to auction... never makes it into the case and won't sell it in the store if you happen to see it on the auction(no buy now price).

I haven't been a "regular or loyal" customer for awhile.... unless you live in Butler there's no reason to even go in!!!!!!!

It's become a joke at another shop... that is "taking care of the regulars" as best they can.. with a slow but steady stream of invientory

 

[Warren Sear]

As soon as the panic buying stops, the price of ammo will plummet. If you are stocking up on ammo right now, you have only yourself to blame for pricing being what it is.

There is no point in getting offended at a store that charging more than what you think the stuff is worth. Don't buy it if you think the price is too high.

 

[HitTheMark]

Local gunshop near me, which has always been expensive, has some .22 ammo in stock. Remington Golden Bullet 525 round value pack for $154.99, and Federal 325 round value pack for $99. So apparently .22 bulk ammo is now as high as 9MM. Last time I was there, they had a Kel-Tec SUB-2000 (used) for $2700. Never again will I walk in those doors. I get trying to make a profit, but those prices are out of the park.

Unreal!!!!

 

[k53]

Anything other than 25% over what it cost him is unacceptable. .22 ammo isn't THAT hard to get. I saw another shop in PA had a brick of CCI for $35 (500 rounds). $155 is simply an insult. he's banking on the guy coming in with his kid who has his heart set on shooting that day and being forced to buy that ammo at that price. The Kel-tec Sub he had for $2700 is still there, but now it's $1700. Kel-Tec for more than a Springfield M1A?

Well I dont know a lot about the more modern guns... But isnt Kel-tec more of a lower cost firearm? Like a $350 gun anyother time??

You know... Im lucky, I have a pretty good suply of 22 ammo. Plus at this time Im just not shooting that much. No way I would get CLOSE to paying that money. I just cant justafy that kinda price. I look around to see whats there in the stores though. I can understand it being a few extra bucks, and if I found some CCi SV for under $15 Id probably pick up a 100 pack... till then it sits on a shelf. One of my High standards is set up for 22 shorts, and I have a few bricks of farly old shorts hanging around... Looks like thats my plinker for the next year.

 

[smith17]

I can understand it being a few extra bucks, and if I found some CCi SV for under $15 Id probably pick up a 100 pack... till then it sits on a shelf.

That is $75 per brick equivalent. I thought that was high until my buddy in Dallas called awhile ago and said he hit one Walmart that finally had a few boxes of CCI SV and they were $7.99 per box of 50! Maybe that is the new norm if WM is charging that.
Ed

 

[desi2358]

Prices have been crazy, people are snatching up all the ammo they see and some of them are willing to pay outrageous prices. Many small gunshops can't even get in a regular supply to sell and if they don't have any money coming in they will soon be history. The bigger shops and stores that offer more than just guns and ammo will last a lot longer. I can't fault them for asking stupid prices when there are fools willing to pay it.

Walmart of course, doesn't depend on ammo sales to stay in business and they buy direct too so they can keep a low margin on their ammo. Of course it seems to be a matter of luck to get any nowadays. If people would stop panic buying supplies willl recover and prices will go down again. Though, based on previous experience, they may never get back as low as they once were. Me, I'm shooting my muzzleloaders more, have a good supply for them.

 

[bdshort]

A local store was selling the 500 rnd bricks of Blazer for $25, but those are gone. They still have the 50 rnd boxes for $2.99, so I've been picking those up a couple at a time. I've also been buying CCI MiniMags from Wal-Mart in the 100rnd boxes for $7.99. I've only been into shooting as a hobby since Christmas, and .22 since the beginning of this year. I did happen to have some boxes left of .22 ammo I had from several years ago for a single shot Savage rifle I have, and the price tag said 99 cents!

What was the going price for ammo last year?