Unbelieavably High .22 Bulk Ammo!

AA: I agree with most of your figures except around here, I was still picking up 550 ValuePaks (not Remington) for $16-18 until November. I never noticed the .22 blip in 2008 but did see .44 Special and 45 ACP at W-mart go from $9.97 to 16 bucks in a matter of a few months.
It sounds like the prices in Texas are a little more reasonable than here in the Northeast of Pennsylvania. In any case we all agree the current prices are completely outrageous! I have a lot of bricks of 22 ammo because I bought several at a time when I found a sale. I'm thinking of throwing up 5 or 6 on Gunbroker.com and see what they will sell for. @ over $150/brick I could buy myself a new 55" big screen TV!!! And no, I would not put a big price tag on them. I would start them at only a Dollar since those crazies over there are doing all the work for you! lol
 
In my humble opinion (which is not worth much) We all need to take a deep breath on the whole ammo grab deal. It absolutly absurd to pay even half of the prices people are paying for any ammo. My local police supply store is still selling 40 S&W ammo for within 2 dollars of what it was all of last year. Stop feading the bears and they will go away. Keep the frenzy up and it will only get worse.
 
...You know... Im lucky, I have a pretty good suply of 22 ammo...

I can't count on luck, so I kept spare ammo on hand. I have plenty, and have even sold quite a bit lately. Made a good profit, too.

I knew even before the first panic in the Clinton era that it made sense to keep spare supplies on hand for just such situations. Not just ammo, but lots of stuff. I can't think of everything, but I hope to have enough to trade for something I might have forgotten or run out of, if the time ever comes.

Buy low, sell high. Anyone who buys now is crazy, except a small amount for a new gun purchase.

I have plenty of 22 ammo for sale if anyone needs some. The first round is $1. $2 for the second round. $3 for the third. $4, ...well you get the idea. No gouging going on. That's my price, and you are free to take it or leave it. No hard feelings either way. Now if someone was desperate for a few rounds because of a legitimate set of events (carelessness and irresponsibility do not count), the ammo is free.

It might be a little painful for a short time, but this phony ammo shortage event can be a valuable lesson for those willing to learn from mistakes.
 
Last edited:
I'm loading 38 specials right now with supplies I restocked in 08.It's costing me $50 a "brick" plus my time.Just wait it out and prices will come right back down.
 
Totally ridiculous for those prices for .22 ammo. Hopefully no one will trade with that shop.

Glad I picked up half a dozen bricks back when it was under $20 a brick for bulk.
 
22 ammo

My friend was at 2 gunshows in Alabama the past 2 weeks. and says 22LR is selling for 10 cents a round. 223 is about seventy cents a round and 9mm anywhere from 50 to 80 cents a round. It was a little higher , but is down to those prices now. I think it will be back to almost where it was 6 months ago in 60-90 days. If out, buy what you need, and stock up when it's a lot more reasonable.
 
I certainly can't say I saw this coming, but about 2 years ago, I got tired of going to WM searching for .22, so I decided to start buying bulk bricks by the case. Sure, it required me to pay a lot up front, but I figured I would use it up in 3-4 years,and it won't go bad. Went to the same PA store's on-line auction site, plenty of FED on sale, it took a couple months, but I got a great deal, about $150/case, or $15 per brick of 550, vs $20 at the time at WM. At the time, that discount made good sense, as I was buying in bulk. I didn't realize what a bargain I got. That same case of ammo is now going for $400-700 /case on the same auction site, and has been so for months. My point is that it is not just the stores profiteering, it is our fellow shooters acting irrationally.
.22ammo is not a life saving drug, I don't think we NEED it right now.
 
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

Academy sells the 525 value pack for $19.99 as of this morning.

LL
 
Good to know. There was a wreck on the highway in front of our Academy today about 7:45 and I got stuck in it. I could see at least 30 guys waiting at the front door for them to open. Probably weren't trying to get to the fishing lure aisles.
I heard ours has a 1 ValuePak per person limit per day and they walk it out to the front door for you. I think at some point one has to figure in gasoline and time (if you have something other to do, like going to work) in those prices. LIke I have said previously, my best friend and hunting partner near Dallas drives around in a Suburban and hits as many W-Marts and gun shops as possible every other day. He refuses to figure in his gas, probably because it is his escape from his spouse.
 
Matter of supply and demand. If everyone would just cool it for a while on the .22 ammo and not hoard it like the world was coming to an end this ammo shortage will settle down. It always has eventually. Maybe it wont be as cheap as it was, but it certainly wont be as high as we are seeing now. Shoot some of what you got without fear of being able to ever buy it again. This shortage wont last forever.

________
James
 
James:
I think one of the things we don't realize is the number of new gun owners who have never ever thought of buying ammo before and are now looking for it. It is hard to tell those folks not to buy when they have a gun with no ammo.
Ed
 
At the gunshow last weekend I took along some of my excess 550 packs. We started selling them at $40. Then the first guy that came along started pealing $100s out of his pocket, buying all of them. Too cheap. So we upped it to $45 each and put 8 more up (the amount of room we'd allocated for the ammo). So the next guy bought 5 of them and his buddy bought the rest. So we put 8 more up and priced them at $50. It took a little while to sell all of those. So we were down to 2 boxes, and my son priced those at $55. One guy bought one, another bought the last. I should have priced them higher.

Went looking in the basement and garage. Found 2 .50 cal cans that were heavy. Opened them up and found 8 bricks of Winchester in one, 18 x 100 CCI in the other. Then I discovered a milk case with 15 more 550s. They'll be going to Lexington on the 16th.

I don't consider it gouging. If I was out of ammo, I'd pay what it cost to have some. Being out of ammo is worse than being out of money. At the show last weekend the guys who bought the table out both times were dealers. They put the ammo back up for sale within minutes.
 
The LGS I shop at has been holding small amounts of ammunition for folks that buy a firearm, usually 1-2 boxes of practice (hardball) per gun or 1 hardball and the other SD. For 22LR he is only selling to those buying a firearm, anything left over ends up on the shelves with limits. His only price increases has been what he passes on from the distributors.

Been sitting on a supply of LG Pistol primers and have thought of selling or swapping part of it for reloading components (FMJ bullets)
Those 380 95gr fmjs have come in handy for my 9mm.
 
Academy sells the 525 value pack for $19.99 as of this morning.

LL
Too bad they didn't leave off the first 1 like before 2008!

Although, in today's selling environment that is not a bad price at all...
Shooting .22LR ammo was always the cheapest ammo available. While it still is it's not nearly as cheap as it was 5 years ago. Sure metal prices have gone up but they didn't go up over 100%, they went up 7%. The ammo industry took a page from Rom Emanuel's book, never let a good crisis go to waste! They raised the prices during the last shortage and never brought them down.
 
Last edited:
They were selling Rem bulk packs of 525 at the gun show this weekend for $30.00, limit 2 packs per customer. Walmart had a shelf full of .223 at alamost $19.00 a box, but said they were sold out of the 5.56 in no time and it had a list of $11.99 a box. Why is the .223 more expensive than the 5.56?
 
That's cheap. My shop had a CCI round for $100. Of course it came with a box. I have seen S&W guys pay over $100 for an empty box. At least this one had a round in it.

Photo066-L.jpg
 
how mauch is enough?

I am not disrespectful to people or a fellow member of this forum, but as an avid firearm collector and range shooter I am missing your point. The current craze on ammo deprives many people the ability to purchase reasonably priced ammunition to enjoy the sport. With a bad back and living so far out what is the purpose of purchasing ammunition at your current rate? Yes there is a shortage but unless you are going to war with someone hopefully not here in the US why the buying spree? Is it just that you have time to purchase and want to stock pile or are you reselling? Whatever the reason you fit into the mold of the people buying just to buy. This is why there is a shortage. Again I am not being disrespectful but your post makes absolutely no sense,
I keep hearing that 22 is non-existant, but not so. I live in a small town in the middle of no where. Its 30 miles to the nearest McDonalds, Walmart or LGS. I am disabled with severe back problems and don't get out much. In spite of that, I have purchased over 1000 RDS of 22 since the beginning of the year....all at regular prices, and mostly at Walmart. Today I went out of town to the Doctor. I stopped at
Walmart and scored the last 2 boxes of 22 in the store(2x225rds). 2 weeks ago I stopped at a LGS and got a 525 round box of Blazers for 26.95. A couple weeks before that I was by another Walmart and got their last box of 22's. It was a 325rd box of Federal Auto match(maybe 375rds, can't remember). A week before that was in Walmart for groceries and got the last 22's again..this time CCI AR22 ammo, then stopped at the LGS on the way home and got 200 CCI mini mags and 50 stingers. If I lived where I could check these places multiple times per week I could no doubt have had much more.I don't know, maybe I am just lucky. Now 9mm is another matter. I haven't seen any for 3 weeks. Even the LGS is out
 
Any shop or individual, trying to cash in, in a situation like this,is surely scum and not worth dealing with for any reason. I would not give my money to these thieves under any circumstance.It will be just a matter of a few weeks, before everything goes back to their normal prices. All it is is that the panic has raised the sales up,and emptied the shelves. That does not in any way shape or form mean that the shelves won't be filled back up again. DON"T GIVE YOUR MONEY TO THESE HYPOCRITES.We as Americans should stick together and united in these situations,not f--k each other.
 
I probably can't say anything that already hasn't been said, just that I would not patronize this store, unless he had some smokin deal on a smith and Wesson. There's alway an exception to the rule.
Greg
 
Back
Top