Where Has All The .22LR Ammunition Gone?

[HorizontalMike]

I was at my local BPS stocking up on my .357 ammo for my 686, and I thought I would pick up some 22LR while I was at it... WRONG! There was no .22 ammunition to be had, other than bird shot.

I got home, went on line and ZILCH, NADA, NONE to be found.
All "sold out".

What gives? ! Where has all the .22 caliber ammunition gone to?

 

[cbr600f3]

Where have you been? Ammo has been scarce for some time. Mostly .22 and 9mm.

 

[HorizontalMike]

Where have you been? Ammo has been scarce for some time. Mostly .22 and 9mm.

I have been on a long sabbatical, 40-45yr to be precise. No kidding when it comes to my little 1947 Remington 121. Just started dusting my rifles off to get back in to the game. So please explain, as it is news to me. Bring me up to speed.

I have ~450rd stored, but was looking to shoot this older stock and replenish, but that now looks in doubt.

 

[diamonback68]

22 ammo has been nearly absent from the market for close to a year maybe more. Nothing new.

 

[rwsmith]

What happened??

Sandy Hook happened. It's almost year ago now. Every gun grabber in the union has been howling to get all kinds of restrictions on guns up to and including banning guns altogether. People bought up everything in sight. Guns (As long as it looked like a combat weapon), ammo and reloading supplies. Some states have imposed some tough restrictions. Better check the laws in you state and see if they haven't changed something since the last time you were shooting. I (we) strongly recommend that you join the NRA and any other shooting groups and make your voice heard.

 

[billwill]

There is a big sinkhole somewhere that is sucking it all up. Just a trickle round here. Last I bought a bought from a police friend that patrolled the big box places

 

[wyccad915]

I thought this was a zombie thread at first. .22 slowly coming back recently, but it usually doesn't last long. I can usually count on getting my 2 boxes (I've only seen 50rd boxes so far) at Academy Sports on Mon, Wed, Fri, but I have to get there early. I wish I would get there and see some bulk so I could get my 2 box limit with that.

 

[Grayfox]

Saw a Black Friday flyer from Bass Pro today. Six hour sale begins a 5:00am Black Friday morning. Among the items listed was Winchester Super X HP .22s in 500 round bricks for $25. Guaranteed that each store will have at least 300 bricks. Limit one per customer.

I'll guarantee it'll be sold out by 5:05am.

Here's the link for those who are interested:
Bass Pro Black Friday Sale

personally, I ain't going near the place.

 

[USMCHEROS]

It went bye bye. I am lucky enough to left over 3,000 worth of Winchester M22 rounds that I bought three months off a local guy who was hurting for the cash dollar signs!

 

[BigBill]

I was buying 5,000 round cases of cci blazer 22lr for $225 delivered not too long ago. You can do a lot with a 22lr as far as putting meat on the table.

 

[Hack]

What gives? ! Where has all the .22 caliber ammunition gone to?

.22LR was selling after 2008 election at a small premium. I managed to snag 2-5K cases (one Blazer, one Federal) for $225 a piece in the summer of 2009 when some of the election hysteria cooled.

Then came Sandy Hook, and everything disappeared. Prices have come down some. However, you still can't touch a case for under $600. CCI Mini-Mags are obscenely priced. Amazing since the price of .223/5.56 is coming back down to 'almost' reasonable levels.

I'm not a buyer of either caliber. Yet. And I shooting what I have sparingly, waiting for prices to bottom.

 

[thebeamanater107]

I was buying 5,000 round cases of cci blazer 22lr for $225 delivered not too long ago. You can do a lot with a 22lr as far as putting meat on the table.

In an apocalyptic situation, or government shutdown, 22lr may still feed you.

the original point and click interface, by Smith and Wesson

 

[Wee Hooker]

Funny, .22 used to be the caliber of choice for people just getting into shooting. Now people have to go out and learn on a 9mm -45ACP while they wait for .22 ammo to free up !

 

[Steely Dan]

Back in August, a salesman at a Dunham store came up and asked if I was interested in three 50 count boxes of .22's!!

Of course I bought them.

Then a few weeks later, I found a 225 count box at Wally World.

Haven't seen any since.

But, I am finding .38, .357 and .40 SW

 

[Hobie1]

I used to buy .22lr when I was shooting in Bullseye competition and picked up what I could afford. When I took this pic., there was about 11K rounds. Less now since I got my 15-22s.

 

[HorizontalMike]

Back in August, a salesman at a Dunham store came up and asked if I was interested in three 50 count boxes of .22's!!
Of course I bought them.
Then a few weeks later, I found a 225 count box at Wally World.
Haven't seen any since.
But, I am finding .38, .357 and .40 SW

No kidding. I was able to snag .357, .38+P, and .222 boxes today at the local BPS for what I would say were "normal" markup of about +-$1/bullet, however NO .22LR were available, with the sole exception being boxes of 50 for $9.99 each. I refused. Screw this paranoia buy out!

 

[LVSteve]

My buddy was at a local range this week and the place was full of ammo, pallets even out in the aisles, but NO .22. Every other kind of rifle ammo was there in bulk and even 9mm was plentiful.

 

[jframe]

Most of the .22 ammo is going to the price gouging pukes who don't really need or want it, but recognize a good opportunity to screw someone who does. I still love guns, but I've all but quit shooting since Sandy Hook, and the advent of the gougers.

 

[HorizontalMike]

Gouge the Gougers!

Most of the .22 ammo is going to the price gouging pukes who don't really need or want it, but recognize a good opportunity to screw someone who does. I still love guns, but I've all but quit shooting since Sandy Hook, and the advent of the gougers.

Yep. And that makes me want to put my 1947 Remington 121 w/first-year 1947 Weaver K2.5x for sale for $2500, to one of those "poor" souls who think they "need" it.

 

[zzzippper]

More and more ammo is finally showing up, especially 5.56 and 7.62x39. When our new Cabela's opened they were pretty well stocked with .22 but they limited everyone to 100 rounds per person. Now I haven't seen any there in weeks.

Bass Pro is having a sale next week and is offering 250 bricks for $25, a minimum of 300 boxes are at each store, one box per person.

 

[tblt44]

glad I got 1000 rounds.
I used to shoot 100 rounds of 22 every time at the range ,not now I savin it.shooting 9 and 40 only

 

[carpriver]

I scored a 100rd box yesterday at Wal-Mart, and there was even some fifty round boxes on the shelf. Our stores limits you to one box of ammo per day. They appear to be getting 22 more often.

 

[gustmez1]

I am beginning to feel the manufactures are capitalizing on the panic. Why make a small mark up on 22's when they can sell the larger calibers for a larger profit. Capitalism at work which is ok in my opinion. Just my thoughts, may be wrong, but if I were in the business I would go where the money is most likely to benefit my company. Consumer response will ultimately dictate when the product will become available at a reasonable price.

 

[HorizontalMike]

IMO, at some point all these "hoarders" are going to have to dump their stashes of .22LRs into the market, because I sure do not see them at the range burning through that many rounds. I even checked with my local range owner for confirmation on that. They hadn't seen .22LR in over a year.

 

[Straightshooter2]

I was in Dick's Sporting Goods in Fayetteville, GA yesterday and I noticed a guy checking out with a brick of CCI. They were the lead, standard velocity for 39.95 and it was limit one brick per person. I got back to the firearms area and they still had several bricks of them. I bought one and, since my wife has a few .22 rifles of her own, she bought one. They also had quite a few boxes of the bulk 525 Remington Golden Bullets in stock but since I basically gave a box of those away...$20 for around 750 of them...I passed on the Remingtons.

CW

 

[LVSteve]

IMO, at some point all these "hoarders" are going to have to dump their stashes of .22LRs into the market, ........

I think you are underestimating the sheer bloody-mindedness of the hoarder/gouger types. They don't HAVE to do anything with the ammo they grabbed. There are many who are determined NEVER to take a loss on any of these games, be it on ammo, ARs, AKs, magazines or anything else. In fact, I think it was somebody on here who confessed that Sandy Hook finally gave him the opportunity to dump the overpriced AR he bought around the 2008 election. There was no way he was selling it beforehand.

I guarantee you there are a lot of muttering stack sitters all over the country who are trying to maintain the "shortage" in their area any way they can. For a start they'll be trying to do mass buys using every family member they can round up during the BPS sale to keep the "shortage" going. Just wait for the reports of same on this and other gun forums.

 

[coltle6920]

I was at my local BPS stocking up on my .357 ammo for my 686, and I thought I would pick up some 22LR while I was at it... WRONG! There was no .22 ammunition to be had, other than bird shot.

I got home, went on line and ZILCH, NADA, NONE to be found.
All "sold out".

What gives? ! Where has all the .22 caliber ammunition gone to?

You didn't say what you are shooting it in. I have a .22mag semi-auto that is picky about what I feed it. My Henry .22LR rifle and Heritage .22LR revolver are like goats and will eat anything.

Just checked out "SurplusAmmo" and they have a selection of 22LR available if you're not picky.

 

[dcxplant]

…and don't forget the preppers will use .22's for bartering.

Also, if you wanted to store 5k, 10k, heck 20k of ammo, what caliber will you have room to store it for? 12ga? .45? or the little .22LR which packs thousands of rounds so neatly.

Compare the size of 50 round boxes of .45ACP and .22 you'll see what I mean.

I think these two factors alone keep the .22's bought out.

 

[oldRoger]

The week after the Shot Show I talked to one of the partners of a large business which supplies competition shooting equipment and supplies. They normally sell truckloads of CCI-SV and Greentag.
He some other large customers had met with CCI at the show. CCI told them that they could not expect any CCI-SV for the remainder of this year.
CCI was (and probably still is) so overwhelmed with orders that they cannot see daylight.

As others have mentioned, regular .22LR ammunition is relatively inexpensive, takes little storage space, and has an unlimited shelf life, so it's perfect for hoarding.

There is no shortage of high end .22LR ammunition such as Tenex---a bit tighter than normal, yes, but available at the normal (high) prices.

 

[rburg]

Well lets start with some facts. The ammo companies claim to be producing at full capacity. They even suggest they're producing more than last year. But if that part is true, then each and every retail store should be receiving at least as much as last year. But we know they aren't.

From that we should assume the shortage is at the hands of the makers. And they're not telling the truth. If they were producing as much as last year, or the year before, the distribution channels would have as much or more than prior years.

Anyone who wants 22 ammo can find it. Its for sale at all the gun shows. No, not the new manufacture stuff. But gun guys have emptied their closets and what not. The standard selling price for 22s is now $.10 a round. It means the old 550 packs are $55.00, and the old bricks of 500 are now sold for $50. Even the off size bulk containers of 325 are being sold for $32.50 or the more ambitious $35. Its not just one table, at the OGCA last weekend there were probably 100 tables selling 22 ammo.

I'm a little shocked and disgusted at the new trend to zip lock assorted ammo and expect the buyer to believe the sellers count of 100 rounds. For the bargain price of $10. Of course all you can see is the headstamp. You've got to assume its the very bottom of the barrel stuff. So the simple answer is if you want a 1000 rounds, bring along $100. If you want 10,000 rounds, bring along $1,000 and so on.

The break in the rule seems to be CCI mini mags in 100 plastic packs. Those should also be priced at $10, but the asking price is often $19. Its not bad ammo. But its also not worth $.19 per shot. But if I had no ammo at all, I'd be happy to buy about anything I could. It will probably occur next year about this time.