.22lr MEGATHREAD

[Vodoun da Vinci]

I talked to the guys who actually do the ordering and stock the ammunition at the local farm stores and local hardware stores and even a local gun store or two that used to have .22 to be purchased "at will" 2 years ago. They don't sell out - they don't get any.

I asked several large places that "used" to have .22 for purchase at will and they all told me the same thing. It isn't being purchased off the truck by guys who have the time to show up when the truck gets there. It never gets there...the orders are never filled, the orders are in limbo. Every week they reorder, every week the orders are never filled.

I accept the explanation that hoarding has caused the issue. I cannot purge the thought that all that ammunition is still being purchased from bigger venues by guys who have the time to buy if right off the truck, hundreds or thousands of rounds at a time and then they are shooting it or stacking it in a pile. I boggles my mind. I cannot purge the idea that something else is involved. I know a lot of guys who simply are not seeing any .22 to hoard. They'd gladly buy it off the truck but it never gets there to buy or hoard.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist but I cannot purge the concept that there is another bottle neck somewhere, somehow.

VooDoo

 

[Tirod]

The early bird gets the worm.

If someone want's to get up, go to Walmart, stand in line, and buy 3,000 rounds, it's America. Cash talks, BS walks.

What we hear from those getting left out is that they want their ammo to sit on the shelf until they bother to show up some evening when they are picking up milk and bread. While Walmart may be buying ammo in bulk in the large scale, they aren't getting any more than they have before. Tripling the order when more isn't going to be made does very little. The ammo distributors - the middle men and makers who sell direct - do so with pallets of ammo as their unit of sale. If you were buying a pallet a month before the panic, they established the rule that you will only get a pallet of ammo a month now. NOBODY is getting more than what they previously ordered during the quiet times.

It's the "old retired guy" walking in first thing who tripled his purchasing, and the fact nobody else is standing in line ahead of him the real issue. You want ammo, get out of bed and go stand in line. Buy 3,000 rounds ahead of him and quit whining about it. Nobody is going to hold it on the shelf especially for you. If you don't believe it, just call down there and try to get them to do it. 100 of your neighbors won't let you, the store isn't going to get into that cat fight.

It's first come, first served. Stand in line first, or do without. There is no special line for privileged individuals to get ammo ahead of you. Same for bulk orders - your shipment of 25,000 rounds is put in the que, you wait for the 500,000 other rounds to be made and ship, then it's your turn.

What we are reading about is that some Americans think they are special and deserve to be treated in an unequal way, with privileges above and beyond their fellow citizens. It's no wonder we are descending into tribalistic conflicts, we are losing the sense of being equal citizens.

Make an equal effort then - get up and be first in line tomorrow. It's your turn if you bother to try.

The guy who shows up at the grocery store in 50mph winds from the oncoming hurricane isn't going to find much in the way of bottled water or toilet paper. It's a bit late to complain about what you knew was happening. Even worse to not bother to watch the forecast.

Ammo forecast: Election year = panic. Fall hunting season = shortage of popular new gun of the month.

Buy your new hunting rifle now, and get it in a caliber you see on the shelf.

 

[david bachelder]

Found 22 LR at Walmart

The first time in several months (about four), I was able to find CCI 22LR on the shelf at Walmart

There was a three box (50 per box) limit and they were $6.47 each. They were hollow points.

Maybe ammo availability is improving.

 

[Mike1234567]

My one local WM, one local gun store and one local pawn shop... CAN'T GET ANY .22 LR. The last I checked in the nearest large city (San Antonio) most often it's available at some gun shops at 3-5x the normal price. Why is it that SOME retailers can get .22 LR when others can't? What are their sources and how much are those sources charging per round? Sorta' makes one stop and think about what the distributors are doing, doesn't it?

HERE'S ONE EXAMPLE

No disrespect intended toward that local retailer... it's just what's happening all over. If you want to be able to walk in and buy on the spot at your leisure then you're gonna pay far more than reasonable prices.

For that much money per round of .22 LR I can shoot steel-cased .223 Rem. And I can shoot decent brass-cased .223 Rem for the same price as WMR these days. IMHO, no rimfire is worth that kind of money.

 

[Sam Cade]

Make an equal effort then - get up and be first in line tomorrow. It's your turn if you bother to try.

Indeed.

Much wisdom is contained in the above.

 

[basicblur]

Make an equal effort then - get up and be first in line tomorrow. It's your turn if you bother to try.

You're probably setting yourself up for a lot of wasted time, and still no ammo?

I showed up every morning just before 7am for two months - got 22 ammo twice in that time before I decided something ain't right, and did my homework.

If it's like most Walmarts I've visited, you'll:
1. Get there every morning only to find no 22 arrived.
2. The day it does arrive, you'll find out folks are being given a "heads up" by employees, and you'll find X number of folks that knew which day to arrive will have gotten there earlier than you, and you'll still come up empty handed.

'Course, you could just show up @ 5am every day! :banghead:

 

[Gun Master]

Who perceives the situation as temporary ? I don't think anyone knows for certain.

There are the individuals (shooters, hoarders, scalpers, etc. - purchasers all). These are "the demanders". I hear a lot of "I hope it's temporary." The consensus majority determines overall demand.

The manufacturers (present and potential) are "the suppliers". They each make their company's production decisions. All together they determine supply amounts.

It is a complicated, multi-faceted issue, not unlike the stock market.

Temporary ? This has been going on for approximately two years or more.
What is the definition of temporary, and who (what) makes that decision.

It may be (at least for now), that the new .22 is .38 Special or 9 mm ?

 

[Gun Master]

Ammo at Good Price

The first time in several months (about four), I was able to find CCI 22LR on the shelf at Walmart

There was a three box (50 per box) limit and they were $6.47 each. They were hollow points.

Maybe ammo availability is improving.

Sounds good bro.

 

[Gun Master]

Simple Answer ?

I talked to the guys who actually do the ordering and stock the ammunition at the local farm stores and local hardware stores and even a local gun store or two that used to have .22 to be purchased "at will" 2 years ago. They don't sell out - they don't get any.

I asked several large places that "used" to have .22 for purchase at will and they all told me the same thing. It isn't being purchased off the truck by guys who have the time to show up when the truck gets there. It never gets there...the orders are never filled, the orders are in limbo. Every week they reorder, every week the orders are never filled.

I accept the explanation that hoarding has caused the issue. I cannot purge the thought that all that ammunition is still being purchased from bigger venues by guys who have the time to buy if right off the truck, hundreds or thousands of rounds at a time and then they are shooting it or stacking it in a pile. I boggles my mind. I cannot purge the idea that something else is involved. I know a lot of guys who simply are not seeing any .22 to hoard. They'd gladly buy it off the truck but it never gets there to buy or hoard.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist but I cannot purge the concept that there is another bottle neck somewhere, somehow.

VooDoo

Thanks, Voo.

 

[cowtownup]

I honestly think the days of .05 cent per round 22LR are over. The new price is .10 per round or more... Plain and simple... Now here is the part where I'm suppose to say how smart I was and how I stocked up well before the election preparing for this and I have soooo many rounds in my stash... LOL..

 

[wgp]

Recently talked to a small gun shop in a small Kansas town. He told me he is receiving more .22LR than he ever has in the past, but travelling groups or families are simply showing up, going town to town, buying it all up.

Where I am I unfortunately see the shortage of .22 LR spreading to .22 mag. I note other posts suggesting this will spread -- I wonder.

I believe in keeping a stock of ammo for the guns I have, but seriously, 60K rounds of .22? It's a free country, buy it if you want to, but 60,000 rounds? Or even more? Wow.

 

[Mike1234567]

You're probably setting yourself up for a lot of wasted time, and still no ammo?

I showed up every morning just before 7am for two months - got 22 ammo twice in that time before I decided something ain't right, and did my homework.

If it's like most Walmarts I've visited, you'll:
1. Get there every morning only to find no 22 arrived.
2. The day it does arrive, you'll find out folks are being given a "heads up" by employees, and you'll find X number of folks that knew which day to arrive will have gotten there earlier than you, and you'll still come up empty handed.

'Course, you could just show up @ 5am every day! :banghead:

That's my experience here too. I see no point in beating my head against a wall.

 

[plmitch]

Picked up four more boxes this morning at lgs, prices holding at $50.00 each, not bad, not going to bust anyones budget, good to see pleanty on the shelves at a stable price.

 

[Mike1234567]

Target Sports currently has CCI Mini Mag for 10 cents per round... but $17+ shipping for two 100 boxes. No thanks.

 

[Mike1234567]

Ammo To Go... 11 cents/rd... doesn't appear to be any limit and fair shipping. Too bad I have no money right now. But even if I did... the price is still too high.

 

[Mike1234567]

^^^ Gone already... interesting...

 

[trapper1]

LOL...according to the "out of stock" timeline, they were out before you hit "Submit Reply" on your first post

 

[Mike1234567]

LOL...according to the "out of stock" timeline, they were out before you hit "Submit Reply" on your first post

Actually, not quite. I added 10 boxes to my cart just to see if I could order them and to determine if there was a quantity limit. However, I cancelled my order because I have no money. I don't know if I could have completed the order but they were in my cart.

Must o' been someone with lots o' spare cash to "invest" who bought the lot.....

 

[Mike1234567]

SOLD OUT WITHIN SECONDS?

Something ain't right here.....

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

I just talked to the head Dude at the local Gander Mountain. They simply are getting no ammunition...not being bought off the truck at O Dark 30. It is not being delivered.

He tells me that even when they were getting it a few weeks ago, it gets bought by one or two guys who double the price and flip it. To guys who probably flip it again. They now have a 10 box limit but still have not one single box in the store. He tells me that Winchester and I think Remington are doubling their output soon.

I want a .22 plinker so bad I can taste it but with the current situation I'm buying an AR-15 and .223 brass and gonna be plinking with hand loaded .223 as it will not be much more per round (after brass and tool procurement) than shooting .22 at current price and availability. I have 1500 rounds of .22 LR to feed my little .22 revolvers/fun guns and when it's gone, it's gone. Maybe enough for 2 years.

VooDoo

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

I don't remember if I said it in this particular string or not, but it looks like it bears repeating even if I did:

If you aren't already, start networking and quit trying to go at this all alone. I network with several people at work, and a few family members scattered across some states, and we all look out for each other specifically with respect to ammunition.

Currently .22 LR is the caliber in need, but when the shortage hit all the other major calibers across the board, we included those as well.

Start networking with some friends and family specifically for what you need among yourselves. Everybody simply keeps an eye out for .22 LR while they're out and about. If someone has the opportunity to check more frequently or at specific times, then great. If anybody finds it, buy it whether they personally need it or not. Then the calls go out to the rest of the network about the news in case someone else can also take advantage of the opportunity. Then the ammo gets spread around among friends who need it at cost.

THAT'S networking to people's advantage. Coincidentally, it's also what good friends do anyway: "Hey! I got some for $XX a box! If you need a box, come on by!"


And for people who think "4.2 billion" is really a lot of ammunition...you're all thinking very small scale indeed. Here's another way of thinking about it:

4.2 billion is the same thing as saying "4,200 million". Now start playing the numbers game a little bit differently.

Like, assume there are only 20 million people steadily buying all this .22 LR. 4,200 divided by 20 is 210 rounds of ammunition. That's 210 rounds of ammunition per person for the entire year for that 4.2 billion rounds.

Or let's figure out how many people a single brick of .22 LR (500 rounds) would supply during that year:

4,200 divided by 500 equals 8.4, or 8.4 million people. So if only 8.4 million people bought 500 rounds each, they would eat up 4.2 billion rounds for the year.

Personally, I've purchased over 5,000 rounds of .22 LR in the last year (at retail outlets). If only 1 million other people did this, out of the millions of people who are gun owners (especially .22 guns), then that works out to (drum roll here) FIVE BILLION ROUNDS.


Quit thinking about "billions" being a lot until you start putting it into perspective with potentially tens of millions of customers buying it. Once you start doing that, then the reason WHY we have difficulty in buying .22 LR right now ought to become quite clear to you, without having to waste any time at all coming up with imaginary enemies and conspiracy theories about it.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

I want a .22 plinker so bad I can taste it but with the current situation I'm buying an AR-15 and .223 brass and gonna be plinking with hand loaded .223 as it will not be much more per round (after brass and tool procurement) than shooting .22 at current price and availability. I have 1500 rounds of .22 LR to feed my little .22 revolvers/fun guns and when it's gone, it's gone. Maybe enough for 2 years.

VooDoo

So what's stopping you from buying a .22 plinker anyway? It's not as if .22 is going to be forever scarce or anything. Seems like a great time to work one into your budget against future availability.

The "when it's gone, it's gone" attitude is both defeatist and unrealistic. It's not "gone". It's out there, just in shorter supply right now. In fact, you can buy it any time you want right now if you want to pay the price. I've noted elsewhere that match grade .22 is readily available all over the place at prices pretty much the same as before the panic hit. I've bought several thousand rounds of .22 LR from retail outlets in the last year, just checking the counters every time I went out. And I've networked with friends and family to expand the net and make finding the ammuntion for all of us that much easier.

 

[Mike1234567]

RetiredUSNChief: I have no "true" friends here. Everyone always wants all they can get and never reciprocates. No one wants anything to do with each other unless there's MUCH to gain for themselves. Your method doesn't work for everyone.

 

[Arobbins]

Call wally world around 10 at night thats how i got 3 bricks for me and father in low

 

[tuj]

Make friends at your local club. Friends let friend know where the .22lr ammo is at.

My buddy just did that for me about a week ago when a major ammo supplier got in a lot of different .22lr, good stuff, not the junk most people want to plink with.