.22lr MEGATHREAD

.22 Shortage ?

Gleaning from all the previous posts, it seems that the following may have occurred :
1. Shortages vary, depending on location, from area of the country, on down to individual stores, and even individual employees in those stores.
2. The number of scalpers, hoarders, etc. vary, especially store to store.
3. Certain stores (WallyWorld, etc.) tend to have more shortages (or continuous shortage) than others.

Number 1. (above) seems to be dependent on #2. &/or #3. (above). If #2. has an "understanding" with #3., this could be a major factor, which could be eliminated by honest and efficient management (top to bottom).

I have mentioned several times in the past, that major chain stores (and even local independent stores), should have a tracking of their inventory responsibility, from unloading on the dock, to cash register.

Major retailers (you and I know who you are) are potentially liable for creditability losses and negative economic activity, if management is not performing their necessary duties properly.

I suspect the people making the regular purchases are using walmart.com mobile alerts. After my recent experiences decided to check out their mobile app. It showed ammo was in stock at the store where I had previously missed a shipment of 22's.

No 22LR in the display case. Rechecked the app while in the store and it showed ammo was in stock, although I did note there was no label for those particular rounds on the shelves. Was somewhat dismayed, but figured I would find another manager to check if the new shipment had ever come in and if maybe there was an inventory glitch left over from Saturday. Took forever for a manager to get back to the department, but when he checked his handheld machine told me boxes should be in the store. I asked him where it could be found since they weren't in the locked glass case. Was informed they had a separate storage area for ammo in the receiving department which he could go check. Took about 15 minutes but he returned with 3 boxes for me (store limit). $11 per box, 225 rounds Remington HP's which I am splitting up with some friends for plinking and squirrel season next week.

So moral of the story is check the online app. If it shows in stock, it may actually be in the store somewhere just not where a regular customer can see it.

anothernewb said:

The 22 ammo situation has made a friend of mine so batcrap crazy he got a part time stocking job at walmart just so he could watch the shipments. More comes in than than I had suspected. But, as everywhere else, 75% of it goes out the door to the same group of people each and every time. He's amazed at how quickly they're at the store whenever some arrives, regardless of the time of day it's put out.

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Going undercover in the great .22lr case, that's just cool and sure beats just bitching about it. Somebody must be buying it second hand or are these guys just hoarding for the Zombie Apocalypse ?

huntsman said:

Going undercover in the great .22lr case, that's just cool and sure beats just bitching about it. Somebody must be buying it second hand or are these guys just hoarding for the Zombie Apocalypse ?

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At the risk of exacerbating the hoarder hypothesis, he's convinced it's flipping/hoarding. According to him, there's a few faces that are there so often they seem to have no other possible means of financial support other than flipping the stuff.

The 22 ammo situation has made a friend of mine so batcrap crazy he got a part time stocking job at walmart just so he could watch the shipments. More comes in than than I had suspected. But, as everywhere else, 75% of it goes out the door to the same group of people each and every time. He's amazed at how quickly they're at the store whenever some arrives, regardless of the time of day it's put out.

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The few times that I am able to stop by Walmart when they are due to put stuff out (I work for a living), this has been the case. Anyone who doesn't believe it can simply go by my Walmart any morning around 7am and see for yourself.

As a side note, I managed to purchase my first brick of 22lr (Winchester) in over a year at the Cabelas grand opening in Acworth, GA. I was in the store about 2 hours after opening, and got the LAST brick of 500 that they had in stock. I have been spectacularly unsuccessful at randomly going into Walmarts (5 different walmarts), Academy sports, Bass pro, LGS, etc. The local Gunshop carries premium ammo at about $80 per 500. It is available, but I can shoot centerfire reloads for that price. The 22lr shortage is NOT easing up in north metro Atlanta.

Palmetto Armory has .22 LR in stock. Go here http://palmettostatearmory.com/index.php/ammunition/rimfire-ammunition.html

^^^ Just a couple of standard-vels and some WMR. Everything else out of stock within minutes of this post (if it was even in.)

Side note- would the average person see more if walmart went the route of one box per day per person? It would be somewhat of a irritation for many of us, but it would also be an additional irritation for the flippers too. Might be the difference between it being on the shelf for 20 mins, vs 2 hours.

I don't know how any walmart or other big box retailer would be able to police the daily purchase limits. On a one-time purchase, easy enough. But those stores are big, have lots of employees, and run multiple shifts. There is absolutely no way to control how often the same person makes a purchase at a register unless they employ tracking software which captures the buyers names. Suspect most customers would not be too keen to agree with such a policy.

would the average person see more if walmart went the route of one box per day per person?

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If you're dealing with "insiders" and their buddies, I doubt it. It appears many stores are skirting (some flat out ignoring) company policy, so if the policy becomes one box per day, they'd just skirt that policy also.

Some folks have stated having Walmart put out ammo at various times during the day might help - that would only help those in the loop even more.

If I know the ammo is going to be put out at 7am, I have the same chance as anyone else (just got to be there before those in the loop) - if ammo is put out at all times during the day, the insiders will just hold it throughout the day until their buddies show up to buy.

fiddleharp said:

Chief, maybe it's improving where you live, but I can assure you that no .22 ammo has been seen on any store shelf in my part of Southwest Florida in at least 18 months, at least by me. And believe me, I've been looking!
Walmart has even removed the price stickers off the shelves where .22 ammo used to be. It's like it was never there. What does that mean?

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But the fact that any particular area may be more difficult to find .22LR than another doesn't change the overall fact that .22LR IS becoming easier to find.

I work in Virginia. My home and my family are in South Carolina. All along the I-85 corridor it's easier to find .22LR now than a couple years ago. Traveling to and from Indiana through states like Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, I find the same thing happening.

This isn't to say that things aren't worse in some areas, like where you live, but it very clearly shows that things ARE improving.

Like Gun Master said in post # 849, there could be a number of reasons why any given region might be experienceing more difficulties than others.

Things ARE improving. Keep the faith and keep looking in the meantime!

The local farm and home store had 30 100ct boxes of winchester and probably 100 50 ct boxes of something else don't remember the brand. They said they had about 30 bricks that they had just sold out of. I don't know what they were. Walmart didn't have anything when I was in there and said they hadn't had any bricks in a month.

I've been checking 5 nearby Walmart stores almost daily for a month and the haven't had any 9mm ammo in the last 3 months.

I get virtually all my .22 from Cabela's online. Their prices are very good and freight is reasonable. You need to check the website often, and place your order right away when they have it available. I scored a Federal Bulk Pack (325 rounds) and a Winchester Bulk Pack (300 rounds) within the last week. I have managed to build up a good supply of .22LR just by ordering it from Cabela's when available. The modest shipping charge more than offsets the cost of the gas I would burn up by driving around to all the Walmarts in the area just to come up empty-handed.

I also scored the Federal bulk pack last week, less than .08/rnd (incl shipping & tax). Not as good as it once was; but then neither is gas.

huntsman said:

Going undercover in the great .22lr case, that's just cool and sure beats just bitching about it. Somebody must be buying it second hand or are these guys just hoarding for the Zombie Apocalypse ?

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Oh no, they're on to me. Time to move on from the Walmart in Bedford, Ohio.

Ron

shlike said:

I get virtually all my .22 from Cabela's online. Their prices are very good and freight is reasonable. You need to check the website often, and place your order right away when they have it available. I scored a Federal Bulk Pack (325 rounds) and a Winchester Bulk Pack (300 rounds) within the last week. I have managed to build up a good supply of .22LR just by ordering it from Cabela's when available. The modest shipping charge more than offsets the cost of the gas I would burn up by driving around to all the Walmarts in the area just to come up empty-handed.

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Actually I have been doing the same thing. I have done just fine with online Cabela's and locally at the Gander Mountain located in Twinsburg, Ohio.

Ron

Ammo case was full at my Wal-Mart except for 22.

22 ammo shortage - Solved!

According to this article, which cites NRA/American Rifleman with responses from ATK/Federal, Olin/Winchester and Remington, despite wild stories and theories the shortage of 22 ammo was simply due to supply and demand - http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/08/31/the-22-ammo-shortage-mystery-solved.aspx

Good news is that shortage is on the decline and 22 ammo is once again returning to store shelves.

I saw bricks of 550 the other day in an area Shop....$70.00. I can reload 9mm for that, hopefully it will come in at supplies that will make it a Ubiquitous commodity to the point pricing will have to come down! The www.fool site thread isnt working.


http://www.fool.com/investing/gener...-solved.aspx?source=isesitlnk0000001&mrr=1.00

Russellc

bds said:

Good news is that shortage is on the decline and 22 ammo is once again returning to store shelves.

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That may be true for you but not for me. I have not seen any 22LR for sale in a very long time.

Can not open link to read...

Supply in southwest lower michigan is still slim. Most places still don't have it. Those that do are still restricting to 1 to 4_50 round packs in the $5 range. Two local stores do have 500 round bricks but they are about $50 so still a long ways from "normal" or is this the new normal.

Here in NW Tennessee I often see .22 in the expensive 50 round packs. I haven't seen a bulk pack on a store shelf since 2012. I'm told by store clerks that when ever it comes in a few people buy it all.

Yeah the linky is not working for me either.
The .22 ammo and pistol propellants are sloooooly showing back up around here. After election week this November there will be some changes I bet. This is a wake up for those that did not foresee what the future held as some of us did using past experiences. If everyone that is buying up the ammo bothers to actually vote PRO 2A there should be no more problems IMHO. Sadly there are too few that actually bother to vote.:banghead: We need to get the word out to all the voters to at least participate. That is what the ANTI's did the last two elections IMO.

End of rant.

Thanks Russell, fixed the link.