.22lr MEGATHREAD

You just have to go online and rebuy it from all the people who got it early at Walmart in the morning in the auction sites.
That or the bigger online ammo places. It's there, you just have to be quick as it goes in minutes if not seconds when it is available.
By the time it starts getting back on the shelves election 2016 will be here and it will start all over again. The .22 rollercoaster ride wheeee!

Oh yeah I forgot to add....commence integration to .22lr MEGATHREAD in 3...2...1....

1.) It's still being hoarded -- either to pack away or re-sell.

2.) When it is available, people buy all they can and not simply all they need.

3.) The ammo makers have not invested in new rimfire capacity since the Sandy Hook Massacre almost two years ago.

jim243 said:

Less profit in producing 22 LR than in any other caliber. So those that say they are full tilt on producing 22 LR are just lying to you.

Jim

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Naw, that's a red herring. The resources for rimfire production are dedicated to rimfire production. If rimfire production could be throttled back in order to increase centerfire production (as they do with certain centerfire calibers) that would make sense, but it's not the case.

But 5.56 ammo is so plentiful . To think about it , its the very ammo the lunatic used to kill em little boys and girls in Sandy Hook. But instead the .22 LR has become the ultimate victim of ammo scare shortage for quite awhile now...

Maybe the 22lr Megathread should have remained a sticky.....

I've been buying .22 for 6 months now. It's not as available as it should be but anyone that really wants it can find it at a fairly reasonable price. Yes the price is higher than before but it isn't like we have to pay the scalper prices we saw people paying during the height of the panic. Heck I never saw a single day I got under 10,000 rounds of .22 in my safe. And yes I started storing .22LR in my safe because it became worth lots of money to those willing to sell it at rook prices.

Aliens are buying it in preparation for an intergalactic war.

I get the sense that many brick and mortar stores are getting in regular shipments, but opt to post it on gun broker for 10 to 12 cents per round rather than to put it on the shelf. Just check out gun broker and u will see tons of cased bulk 22 lr. Good news is that most of it doesnt seem to be selling for that.

I have to ask though, why 10000 rds of 22lr? What purpose does that serve you? Chest thumping? future currency? Fear? I just have a hard time figuring out the justification for stock piling 22lr. If it is an investment, then that would make the 22lr a nickel that would turn to a dime, so why not collect a .223 that would be a $50 bill soon to turn to $100? Or a 30-06 that would reppresent $100 soon to be $200? Heck if you wanna talk folding money, get into the magnums.
Seriously, Not to minimalize but seriously, what is the purpose of stockpiling the 22lr in such a massive quantity?

Kynoch said:

Naw, that's a red herring. The resources for rimfire production are dedicated to rimfire production. If rimfire production could be throttled back in order to increase centerfire production (as they do with certain centerfire calibers) that would make sense, but it's not the case.

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The low profit margin + the very high costs associated with setting up a .22lr production facility are a major reason that rimfire hasn't come back yet even though centerfire is basically back to its baseline.

The .22lr production facilities in the US have been and are running at full tilt. Adding more would be extremely expensive and take time, and then the low profit margin means it would take a long time to make that money back. It wouldn't be worth doing for a relatively short term demand spike.

JRWhit said:

I have to ask though, why 10000 rds of 22lr? What purpose does that serve you?

I just have a hard time figuring out the justification for stock piling 22lr.

Seriously, Not to minimalize but seriously, what is the purpose of stockpiling the 22lr in such a massive quantity?

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For starters I don't think 10,000 rounds of .22lr is a "massive quantity". But that is a subjective, qualitative term. For you that may be a massive quantity.

Reasons why a person might want to have 10,000 rounds of .22lr? Because almost every single shooter or firearms enthusiast I know is limited by ammo. If you step back and look at what you have, and what would be required to continue your shooting for a year, two years, five years, a couple of decades, whatever time frame...chances are ammo will be the bottleneck. It is expensive (for many firearms you will shoot far more $ in ammo through than what the firearm cost) and consumable.

It is also subject to availability mishaps, like the current one, pretty much always gets more expensive with time, and is potentially subject to additional government interference. Yet it keeps amazingly well. Just put it on a shelf, under a bed, in the closet, whatever, and it will outlast you, and your kids, and your grand-kids.

And .22lr is the least expensive ammunition there is.

So, short answer: Because it's less expensive to buy quantities of .22lr than centerfire, and you can do a great, great deal of training/practice/shooting with the .22lr.

One big problem with the lowly little 22 LR rimfire cartridge is I can't make any. I can look at the mountains of brass I have accumulated in over 45 years of shooting and hand loading combined with thousands of bullets, tens of thousands of primers and pounds and pounds of powder and load to shoot the rest of my time living. I can even make brass from existing brass. I can load damn near anything but I can't make a single 22 LR round.

When the dust settles I'll replace what I have given away to family and friends and while this entire fiasco has had little to no effect on me it has been one pain in the butt!

Ron

So I buy my first .22 and get all excited because I was able to snag a 333 round brick from Cabelas yesterday which they confirmed by email.

Today I see the order has been cancelled. The CS staffer said

"at times when stock is extremely limited on items, it is possible for an item to show as being available, but new orders have been entered that deplete the available stock before we are able to update our website".

This morning at my local WM there were 2 x 1000 bricks for $50 each but the guy in front of me took them both.

What's it going to take to get some reasonably priced .22 ammo before I take delivery of my .22?

what is the purpose of stockpiling the 22lr in such a massive quantity?

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The times (and guns), they are a'changin'!

I can only assume by your question you may be a bolt action, single shot, squirrel hunting type of fellow? (not that there's anything wrong with that)!

Many folks fail to realize the enormous popularity of modern platforms introduced over the last 3 or 4 years for 22LR.

Take myself - I was never interested (and did not own) any 22 guns until the modern platforms in 22 started arriving - I now have 15-22s, ARX-160, Colt (Umarex / Walther) M4 Carbine, and a few recently introduced 22LR pistols.

I went from shooting zero 22LR ammo, to blowing thru 500 rounds in an evening - if the kids are around and want to shoot, maybe more.

I think the majority of the shortage is probably caused by the spike in popularity of 22LR due to new guns offered by various makers over the last few years.

streak said:

So I buy my first .22 and get all excited because I was able to snag a 333 round brick from Cabelas yesterday which they confirmed by email.

Today I see the order has been cancelled. The CS staffer said

"at times when stock is extremely limited on items, it is possible for an item to show as being available, but new orders have been entered that deplete the available stock before we are able to update our website".

This morning at my local WM there were 2 x 1000 bricks for $50 each but the guy in front of me took them both.

What's it going to take to get some reasonably priced .22 ammo before I take delivery of my .22?

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Well Streak, I have no clue where you are but if you are anywhere near me I would give you some. So if you are in the Greater Cleveland, Ohio area let me know. You have to come get it.

Ron

Well Streak, I have no clue where you are but if you are anywhere near me I would give you some. So if you are in the Greater Cleveland, Ohio area let me know. You have to come get it.

Ron

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That's very kind of you Ron. Unfortunately I am in San Diego, what I spend on gas getting to you will buy me a few rounds of .22 even at inflated prices!!

Based on what I am seeing online it looks like just maybe things may be easing up. I bough a used .22 so it's still under the dealer 30 day DROS period for the seller after which my 10 day period kicks in. So I have another couple weeks to try and snag some ammo.

streak said:

That's very kind of you Ron. Unfortunately I am in San Diego, what I spend on gas getting to you will buy me a few rounds of .22 even at inflated prices!!

Based on what I am seeing online it looks like just maybe things may be easing up. I bough a used .22 so it's still under the dealer 30 day DROS period for the seller after which my 10 day period kicks in. So I have another couple weeks to try and snag some ammo.

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Sign up for notification/stock emails everywhere possible, such as Midway USA. Set your email up to ding when you get new mail and always have your email open to a tab when you are at a computer. Check your email often, anytime you come back to the computer even from a different room, or pull your phone up and check periodically.

If you know anybody who might be of assistance, esp if they work at or spend a lot of time at a computer, enlist them to help by ordering for you or texting/calling you as soon as they see something.

Keep up to date with this thread too.

As examples.

streak said:

It's going to be tough not buying into it sooner or later. I have just bought my first .22 and althoug the LGS do say they get .22 in they can't guaranty they'll have any for me when I collect my rifle.

I envy all you folks who have managed to collect all that 5c and under ammo.

Hopefully I'll have something to feed my Henry the day I pick it up.

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Where are you located, streak? If you're anywhere in the areas I travel, I'd be happy to make sure you had some .22LR for your new baby!

If you're not near me, then I'm sure there are other people who might be and who might lend you a helping hand.

At any rate...there is no reason why you can't be looking/buying before you pick up your Henry. Even if it's only a box or two at higher than desired rates, you'll still have some to shoot with. In my experience, local gun stores tend to carry .22LR more often and for longer times than places like Walmart and such, simply because their prices tend to be higher in the first place. Funny how the market works that way.




EDIT:

Sorry...didn't refresh my page and missed the last few comments. Being on the East Coast, I can't help you out in San Diego. Hopefully, there will be someone on the site who can help you out. But remember...despite what some people may say about "I'm not going to buy at XX cents a round!", they're not YOU and they're not in YOUR situation. I personally don't see a problem with paying higher-than-desired prices to get started with. It's not as if you have to CONTINUE doing so afterwards...but having a brick or two initially when you have none now is kinda important.

monotonous_iterancy said:

I went to Wal-Mart recently and checked out the gun section. To my surprise, .22 is still completely empty. Everything else has been stocked for a while, but for some reason, .22 hasn't come back.

Why is this? I get the feeling that the panic over .22 is like a feedback loop. Yet no other caliber has been like this.

Remember, this started almost two years ago. It's hard to believe how time flies. I remember people here saying that it would be over by the last summer at the latest.

Are we living through one of those unique events in history?

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It's this way because, despite the current higher prices for .22LR, it's still a heck of a bargain to be able to buy 500 rounds of .22LR when compared to buying 500 rounds of nearly any other caliber. Even if you pay $50 a brick for .22LR, that's still ten times the amount of ammunition you'd get for the same price in .45ACP.

And as the market recovers, as we've been seeing it slowly do, and prices come back down as availability increases...people will STILL be buying up .22LR...because at $25 a brick, you can now buy TWENTY times the amount of ammunition when compared to that .45ACP example I gave. Which will mean the recovery will drag on longer.

BUT THAT'S OK!

Name me a time in the history of this nation where MORE ammunition has ended up in the hands of private citizens than RIGHT NOW?

That can't be a bad thing, my friend.

RetiredUSNChief said:

Name me a time in the history of this nation where MORE ammunition has ended up in the hands of private citizens than RIGHT NOW?

That can't be a bad thing, my friend.

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you know, that's a thought that hadn't occured to me. for some people, when the SHTF, they will actually be able to spray and pray like they do in the apocalypse movies. when you have 100,000 rounds of ammo in your basement. lighting off a mag or two at a time will still take awhile to make a dent.

RetiredUSNChief said:

It's this way because, despite the current higher prices for .22LR, it's still a heck of a bargain to be able to buy 500 rounds of .22LR when compared to buying 500 rounds of nearly any other caliber. Even if you pay $50 a brick for .22LR, that's still ten times the amount of ammunition you'd get for the same price in .45ACP.

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Ten times? I hope note!

Most Walmarts (around here) currently have a perpetual stock of Federal 100 round bulk packs of 230gr FMJ .45 ACP for $38.xx. So about 39 cents each + tax for the .45 vs $50/500 brick of .22lr at 10 cents each + tax...about four times more .22lr than .45 ACP (I mostly shoot 9, 5.56, .45, and .22lr so I am extremely aware of their relative costs at any given time)

Even if you pay a very high $50/100 for the .45 ACP FMJ you are still 'only' looking at 5 times more .22lr than .45.

But yes, your general point is absolutely correct. "Only" 5 times more ammo is a significant amount, and that's at 'overpriced' .22lr. If you get a 'in stock at Walmart' deal on a bulk pack it's like 5.5 cents each...at that point you are approaching the 10x more .22lr than .45 ACP for the same price.

streak said:

That's very kind of you Ron. Unfortunately I am in San Diego, what I spend on gas getting to you will buy me a few rounds of .22 even at inflated prices!!

Based on what I am seeing online it looks like just maybe things may be easing up. I bough a used .22 so it's still under the dealer 30 day DROS period for the seller after which my 10 day period kicks in. So I have another couple weeks to try and snag some ammo.

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Ah fond memories of my younger days. I loved San Diego.

Something that works is every now and then I would click a link to Cabela's Rimfire that I created on my desktop. Every now and then you get lucky. Just random clicking during the day or night. Now and then the bulk 350, 500 and even 1,000 round packages come along. When they do show up they go quick.

Ron

Ron said:

Ah fond memories of my younger days. I loved San Diego.

Something that works is every now and then I would click a link to Cabela's Rimfire that I created on my desktop. Every now and then you get lucky. Just random clicking during the day or night. Now and then the bulk 350, 500 and even 1,000 round packages come along. When they do show up they go quick.

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Thanks again to you, Chief and other for kind offers and advice.

I have only been here 4 years. Worked the Miaramar Air Show on the weekend as a volunteer with the Amateur Radio Emergency Services. I saw lots of nice toys that go bang and rat-a-tat-tat there. Quite a change in equipment from my time in the military a good number of years ago.

If I got below 10,000 rounds of .22 ammo I would hit the panic button. During normal times we can shoot 2,500 in a weekend without trying.
I have slowed down considerably by bringing out the revolvers and the bolt guns as much as possible. Kids get the same enjoyment and can't blast through 25 rounds in 25 seconds. It takes a 10 year old about 5 minutes to load, fire and reload a Heritage revolver. That's six shots. It takes less time to load, fire and reload a 25 round magazine for an AR-22.

Warp said:

Ten times? I hope note!

Even if you pay a very high $50/100 for the .45 ACP FMJ you are still 'only' looking at 5 times more .22lr than .45.

But yes, your general point is absolutely correct. "Only" 5 times more ammo is a significant amount, and that's at 'overpriced' .22lr. If you get a 'in stock at Walmart' deal on a bulk pack it's like 5.5 cents each...at that point you are approaching the 10x more .22lr than .45 ACP for the same price.

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Whoops! You're right...my bad! For some reason I was thinking 50 round boxes instead of the 100 round boxes of WWB for that price.

Duckdog said:

I can see this is going turn into a "profiteering it great" post with bragging on how many rounds they have while some have none because they're sucking them all up. I also find it funny how those individuals can make sarcastic remarks, but when anyone else posts something to the contrary, it's not long and the post gets pulled or the tread gets locked. It's kind of getting to be the norm.

To the OP, I generally do not make a living out of scrounging them up, but I was in Walmart a few weeks ago and bought a 325 pack for just shy of $11. I'll use my Paco Kelly tool on them to change the nose and diameter a tad. It turns the cheap ammo into some pretty good shooting ammo.

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Paco Kelley tool?

A file?