.22 Pistol Depression

No.

I have 13 or 14 old classic Colt, S&W, browning, and Winchester .22 pistols, revolvers, & rifles.
And a very early Ruger 10/22.

They would be near the last guns I would sell, even if .22 ammo cost $15 a box.
(And I didn't have a lot of cheap ammo stored from years ago.)

I think .22 ammo prices will return to somewhat normal again one of these days.
After the hoarders stop hoarding, and the factory's finally catch back up.

Then, you will wish you hadn't of sold them.

rc

I have about twenty .22 guns. I used to shoot 500 rounds or so of .22 a week year round. For the past 2 years it's been more like 100. My stash has dwindled enough that I no long plink for fun. I, do most of my shooting now in organized matches, but practice very little in between.

No, because .22 ammo will always be relatively cheap when compared to centerfire of any caliber. (Except maybe during certain times of crisis.)

We shouldn't lament so much on the recent costs of .22 ammunition, because you'll always have someone like me around who will smile and remind people that I remember buying 500 round milk-carton boxes of .22LR for less than $5.




Prices go up over time, period, and prices spike up/down during crisis. This is normal.

In fact, about the ONLY thing that has bucked the inflation trend over the decades has been gas prices, even when it was much higher than now. Factor in the price of gas with inflation and you'll see what I mean.

I shoot a lot less .22 than I did, but I would never sell another gun chambered in it. I sold off a cheaper Taurus 4" .22 several years back. It wasn't that we'll finished and even a little picky with ammo, but I no longer have a double action .22 for hiking, and have been kicking myself since.

I really wish I still had a gun like that.

Hang onto you .22s.

I didn't see that much change in .22 prices for what I shoot. I never shot junk .22 LR. The past 5 or so years it has been SK Std +/Wolf match-target (same stuff all made by Lapua). It was about $40 per brick when I started using it and the last I bought and still using was $535 for a case delivered to the house which works out to about $50 per brick plus tax if I bought it local. Before SK I was shooting RWS and it too hasn't changed much. The cheapest stuff I ever shot was CCI Std Velocity which has gone up but is now retailing for $39.99 per brick at the LGS. I expect it will go down some in a year or so. No worries.

If you want to shoot them, shoot them. Go to a gun show and pay $50 or something unreasonable for a brick and make it happen. The ammo isn't out there like we'd like but it's still out there.

bluetopper

I know I wouldn't sell any of my .22s, even if the ammo continued to be in short supply and was priced accordingly. I would just use less of it whenever I went shooting. All of my .22s are fun to shoot and are certainly accurate enough to make any trip to the range an enjoyable experience whenever I bring them along.

The only reason I've been debating ditching the one .22 revolver that I own is because I enjoy shooting center fire more. It really has nothing to do with the ammo prices.

I'll likely hang onto it and just keep plinking and pick up some rounds hear and there.

High prices means less shooting to me, not caliber changes or abandonment of a gun that has utility.

Anybody else feel the same way?

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Well....NO. I even bought a new .22 rifle a couple of months ago. I've loved shooting rimfire my whole life. I cast bullets, have a Dillon in 9x19, have a Lee turret press, have a Lyman turret press, reload and cast for most all my centerfires. BUT, I refuse to stop shooting rimfire if for no other reason than I don't have to bend my 62 year old back over and pick up the brass. I shoot a lot of revolver and really like shooting my uber-affordable cap and ball revolvers, but I still shoot .22, maybe not as much as I would if I could still pick up a bulk pack of .22 at Walmart, but enough.

I keep an eye out here, Wikiarms, for deals which come occasionally, even with free shipping...occasionally...and this site tells me a lot about what ammo is out there and how the market is doing. Right not, it's still sorta bleak, but hey, there IS ammo out there now. Just that it's 8 or 9 cents a round. I might give that for CCI, but not Remington Thunderbolt.

http://www.wikiarms.com/

I think the ammo is coming back down. I just bought a box of Rem golden bullets 525ct for $25 and a box of CCI std 500ct for $35. My LGS had a bunch too, but I only bought the 2 boxes, hell I didn't even need those. Its 22 mag I can't find

Anybody else feel the same way?

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nope...

Once the current rimfire ammo panic has ended, buy yourself several thousand rounds and stash it.

Then buy your usual amount of your favorite flavor of 22LR and replenish it as needed. Enjoy plinking, hunting, targets, etc.

Save the stash for the next ammo panic. Because it'll come along sooner or later.

I haven't bought a single box of 22 ammo in the past two years. No need to.

Something I learned some time ago is that many of your .22 LR guns will have a certain preference for a particular brand of ammo. One thing you can do (hopefully when .22 LR ammo is available again and at decent prices), is to find out what works best in each gun and then stock up on that brand when you have the chance. Bulk pack ammo is great for when I want to take the kids to the range for some fun time plinking, but for myself I want to get the most accuracy for when I'm target shooting.

last year after I bought my first 22 I was able to buy about 10,000 rounds at around .04-.05 each over a few months at academy. I went to the store 15 minutes before open and there was always somewhat of a line (maybe 5-10 people). The same faces were there probably reselling. Several times I missed buckets of golden bullets by one person but would end up with 2 boxes of 525.

I stopped going because I had plenty. Ive shot a ton now so will start waiting again. Lately they have had 50 round boxes - limit 2 in stock, but it is a bit more expensive at .08/round.

If you have only tried to stop in at random times you might not get any, but if you ask the stores when they get their shipments you might be surprised at what you can pick up.

I just don't think we'll ever see the low price of .22 ammo again. Anybody else feel the same way?

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I agree, I knew once gas got over $3/gal it was there to stay...

Send me a PM if you decide to sell though.

Right now at my LGS you can buy a brick of .22 SK ammo for $50. I handload too, but I can't load that cheap.

Just hang in there, prices are coming down and availability is up. Within 6 months I think you're going to see normal prices on .22 ammo with the increased production and the reduction in panic buying.

I don't shoot 22's because the ammo is cheap.

I shoot 22's because I enjoy shooting 22's.

I know that the last couple of years seems like forever. But as the old book suggests "this too shall pass". At some point over the next year or so with any luck the madness that has fueled the panic buying will end and we'll see rimfire ammo get back down to a reasonable price.

So if you liked the guns back then and you will still like the guns and want to shoot them once things are good again then you should hardly sell them off now.

Sell because ammunition is expensive? Mine haven't been shot much in the last 2-3 years but one day we will again. Maybe soon since we've been buying .22 Long Rifle when the price was right.

They don't take up much space and don't complain when they're left along for long periods. One day your kids or grand kids might love to have them.

I think the worst of it is over already. All of the normal places where I live have it in stock. You can typically only buy 100 rounds at a time, but I think it will be back to normal before long.

I remember discussing post-apocalyptic strategies with a high school friend in 1981, around the time The Road Warrior was first out in theaters. He said he'd carry a break-open .22LR/.410 over-and-under. His reasoning was that the gun would be useful up close and fairly accurate at a moderate distance, was so simple that it could remain functional virtually forever with negligible maintenance, and both the shotgun shells and bullets were light enough to carry a whole bunch on your person for an extended period. I remember him also confidently saying, "...and also, there will be .22 Long Rifle bricks on the shelves of rural hardware stores years and years after all the factories go dark." It seem to make sense to me at the time.

Thirty-four years later, I think of that statement often lately and have to chuckle at our naivete.

I think what has people upset isn't that .22 LR costs more, it's that it now costs at all. Not too long ago you'd be able to scrounge some change from the sofa or take your lunch to work one day and use that money to spend an entire afternoon shooting. .22 is still the least expensive cartridge but you can't do that anymore. Probably will never be able to again.

To be honest the thought of selling my only .22lr, a Ruger MkI, has flitted through my mind occasionally. I've got a pretty decent stash of .22 ammo but since I can't replenish it it's almost like the 5,000 rounds I have don't count. Someday ammo may return to abundance and affordablility but maybe not anytime soon. The only reason I haven't sold it is that it's worth virtually nothing.

But if I had a bunch of .22 firearms it would be different. Sit tight, the ammo will return...eventually. When it does, stock up!

I never really like .22s, and have considered selling the two rifles I have (no handguns). I didn't care to shoot them when ammo was cheap and plentiful. Care to shoot them even less with the current rimfire ammo situation. I've thought about selling them, but don't think the money I'd get is worth the hassle.

Nope

Aside from missing out on the pleasure (for me) of non-progressive/non-automated reloading, it's still considerably less expensive than shooting my other "volume" shooter... .38 Special.

I see only two down sides to .22 lately. The periods when .22 ammo didn't exist at any price and the high prices commanded when it was available - from time to time.

Each of these I saw as an effect of actions primarily consumer oriented rather than using the manufacturers as whipping boys as is so often the case.

Let things ride, level, correct - and then stock it in when it seems right to you.

Hell, look at gas. I sincerely can't accurately recall the last time I paid $1.76 for a gallon but I did it here last week. Never sold my Buick GS just cause of high gas or even lines at the pump. Just park and wait.

Todd.