Should I be buying 22?

Lately I've come across 250rd boxes of Aguila at rural king for $17 and 325rd boxes of Federal Automatch for $22. Occasionally I'll buy a couple just so I don't have to open my storage crates. But lately I've been buying then for coworkers that want more. I have about 15k rds and have been shooting my large rifles more lately

I bought a good bit, several months ago when it hit ten cents a round. Was good enough for me, and I wanted the ammo more than I cared about a few cents a round, but I picked that number, and when it hit 10 cents, I got what I wanted and don't regret it even though it might be a few cents cheaper now.

film495 said:

I bought a good bit, several months ago when it hit ten cents a round. Was good enough for me

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The way I see it, WAY CHEAPER than shooting centerfire .223/5.56 and even 9mm.

I switched to 9mm PCCs/ARs during last shortage of 2013 when 22LR hit above $5/50 round box with a limit of 2 per day at the LGS for CCI SV as I could reload 9mm for around $5-$6 rounds.

Then THR members started mentioning using CMMG 22LR conversion bolt for my ARs and wow, game changer. I was able to run same shooting drills/point shooting without concern for ammunition cost using same manual of arms and accuracy was good enough for 25-35 yard drills using cheapest Walmart/Federal 525/550 boxes. I also bought GSG 1911 and Advantage Arms 22LR slide kit for my Gen3 G22.

So for shortage of 2020-2022+, I was ready with stock of 22LR and got to enjoy my ARs and G22 continuing with point shooting drills. With money savings (I like to think that way), I bought 10/22 Collector #3 and T/CR22 and got to play accurizing shooting now going on 11,000 rounds producing sub 3/4" groups at 50 yards and 1.25"-1.5" groups at 100 yards along with several scopes - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...22lr-on-the-cheap.898035/page-2#post-12183064

As I prepare to reload centerfire again, looking back the past two years was sure a lot of fun being able to shoot without any regards to round count or cost of shooting due to 22LR bought at below $20/500.

So depending on how you approach "savings", buying 22LR even at $42/500 is pretty good.

-Dollar Cost Averaging-.

If you do Not have at least ie 2 years’ worth of this ammo,

a moderate amount might not really offset the average price you have recently paid.

Cheap 22lr vice economical 22lr.
I buy quality in quantity. Only the worst fail in my revolver but hitting the target is most important.

PMC Sidewinder and CCI Standard Velocity. are not the cheapest, but always go bang and plant the slug closest to what I was pointing at

I will buy if it is not "in my view" too out of line. I currently have a 40mm box packed to the gills, only issue is the old stuff is at the bottom and the new is on the top, so you need to re shuffle now and a gain. This is for all my rimfire.

I shoot it quite a bit, but not like I once was, now that the box over flow I will buy if I see a real good deal or the top level goes away.

i would buy a brand of 22 lr i like if i see it at walmart. ( not the winchester 300/$40) . still has limits but if you buy everytime you see some you will still build up your supply. no delivery charges and with their purchasing power i defer to their pricing as being the lowest available for the same time frame. as somebody said you end up dollar cost averaging into the price of 22lr.

Ignition Override said:

-Dollar Cost Averaging-.

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Seems like hardly anyone does this with ammo.

kidneyboy said:

roval said:

if you buy everytime you see some you will still build up your supply ... you end up dollar cost averaging into the price of 22lr.

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Seems like hardly anyone does this with ammo.

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With ammunition that could vary by lot # to lot #, I prefer to test a brick or two to see if my rifles/barrels produce acceptable groups. If acceptable, then when I see good enough price, I will stock up with same lot # to maintain consistency.

If I find a killer sale/pricing, I will buy as much as I can regardless of lot #.

With the last shortage, I watched as 22LR price fell below $40/500 and watched closer as price fell below $30/500. I started buying my preferred brand/weight/lot # as price fell below $20/500 (Aguila, Federal, etc.) but bought quite a bit more regardless of brand/weight/lot # when sales ran below $16/500 (Armscor, Thunderbolt).

During current shortage when 22LR became non-existent (Just like previous), I gave away cases of 22LR as gifts and PIF when family/friends/neighbors couldn't find any 22LR. I tested over 20+ brands/weights/lots and separated out several that produced smallest groups for my 10/22, T/CR22, 16"/18" ARs with CMMG conversion bolts or worked reliably, especially for GSG 1911/Advantage Arms slide kit.

When a coworker retired and wanted to spend time with grandkids introducing them to shooting, showing up with several cases of 22LR as retirement present along with my scoped BB/pellet guns to pass on to them was a good thing as he could not find any 22LR for sale. When my sister/BIL wanted to participate in CMP/Appleseed with my niece/nephew, I dropped off a case of their preferred 22LR with promise they could have more whenever they needed.

kidneyboy:

As for a bit of dollar-cost averaging buying,

mine began eleven weeks ago when my first PTR-91 was shipping.

I hadn’t had any .308 ammo (or such gun) for several years.

• The true context is that having stored heaps of 9mm and Far more 7.62x39 ammo - for years - selling 2,000 7.62x39 mm and 3,400 9x19mm of it (to buddies-No profit) made ordering new .308 ammo in Feb-April much more acceptable.

Ammo is like money, as long as inflow is greater than outflow you'll be in good shape.

I buy .22 whenever I go shopping at a store that sells it. Wal Mart has a lot of Auto Match, CCI Mini Mags, and Winchester Yellow Box. RP, a big box store like Tractor Supply usually has a pretty good assortment at reasonable prices. I buy quite a bit of stuff from Sportsman's Guide and I usually throw in a couple of 250 round Agulia HV 40 Grain, free shipping over $49.00. I was shook at the four year .22 LR drought and have bought accordingly to keep my stock up. Shoot a box, buy two to replace it. I don't sweat a couple more cents a round.

Norma's website has their Tac-22 ammo at $42.89 a carton of 500, free shipping over $150.

No experience with that particular ammo though.

If I were low, I'd buy a couple years supply of plinking ammo at current prices, and hope the price drops so much that I'm sick I bought. Then I'd buy a lot more.

Stuff like Winchester 333 and Auto Match work fine in my handguns (I usually don't shoot more than 25 yards, usually about 10-15 yards, and it's as waste to use higher-end ammo at those distances, IMO), and I have several rifles that will shoot their favorite ammo of this category (includes the aforementioned plus TAC-22, GECO Rifle, and Aguila) into .75" groups at 50 yards. I can live with that kind of accuracy unless I'm shooting for best accuracy groups, in which case I want something in the SK Pistol Match/Standard Plus range at least. I wish I'd bought a lot more Pistol Match at $.10/round in late 2019...

I was getting bricks for 25 bucks before the corona hit the fan, so anything around 30-35 would be good to stock up on.

I was already pretty well stocked on .22 before this, everything I buy now is just to help replace what I shoot. What I really want to another 10 or 20k of is primers. As soon as I see bricks of primers for $50-60, I'm buying lots.

I've pretty much stopped buying. Right now I need some 38spl jhp but other than that I'm good. I've decided that I'm going to spend a whole lot less on anything gun till prices come down to within reason. Even if I have cut back on trips to the range. Some say prices wont come down to near what they were. But, if people would stop this crazy hoarding and only buy what they need it will come down. Maybe not to 2019 prices but not that much more. It will or they will have to start laying off.

OP:
If you decide to wait,

about when, with your present consumption,
will you be out of .22 ammo?

Some terrible event today, or next month, could indirectly result in another true ammo panic.

The main thing I learned from the Obama Shortage was,,,
Prices never ever go back to what they were.

Oh you might see a temporary bargain offered somewhere,,,
But in general the price will just go up.

Buy it when you have the cash,,,
So you'll have it when you want to shoot.

I shoot a lot of .22 LR,,,
I have an allotted amount of cash each month for ammo,,,
And I buy my favorite brands as often as they become available to me.

At last count I have exactly 71,660 rounds,,,
All of it (or most anyways) sold for less than today's prices.

JMHO

Aarond

.

I grab my 3 box limit of .22s every W-mart visit. Got somewhere between 25,000 to 30,000 rounds by now. Should last me for a month or two.

brewer12345 said:

It looks like 22 prices are down to 8 cents a round or a bit less? Time to start buying? With the inflationary environment I wonder how much farther prices will drop.

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Spend it while you can. Not just ammo, either. Everything is going up, and it may be years before we see a return to "normalcy."

Spend it while you can, but I'm not sure ammo should be anyone's priority right now. And that's all I have to say about that.

I don't get this. OP states that .22 is going around .08 per round. "Should I be buying 22?" he asks.

So - do you want to shoot? Can you afford shooting in general? The difference of .02 / round prorated over 1,000 rounds is $20. I am retired , fixed income , lots of medical bills , all that crap - so I am not flush with disposable income , but - $20 ain't gonna break my bank. If you want to shoot , if you need the ammo - it's there , buy it.
Just that simple.

If , on the other hand you enjoy playing the ammo market and you are betting that prices will go down , well , that's another game altogether , and it is one that I have little patience for.
Buying ammunition = going shooting. For me , anyway.

brewer12345 said:

With the inflationary environment I wonder how much farther prices will drop.

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All the way to the bottom.

The stuff has barely had a chance to cover dust on the shelves, I’d say you are a little early for the bottom.

Currently buying at $0.07/rnd off the shelf. Never hurts to pick up another brick.