What is going on with .22LR ammo?

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gdcpony
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I am down to my last brick here. I see some at stores, but it is either expensive target stuff priced way out there, or the cheap stuff sold at more than old target round prices. I have gotten the kids more into shooting their .223's as I can reload that for cheaper now that components are making their way back. Still I am down to 5# Varget, 3000 primed brass and 2k loaded rounds. Waiting on more 50gr Z-Max to arrive at the local shop for their cheap price.

Pretty sad. I remember getting paid 5 cents per ground squirrel I brought a rancher and making a profit. Now I couldn't even hop on my BMX to get there with a rifle on my back without legal fees put back. .22LR rifles are over $200 for most of them. Now the ammo is non-existent.
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The first sign the shortage is ending. The cheapest and most expensive stay on the shelves.
 
.22 is becoming easier to find here in central Arkansas. My buddy and I can find the 50 round boxes at walmart pretty often and there is usually no line waiting. It doesn't last very long, but its not gone the second they get it in either.
 
The two Wal-fart stores near here haven't had any .22LR/Mag (that I've seen) since Christmas. All handgun ammo is scarce/non-existant as well.
Just recently, they have started getting a few boxes of 7.62x39 and even fewer .40 and .45, but still no 9mm, .38Sp/.357, or .17.
 
Just what is a "fine group"? And at what range?
At 50 yards 1/2 inch 3 shot groups off a rest and bag. That being just about any flavor match ammo. The groups opened to about an inch with the everyday ammunition. This is something I did years ago but that is about how I remember it came out. It was a curiosity thing.

My little theory here is that once I get Mike's rifle it should prove interesting. I can take some of the ammunition pictured and really see what things do. This is my first summer retired and finally I have the time to do this sort of stuff.

Also, as I get older I may fine a new best friend in rimfire. :)

Ron
 
Local Academy has Remington GB, 1 50 round box, per customer, per day, but they're still selling it nonetheless. I suppose if you're in a real bind it's a good thing, as for me I see it as a small step towards normalcy. They have it on display behind the customer service desk, pretty outlandish IMHO.
 
n a few more days the NRA Metric Smallbore Matches start, I'll check again this year to see if anyone is using Remington Golden Yellow Jacket. lol

LOL that was so funny. Really. I laughed for 5 minutes thinking someone would actually post something like that. It amazes me how stupid some people think other people are. And even funnier they think they have to straighten out the rest of us ignorant bozos.

Is Eley Tenex good enough to suit you? I actually get better results with Black EPS though. But the best results come from good old Federal. But not Federal bulk. Gold Medal Ultra Match does the trick. And I'm not talking about the stuff they label to fool people who don't better (the 711B stuff that says "Gold Medal" on the box). It has to say "Ultra Match" on it or it's just bulk ammo sold at a high price.

But if you think all bulk ammo is junk you just haven't found the right ammo for your firearm. A lot of people get good results from CCI SV or Green Tag. I like the SV myself and it bulk and yes they sometimes sell it at Walmart. Hey guess what. Come to think of it I have won competitions using SV. So much for Wally World not selling ammo a person can win with.

Here's how the numbers add up. I said I bought about 75 bricks a year for a while and I spent $3000 on .22 ammo. I'm pretty sure that averages out to $40 a brick. Considering I bought a lot of plinking ammo you can figure I bought a lot of target ammo too. I bought a lot of Wolf at one time but I don't get good results from it now. But I said all this before. Gee I would have thought smart guys like you would have known that. But you just couldn't resist the urge to "act" smart I guess.

Do you buy match grade ammo? if so is it more available and how bad did the price go up?

Black EPS has gone up about $50 a brick. The last Ultra Match I saw hadn't gone up but about $20 but considering what it already cost they were already pushing the envelope for what people were willing to pay. I had some Ultra Match before the panic set in. I expected trouble after Obama got elected again so I stocked up on CCI SV but I didn't expect it to be as bad as it got. After Sandy Hook I knew prices were going out of sight for a long time. I have bought some CCI SV at reasonable prices recently but there was a limit so I couldn't get much. I've seen Ultra Match for sale but I didn't have the money at the time so I didn't buy any.

I hope I answered your question. Sorry but I won't be reading this thread anymore. When the "I know everything and you don't" crowd shows up it's my experience that very little useful info will be posted. So because of some other posters I'm outta here.

But first. Here's a sample of what I use in matches depending on the rifle I'm using of course. Obviously my supplies are low. There's this thing called a shortage going on. Yes I could have bought some Ultra Match not so long ago but the stuff is real expensive and I can't shoot it for practice. I shoot either SV or Eley if I really want to get accurate. I can tell if it's me messing up or the ammo so it is possible to get use out of bulk ammo for practice.

.22%20match%20ammo%20b.jpg
 
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I find it amusing that so many of these threads turn into people either feeling like they need to tell folks how, when, and the amount of shooting they should do and others feeling the need to justify how much ammo they either use or don't use. I buy as much as I can when I can and stockpile what I feel like stockpiling. I have tens of thousands of .22 rounds that I have amassed over the years.... If you want that, then start buying it when you can.

Personally, I Have never been a competition shooter. I don't even know how good I am because I have never seen the need to compare targets with folks around me. I don't know what my groupings are at 25 or 50 or 100 yards and, most of the time, I would be guessing to tell you how far away my target is. I don't keep both eyes open when I shoot and I only shoot right handed (Collective gasp of disbelief). Who cares? I am not in special ops and I know with no doubt that I could hit an intruder in my house with minimal danger to my family. Everything beyond that point is irrelevant to me.

That isn't what is is about for me. I love shooting. I love shooting ice chunks. I like shooting metal targets. I love shooting at spent shot gun casings. I like to watch cinder blocks blow up and I love shooting down can pyramids. I don't count the rounds that I shoot. I shoot until I don't feel like it anymore and then I pick up my garbage and go home.

Those shooters who compete probably get the same thrill out of the competition that I do shooting at random crap but the bottom line is that we all do it for different reasons that don't need justification of any kind. As long as we are safe, legal, and clean up after ourselves, there should be no need for correction.
 
The actual number of .22lr firearms in the US is probably staggering.
Every shooting family's sons, brothers daughters, sisters, uncles, and cousins shoot 22LR out of rifles and pistols from 50yrs to 1 month old. Shooting just a 100 rds is a very minor amount with .22lr.. 200-300 rds might be more common

With the other ammo shortages and high costs, the .22lr use escolated and caused that to overwhelm supply. Scalpers took advantage of that to raise prices on any and all available ammo.. Shotgun is mostly an exception

Until centerfire ammo & components return to somewhere approaching normal supply, even the humble .22LR will remain scarce do to demand, fear and greed.

Late next year, we'll be telling new shooters about the big ammo shortage 'last year'.
 
Was at one of the largest, if not the largest gun store in Kalamazoo Saturday afternoon, 7-6-13. They just about all powders except Trail Boss. They had most all primers. Loads of just about all calibers of handgun calibers. Twenty two's? Had a few boxes of 22 shorts, CCI 100 rd plastic boxes. $19.95 a hundred. Very little in brass cases, handgun or rifle.

Wish I'd of had time to stop in at the other store just down the road.
 
The actual number of .22lr firearms in the US is probably staggering.
Every shooting family's sons, brothers daughters, sisters, uncles, and cousins shoot 22LR out of rifles and pistols from 50yrs to 1 month old. Shooting just a 100 rds is a very minor amount with .22lr.. 200-300 rds might be more common

With the other ammo shortages and high costs, the .22lr use escolated and caused that to overwhelm supply. Scalpers took advantage of that to raise prices on any and all available ammo.. Shotgun is mostly an exception

Until centerfire ammo & components return to somewhere approaching normal supply, even the humble .22LR will remain scarce do to demand, fear and greed.

Late next year, we'll be telling new shooters about the big ammo shortage 'last year'.
I agree with your first paragraph but you missed an important point in your second. 'Scalpers' only exist in this market because the retailers have refused to respond to an increase in demand. This has driven the maximum purchase price higher than it should but has no real effect on the averages. The big box retailers must raise their prices eventually. There is no question though that current supply has been overwhelmed.

I agree with your third paragraph as well. And i hope your fourth is right.
 
Just curious, but why would anybody want to shoot "500 rounds of .22" in a weekend? On a typical range outing, I might shoot 50 rounds of .22, .38, maybe 25 rounds of .357, and up to 100 of 9mm. That's usually enough to check my accuracy, handling, and reliability.

Oh, sure, I know that for some guys, it's a counting contest. "I shoot 10,000 rounds of 223 every day, all day, 365, 24/7. I shoot 100 million rounds a week and if you don't, you're a sheep-person anti gun-grabber!"

Yeah, I get that, but it really seems crazy to me. Regular, consistent, focused training should not require thousands and thousands of rounds to get to where you need to be.

I'll go further: If you need to shoot a quarter million rounds a year of .22, then something is probably wrong with your understanding of firearms. Your kinesthetic memory, handing, sight picture, breath control, trigger control, aim, heart rate, and attitude are all under your control.

Simply firing more rounds will not make you more proficient if you can't handle the above variables.

Hearkening back to the "In the good ol' days" thread that got locked earlier, old-timers can tell you stories about buying a string of 5 or 10 .22s at the 5 and dime store, and going out and making those precious rounds count.

Our - drum roll, please - Founding Fathers had to shoot complicated flint-lock rifles with wads and loose gunpowder and home-cast ball shot, and I doubt they won the Revolutionary War by throwing a quarter million rounds downrange every other day.

In short, if you're wasting that much copper and lead and cordite, you might want to check your training methodology and figure out what it is you're trying to accomplish.

Don't get me wrong: It is your right and it is your freedom and your liberty to shoot 100 quadrillion bazillion rounds of .50 caliber ammo every second of every day. You are allowed. But do you understand why some people might be laughing at your lack of expertise?

Goodness, I have been doing it wrong all these years. I have been shooting .22ls for FUN. I didn't know it was only for training. Silly me I thought it was better to train with my centerfires since they are the guns I use for defense. Sometimes a 500rd box of 22 isn't enough for a weekend of fun, much less a month. Thank goodness I know now not to plink for fun.

22 for plinking, centerfire for training. What was I thinking. I was under the false assumption that shooting was actually fun. Thanks for clearing that up
 
Whatever segment you wish to put it into! IMO lol
If we do not price our goods in line with demand then why should pay or income be based on demand? Everybody is paid the same regardless of what they do. Does that sound right?
 
In the old 40's Savage .22 rifle (inherited), you can Not Pay me to shoot the golden Remington.
Every other round, or third, gives you a puff of gas into your safety glasses.

This never happens using it in the Romanian M-69 Trainers.
Luckily the heaps of centerfire ammo are a diversion from needing it.
 
I believe in competition between retailers. There doesn't seem to be a better system. If one prices things high, their sales drop. If they price low, their sales increase and sometimes they make more money due to increased volume. The ammunition shortage actually kinda screws up the system as the supply chain appears to be limited.

Agsalaska, I also find the psychology of the ammunition shortage interesting especially when you compare estimated demand with production capabilities.
 
This is what happens when guys start calling other guys names and the personal attacks begin.


I'll have to come back after dinner and clean up the mess.
 
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