When I was a kid back in the 1940's, I owned a Winchester model 1903 in .22 WRF. The ammo for this rifle was $1.00 for a box of 50 rounds back then, .22 LR ammo was $0.50 for a box of 50. A lot of people was working for $0.50 an hour which means a box of .22LR cost an hours work. Today, one can purchase a brick of .22LR for $8.50-$10.00, so everything being considered the cost of ammo is much cheaper now than it was about 50 years ago.