Can you find .22lr?

[Steel Horse Rider]

There is very little to be had in northern Colorado. You see some of the Mexican stuff but rarely any CCI (although I did get a couple of boxes of the standard velocity last fall for $7 per hundred) and none of the fabled Winchester someone spoke about a month ago. I rarely go in a Walmart but the last time I was in the closest I inquired and the clerk told me that even limiting one box to a customer when they put a shipment out in the morning it is usually gone by noon so those of us who must work for a living during those hours don't stand a chance. There is some in the LGS but the ones who have it are generally limiting sales to one or two boxes per customer and NONE of them have had Mini-Mags for at least 5 years.

 

[Greybeard]

Shelves are hit and miss at Walmart in Highland Village TX. I "hit" a week or so ago for 100-round packs of CCI Standard Vel for around $8 per pack. Previous limit of 3 boxes had been removed. I snagged 5, with at least 20 more remaining. The local Academy has decent variety in small boxes , but often around 10 cents per round. Pricing on much of the .22LR at local Lewisville show has dropped a little, but is still reDICKulous at many tables, geared for those who don't know any better.

 

[chris in va]

My range has 22 but holy cow is it expensive. I can cast/road 9mm for half the cost so I don't bother.

 

[vongh]

I check wikiarms in the morning. All you working guys check in the morning and buy it up if you can. Because I see it there in the morning and a few days later I see the same stuff go up for sale at .10 cents a round at other internet sites. I'll buy a bulk pack every now and than if the shipping is below $10 at .05cents a round. Any more than that and I hit the casting bench and the reloading press.

 

[JohnKSa]

Yes. The local gun store always has it in stock in reasonable quantities. Prices are still higher than I think are reasonable and so I've been using from my stockpile rather than buying new ammo.

The bigger stores haven't raised their prices and so they're always sold out.

 

[Redlg155]

Not much luck at the Panama City walmarts. You can get lucky IF the clerk hasn't called all his buds the minute it arrives.

I think that the ammo shipments at Wallyworld are completely random and don't accurately reflect stock replenishment. Why you ask? What store would order 30+ boxes of American Eagle .50 BMG and zero .22 or
380 auto?

 

[NoVA Shooter]

Depends on if we're talking ammo that I would buy.

Can it be found? Technically, yes (in 3 years, I have managed to get 2 bricks).
Can it be found regularly? No (sometimes a store will get a shipment once a week, most of the time it's a month or two).

What can be found 'regularly', is it at a price I'm willing to pay? No.

The stores that sell 22lr at 'reasonable' prices get in shipments very irregularly and it's gone within hours (actually, from what the store employees say, it's more like minutes). Heck, my LGS only sells them for use at their range, no take home.

If you want to pay $50+ for a brick, it's not as hard to find.

 

[cat_IT_guy]

Still not seeing a ton locally. Walmrt? Forget it. Bass Pro? Hit or miss, but if they have any, its not much to choose from - 1 or 2 brands, tops. I actually passed on some CCI SV @ $4/50. This is down from peak prices of $5/50 (or more) that I would have jumped on, but I have around 2,000 rounds at home and havent been shooting too much of it lately.

Its available online, but seems to sell out fast and you have to watch out for shipping costs.

 

[JTHunter]

Despite going to the 2 local Wal-Farts (~ 15 mi. SE of St. Louis) at various times (7 a.m. - 6 p.m.), I haven't seen any .22LR since Nov. 2012.

At the Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day (IGold) last month, one of the speakers commented on the scarcity of .22LR ammo in south-central Illinois compared to their home locale in northern Illinois. What they did NOT say was the prices they were paying for it.

 

[Agsalaska]

Despite going to the 2 local Wal-Farts (~ 15 mi. SE of St. Louis) at various times (7 a.m. - 6 p.m.), I haven't seen any .22LR since Nov. 2012.

At the Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day (IGold) last month, one of the speakers commented on the scarcity of .22LR ammo in south-central Illinois compared to their home locale in northern Illinois. What they did NOT say was the prices they were paying for it.

Yep. Pricing continues to be the problem.

 

[markm_04]

I have had no problem finding .22lr ammo at any time. I am constantly reading about it being hard to find and when found, way over priced.

Maybe I am just fortunate, but I can always get some IF I need it and pay around 6-7 cents per round. Have never ran into the situation where I was paying ridiculous prices or just could not find it at all.

 

[xxjumbojimboxx]

Lately here in central texas its been common.. snagged about 600 rds in loose boxes over the last two days.

Just picked up a p22 that will eat anything i feed it. Its a blast to shoot.

 

[garymc]

I haven't seen it on the shelves in years.

 

[USAF_Vet]

I see it, I just don't bother purchasing it. Prices are through the roof, and I'm not much of a fan of .22 in the first place. I've got a couple hundred rounds on hand, but that is all.

I'd much rather shoot 9mm and 5.56.

 

[MedWheeler]

Online, yes, but it takes a bit of effort.

In the stores? I've seen it once in a while at a LGS, and at one of the ranges. At that range, they won't sell it "out the door". However, if you're there to shoot something else and want some .22, just buy it, take it back to the line, and don't shoot it.

It also turns up at the local Bass Pro, though usually in 100-count sleeves, and they won't sell more than one to a person at a time most of the time. Prices there have remained at or below summer/2012 levels.

The Wal-Mart stores in my city haven't had it (that I've seen) in years.

This time last year, I had maybe 2,000 rounds on hand. Now, with no real hard affort, I have about 6K. About 1/3 of that is "bulk" stuff that might not be suitable for my small autoloading pistols. Now, I just need some more time to get out and burn some of this stuff off.

 

[rugerman07]

Not on shelves around here and I refuse to pay way-over-inflated online prices.

 

[rhinoh]

No problem here- not that I can guy it anytime but I've stumbled across plenty the last year or so.
Latest was a bucket of 1400 rounds for around $65 at Academy.
BTW why do people keep saying they found a "brick" for x price?
AFAIK there is no definition of a "brick" so such price quotes are meaningless without stating the number of rounds in said "brick".

 

[DeepSouth]

I haven't seen it on the shelves in years.

I literately can't remember the last time I saw bulk 22lr for sale in a store. It has been several years, I'd guess 2010 but it maybe longer than that.
But I really don't get out much, and I live in a fairly rural area with no major sporting goods store chains like Academy, Dicks, or the like.

 

[Oldman11]

Very little.22 lr here in north Louisiana.most of the time scalpers buy for resale.there is usually about ten people lined up at wal mart,the first three or four get it all.same people all the time and most of them don't even shoot. Local pawn shop has a lot of Wal-Mart ammo for sale at highly inflated prices.No .22 mag,..17 and I mean none..Plenty of .38,.40,.45,.223,.308,.30-06,7.62/39 and shotgun shells.

 

[Cee Zee]

I know certain stores that almost always have some. They will always have limits but there's two stores within a mile of each other and both pretty much always have some .22. I bought 100 rounds of CCI sub-sonic just a few days ago. I could have bought more but that was all the CCI they had. But like others I learned from the 2008 shortage and I stocked up before the great shortage hit. I still have many thousands of rounds in the safe. I did some shooting yesterday with my son who was home for Easter. I don't think I can shoot as well as I could 3 years ago when ammo was plentiful but I still do OK. I wish I could practice like I did then but it is what it is.

AFAIK there is no definition of a "brick" so such price quotes are meaningless without stating the number of rounds in said "brick".

A brick is generally considered to be 500 rounds although some companies were adding a few rounds to their bricks before the shortage anyway. And one company has always sold what looks like a brick that only has 400 rounds in it (American Eagle). Still I'd say that pretty much everyone agrees that a brick is 500 rounds. Originally a brick was a loose pack box but the definition has transformed to include 10 boxes of 50 wrapped up in one package. But again I'd say 99% of the people you would ask on this board would say a brick was 500 rounds with maybe a few extras thrown in.

 

[Schwing]

It has been pretty tough where I am. I have been able to purchase 2 500 round bricks in the last 3 years. Both were local dealers who allow you to get on a waiting list. Of course, if folks are willing to pay $60 + per brick, it is nearly always available.

Luckily, I stocked up many years ago and still have some of that stockpile left. I think people either stocking up for the first time or re-stockpiling is a big reason this is getting dragged out so long. It will eventually work its way out though I see $25 being the new norm instead of $16 or $18 per brick.

 

[il.bill]

I have not been able to find ANY .22LR on the shelf in the St. Clair County Illinois area for a couple of years (well - that is not counting the expensive 'match grade' ammo at 30 cents per round and higher). My buddy got a call from his BIL about a bucket of Remington Golden Bullets at Rural King at a reasonable price and he got there just in time to buy the last one, about two hours after the store first put them out for sale.

Last Sunday I finally gave in and ordered a couple of 500 round boxes of CI ammo from Sportsman's Guide, just so I have something to shoot in the Ruger 10/22. My cost, with a couple of discounts and free shipping, was just a hair over 10 cents per round. I got another coupon for free shipping yesterday, but when I went to get a couple more boxes, they were sold out.

 

[DevsAdvocate]

I'm so pissed at how gun shops and ammo producers have handled the ongoing .22lr shortage. They're completely ignoring the rules of supply/demand and it's dragging things out for everyone.

Want more .22lr to be available? Raise prices. Considerably. It's still being sold too cheap which means every gun owner out there and their grandma will snatch it up the second it hits the shelves. They need to raise it up to about $0.20~$0.30/rd for the next few months.

Why? Because doing so will slow demand and allow suppliers to establish a steady supply. Then, once supply has been established, prices can be lowered to meet demand at lower price points.

THIS SHOULD'VE BEEN DONE SINCE DAY ONE. For any ammo, any panic, the second demand jumps, stores should jack up their prices immediately to avoid being cleaned out. Otherwise we get this long-term .22lr situation that will never go away because its too cheap for its own good.

 

[Neo-Luddite]

Very little available here in far NW Illinois. I've "Got Lucky" twice in the last year and a half--was able to buy 300 rds each time. Fortunately we have not gone wanting as I have always added a little to the pile over time.

 

[HankB]

A couple of months ago, the Cabela's in Buda, TX had a fair amount - one entire endcap in the ammo section - for "reasonable" prices. (About $18 for 325 rounds of Federal). So I thought the supply was FINALLY getting back to normal.

Not so.

I've been to Cabela's twice since, and neither time have they had any rimfire other than .17 or .22Mag.

Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

Talked to a salesman, and same old story - where they used to be able to get it by the pallet, now - the supply is a trickle. This has been going on so long simple "supply and demand" does NOT explain it; either the ammo companies are lying when they say they're at full production, or someone is intercepting it before it ever hits the retail level. (Note that centerfire ammo is is good supply - 9mm, .45, .223, 7.62x39, .308, whatever; no problem getting it. BUT - prices ARE up.)

Hoarders? Again, this has been going on SO long that hoarders must be sitting on a MOUNTAIN of product; seriously, if production IS going full steam ahead - where the heck is it?