Has 22LR prices bottomed?

[LiveLife]

As promised, I have been tracking 22LR pricing and would post once I thought we were approaching bottom of current cycle.

This was last year when we HOPED for 22LR prices to fall below $30/500 shipped down from over $50/500 - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...oint-are-you-priced-out-of-the-market.907328/

I've been watching ammo prices slowly creep up over the past six or so months. Things seemed to come down and stay down for a bit, but are now creeping back up ever so slowly ... .22 L.R. - $.10 for bulk, $.15 for nicer standard velocity stuff for small game.

Current cycle pushed price over $50/500 and has gradually fallen below $40/500 and holding steady slightly above $40/500 and I am monitoring to see if there is a general break below $40/500.

I think some may think we are at the near bottom of current cycle and already restocking, which maybe tipping the supply/demand balance but if supply side continues to provide inventory (Which appears to be the case), prices should continue to fall

Since May of this year, 22LR pricing have been hovering around $26-$30/500 shipped - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...-shipped-pricing.902560/page-12#post-12629760

Then we broke below $25/500 shipped in June - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...-shipped-pricing.902560/page-12#post-12647254

And now, we are below $23/500 shipped - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...-shipped-pricing.902560/page-14#post-12695891

While I doubt prices will fall down to $20/500 (inflation, supply chain, etc.), I am hoping we may see more prices in the $30s/500 as true bottom of current cycle at which point I will be restocking (I am well stocked to last several more years).

Well, we have certainly seen prices below $30/500 shipped and I am not sure if we have hit the bottom of current cycle yet.

And no, I am not restocking yet.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

Hmmm...

Now you're making me want to increase my stock of .22 LR and WMR.

Stop that! I've other things I need to take care of first! Not to mention this would detract from my next bucket list item I'm saving for (a .475 Wildey).

 

[reddog81]

Kind of crazy that a brink of .22s is pushing $20 and primers are still hovering near $100 per K at most places. Even during 2017/2018 when prices bottomed 22’s didn’t go too far below $20 for 500 and back then I buying 1000 primers for $25. Weird.

 

[LiveLife]

Even during 2017/2018 when prices bottomed 22’s didn’t go too far below $20 for 500

We actually hit $14/500 shipped bottom in June of 2019 and prices stayed around $17-$20/500 shipped til January of 2020 when Covid pandemic started and prices increased again - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...15-20-500-shipped.853059/page-3#post-11359991

 

[LiveLife]

Now you're making me want to increase my stock of .22 LR

I am not restocking yet but picked up new lots and brands of 22LR to update my last year's 22LR comparison test -



These are sample of leftover from previous testing and my stock bought mostly at $16-$18/500 shipped. Note Aguila was still primed by ELEY (box to right of Thunderbolt) before switching to Aguila prime.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

I was looking at walmart the other day. The only 500 i think 525 count bulk pack was 42.00 for Remington golden bullets. im stocked probably for life with 22lr bulk packs for general play. I think i paid 35.00 for cci standard velocity 500 count. A few months ago. It was a back order i placed at my LGS a few years ago. I had 2 ordered. I have to give them credit for keeping up on their end.

 

[reddog81]

We actually hit $14/500 shipped bottom in June of 2019 and prices stayed around $17-$20/500 shipped til January of 2020 when Covid pandemic started and prices increased again - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...15-20-500-shipped.853059/page-3#post-11359991

Yeah, I bought a bunch in the $17 to $18 range. That’s not very much below $20 in my book. I got some below that on Black Friday morning on sale with rebates and limits, etc. And back then primers were about half what .22’s cost were as now the primers are double the price of .22’s.

 

[Frulk]

This thread is making me feel I need to do some local price checking and possibly pick up some bench stock. I’ve had ok results with Remingtons Bucket O Bullets (1,400 in the sealed container). I find them adequate for the plinking I do.

 

[hoardingthemanual]

I am not restocking yet but picked up new lots and brands of 22LR to update my last year's 22LR comparison test -

View attachment 1167189

These are sample of leftover from previous testing and my stock bought mostly at $16-$18/500 shipped. Note Aguila was still primed by ELEY (box to right of Thunderbolt) before switching to Aguila prime.

View attachment 1167188

That's a lot of 22LR. what do you consider restocking?

 

[Frulk]

10 buckets minimum. Easy to burn through a half bucket by myself when I go out in desert just to plink. Goes faster if the son in laws are with me. I have AR styled .22’s with mags that burn through the stuff pretty quick that they like to shoot.

I’m at the point were I’m looking to once and for all not have to worry about having sufficient stock on hand to shoot this particular caliber when and in what quantity I want, whenever I want.

I reload for everything else (well, not .22mag but I don’t shoot that in plinking volume).

 

[d31tc]

I've been picking up a hundred here and a hundred there when I'm in the store.

 

[hoardingthemanual]

10 buckets minimum. Easy to burn through a half bucket by myself when I go out in desert just to plink. Goes faster if the son in laws are with me. I have AR styled .22’s with mags that burn through the stuff pretty quick that they like to shoot.

I’m at the point were I’m looking to once and for all not have to worry about having sufficient stock on hand to shoot this particular caliber when and in what quantity I want, whenever I want.

I reload for everything else (well, not .22mag but I don’t shoot that in plinking volume).

I bought 5000 and feel like I'm set for life. I keep forgetting how easy it is to go through 100 rounds/hr.

 

[Hooda Thunkit]

I'm on the verge of purchasing a 5000 round case of CCI SV. I need to clear up a few things, then hit it.

I really need to snag a case of Winchester 223 Rem whilst the rebate is still on. I can get a 1k case, end price about 30¢ per.

 

[45/30-06OKIE]

10 buckets minimum. Easy to burn through a half bucket by myself when I go out in desert just to plink. Goes faster if the son in laws are with me. I have AR styled .22’s with mags that burn through the stuff pretty quick that they like to shoot.

I’m at the point were I’m looking to once and for all not have to worry about having sufficient stock on hand to shoot this particular caliber when and in what quantity I want, whenever I want.

I reload for everything else (well, not .22mag but I don’t shoot that in plinking volume).

Having a bolt action 22lr is nice for taking a couple boxes and shooting for a while lol. But yeah if I had a 10/22 I'd probably be buying a lot more 22lr... Dad has one and I'm trying to convince him to get a Franklin Armory binary trigger for it...

 

[Frulk]

I bought 5000 and feel like I'm set for life. I keep forgetting how easy it is to go through 100 rounds/hr.

I might go through 100 an hour with the Single Six. Guns with mags digest ammo much faster.

My last outing a few months ago with a .22 was about that pace. Daughters went somewhere to support a friend with organizing a wedding. After wedding they had a couple of free days to camp and explore the region. I went day of wedding and truck camped remote above a dry wash about 30-40 miles from wedding. Set up a folding table and chair. Put out a cutting board with some cheese and hard salami and a container of ice tea and plinked away on the other side of the wash at dirt clumps, holes etc. Was using a Single Six.

Had I brought something like the MK2 Government Slabside I would have had six or so mags laying around and put a huge dent in one of those buckets. Finished shooting, started fire, camped under stars on an old army cot and met up with daughters the next day and rode around desert in an atv we rented. Good time.

 

[JTHunter]

About 2016-17, a Gander Mountain opened up in this area with some decent prices ($23-24/525 rd.) for .22LR. GM has since closed.
Before the "pandemic", an Academy store opened up with similar decent prices. As I don't shoot as much as I would due to lack of range access, I'm sitting on over 10K rounds of .22LR.
Due to the greater cost, I don't have as much .22 Magnum as I would like to have.

 

[JTHunter]

Having a bolt action 22lr is nice for taking a couple boxes and shooting for a while lol. But yeah if I had a 10/22 I'd probably be buying a lot more 22lr... Dad has one and I'm trying to convince him to get a Franklin Armory binary trigger for it...

Ditto ! As I have a bolt action Marlin and a 10/22, "restraint" is the operative word with the 10/22. That is the main reason I haven't tried to add to my collection with the KelTec CMR-30 carbine. That .22 Mag ammo ain't cheap !! ($12-17/50)
And a binary just makes the "ammo wasting" that much worse - if they were "allowed" in IL-ANNOY (they aren't).

 

[Walkalong]

Nope, hasn’t bottomed

 

[Frulk]

I’m a fan of the.22 mag going back to the mid 80s. It’s been pricey forever that I remember. I’ve always looked at it as a hunting round and as such don’t shoot it anywhere near as much as a .22cal (since I can’t reload it).

I’m vested in it however, having I think 4-5 guns in the caliber with the most recent addition being a Keltec PMR 30. I’m good on ammo having bought it for years (but could always use another bump in inventory). Recently kicked around buying the Keltec CMP but am just waiting on a desert tan version to come available locally on the shelf. Going rate for a black one is $649.00 here.

Wife and I are going to dinner at a BBQ joint in an hour or so. All this .22 talk has made me add a stop at the local Sportsmans to see what the going rate is on .22 ammo and if they have any of those Remington buckets in stock.

 

[45/30-06OKIE]

Ditto ! As I have a bolt action Marlin and a 10/22, "restraint" is the operative word with the 10/22. That is the main reason I haven't tried to add to my collection with the KelTec CMR-30 carbine. That .22 Mag ammo ain't cheap !! ($12-17/50)

I've got a CZ 457 Pro Varmint. It's really fun with a suppressor. CCI Standard Velocity is nice and accurate in it. But the Federal Suppressor ammo which is a copper coated 45gr bullet is very quiet. I chronographed them and they were right around 1k fps out of the 16in barrel. And then the Aguila 60gr 22lr stuff is stupid quiet lol. Right around 880 fps. It smacks the crap out of the paper targets lol.
I'll leave it at that so I don't gunk up this thread, sorry.

 

[LiveLife]

That's a lot of 22LR. what do you consider restocking?

Buying enough for retirement years ... Likely my final decade of shooting and reloading.

Maybe a bit longer if my wife don't work me to death.

I bought 5000 and feel like I'm set for life. I keep forgetting how easy it is to go through 100 rounds/hr.

My range test session can easily run 300-600+ rounds. I want to be able to shoot several times a month or more into rest of my retirement years.

Nope, hasn’t bottomed

My sentiment. But I think now is a good time to be looking for the bottom and saving/getting money ready to buy restock.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

That's a lot of 22LR. what do you consider restocking?

Depends, for me.

There are several .22 firearms in the family. It's entirely possible all five of us could made a day of it at a range. We could go through a pile of .22 in a few entertaining hours.

My youngest one day, when she was about half her current age, told me while walking past the firearms counter at Walmart:

"Daddy, we should get some more .22 LR for my rifle!"

"Why, is 12,000 rounds not enough?"

"You have 12,000 rounds of .22?"

"Long Rifle, yes. 4 or 5 thousand in Magnum. We can pick up some more if you think we need some."



But I'll add ammo a box of two periodically during lull periods in shooting to add to my basic "minimum" stock because having to buy ammo just to go shooting is a downer. Much better to grab and go when the urge to go target shooting come up.

 

[Bronco72]

I am fighting with myself on the issue do I have enough or you can never have enough 22's ! I got a whole lot of'em! While I am trying to decide, I am buying other components. So even in a state if indecision I am moving forward

 

[12Bravo20]

I don't shoot bottom of the barrel rimfire ammo no matter how cheap it is. You couldn't pay me to shoot Remington Golden Turds, Thunder Duds, any bulk Winchester or bulk pack Federal Auto Match. You know you have bad ammo when a Marlin Model 60 and Ruger 10/22 won't even function with it. And that has been the case with all the above ammo I listed over the last few years.

I stocked up early in 2020 on 22lr and 22 WMR before the big price hikes and it was still readily available. I have between 15,000 and 18,00 rounds each of CCI Standard, CCI AR Tactical, CCI Mini Mags and 22WMR CCI Maxi Mags. Plus I still have a couple thousand rounds of Federal Champion 510 that I bought cheap years ago. I also have a few bricks of Aquila Super Extra still. All have shot quite well in the different rifles and pistols I have.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

@12Bravo20

Just for packing information...

70 boxes of Winchester .22 WMR will stack perfectly in a .50 cal ammo can, side-to-side, front-to-back, and top-to-bottom. No room left for even a single extra round.

Two layers of 28 and 1 layer of 14.

It's a beautiful sight to behold!