How fun is .22lr?

[Yo Mama]

Just don't buy it at foolish prices and let the neck beards sweat.

I went to a local Big5, and they wanted to rob me. 65 bucks for a bulk 550 count. I left.

Few weeks later went to Dicks, and I was amazed, ended up with American Eagle 40 count packs for 2 bucks a piece, not bad! They let me get 6, I had my Wife stop off after work also.

 

[Ibmikey]

The Bimart nearby carries a lot of ammo and powder (as available) but they choose to sell at normal retail prices, CCI Mini Mag HP 100 rd pack= six bucks. I did not feel that was unreasonable. They have a 100 rd max so others can share and they hold back .22 for customers who purchase a .22 rifle can also purchase a 100 round box.. Seems like a decent policy...i left the .22 for others and bought W 748 for $23 a pound.

 

[ku4hx]

Ku4hx, In my case the higher prices of ammo have not reduced any of my .22 shooting fun because of the availability of .99 a box ammo in my own supply cache. It is also a bit fun to ask at any retail seller if they have rimfire, the responses are very entertaining. At the local Walmart a salesperson goes into a tirade about the Military and LE are buying all the .22 lr to keep it out of civilian hands. In all the years i was responsible for purchasing ammunition for a medium sized Police Dept. i never purchased a box of .22. City fathers, no matter how liberal, would never approve spending " their" money in such a fashion.

A few years back, celebrating a most significant event, my wife and I enjoyed a bottle of newer vintage Dom Pérignon Champagne. Now, this was not one of the $15,000 bottles I assure you but it was a significant step up for us. Trust me when I tell you that quite costly (for us) bottle of the sparkly was very, very good. Would it have been as good if they'd charged $4.98? I have no idea, but sometimes quality costs money and if you choose carefully it can be more enjoyable.

Is a more expensive home more enjoyable than a lean-to with a privy? How about a Harley Davidson versus a Moped? Is it more fun to shoot a Barrett light fifty or a pellet gun? For me the answers are all yes.

My point is that there are times when taking the more expensive option is more fun, not the other way around. I do however acknowledge there is a certain pleasure in "sticking it to the retailer" and getting something you value for a low cost.

I just don't equate fun to low cost. Those who do are more than welcomed to their opinions and their accompanying actions. Fun is fun where ever you find it. As a kid I can remember having a huge amount of fun in a fort built from a new refrigerator box. But then I grew up and found "fun" in the food and drink the refrigerator contains.

 

[CajunBass]

$0.08/rd is way too much and paying that much is part of the reason that prices continue to be inflated and availability is low. Be patient and buy online at $0.05-0.06/rd, max.

Reminds me of a fellow in my old bass club.

He (watching a fellow back his boat in): I wouldn't have one of those XXXXX boats." (Note. He did not have a boat.)

Me. I'd have one before I stood on the bank saying, "Man, that looks like fun."

I'll be over at the range, shooting. It looks like fun.

 

[Pete D.]

$

About that .05/.06 cents a round shipping included..wanna share that link with the rest of us so that we can take your advice?
Pete

 

[Ash]

I have an antebellum house on 5 acres that cost a sixth of what my sister's gated community house cost, has 10 times more land, and the nearest stoplight is miles and miles and miles away. I got 14 foot ceilings, big rooms, and a real front porch plus the neat fact that the kitchen at the back of the house was once a totally separate building.

Sometimes perception drives up prices. In my sister's case (and she's a nice person), proximity to Sam's, the interstate (2 minutes away) movie theaters, Publix, and the like, plus the ability to ensure the neighborhood is kept to a certain arbitrary manner make her house considerably more valuable. The house itself is no better (indeed, mine doesn't have a single square inch of particle, OSB, ply, or wafer board anywhere). And its yard is not big enough to do much playing in and the roads are so traveled that any time her kids play, they have to be 100% supervised - leading to a bunch of inside play.

My place follows my Walmart rule: it is no closer than 30 miles from the nearest Walmart. It is 15 minutes from the nearest grocery store (a Piggly Wiggly), is on a lane-and-a-half road that sees perhaps 10 cars or trucks a day, is quiet, is 45 minutes from the nearest interstate and has enough land for the kids to run and play all day long (they keep a walkie talkie so I can call them back to the house).

You could not pay my sister to live in my house and vice versa. Value is what it is.

.22lr, as a rifle/handgun round, it largely worthless for hunting anything but small game. It is a poor choice for self-defense. It is good only for plinking and sure ain't worth the price folks ask for it these days...

...or, .22lr, as a rifle/handgun round, provides excellent shooting training. It is excellent for small game, hones shooting skills, allows for both slow, high-precision shooting OR just-for-fun-shooting-cans-or-whatever plinking. It makes a good SHTF survival round. It won't ring the ears and is still cheapest to shoot at modern ammo prices.

Me, it tend to be in the former crowd - but that was when I was getting 7.62x54r for $0.08 per round. But, with kids, the latter is real nice because they enjoy shooting and it makes a cheap, quiet, and low-recoiling shooting cartridge...

...and I can shoot it at my own house.

 

[Ibmikey]

Being a person who has bought items at one price for many years ( food, gasoline, power, ammo etc.) it is a difficult pill when prices run amock dure to percieved shortages and the sudden knowledge by retailers that they can make a lot of money on a scarce item, customer loyalty be damned. When a seller does show ethics by maintaining prices based on his wholesale costs, i try to support him. I just bought a new mid sized truck from GMC, the dealer had large sized trucks that i could have taken for similiar money and saved their mid sized allocation for another sale. Good sales techniques resulted in my purchae and i am a happy camper. The other dealer i checked has a policy to add $2000 to every window sticker....that dealer got a scowl and a comment that i do not deal with those who are there simply to rape the consumer. Is summation: they can keep their $50 a brick ammo for some more tolerant and wealthy customers.

 

[Sav .250]

A 22 cal and fun are joined at the hip.

 

[Ibmikey]

Sav 250: in so few words you answered the thread:

 

[Sa-tevr]

I use 22 for target competition and never understood people paying target ammo prices for plinking ammo. Availability of premium target ammo was pretty good over the last three years and the prices stayed steady at the shops that support target shooting, but low end target ammo (CCI SV, SK Std Plus, Eley Target, RWS Rifle Target) was hit-or-miss for being in stock for a while.

 

[bullzeye8]

I love how gun owners all seem to support free market capitalism unless it involves ammo...

Yup basic supply demand. Lots of new shooters and same supply as before equals high prices. I find it funny when people brag about getting some of their friends into shooting then complaining about not being able to buy .22 because of "hoarders". High prices are because many people like them are getting friends into shooting and all these friends want .22 and none of the manufacturers have increased capacity.

And to keep with the thread, .22 is a ton of fun to shoot. Don't have to worry about cost, recoil, or noise. .22's are great for practice and tons of fun but you do need to throw in some .45s and .308's for fun though.

 

[chopinbloc]

About that .05/.06 cents a round shipping included..wanna share that link with the rest of us so that we can take your advice?

There are already several links in the thread. It's not magic. You just have to decide how much you plan to spend on .22lr for the month, like any other budgeting, and be diligent in checking or set up an email alert. When it comes in stock at a price you are willing to pay, buy it quickly.


You have to understand that purchasing ammo at inflated prices keeps prices inflated. If everyone stopped buying ammo, prices would plummet, as they did with .223 and AR rifles, but people aren't going to stop buying .22lr. The best thing you can for yourself is to avoid inflated prices by planning ahead and purchasing ammo as it becomes available, not two days before you plan to shoot. If you are patient, you can even build up a decent stock of it.

 

[420Stainless]

I love how gun owners all seem to support free market capitalism unless it involves ammo...

I support it in the very best way possible. I don't buy it when it is this expensive. Not worth much to me except as a small game hunting round. In that context it is fun. Just for shooting targets I don't find it all that much fun.

 

[Hookeye]

Saw some SuperX at $45 a brick.
Passed on it.
If HP might have bought some.

Unless I'm running a decent rig with higher end ammo........range time is pretty much pointless.

Standard rigs and ammo...........test/zero..............and pop pineys. Maybe rimfire a chuck or two.

Sitting on the range burnng ammo bouncing cans around or chunking clays on the bank.............is fun. For about 10 minutes.

10 minutes a year.

Dropping a red squirrel out of a tree........makes me giggle every time.

 

[Hookeye]

The only fun I had with .22 rf and targets was with IHMSA.
But that got to be a hassle, and my eyeballs aint what they used to be.
Might take my 10" .22 mag Contender to the range tomorrow.....try a few shots at 200 yards on clays. Just wonder how much it drops at low and high power settings (2-7X).

Check zero at 50 too.
Proly test CB's in other Contender rifle, and maybe run a mag through my 48yr old 10/22.

 

[Evil-Twin]

No problem finding 22 ammo... a little trouble finding the ammo that I like but when I find it a buy a case

 

[Ash]

The issue at hand isn't market driven, it is market-cornering in many areas, creating an artificially-low supply. That is not how markets drive. It would be equivalent to guys showing up at the gas station, buying up the gas in a tanker, and then offering it for sale in a giant mark-up down the road. Not quite so, because gas stations are plentiful and cornering the market would not be easy. However, when OPEC started the embargo in the 1970's, folks in the US waited in lines and paid high prices. That was simple market forces at work, right?

How many of us like dealing with scalpers?

Of course, as long as things are scarce, even if artificially so, and folks are willing to pay the inflated prices, it will continue.

 

[chopinbloc]

Exactly. The only way it stops is when people stop paying the inflated prices. The neck beards can't make a buck on it anymore and they stop buying up the supply. After sick sits on the shelf for more than an hour, retailers will start to lower prices, too.

 

[Vector]

If you're patient, you can get it for $0.05-0.06, shipping included. If you're not patient, you're part of the problem.

Where does one find ammo that cheap on the internet with S&H, even if they are willing to be patient?

 

[B_Li_Ber_Tar_Ian]

It's my go to caliber. I have many, many others but it's the one I shoot 80% of the time. My son and daughter agree and that's what really matters.

 

[Odd Job]

SIG522 + 50 round drum mag + suppressor + burris fast fire III is a lot of fun here in London (we can't have semi-auto center-fire).

 

[chopinbloc]

Vector, I think the last time I bought ammo at a decent price it was either Cabelas or Midway. I honestly don't remember. I just wait for the email and then buy.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Eight cents a round for .22 LR in 2015 (adjusted for inflation) is the tactical equivalent of one cent a round in 1960 (or fifty cents a box of 50 or a dollar a box of 100 rounds, inflation adjusted to $4 for 50 or $8 for 100 rounds today). THEN complain to me about the crappy quality control on the old $8 to $12 bulk back cartons of 550 rounds. Reality check: you get what you're willing to pay for. (I'm 67 years old and I'll get grumpy with you whippersnappers if I feel like it.)

And my suspicion about low civilian prices on hardball 9mm, .38 Spl, etc. was that it was often the result of overruns/surplus from production for military/police contracts.

For the record: the talk in the 1960s of banning ammo (and the original 1968 GCA requirement that ammo had to be bought through an FFL and recorded in a log book too) prompted me to start keeping a five year supply of .22. When I bought new, it went to the back of the stack, use old first. I have sat out the current "shortage" for years now, and still can go to the local gun club range or the family property on the mountain and shoot .22 when I feel like it. There is a possibility that part of the current shortage is due to people realizing the current crop of antis are talking ammo bans or high taxes, and are stocking up for their own personal use. While I did see "scalpers" advertising re-sale ammo a while back, I do not notice them active today.

 

[texasred777]

I have several .22s and probably about 1000 to 1200 rounds on hand. I love shooting. I love shooting .22lr, .22l. or even .22s. I haven't gone out much lately because of the ammo prices, but do go out occasionally. I have a .17 Mach 2, 4 shotguns, and little Bersa .380. I seldom shoot these; just enough to stay in practice. I have about 7 .22 rifles, one 12 gauge pump, one bolt action 20 gauge, one double 20 gauge, a little single shot breech break .410, one SA .22 lr/.22 mag revolver, one DA 6 shot revolver, and a little Walther PPK/S .22 semi. I guess the most fun to shoot are the SA revolver and the little .22lr Walther.
.22s are more fun than any gun I've ever shot. My first time to shoot a .22 was an old Remington single shot rifle that had to have the bolt pulled back to cock it after loading it. I was about 5 years old.

 

[FireInCairo]

.22 is funner than BB guns.