Why 22lr ammo out?

[salesrep]

Across the land from gun show to gun show, farm n fleets, and luckygunner all, are out of 22 ammo. The gunbroker/auction sites and what dealers have it are getting $60 to $100 for a 500 brick.

My query is this....Why?, 22's are not really a self defense caliber, as far as hunting goes, not really. So why are people will to pay $70 for this ammo that costs but $20 3 months ago?

Myself,,,,I reckon I'll sell a few bricks and buy some back for $25 this summer.

 

[Falken]

Sad thing is, people are using AND hording ammo at the same time.

You guys are going to have these high prices on guns and ammo as long as they are trying to get rid of guns in the US.

What I can see happening is people are going to start coming up to Canada to shop a bit and buy some ammo and pay duty on it at the border, that's what I would do.

Ammo is still fairly cheap up here as we have been living with the laws that you guys want to adopt for the past 30 years now.

 

[Kruse]

I'm far from being an ammo expert, but it's cheap (well, it used to be), you can store many rounds of it in a small space, and if there ever would be a doomsday scenario where man would have to hunt for his food to survive, the .22 caliber would probably be one of the top picks. (Hey, it's good enough to kill squirrels, rabbits and the like)
Really, I think people are just buying anything they can get their hands on just because it says "ammo" on the box.

 

[OB4x4]

You've got to have something for the kids to shoot with at the federal agents; when they come knockin'.

Who says its not a self defense round. A half decent shooter can easily put a 22 in a 5 inch target at 100+yards. And if you're the one getting shot at, that 22 will seem like a .50...

 

[Gabe]

I don't understand it.

With that said, I did manage to buy a box of Winchester 9mm a couple of days ago. It gave me hope that it should be ending soon.

 

[RiceCake]

Gearing up for spring, 22LR tends to sell out quickly, at least around here.

 

[salesrep]

Manufacturers are way behind. Looks like at least June at the earliest

 

[Dakota1820]

I kinda laughed at that. 22 not a defense caliber... I mean not in the conventional sense.... but it will get the job done. I have a 22 rifle and would say its perfect for defending something.....super accurate, quick and not to loud. A lot of people like 22 because if all [censored] broke lose you could hide in the woods or whatever and its harder to hear and track than a bigger louder caliber. This is exactly what the old men in the gun store near me always say. I have tons of 22 I bought a box or 2 of 550 every time I went shopping for almost 2 years. I kinda saw this mess coming i guess.

 

[JimPghPA]

We had a metal coffee can full to the top of very old 22 ammo that my brothers FIL gave us after he had used our 22 Savage target rifle a few times. That can sat around for a few years and I gave it to a nephew who had recently become interested in rifle shooting. He later told me that when he tried them they would not fire. He ended up burying the whole can.

I had no idea that 22 rounds would age so they would not fire. Some of the lead looked pretty bad. I guess the primer ages to.

So there is (at least for rounds made several decades ago) a time limit on the primer for rim-fire 22 rounds though that time limit is probably something like a couple of decades.

 

[supton]

22's are not well "sealed" -- often I can spin the bullet relative to the case. Moisture can then ingress.

I wouldn't bury them. Many ranges have a "dud" box, if only for 22's that won't ignite. They will properly dispose of them (even if all they do is toss 'em into a fire).

If I had more space, I'd think about stockpiling them, in ammo cans with something to keep the moisture out. But meh, who thinks 22LR would ever get banned? Only reason to stockpile is when you find a great price--otherwise, let someone else deal with the cost of storage.

 

[Robenstein]

Only ammo in the case at my local store was 270 Winchester, 12/20 gauge bird shot, and 22WMR, and 22 shorts.

 

[zerosoma]

I picked up a stack of .22 LR today. I don't own one - but I plan to soon. It's even scarce around here.

 

[salesrep]

Whatta a brick of 500 or 550 go for?

 

[zerosoma]

Originally Posted By: salesrep
Whatta a brick of 500 or 550 go for?


I personally just bought a stack of 100, it only set me back $6.29, so with that cost considered I imagine it would be about $30. I couldn't find the large boxes however.

 

[salesrep]

I believe I am going to take advantage of free markets!

 

[UncleS2]

I went to a local pawnshop yesterday for the first time in over a year, a few boxes of centerfire rifle was the only ammo in the store. All long guns were unavailable for sale- & they don't do handguns. The lady working there said that locally, she had seen .22LR, a single box of 50 ordinary HV, sell for $12. Another employee there claimed to have seen a sale of .22LR for $15/box of 50. Both stressed that they had personally *Seen* this, not just heard of it.

Hmm... maybe I need to dig out the ammo can & the boat battery box & do an inventory.

My newest .22RF ammo eill be at least 4-5 yrs old, some has to be close to 25 yrs old, & there should be a mixed partial box of .22 Magnum that's gotta be ~30 yrs old.

 

[zerosoma]

Originally Posted By: Stuart Hughes
I went to a local pawnshop yesterday for the first time in over a year, a few boxes of centerfire rifle was the only ammo in the store. All long guns were unavailable for sale- & they don't do handguns. The lady working there said that locally, she had seen .22LR, a single box of 50 ordinary HV, sell for $12. Another employee there claimed to have seen a sale of .22LR for $15/box of 50. Both stressed that they had personally *Seen* this, not just heard of it.

Hmm... maybe I need to dig out the ammo can & the boat battery box & do an inventory.

My newest .22RF ammo eill be at least 4-5 yrs old, some has to be close to 25 yrs old, & there should be a mixed partial box of .22 Magnum that's gotta be ~30 yrs old.



The magnum stuff is so expensive right now at our Dunhams...like $17.99 for 100 rounds. I was appaled!

I'll stick to the .22 LR

 

[zerosoma]

scored a brick (that sounds bad haha) of 500 for $19.99.

I was pleased.

 

[UncleS2]

scored a brick (that sounds bad haha) of 500 for $19.99.

If I could find that deal I'd probably buy it too! Give my 25-30 yr old .22 ammo some company. For these days that's a good deal.

 

[Cujet]

Originally Posted By: supton
22's are not well "sealed" -- often I can spin the bullet relative to the case. Moisture can then ingress.


So true. 22 ammo often does not store all that well. I have some older ammo from the 60's and 70's. Mostly duds.

The CCI ammo that is waxed seems to hold up well and last for years. It's not really sealed, but the wax does seem to do the job fairly well.

22 ammo hoarders need to consider keeping the ammo in a sealed and completely moisture free environment. Special storage is the only way to ensure viability. Putting it in an ammo can is not likely to be good enough over the long term.