22LR cost

[supton]

Was in Walmart this morning, and SHOCK they had Federal Automatch! Ok, I haven't been to the range in nearly a year, and haven't bought ammo in probably 2x that time; but I look when I'm in Walmart. But it was $18.97 instead of the old $14.97 price! Ouch. I used to buy that when I could, as it seemed to give me decent results.

Is this the "new" 22lr pricing, or is it just a blip? It's not a horrendous price I guess (5.8c/rnd) but it makes me think I'll cringe when I see what CCI's go for.

 

[Hokiefyd]

That's, what, 19 bucks for a 325 count box of .22LR? Not bad in my opinion. The cheapest .22LR on gunbot.net is Federal Premium Champion at $0.05/rd. The next cheapest is $0.08/round. I'd say you did great on that Federal at Walmart.

 

[bubbatime]

Yeah the going rate for a brick of 500 rounds is somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 nowadays.. way too freaking expensive.

I remember not too long ago buying a brick of 500 rds for like $13. Prices ARE coming down though so I would only buy what you actually need until prices come down. Now is NOT the time to stock up on .22LR. Luckily I stocked up years ago and have thousands and thousands of rounds so I'm not running out anytime soon. Still, I don't shoot .22LR near as much as I used to.

 

[supton]

Great, now I'll regret leaving them behind! I figured, I still have a few thousand in my stash, no need to get more. At least right now. Been too busy to shoot much, maybe once the ground freezes I'll have more time.

 

[Hokiefyd]

I have a few hundred rounds, but I sold my .22LR pistol about a year ago and I don't currently have anything that shoots .22LR. I am about to come into possession of an old Stevens Little Scout that needs some work, so I'm real excited to get that and get it running. Will be looking for some .22LR this winter...

 

[L_Sludger]

last week i went to walmart and asked the gal behind the ammo counter if there was any 22 available.

she snarled at me.

 

[SrDriver]

The only 22 LR ammo for sale here in match grade and expensive at over $7.00 for 50 rounds.

The usual places like Wal-Mart, ***** Sporting Goods, Gander Mountain don't have any.

 

[mrsilv04]

I saw some yesterday at Gander Mountain for 9+ cents a round, with a limit of 250 rounds.

They didn't have a lot of takers at that price.

But at least they had some. I guess if one was desperate, they might get some takers.

 

[danthaman1980]

From what I've seen lately, $0.05/rd is the low end of the price range for bulk plinking .22LR right now. $0.025/rd is a thing of the past. Prices should come back down eventually, I think they'll settle at around $0.035-0.04/rd.

 

[BobsArmory]

I don't think we will ever see the prices that we were used to seeing a couple years ago.

 

[hatt]

.223/5.56 is back to pre panic prices. .22 should get there too. Or at least real close. The days of the $13 550 bulk packs are probably finished. But you never know.

 

[3800Series]

Complaining about 22lr cost? 550 here last I checked for $15-ish very hard to find everyone wants to stock up. Go buy 100 7mm mags and let me know how expensive you think those 22lr are.

 

[DutchBrad]

Our Walmart has had 550 Federal bricks of 22lr for $22.xx. It has been in stock at times, but sells out quickly most of the time. Many times I swing by only to see an empty case.... I never make a special trip to the store, but if I am at the store, and see it, I usually pick up a box. They only let you buy one brick. I usually pick up some 9mm (box of 50 FMJ for $14.xx) - that seems to be in stock quite a bit now.

 

[Mackelroy]

Stuff has to stop flying off the shelves so there's surplus, commodity prices have to drop, kick democrats out of office. U.S. dollar is beginning to get stronger, cause fed halting its free money syndrome.

That's what it will take, to get back to where it was.

 

[Panzerman]

Its Gouging. Everybody is now a certified gun nut. Guns and ammo have become a commodity. I am at the flea market and people are buying up guns, that don't know a thing about guns. Buying all and any ammo its crazy, for crazy prices. The funny thing. they use the same type brass rim fire shells for nail guns at work and the price for that ammo hasn't gone up, so either the ammo makers are taking advantage of morons or lead has now become a precious metal.

 

[2cool]

I saw this addressed in an article somewhere online. Part of the reason for the smaller supply is that given the choice between centerfire and rimfire, more profit is in centerfire cartridges. Second is that the cost to produce 22LR is higher, and more painstaking too. Until the buying frenzy stops, they will naturally go where the profit is greatest. This is regardless of the party in power, and only partially influenced by the trade deficit.

 

[Pablo]

I haven't seen any .22LR in a brick and mortar store for well over a year and half. I had around 10 bricks at the start of the banic, so I'm ok for now. I've only shot .22LR 7 or 8 times this so I hardly ever shoot it. Mostly I shoot 10mm, .45ACP, 9mm, 9x18, 5.56x45, 7.62x25, 7.62x39, 6.8SPC II, .357Sig, 357Mag, .38special, .32ACP, 7.62x51, etc.

Anyway, that seems like a great price these days.

 

[jcwit]

High quality match grade target 22 ammo is still available with just a slight increase in price due to commodity price increase.

 

[NateDN10]

We've actually started to have it stay in stock for a couple days after a delivery in sporting goods stores around here. (They'll only let you buy 150 rounds at a time though). And it's around 3.5 cents per round.

I'm hoping that's a sign that we're getting back toward normal.

 

[L_Sludger]

Originally Posted By: jcwit
High quality match grade target 22 ammo is still available with just a slight increase in price due to commodity price increase.
Copper and lead are both back to where they were five years ago. They both had a big increase in 2011 but their prices have corrected themselves since with the resilient strength of the dollar.
The current high retail prices are generally profit taking on the part of manufacturers and retailers who are taking advantage of the inelastic demand for ammo, particularly .22LR.