# Just a stupid thought I had regarding .22 lr ammo.



## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

Now this is completely just a hypothetical "what if" type scenario. Whilst perched atop my porcelain throne (where I do my best thinking) I had this thought enter my mind. What if all the shooters/hunters made a pact not to purchase any .22lr ammo for six months or so (once again just a hypothetical, I know we are all way too retarded and irrational to do this) and gave the .22lr ammo producers a chance to catch up. I guess if you really NEED some .22lr ammo to get your kid through hunters safety or you found a really productive jack rabbit spot you could buy some, but no more buying it just because, "OMG .22 ammo on the shelves! I better hurry and buy all I can before somebody else does!" Do you think if this fantasy scenario I have concocted were to actually take place that the .22lr could become readily available in at a sane price once again. And once it was available again in good quantities at a reasonable price these ninnies could knock off all the panic buying already? The way things are right now I don't see any end in sight. I hear people saying .22 is easy to get for good prices again, but I just don't see it. All the sporting goods stores in my area never seem to have it anymore and I continue to see these Denver Broncos on Facebook selling it for 10+ cents a round which tells me that there must still be a bunch of idiots out there that are buying it for idiot pricing. Thoughts?


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## mtnrunner260 (Feb 15, 2010)

If people would just stop buying from the scalpers it would help a ton. 
There will be some cheap 22 ammo at estate sells in the future


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## massmanute (Apr 23, 2012)

I like the idea. That way I can go in and buy some while everyone else is abstaining.


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

massmanute said:


> I like the idea. That way I can go in and buy some while everyone else is abstaining.


haha yup. Exactly why it would never work. People just wouldn't be able to help themselves and we would all just keep shooting ourselves in the foot.


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## Fishrmn (Sep 14, 2007)

mtnrunner260 said:


> If people would just stop buying from the scalpers it would help a ton.
> There will be some cheap 22 ammo at estate sells in the future


There ya go.

⫸<{{{{{⦇°>


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## RandomElk16 (Sep 17, 2013)

I watched a hunting show the other day that had them stop at CCI. The guy he was speaking with said they put out more than 1.5 Million rounds before lunch everyday. Plant was chucked full. 1 company, 1 plant. 

They aren't out of 22. Just making a killing on it.


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

RandomElk16 said:


> I watched a hunting show the other day that had them stop at CCI. The guy he was speaking with said they put out more than 1.5 Million rounds before lunch everyday. Plant was chucked full. 1 company, 1 plant.
> 
> They aren't out of 22. Just making a killing on it.


So in one half day worth of production that is enough for 3,000 people to have a 500 ct. brick of ammo. Or 6,000 people could buy a brick for one days worth of their production approximately. It's insane that we can't find any on the shelves of our local stores.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Is it still in short supply? I was finding it so frequently last fall I assumed the glut was coming to a end and started buying some here and there when I ran across a good deal. I had so much I sold a several thousand rounds to co-workers recently who couldnt ever seem to find it. Charged them a whopping $23 a brick, which is what I paid. 

Maybe as spring is coming on and people are getting out its harder to find again, but last October'ish, I'd find bricks for sale usually 2 or 3 times a week in stock. I doubt I'll buy any 22lr for at least 3 or 4 years.

Anyway Gander Mt website is a good place to get Remington 22lr goldenbullets (the hollowpoints). They have deals every once in a while for free shipping so it ends up being about $25 per 525 pack shipped to your doorstep. I think I got 5 or 6 boxes that way last fall. Gave most away as "tips" / presents.

-DallanC


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

Plus, I wonder how many other plants and companies are producing a comparable amount of .22lr daily. Not enough that I can find any anywhere apparently.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

I guarantee I have done my part not to contribute to the madness. I haven't purchased .22 ammo in 5 years, and I haven't shot a .22 in 4 or 5 years. On occasion I have found ammo, but refuse to pay the ridiculous prices stores want for it. The last brick I bought 5 years ago, I paid $16 and I still haven't opened it. I'm old school I guess, but I remember buying Spitfires in the pinkish chew cans for like $1.49 for 100 and Bricks of Thunderbolts for $7.99. I can't bring myself to spend $40 for a brick.


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## Loke (Sep 7, 2007)

Mr colorcountry. How many shooters do you think are out there? 3000 bricks a day = 1 semi trailer. To supply the tens (if not hundreds) of millions of shooters that are looking for it. I have been suggesting that everyone buy only what they need, not every time they see it for the last two years now.


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## 2full (Apr 8, 2010)

I saw the writing on the wall and put away 5 or 6 cartons when Obama was elected.
I shoot with the grandkids and use some here and there. Have been teaching them to use bullets wisely. Better to be accurate with a few shots then waste a bunch of rounds. We buy them lever and bolt action rather than semi's. They learn to aim, and shoot much better.


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

Absolutely correct there Color. Fear, created by the likes of the NRA and Republicans..."Obama's coming for your guns"... is the ONLY driving force behind the unwarranted demand for guns and ammo over the last few years. These people knew exactly what they were doing and what the end result would be. Manufactures are only following good business practices by raising prices to meet the demand. 
It's actually kind of embarrassing to be part of a group(hunters and shooters) that is so easily fooled and tricked.
Remember the old saying, "...fear its self"


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

Yeah it's not like odumbo and his minions have tried to ban assault style weapons or magazines over a certain size or various types of ammo or put onerous regulations on transferring firearms to family members. The older I get the more I understand why the symbol of the democRAT party is a JACKASS


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## hondodawg (Mar 13, 2013)

Manufactures are doing as much as possible. I've seen more remington in the last few months than the last two years. CCI orders are shipping now but are allocated. 500 boxes of the mini mag 300rd boxes lasted 4 days. Normally we could get a pallet of AE22 which would get us thru Nov, Dec, and first of January. I'm sure if we got it now it would last a week. Give it time and don't buy from scalpers online.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Here is the latest in our government causing problems for hunters and shooters. I'm stuck in the middle of it since I am leaving for South Africa in less than 2 months

https://www.nraila.org/articles/201...international-travel-for-hunters-and-shooters

Here is the executive action that the President took to start the ball rolling on taking firearms out of the country.

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/DCPD-201300143/pdf/DCPD-201300143.pdf

From my understanding it is part of the UN's ban on small arms exports.


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

Loke said:


> Mr colorcountry. How many shooters do you think are out there? 3000 bricks a day = 1 semi trailer. To supply the tens (if not hundreds) of millions of shooters that are looking for it. I have been suggesting that everyone buy only what they need, not every time they see it for the last two years now.


The math actually came out to 3,000 bricks in a half day, so 6,000 bricks per full day. Let's say this plant is in operation 5 days a week, and therefore produces 6,000 bricks a day for 260 days per year. That would mean 1,560,000 bricks per year. I do realize that this is still probably just a drop in the bucket when it comes to quenching demand, but he also said that this was the production of one single, solitary plant from one company. How many plants and companies that produce .22lr ammo do you think there are throughout the whole country/world? Do you think all the .22lr ammo that is being produced is just barely keeping up with the demands of casual plinkers and squirrel season?

I appreciate all the comments guys, but lets please try to keep the thread on track and not let it devolve into a political poopstorm. Can't we just agree that they are all a bunch of wolves in sheep's clothing?


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

hondodawg said:


> Manufactures are doing as much as possible. I've seen more remington in the last few months than the last two years. CCI orders are shipping now but are allocated. 500 boxes of the mini mag 300rd boxes lasted 4 days. Normally we could get a pallet of AE22 which would get us thru Nov, Dec, and first of January. I'm sure if we got it now it would last a week. Give it time and don't buy from scalpers online.


So an amount that once would have lasted for months and months is now wiped out in the span of a week? Wow. That really puts things in perspective. I know I just stated that I didn't want this thread to turn into a political battle, but us sportsmen are probably doing more to hurt ourselves than Obummer and his minions ever could. Dance, puppets, dance!


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I for one would like to see just where all the .22Lr is going. A year ago I was in the Cabela's in south Denver and they had around 20 bricks of Remington .22Lr. I didn't need any so I shopped around a while and came back and there were none left. When I was in a Walmart a few months ago they had a few bricks in their case but it was locked. When I came back a 1/2 hour later it was all gone. 

I think that there is a .22Lr fairy that is going around and stealing it all when we are not looking.


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

Critter said:


> I for one would like to see just where all the .22Lr is going. A year ago I was in the Cabela's in south Denver and they had around 20 bricks of Remington .22Lr. I didn't need any so I shopped around a while and came back and there were none left. When I was in a Walmart a few months ago they had a few bricks in their case but it was locked. When I came back a 1/2 hour later it was all gone.
> 
> I think that there is a .22Lr fairy that is going around and stealing it all when we are not looking.


I think there are thousands (tens, hundreds?) of easily manipulated nincompoops all over the country with near empty bank accounts, but at least they have a spare bedroom in their house stacked floor to ceiling with .22 ammo!


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## Dunkem (May 8, 2012)

been finding some at cabella 17.00 a brick,got a couple to hold me over.As long as people are willing to pay 40.00 or more for a brick I dont see anything changing in the near future.( some of my best ideas are thought up on the crapper:mrgreen


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## Loke (Sep 7, 2007)

The "Buy it when you see it" mentality is what is keeping the shelves empty. The "I need to buy it before the next guy can get it" mentality is what is keeping the shelves empty. When word gets out that we have bricks of ammo they line up at the counter like heroin addicts at the methadone clinic. And most have that glassy stare in their eye, too. At least most are well mannered. 
If people will relax a bit, not try to arm the Republic of Congo single handedly, and buy what they need for an afternoon of shooting, demand will ease a bit and prices will normalize. And for those that are paying the inflated prices on Utah Gun Exchange, you are perpetuating the problem. Blame yourself that you can't find it in the stores.


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## Rspeters (Apr 4, 2013)

I think it's all the retired gun enthusiast men with money and time to spare waiting for the 22lr to be put on the shelves. At least those are the types that are always there when I'm looking for some. 

I haven't seen any in stores in quite a while, but I also don't check a whole lot. I did happen to be in Walmart a couple of days ago and checked and they didn't have any. I'm having a hard time understanding why one of these manufacturers doesn't open up a mega factory to help alleviate this shortage.

I know that I have gone shooting much less, and in return spent much less on ammunition since the shortage started. They may be losing customers that they won't be able to get back.


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## massmanute (Apr 23, 2012)

One partial solution: pellet guns.


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

I know there are a lot of folks hoarding and showing up at stores when the ammo is arriving but I know a guy that runs the gun/ammo counter at one of the Dick's sporting goods stores. I called him a couple of weeks ago and we were talking about bricks of .22LR. He said prior to the run they used to get them in whenever they ordered them and as much as they wanted. During the early part of the run they still got some bricks in but not as frequently. HOWEVER, since Thanksgiving (that's late November of 2014 for those of you challenged with a calendar) they haven't gotten a single brick in despite having quite a bit on backorder. That's almost 4 months without a single brick. Something doesn't smell right and I have to wonder if some of the manufacturers (or all of them) are holding back some of their production to help keep the prices inflated.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

I keep reading articles about .22 production and new plants that have opened that specifically make .22 rounds. These articles keep stating that in the near future .22 ammo will flood the market and prices are expected to hit lows, like under $10 a brick. I don't know if I believe any of this.............

My daughter hit me up Saturday morning for some .22 rounds so she could go shooting with her friend. I gave her most of what I had, now I'm in the need for some more. I just wrote a post responding to this thread Friday night and stated I haven't had the .22's out in 4 or 5 years. Oh well, glad they got some use this weekend.


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

Fowlmouth said:


> I keep reading articles about .22 production and new plants that have opened that specifically make .22 rounds. These articles keep stating that in the near future .22 ammo will flood the market and prices are expected to hit lows, like under $10 a brick. I don't know if I believe any of this.............
> 
> My daughter hit me up Saturday morning for some .22 rounds so she could go shooting with her friend. I gave her most of what I had, now I'm in the need for some more. I just wrote a post responding to this thread Friday night and stated I haven't had the .22's out in 4 or 5 years. Oh well, glad they got some use this weekend.


I agree with you on the new plants articles. Those were supposedly going to go online this past summer but as you see it was all smoke and mirrors. I had a friend look into starting one up but he decided not to because of the cost involved. It's not cheap to start up a new machine or line. I guess the manufacturers are happy to sell what they're selling since the prices at double or triple what they used to be, so they're making 200% to 300% more profit without having to increase production.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

After sandyhook people made a run on AR15 style guns, they disappeared from stores virtually overnight. As new gun owners entered the market, their semi-auto options were then limited to .22's. Look at the sales of 22LR gun's during that period, it rose in similar fashion to AR sales.

This caused a big increase in demand of 22lr ammo due to these new owners. The difference though is that these new 22lr owners never bought ammo when it was cheap. They dont have a clue what cheap ammo should cost. They compare a brick of 500 22LR to a $7-8 box of 20 .223 and think "wow, you get so many more shots with a brick of 22lr" and think $40 a brick is a good price.

I'd bet the vast majority of people paying 10-15cents a round are new shooters who just dont know better, or people with entirely too much $$$ to throw around. 


-DallanC


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## hondodawg (Mar 13, 2013)

From what my ATK rep says. They generally manufacturer in groups. One group is big boxes stores. The other is distributers like Ellett, Zander. Than buy groups as WWD, NBS.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

I say "urinate on the .22 long rifles"

I went back to shooting .22 shorts. Deadly on paper targets, beer bottles and road signs.

Wait a minute, where'd all the .22 shorts go?

.


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## Hoopermat (Dec 17, 2010)

They had a guy on gun talk the other day from remington. He said they were producing 17 million rounds of .22lr a day. Also a guy talking about powder. They said a bunch of gov contracts were expiring that made large shells. This would free up powder and production for the general public. So from what they were saying we should see both in stores In The next 6 to 8 months


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

Hoopermat said:


> They had a guy on gun talk the other day from remington. He said they were producing 17 million rounds of .22lr a day. Also a guy talking about powder. They said a bunch of gov contracts were expiring that made large shells. This would free up powder and production for the general public. So from what they were saying we should see both in stores In The next 6 to 8 months


I'm not gonna hold my breath.


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## Fishrmn (Sep 14, 2007)

Here's the secret... Don't buy .22 shells from anyone other than a retailer with a storefront and who charges you sales tax. If you're buying from someone who is selling them on the internet, they've already bought them at a retailer, and they're doubling their price.

⫸<{{{{{⦇°>


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## RandomElk16 (Sep 17, 2013)

I have bricks I can sell for $40  

Can't beat em join em??


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## willfish4food (Jul 14, 2009)

Fishrmn said:


> Here's the secret... Don't buy .22 shells from anyone other than a retailer with a storefront and who charges you sales tax. If you're buying from someone who is selling them on the internet, they've already bought them at a retailer, and they're doubling their price.
> 
> ⫸<{{{{{⦇°>


Take it a step further and don't buy from retailers that are jacking up their prices. I've been to stores that have .22 LR in stock but have em priced at 10 cents per round for the "cheap" stuff. Won't buy from them now, and will likely not return when prices normalize.


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

wyogoob said:


> I say "urinate on the .22 long rifles"
> 
> I went back to shooting .22 shorts. Deadly on paper targets, beer bottles and road signs.
> 
> ...


About year ago I walked into a gun store and was looking around. Lo and behold I saw a brick of Remington .22 shorts. It was priced at $11.00 and obviously had been there a while from the dust on it. I picked it up and walked to the counter with it and the clerk snidely informed me that it was .22 SHORTS and that if I bought it there would be no returning it so I better make sure I am getting what I want. I stared back at him and loudly asked if they had any more as I would buy all they had since I've been shooting shorts in my Remington semi auto before he was born. He gulped and said uh no that's all we have, so I plunked down the cash and walked out with it.

I've killed more squirrels and rabbits with .22 shorts than anything else. I keep my shots to 75 yards or less and I'm dead on with them, plus they're a little quieter and I find that the shorts tend to "push" squirrels off the branch when I hit them as opposed to long rifles going through them so fast that sometimes they stay stuck on a large branch. On top of that I can load up the tube on my Remington full of shorts and that's always enough to limit out with.


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

willfish4food said:


> Take it a step further and don't buy from retailers that are jacking up their prices. I've been to stores that have .22 LR in stock but have em priced at 10 cents per round for the "cheap" stuff. Won't buy from them now, and will likely not return when prices normalize.


Totally agree, that's why Gallensons has lost all my business. Jacking up prices turned me sour on them. It's their right to jack up prices and it's my right to take my business elsewhere.


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## bowgy (Oct 10, 2007)

I've heard of Pawn Shops buying them at Walmart and then marking them up to sell.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

LostLouisianian said:


> About year ago I walked into a gun store and was looking around. Lo and behold I saw a brick of Remington .22 shorts. It was priced at $11.00 and obviously had been there a while from the dust on it. I picked it up and walked to the counter with it and the clerk snidely informed me that it was .22 SHORTS and that if I bought it there would be no returning it so I better make sure I am getting what I want. I stared back at him and loudly asked if they had any more as I would buy all they had since I've been shooting shorts in my Remington semi auto before he was born. He gulped and said uh no that's all we have, so I plunked down the cash and walked out with it.
> 
> I've killed more squirrels and rabbits with .22 shorts than anything else. I keep my shots to 75 yards or less and I'm dead on with them, plus they're a little quieter and I find that the shorts tend to "push" squirrels off the branch when I hit them as opposed to long rifles going through them so fast that sometimes they stay stuck on a large branch. On top of that I can load up the tube on my Remington full of shorts and that's always enough to limit out with.


Yeah, some of my long rifle-only .22 semi-autos will cycle .22 shorts, but the rifle has to be clean and maybe dusted with a little powdered graphite. And I agree, shorts are really all you need for rabbits and grey squirrels. I liked longs for fox squirrels and raccoons though, but if I didn't have them it was no big deal, shorts would work.

Squirrels are noise-conscious. With the quieter .22 shorts there's less waiting time until nearby squirrels came out of hiding after each shot.

There's just not many that follow .22 shorts around here. Where I grew up shorts were as popular, maybe more popular, as long rifles. Many short-only .22 rifles were produced back in the day and there's still a few gun manufacturers still making them; Browning is one. Lots of short-only revolvers, .22 semi-auto pistols and .22 semi-auto rifle models were offered. At one time .22 shorts were used in Olympic shooting competitions and the .22 short is still to this day very popular in Europe for target shooting and hunting upland game. Every carnival and county fair had .22 shooting galleries and .22 short- only rifles were most always used.

Shorts and longs were always cheaper than long rifles. I don't even see .22 longs any more. After the sky-is-falling hoarders bought up all the long rifle ammo they went after the shorts next. Now .22 shorts are as much, or more than the long rifle ammo.....ridiculous.

.


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## utahgolf (Sep 8, 2007)

It seems like ammo suppliers are like the oil industry. They create shortages when they want to. Also false gun legislation emails that are anxiously forwarded by the ignorant just jacks up prices even further. Hunters are some of the dumbest smart people I know.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

mtnrunner260 said:


> If people would just stop buying from the scalpers it would help a ton.
> There will be some cheap 22 ammo at estate sells in the future


Thats why I stopped buying from Gallensons :mrgreen:

They will gang rape your wallet twice before you even knew you got screwed.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Cabelas has a ton of Remington 22lr today. Hope those who needed it got some.


-DallanC


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