Ammo Shortage

[rice paddy daddy]

5 years ago I started spending $10/week on ammo in preperation for retirement and fixed income living. That increased to $15, then $20 as prices rose.
I have "some" ammo in back stock. ;D
I am now assembling the tools and components to reload the brass I've been saving for 20 years.
I'm ready to go on the 38 Special and 357 mag, having finnaly gotten the primers, and am going to try my hand at it this weekend.
Ahh, for the good old days of $6.99 boxes of 30/30.

[the1gman]

Here is an article that states an opinion of why we can't get 22lr as often as we would like. Makes sense to me.

Written by Sierra Bullets Vice-President of Sales Matt Reams

Even though Sierra Bullets does not make .22 LR ammo or projectiles, we are constantly asked “Why can’t I find any .22 LR ammo anywhere?” Even the conspiracy theorists are at a loss on this one as they can’t even blame it on the government. They toss around thoughts of warehouses full of .22 LR rotting away just to keep it out of their hands, but that does not seem very realistic – even to them.
So what is going on here? Why is it that 1.5 years later, the shelves are still empty and bricks of .22 LR can still be seen selling for upwards of $75-$100 at gun shows? I do not believe there is one answer, but rather a few. Here are my opinions on the matter, for what they are worth.
Hoarders – Some people are piling it away in their basements, garages, bunkers, and under their beds due to fear of not being able to find it again. This is not a huge factor in it, but it is still a factor to some degree. When these hoarders can’t find it on shelves, it only panics them more and causes them to buy even more when they do find it.
Gougers – These are the guys who prey on the fear of the hoarders. These are the guys that wait in line at Wal-Mart at 3 a.m. to buy up the daily allotment that Wal-Mart puts out at normal retail prices and then double or triple their price on the weekend gun show circuit. Again, not a huge factor, but keeping the shelves looking empty which keeps the panic level higher for those that are looking.
Demand – Now we are getting to the real meat of the issue. You hear manufactures say they are running 24/7 on their Rimfire lines which is putting somewhere around 25-30 million rounds PER DAY (estimate on my part from numbers I have heard from the big rimfire guys) into the market – so how can there be a shortage? I have asked this myself – until we start doing even a little basic math. You hear all kind of numbers about how many firearms owners are in the USA, but you hear 70-80 million quite often. So for the sake of us not arguing that number – let’s cut it to 35 million. Do you know a gun owner that does not own at least one firearm chambered in .22 LR? Do you know any that are not looking for .22 LR ammo or would at least buy some if they saw it for normal prices? How many would they buy when they found it? A lot – right? But again, just to keep the argument on the low end, let’s say they would all be satisfied with just a single 500 pack. 35 million multiplied by 500 .22 LR rounds for them all – is 17.5 BILLION rounds. Let that sink in. Even at 25 million rounds being made PER DAY – that is 1.92 years’ worth of production.
Starts making some sense then doesn’t it? Hoarding and panic emptied the shelves. Gougers try and keep them empty and demand does keep them empty. Then factor in that I probably cut the real number of 22 LR shooters in ½ and probably underestimated the amount everyone would buy if they found it at normal prices by 300% and you can see how deep the problem really is and why it is not going to go away tomorrow. It also does not take into account the world market – just the USA.
How will it get better? Slowly. The hoarders will get to a point that they feel they have enough or will run out of money. The shelves will start getting enough on them that the gougers cannot buy it all. This will make people stop paying $50-$75 for a brick at gun shows. That will make it less profitable for the gougers to spend their money on and they will stop. The shelves will start to have product again which will ease people’s fears and get them back to buying what they need today instead of what they need for the decade. There is no fast answer.
Are the manufactures hiring people for extra shifts and adding capacity – sure they are. But it is easy to just expect them to ramp up production overnight to take care of our needs, but that is just not realistic. We get the same thing here. The market certainly has not grown 500% so what happens when companies add all that super expensive equipment when things get back to normal? They take a bath on it for sure and waste capital that they could have used to improve their company in a way that makes them stronger. Instead they just added equipment they may never need again and have to mothball while they lay off workers they no longer need. Not a great way to run a business and not a fair way to treat employees.
We all just have to trust that it will get better, do not buy more than we need and wait it out. It will not get better overnight. It will start out with a box here and there and then a few and then slowly the shelves will get back to having all the supply and selection we picky consumers are accustom to and will certainly appreciate much more than we ever did before……if only for a little while.

[cuppajoe]

amazing....

this thread was started in 09...still the shortage continues 5 years later.

[randallhilton]

I'm probably part of the problem -- I buy a hundred rounds every month or so. Cabelas has it online fairly often. I get the CCI mini mag. As of this posting, they have 22LR HP or Solid in stock. Limit one box.

Academy also offers it on line.

[MissouriFree]

Originally Posted by randallhilton

I'm probably part of the problem -- I buy a hundred rounds every month or so. Cabelas has it online fairly often. I get the CCI mini mag. As of this posting, they have 22LR HP or Solid in stock. Limit one box.

Academy also offers it on line.

Thinking about it - why are " we" the problem. Blaming the customer is pretty lame in my opinion - especially from a company that doesn't even make 22 .m
Concering price - even though zinc price is pretty stable -in last 15 years copper price has tripled .

[coaltrain]

I've been finally finding it here and there. Federal Automatatch in boxes of 335 for $20. One box limit. Since I only go on a grocery run twice a month I've been able to get 2 boxes - last time they were out.

I've also seen it on-line but the shipping cost really kills it. Just found the same Automatch for a good price but with 1 box limit with $11.69 shipping brings it to $27.68 for 335 rounds.

[Nickathome]

Agree, I don't think we the consumers are the problem. Its the hoarders for profit(most of whom don't even shoot, or at least don't own a .22), the ammo companies, and the news media spreading panic who are to blame.....

I buy .22 when I find it even though I probably have alot more than I need but in this day of "buy now or you won't be able to later" its best to buy when the bird is in the hand. Who knows when you will find some again? This way you can still enjoy shooting some on occasion and not worrying that you've just shot your last rounds until God knows when comes along.

Never thought I'd be concerned with how many .22 rounds I've fired in a day. Sadly that day is now.

[cuppajoe]

I would settle for 2-3 more bricks just to plink...don't wanna get into my stored stuff yet...I have a used .22 rifle I bought a year ago and sadly haven't even fired a round through it...the rest well...too expensive.

[backlash]

Stopped into Bi-Mart yesterday.
They had 8 bricks of Winchester for $24.95.
We each bought a brick.
At .05 a round it was a good deal.
They also had several 50 round boxes at .05 a round.
Still limited to 100 rounds or 1 brick.
I think it's finally safe to resume shooting my .22s.

[Nickathome]

Originally Posted by backlash

Stopped into Bi-Mart yesterday.
They had 8 bricks of Winchester for $24.95.
We each bought a brick.
At .05 a round it was a good deal.
They also had several 50 round boxes at .05 a round.
Still limited to 100 rounds or 1 brick.
I think it's finally safe to resume shooting my .22s.

$24.95 is not a bad price these days for a brick. I was at a gun show Saturday and the gouger dealers were still trying to sell 100 round packs of CCI for $15.00. As expected, none was moving. I guess it takes dealers longer to realize they'd better lower their prices or wind up taking it all home. I draw the line at 100 round packs to about $7, and bricks to about $25. More than that and I walk.

[Mad_Professor]

I upgraded my reloading equipment and brought hundreds/thousands of bullets and primers and pounds of powder. Did the same for my blackpowder and have molds/lead and flint/flints too.

22LR I'm hoarding.

[randallhilton]

Our local Wal Mart has increased the 22LR limit to 3 boxes per customer. Yesterday morning I bought 300 rounds of the 16,000 rounds they had on the shelf. 7.67 per 100 for CCI standard.

[coaltrain]

Still empty shelves at Wal-Mart here - been years now I think.

The gun shop at that town has had the Federal Auto-Match fairly consistently now - bricks of 325 for $20. It is what it is.

[Nickathome]

Originally Posted by Mad_Professor

I upgraded my reloading equipment and brought hundreds/thousands of bullets and primers and pounds of powder. Did the same for my blackpowder and have molds/lead and flint/flints too.

22LR I'm hoarding.

I have enough reoading components to last me a good while, plus I can use my father's equipment if need be(he's got a MEC shot shell reloader). I've added some raw lead to my stores for my muzzleloders and I scrounge spent bullets fom the muzleloader range each time visit, so in effect I'm not ever running out of lead... I must thank the nice person who fired some huge ( think.75 caliber) mini balls that I dug up recenly. I get almost half a pound of lead from just a few of those alone.

[JohnNH]

No .22 lr or .22 pellets at my local Wal-Mart.

[randallhilton]

It's been a while since this thread was stirred. In my area, I'm now back to picking up ammo when on the way to the range.

I'm a bit surprised that 22LR is still having trouble catching up since the other popular calibers are so plentiful. I have a strong feeling that there is organized purchasing of WalMart supplies as soon as, (or before) it hits the shelves because I NEVER see it at a couple of stores yet last night, at a different store, I found 50 boxes of 50 count CCI Stinger (my favorite) on hand with a 3 box limit. That store also had several 250 and 333 count Winchester on the shelf.

I was recently able to pick up several boxes of CCI at Cabelas as well so, for now anyway, I'm thinking the ammo shortage has been relieved. . . . at least until the next election.

[the1gman]

Randall,
I have to agree with you about the 22lr. Here in Louisiana I am seeing the same thing at Walmart. But not all Walmarts just most of them. There is one Walmart that I have walked into and there was 22lr just being put on the shelves and there were at least 3 or 4 guys there waiting on it. But the other sports stores are starting to have 22lr in stock but higher prices that normal.

"My Military Service may have come to an end but, I will suit up again to defend this country from terrorism"
GMAN

[momopi]

Here in Southern CA it's actually not too difficult to find .22lr retail, if you're willing to spend some effort to shop around. However the issue is finding the .22lr that your firearm likes. The 10/22 likes Federal auto match, 10/22 take down prefers CCI standard velocity, and Marlin 60 prefers something else. If you go to the store or gun show and find bricks of brand x ammo that your gun hates, you're still SOL.

Anothe factor that contributes to .22 shortage is that people don't usually reload them.

[backlash]

WOW
A thread that's almost 7 years old started by a user that is banned.
That's got to be some kind of record.

I am seeing .22 ammo more often and at reasonable prices. Around a nickel a round is OK with me.
I have around 7,000 rounds so I'm not worried but I do buy when it's available.

[jim]

I'm not having any luck in Central Texas. Just a few over priced small boxes here and there. I used to shoot 4- 5 bricks a year, but no more. Keeping what little I have for actual hunting.

Jim