22LR ammo shortage? Might as well plink 9mm...

R

rpseraph

New member
So on lucky gunner I just bought 1,000 rounds of 9mm (blazer brass) for about $220, delivered. That's $0.22 per round!

I went to 5 different big box and local gun shops, the best deal I could find (unless I bought Remington 22lr, which I will never do again since I have had it explode out the brass in chamber multiple times) was $10 for a box of 50... limit 2-3 boxes. That's $0.20 per round. What the heck.

All I want is a few hundred rounds. Ammo hoarders? You guys are jerks :D A guy at Gander Mountain offered to sell me 1k round for 0.19 per round because he had 50k at home and felt bad... Maybe I am annoyed that I came to the store at the wrong time, but do you know how long its been since I've seen cheap 22 ammo? I remember 5 - 7 cents per round, and I miss that.

I guess if I have to spend "big" bucks shooting, I'll just shoot 9mm!
 
Most I have paid is 13 cents per round for Norma. Bought Federal Auto-Match, Winchester M22, Aguila, and several other decent quality ammo for 5-9 cents per round over the last 6 months.

While I have about 9K on the shelf, my family is shooting 20-25K a year. It is out there, at decent prices.
 
The cost per round is getting very close to equal. Since 2013 I mostly buy my ammo bulk (1000 rounds) online. There is still no .22lr on the shelves in my area, & I'm paying about $0.10/round for .22 in my last purchase. My most recent purchase of reman 9mm came to $0.16/round (during the worst of the shortage I paid up to $0.15 for .22lr).

Hopefully .22 will continue to become more available locally. When it does, I will be completing my stock. Yes, I'll be a "hoarder" when it becomes feasible - not for resale but to lay up a buffer supply for the next lean time!
 
I see plenty of .22, but it's mostly oddball stuff like standard velocity, or match ammo.
I almost bought 300 rounds of 40gr standard vel for $30, but suspect it won't work in a lot of semi-autos.
$27 for fifty rounds of match ammo seems more than a little bit too much.
 
My most recent purchase of .22LR was from WalMart, Remington Golden Bullets, and was $0.053 per round. First .22LR I have been able to get in two years. This was about 6 weeks ago, and only have one box of 525 left. Hope they get more in soon!
 
For a reloader, it absolutely doesn't make sense to shoot 22LR. Even at "just" 0.07 a round of 22LR cost more than shooting 0.22 9mm due to the recaptured brass.
 
Sometimes it just has to be my mood when I read some of the things that are posted. More likely, it is probably a matter of perspective and each of our own personal experiences. But suffice to say, there's a couple of things posted here that don't add up from my view... don't add up at all.
All I want is a few hundred rounds. Ammo hoarders? You guys are jerks :D
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The added smiley is duly noted & accepted as offered. Even still, I think most of us can agree that for decades, we purchased our rimfire in 500-1000ct boxes every time we bought the stuff but only since the dawn of the Barackolypse have "MOST" shooters been buying centerfire handgun ammo in one thousand round case lots as you JUST did while slagging "hoarders" because you can't find a reasonable deal on rimfire.

With the amount of rimfire I have on hand right now, I would bet I qualify as one of the hoarders as you may classify. But then again, I tend to shoot 250-350 rounds of rimfire per range trip, and I tend to get to the range roughly twice a month, give or take. Either way, I buy what I need and I shoot what I buy, and I have no position of authority to tell others what to think or say, but they guy with 50,000 rounds that never shoots any of it or the poor schlub that has NONE of it because he didn't shop for it when it was available or affordable isn't really on my mind a whole lot. People are people, they will do WHATEVER and some of them are goofy but all of them are merely incidental for the most part.

If one has the energy and attitude, one can find a zillion things to be angry and annoyed at other folks for doing, thinking... or in -MY- case here... posting in a discussion. ;)
For a reloader, it absolutely doesn't make sense to shoot 22LR. Even at "just" 0.07 a round of 22LR cost more than shooting 0.22 9mm due to the recaptured brass.
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"Absolutely doesn't make sense" ?!
Quite the superlative. Enough of one to make me want to quote it and respond directly to it!

I am absolutely a reloader, the log shows 12,740rds in the year 2015 so far. and yet... I still buy rimfire when I find a deal I can stomach and I still shoot rimfire on most every single range trip.

I have not found a way to make 9mm ammo (factory or handloads) fit in the .22LR chambered handguns that I own and love so much! Try as I might, I can't make the pistols run without .22LR in them.

Recreational shooting isn't just making noise and sending bullets "that a way", it's about shooting the guns you really want to shoot, for any possible reason you can dream up.
 
I have recently purchased .22 for .05-.10/round as well as 9mm for .22. 9mm is still twice as expensive, so I will still shoot the .22. From buckets of Remington to CCI Mini Mags, it has been available and does just fine.
 
At 0.10 and 0 .13 a round for the 22 I buy, all std velocity cci or federal automatch or sk standard or wolf match target, I can and do load 9/38/45 for the same price, so I have been shooting centerfire pistol more.

Rimfire is a rationed treat for me, in the rifle I'll go through 50-75 rds shooting lollipops and the sticks at 50 yds, I'll go through about the same in the pistols at the plate rack.

I'm not ready to turn loose of any of the 22's, but I'm enjoying what I shoot and going with a goal in mind other than turning money into noise.

With what I have, if I can find a little more I'll be satisfied.

But if I want to shoot rimfire, it is not going to stop my range trip.
 
It's interesting to see the posts of people finding .22LR. It makes me wonder a couple things:

1. Is this a regional thing?
2. For those ordering online at reasonable prices, is that including shipping?

My experience has been the opposite. I rarely see "standard" .22LR, defined as the typical plinking ammo for most shooters, be it the Remington, Federal, or Winchester pre-shortage fodder available in bricks at 4-5 cents a round. I have found, on a couple occasions, a small supply at the stores I frequent (BPS, Cabelas, Dicks, Academy, Walmart, and a few pawn shops) and any time I see it for pre-shortage prices, I pick it up. Now, that being said, in the last year, I have purchased less than 1,000 rounds.

Most often, there is simply none to be had. In a couple cases, there have been some available, but it's been the Eley Target, shot shell, or subsonic or "quiet" stuff. In a couple cases, there were some regular plinking fodder to be had, but at 15 cents a round, I am not buying it.

Everyone can't point to "availability" online, and sure, it's there, if you want to pay 2-3X the regular price. But to me, by the time you pay that, then pay shipping, the cost goes up.

The million dollar question is, why have we not seen recovery in .22LR going on nearly 3 years post Sandy Hook? In the beginning, we all blamed the resellers, then we blamed the hoarders, then there were the unverified, un-supported (via any factual documentation) reports of the ammo makers pushing out at full rate production and the understandable explanations that they would not spend the money to add additional production machinery or employees for what has been in the past (see 2008 election and 2012 re-election) short term demand spikes.

But previous spikes never lasted 3 years, did they? Not that I recall for either election cycle.

And in the meantime, we have enjoyed as a group of enthusiasts the biggest boom in models of .22LR firearms I can recall. Henry is churning out lever guns which appeal to those wanting a more classic look. There are the slew of .22LR AR- format rifles. There are the GSG series making clones of plenty of cool guns. And don't let me forget handguns. Want a 1911 clone in .22LR? There are several to choose from. Most major pistol manufacturers build .22LR versions of their popular models. Even the starter gun market for kids is saturated with models! And for a time, they were flying off the shelves!

Now I see that market significantly slowed down. Many of those .22LR firearms are sitting on the shelves. Quite a few of the salesmen and women I talk to all report buyers interested, but the ".22LR ammo shortage" keeps them from committing on the purchase.

So, in the end, are we really still seeing a bubble on demand, or are we seeing a new demand "normal"? Are the hoarders and resellers really to blame for scarcity, or is it the fact that there are just a ton more firearms and shooters out there competing for the scare resources?

We can all understand the basics of business in not expending capital to react to a bubble as it probably won't be profitable in the end, but could it be time for the major ammo producers to re-evaluate the market?

Let me apologize in advance for typos or grammer. I'm trying to do this on my phone, and rarely get on the computer anymore.
 
I can still find .22 ammo on line but the shipping costs kill me.

I load 9mm on my Dillon 650 and can load over 600 rounds per hour at a leisurely pass. I have a few thousand pieces of brass so the cost per round is minimal.

I did go to the range today with 22s to shoot. My 617 revolver, S&W 22a and I brought alone my Smith Model 10 and a box of 38 so I could produce more brass to reload.:)
 
I have seen the bulk remington golden feces 22lr on the shelf at walmart several times in the last 2-3 months for just under $.06 a round. I passed by each and every time. I have only used this brand ammo one time, but, in several different .22s, the performance was appalling. I have no idea how it grouped because I had so many failures I never got though a mag and calm enough to shoot a group. Gave what was left away.

I need between 4-10,000 rounds of Federal bulk .22lr as soon as available at <~$.07. Probably looking to grow that to 20,000 over time. Does that make me a hoarder?

If I was retired I might think reloading 9mm was worthwhile.
 
About that "golden feces" ammo,,,

Way back the first summer Obama was in office,,,
And .22 ammo could not be found at all,,,
I found nine 550 round bulk packs.

I have to agree that stuff was terrible in my semi-auto pistols,,,
But it ran okay in my revolvers and bolt-action rifles,,,
So I did get good use out of the near 5,000 rounds.

In recent months I have purchased some of the 525 round bulk packs,,,
I've had no problems with the newer production stuff.

It runs fine in my Bersa T-22, 22/45's, SR-22,,,
Buckmark, NEOS', 22A, CZ-75B Kadet,,,
LC9 with Twisted Industries adapter,,,
702 Plinkster, and NEOS carbine.

I too prefer the Federal bulk pack ammo,,,
But the only thing I have seen lately is Remington.

I know Remington took a lot of flak for that ammo,,,
I'm wondering if they didn't clean up their manufacturing act a bit.

Academy gets the 1,400 round buckets fairly often now,,,
At $69.95 that comes out to 4.99 cents per round,,,
That's a reasonable price and it's available.

I am pleased enough that I'll not shun it in the future,,,
Who knows, the next big batch of Federal,,,
Might just turn out to a flop as well.

It's a crap shoot. :p

I'm just happy to start seeing anything again.

Aarond

.
 
I'll agree that when it comes to the "quality" of the product, my (somewhat limited) observation is that the deck is being shuffled and the things I always used to know need to be re-visited.

Remington has historically made the WORST quality bulk rimfire in years past. But the 1,400 Golden Bullet bucket has run quite well for my buddy -- in a very finicky S&W Model 41.

The Federal bulk product has been my absolute favorite for decades, but in the last couple years, it has not been immune to failure. Mostly it is the AutoMatch that I'm getting and the issues I find are occasional poorly primed rounds but more often -- underloaded rounds that clearly do NOT "bang" with the full, expected authority.

And the new king of total manure, the title stolen from bulk Remington has to be bulk rimfire from Winchester. And it is a duel for ultimate supremacy between the M-22 (horrendous) and the Wildcat (worse.) I have had more of the M-22 product to try than Wildcat, and I also checked & ensured that the few different boxes of M-22 was not subject to the recall. It should have been. Just really, really bad.
 
Sevens said:
And the new king of total manure, the title stolen from bulk Remington has to be bulk rimfire from Winchester. And it is a duel for ultimate supremacy between the M-22 (horrendous) and the Wildcat (worse.) I have had more of the M-22 product to try than Wildcat, and I also checked & ensured that the few different boxes of M-22 was not subject to the recall. It should have been. Just really, really bad.
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+1.

I bought 2 bricks of the "555" only to discover than the rounds are so irregular in size that roughly 2/3 won't chamber in my S&W M18, and they shot patterns rather than groups from my Ruger MkII and 10/22. They DID, however, consistently go BANG! I traded away the unopened brick at a gun show, and the partially used one is in the BACK of my ammo cabinet to serve as a last-ditch contingency. :rolleyes:

I bought one 1,000rd "double brick" of M-22 only to discover that literally 1 of every ~30rds was a dud, and I'm not exaggerating. :mad: I actually tried to reuse several of the duds by turning them in a different direction in case the primer was distributed unevenly around the rim – no dice, they still didn't fire. After suffering through ~150rds of frustration, I sold the remainder on a local FB gun-sale group, with full disclosure. Never again.
 
I can reload 9 mm for 16 cents worth of components. I personally refuse to pay more than 10 cents a round for plinking-grade .22LR, but I have seen it for the price of reloaded 9 mm and more. Shooting .22LR is its own kind of fun, so I buy it when I see it at a price I am willing to pay. I never stopped shooting .22LR, because I figured that if I stopped shooting .22 because I was low or stopped because I was out, I still stopped shooting it, so I might as well run out. Never ran out, but came close.

I can remember paying less than 3 cents a round for .22LR, but that was years ago. I am not sure we are going to see 5 cent .22 again. Narrowing the price difference changes my shooting habits, though.
 
On one of my range days that was tainted by attempts to use Winchester M-22, I was loading my Colt magazines with that junk and in the handful I grabbed from the box, one was an empty brass case.

Sure, happens all the time, an ejected spent case flies through the air & lands in the ammo box, right? Except -NO-, this one was a primed case with no bullet & no powder in it.

What kind of production line and/or QC allows a piece from that early in the process to find it's way in to final packaging?
 
It's not hard to find .22LR for around ten cents a round in this area. I'm not buying yet because I still have a decent supply and because I think it might come down more.

But even at today's prices, it's still only half as expensive as 9mm--at least in my area.
 
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