22-rimfire
New member
Things will change and it will be up to you to re-discover the joys of 22LR. Many will have to re-aquaint themselves with rimfires.
Rimfire Shortage-What are your buying habits?
- Thread starter 22-rimfire
- Start date
Things will change and it will be up to you to re-discover the joys of 22LR. Many will have to re-aquaint themselves with rimfires.
I used to keep anywhere from 2K to 5K rounds on hand when it was available. I am down to less than 1K now. I take no pleasure in spending hours and days and weeks hunting down ammo. I reload my center fire cartridges, so that is a more productive use of my time. I have considerably more 9 mm and .380ACP on hand now than I do .22LR. I will buy more .22LR when I can get it for less than 10 cents a round, but that hasn't happened here in a long time.
hot chili powder
New member
Finding 22LR ammo
Right now half the fun of shooting 22's is hunting down the ammo. I've scored several times on Arms List @ prices btwn 7 & 8 cents a round. Keep lookin', buy what ya can and keep shootin'.
Right now half the fun of shooting 22's is hunting down the ammo. I've scored several times on Arms List @ prices btwn 7 & 8 cents a round. Keep lookin', buy what ya can and keep shootin'.
22-rimfire
New member
Can't say that is fun for me.
Added: I would imagine Cabelas will have a bunch of 22LR available for their grand opening of the Chattanooga TN store on Wednesday. But I will not be anywhere close to the the location.
Added: I would imagine Cabelas will have a bunch of 22LR available for their grand opening of the Chattanooga TN store on Wednesday. But I will not be anywhere close to the the location.
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FrankenMauser
New member
I NEVER attend such events, but there's a new store opening near me on Saturday.
Their Grand Opening flyer had absolutely ZERO mention of .22 LR. They may have some, but they don't seem to be confident enough about their supply to advertise it.
Rimfire Buyer
When the CMP had cases of rimfire, to support their mission, I bought a couple of cases of the SideWinder they had for sale. I do not shoot hundreds of rounds a day/week. So, I still have about 8k. Mainly because I shot a Hi-Standard that only wanted standard velocity and the SideWinder is high velocity the SW got shot in my revolver and 10/22. The Hi-Standard 107 was quite the shooter. Sold awhile back so I'm not not searching out standard 22 anymore, and I still have a couple thousand GreenTag.
When the CMP had cases of rimfire, to support their mission, I bought a couple of cases of the SideWinder they had for sale. I do not shoot hundreds of rounds a day/week. So, I still have about 8k. Mainly because I shot a Hi-Standard that only wanted standard velocity and the SideWinder is high velocity the SW got shot in my revolver and 10/22. The Hi-Standard 107 was quite the shooter. Sold awhile back so I'm not not searching out standard 22 anymore, and I still have a couple thousand GreenTag.
Spats McGee
Administrator
Up until a few years ago, I never kept more than about 1k rounds of .22 on hand, just because it was always available. I don't actually shoot that much .22, and the .22s that I do have pretty much eat anything, so I don't have to be particular. I've got enough on hand that I don't feel the need to rush out and scour stores as soon as they open, nor do I always buy "the limit" (whatever limit a given store has on .22).
Nonetheless, I have friends who have youngsters that they're teaching to shoot, so I buy .22 whenever I see it in stock. I don't want them to have to pay 10 cents/round, so when one of them runs out, I either give 'em some, or sell it to them at my cost.
Naturally, that all presumes that I haven't spent my ammo budget on something else. . .
Or 5K? As in thousand?
Nonetheless, I have friends who have youngsters that they're teaching to shoot, so I buy .22 whenever I see it in stock. I don't want them to have to pay 10 cents/round, so when one of them runs out, I either give 'em some, or sell it to them at my cost.
Naturally, that all presumes that I haven't spent my ammo budget on something else. . .
Did you really mean "5M?" As in million?WIL TERRY said:
Or 5K? As in thousand?cc-hangfire
New member
I keep about 1k to 2k rounds, and restock from online sources when I drop to 1000 rounds. .22lr is simply not available in my area. I am reconciled to the higher prices and can usually get restocked at less than 10 cents per round. It's still the cheapest plinking ammo even at those costs.
About the only time I shoot .22 is when taking nephews or new shooters to the range. Then we'll go through about 500 rounds.
About the only time I shoot .22 is when taking nephews or new shooters to the range. Then we'll go through about 500 rounds.
I'll buy a .22 caliber bullet mold and load IMR Trail Boss rounds for my .22 Hornet before I pay $100/brick for Remington bulk ammo.
I have heard that the annual U.S. production of .22 ammo is about 6 billion rounds. That's a staggering amount of ammo, most of us have no feel for just how much that actually is. Maybe this will help. There's about one grain of gunpowder in each round. The amount of powder needed to load 6 billion .22 rounds is about 430 TONS!!!
However, there are about 300 million people living in the USA. Divide 6 billion rounds into 300 million parts and you have about 20 bullets for each person in the U.S.
What I find most incredible is that so many people apparently believe without question some of the most preposterous conspiracy theories on the internet, yet they can't accept that a population of 300 million people suddenly deciding they better stock up on ammo can completely overwhelm the supply.
I have heard that the annual U.S. production of .22 ammo is about 6 billion rounds. That's a staggering amount of ammo, most of us have no feel for just how much that actually is. Maybe this will help. There's about one grain of gunpowder in each round. The amount of powder needed to load 6 billion .22 rounds is about 430 TONS!!!
However, there are about 300 million people living in the USA. Divide 6 billion rounds into 300 million parts and you have about 20 bullets for each person in the U.S.
What I find most incredible is that so many people apparently believe without question some of the most preposterous conspiracy theories on the internet, yet they can't accept that a population of 300 million people suddenly deciding they better stock up on ammo can completely overwhelm the supply.
RaySendero
New member
I was just lucky!!!
I'd make several reloading orders each year. Would add a brick of CCI Blazers to every order that fell $5to8 under the next shipping milestone - My 22 likes'em for low cost ammo and they were under $10/brk at that time. I would save $5 on reduced shipping. So I had plenty before the shortage. I did run out of competition ammo last years so have bought 3 brks of RWS match, but haven't needed any low cost 22LRs. Even those match were ordered at only $2 per box higher than the pre-shortage price.
As for the psychological aspect - I've stopped at many tables at local gun shows, looked, browsed and commented "those prices are still way too high", then moved on. Last 2 shows most all of it was still sitting on table when I left!
I'd make several reloading orders each year. Would add a brick of CCI Blazers to every order that fell $5to8 under the next shipping milestone - My 22 likes'em for low cost ammo and they were under $10/brk at that time. I would save $5 on reduced shipping. So I had plenty before the shortage. I did run out of competition ammo last years so have bought 3 brks of RWS match, but haven't needed any low cost 22LRs. Even those match were ordered at only $2 per box higher than the pre-shortage price.
As for the psychological aspect - I've stopped at many tables at local gun shows, looked, browsed and commented "those prices are still way too high", then moved on. Last 2 shows most all of it was still sitting on table when I left!
When I got my first .22 I used to keep a brick or two on hand. With the second 2-3 bricks. When it was on sale, meaning about $6 a brick I'd get a few extra. So I usually had 2-3K rounds for a long time.
Forward to Obama's election. I had bought a couple bricks just before. Bought a couple more "just in case" the week after. Then the .22 basically disappeared for nearly 2 years. When it started getting back on the shelves I bought a brick or so almost every payday even though I was now paying twice what the same stuff cost before the election. So I'm hoping I have enough to last until the current shortage is over. I'm afraid that those "overpriced $18" bricks are likely to end up at closer to $30 though.
I'm seeing lots of folks paying $70 at local auctions for 500 rounds. At that price it's cheaper to reload many pistol cartridges even at the higher current prices.
Forward to Obama's election. I had bought a couple bricks just before. Bought a couple more "just in case" the week after. Then the .22 basically disappeared for nearly 2 years. When it started getting back on the shelves I bought a brick or so almost every payday even though I was now paying twice what the same stuff cost before the election. So I'm hoping I have enough to last until the current shortage is over. I'm afraid that those "overpriced $18" bricks are likely to end up at closer to $30 though.
I'm seeing lots of folks paying $70 at local auctions for 500 rounds. At that price it's cheaper to reload many pistol cartridges even at the higher current prices.