.22 Rimfire news

Pandaz3 · Nov 28, 2015

This is a quote out of a "Brownells" mass e-mail that I receive and this time read.

"The .22 Ammo Situation - We've received questions lately on something we've all been wondering about: Why is .22 rimfire ammo still "scarcer'n hen's teeth"? The shortage of centerfire stuff ended a while ago, so what's up?

Here's the scoop from some of our industry friends who are really plugged into the ammunition business. It's not as bad as it was. Rimfire ammo IS making its way onto store shelves, but demand is still sky high, so it zooms off those shelves almost instantly, usually with a limit on the number of boxes you can have.

Premium brands of .22 LR are sticking around longer in stores because customers who were willing to pay high prices just to get any .22 ammo have slowed down their buying. But the less-expensive ammo - the "buy a brick and plink all Saturday afternoon" stuff - still gets gobbled up as soon as it hits a shelf.

The biggest issue is, unlike centerfire ammo, rimfire is produced on dedicated machinery that can only load rimfire. Centerfire machines can load many different cartridges, so if there's a big shortage of .308 Winchester, the ammo factory can switch a bunch of machines over to it and ramp up supply much faster. That's why calibers that were in short supply in 2013 and 2014, like 9mm or .223 or .45 ACP, came back a lot faster.

Rimfire is a whole other ball of wax because of the way the cases are primed. It's really, really expensive and takes a long time to set up new rimfire production machinery - so costly that manufacturers can't spend the time and money to do it unless they're absolutely sure higher demand is here to stay, so the .22 LR production capacity in the U.S. isn't going to expand much any time soon. As long as demand for less-expensive rimfire ammo remains so strong, it will continue to be hard to get. Our guys tell me supply will probably stay very tight right through 2016. Wish I had better news - as soon as I do, you'll be the first to know!"

I myself recently paid $40 a brick for Armscor (Bought 4) and I buy individual boxes of CCI when I go to Coastal Supply (from under the counter, you have to ask for it) Sometimes its Velocitor, sometimes MiniMag and they usually have CCI .22 WMR too.

The Heretic · Nov 28, 2015

I have enough now (somewhere between 15 and 20k IIRC - I am not hoarding it for resale, I just have a lot of rimfire guns and I have to supply this ammo for three people, not just myself) that I won't be buying any more for the time being because I figure I will give others a chance to get theirs.

I bought most of mine from people here for about 6 to 7 cents per round, which is more than I prefer to pay, but I can afford it. I certainly won't pay more than that for bulk ammo and I often see sellers on here asking 10 cents per round for bulk ammo.

Also, I won't make the trip into a store just to get a single brick - unless I am there for something else also.

As for the manufacturers ramping up - for how many years has the demand stayed at this level?

If there was bulk ammo for 5 cents per round or less on the shelf, with more than one brick limits, after others had a chance to get theirs, I would probably buy another 10 bricks or more just to not be caught short again.

RVTECH · Nov 28, 2015

I still maintain the 'news' about .22 we will most likely hear will be in about 10-15 years from now when we read 'Closet full of .22 ammo in 'bricks' found in deceased relatives house'

Andy54Hawken · Nov 28, 2015

.22 rimfire will be back and will be plentiful again , when I'm not sure but I have no doubt that it will happen.
What I do worry about is that fact that bricks used to 500 rounds now they run in the neighbourhood of 300 to 400 rounds.
Also I wonder about pricing. I get the fact that prices go up as the years go by. But manufacturers have to know that people were and are willing to pay through the nose when the supply is short.
Now that some gun and ammo companies are owned by greedy corporations , that are only interested in making money and raping what they own , with no real connection to the shooting public , I fear that we will pay higher and higher prices for less and less product.
Andy

Camarobear · Nov 28, 2015

Or the dollar is falling and is worth less and less... Maybe 22 ammo has been the same price all along..

Andy54Hawken · Nov 28, 2015

Very true Camarobear , but that dosen't account for what used to be 50 round boxes now being 40 and bricks now less than 500 rounds .
I still think that we will end up paying more for less.
Andy

Pandaz3 · Nov 28, 2015

I did buy a couple of Cans of 325 when I found some, mainly as they were packed in that sealed can with nitrogen as a preservative. Now I have shot 45 year old 22 ammo that had no special care, but I just liked the idea anyway.
I too normally lament the smaller size bricks, maybe they are just brickettes?

Certaindeaf · Nov 28, 2015

It makes total sense.. "demand is through the roof so banana!". yep

Goosebrown · Nov 28, 2015

Did the rounds of stores and picked up 2500 rounds from various stores. .07 per. wish it were better. Still I have enough for my kid and me for the coming year.

The Heretic · Nov 29, 2015

There are of course still 500 round bricks. There is now also 525 and 1000 round cartons (usually loose ammo) not to mention the "bucket of bullets".

The 325 round cartons/etc. are probably just marketing of a sort.

As for the cost - supply and demand, but inflation hasn't gone up that much; I don't think so anyway. It wasn't that long ago that rimfire bulk ammo was 2 cents per round, and now it is three times that or more?

I suspect a lot of that is at the retail level.

Member 5605 · Nov 29, 2015

Haven't purchased any in a while.

Went to a local store on Black Friday to get some spray foam and saw they had some. Figured I would get a box.

Can't remember when I bought some the last time. I remember the price with shipping $24/box of 325 Federal auto vs $18 in store. All three unopened still. Kid is using the last loose stuff in the ammo can first.

I also love spreadsheets..