Where the heck are the .22LRs at?

[schibbyzoltan]

Alright, I don't know what's going on, but not 6 weeks ago, I bought a brick of .22lr rounds, 525 to be exact, for just over $22 at my local Big 5 for a friend of mine for his plinker. I got home from the range today and I was talking to an older gentleman saying how hard they were to find now. So I did a little poking around and ended up searching on GunBroker. I find the same brick, the Remington 525 round brick. Price? $89 and rising at 16 bids. What the hell did I miss? I can still buy my .270 rounds for 20 of them for around $23 after tax. What happened to the .22lr rounds?

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[krivey]

Panic buying. Everyone is scooping them up as soon as they hit the shelves. You have to just keep your eye out for them. I had to pay $20 for a brick of american eagles the other day(usually $17 @ bimart).

 

[schibbyzoltan]

Panic buying. Everyone is scooping them up as soon as they hit the shelves. You have to just keep your eye out for them. I had to pay $20 for a brick of american eagles the other day(usually $17 @ bimart).

Are they panic buying because of the gun banning laws that everyone is worrying about? Or because of all the shootings going on lately? Cause I'd really like to go back to putting a few hundred rounds through my Ruger without breaking the bank on a Saturday.

 

[krivey]

Not 100% sure why things not affected by any potential bans get bought up. Probably because people think obama is trying to take everything away. It will all pass soon enough and.22's will be plentiful again (just a little more expensive, i presume).

 

[deadshot2]

Strangely enough, a lot of 22LR is being hoarded by "preppers". Easy to carry a large quantity and when it comes to basic defense and "putting food on the table" the .22LR holds it's own.

There's a lot to be said for either an AR-7 Survival Rifle or a Ruger 10-22.

 

[rrojohnso]

I went to Bi-Mart the other day just to poke around for boots for the kiddo, and walked through sporting goods. I was shocked! I didn't believe the hype, but 80% or more of the components for reloading were gone - left was just a few oddities for a few not-as-common calibers. Many die sets were also sold out. I walked over to the ammo - mostly bare. I looked at the shotshells, also, mostly gone. Wow... being prepared is one thing, freaking out is another. It's a good thing I have enough components in stock to continue participating in my hobby :gun14:

 

[tcs#1]

Ya, seems 22LR is always the 1st to go during these times
I checked my local Bimart yesterday...zilch

I don't shoot a lot of 22 but its always nice to have a brick or two as it can go a long ways in a pinch

 

[krivey]

The bimart in McMinnville doesnt have a drop of powder and the only primers are a couple hundred shotshell primers. A good chunk of the bullets are wiped out as well. I have been having luck with small ma & pa gun shops having a limited supply of components.

 

[BigDaddyDMD]

The good news is that the first things to show back up on the shelves is usually .22lr as it is mass produced and the manufacturers can get it out in a hurry. Right now it is still being scooped up as soon as it hits the shelves. I have not been fortunate enough to be at the right place at the right time to get anymore, but I am patient. I just can't justify spending $40 on a brick of bulk ammo.

 

[AMProducts]

What's happening is people are paying $90/brick for .22LR ammo, so every dufus with an IQ of 75 is buying up all the bricks at walmart for $20 and putting them on gunbroker.

 

[Kimber Custom]

I watched a video on the CCI plant where they produce 4 Million rounds of .22 a day more or less in our backyard (Idaho); so where is the ammo?

 

[Trailboss]

Pretty sure the problem is not being caused by Preppers. I'm not a huge prepper but I know many. All have a stash of 22 ammo but all collected it more than a year ago when the shelves had hundred of bricks. Preppers aren't late to the game buyers, rather they prep before a shortage hits. No, the current shortage is being caused by three issues:

1. Most long time shooters are shooting more .22 and conserving their other ammo due to shortages of it. Example, .223 is near impossible to find, so swich to shooting .22.

2. New or returning firearms owners. Don't under estimate the affect these folks are having. Gun show lines a half a mile long? Good grief.

3. Opportunists see the rising prices and seek out local pockets and drain them. I traveled through Wisconsin over the weekend and stopped at a couple of dozen places that sell ammo. Two thirds were sold out but the remaining one third was divided between two groups. The first was charging high prices and had ammo because of it. The second group had ammo because they are part of a large supply chain but they are not well known for selling ammo. So, they had 100+ bricks of ammo at their normal prices which was higher than Walmart and lower than opportunist guys.

 

[Throckmorton]

Are they panic buying because of the gun banning laws that everyone is worrying about? Or because of all the shootings going on lately?

yes,one caused the other.
same thing happened when obama was elected the 1st time. reloading stuff dried up for at least 6 months,and so did .22's. I was caught flat footed.
never again !!

 

[eastsideguy]

I cant agree more. Most preppers i know have had their "Beans, bullets and bandaids" squared away for a while now. A lot of what i have seen and at Wally-world etc is new shooters and people who are shooting more 22 lr to save money.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

A lot of bricks of .22 are residing at my house because I train grand kids etc. and keep a lot on hand. Nothing bonds geezers to young people like a .22! I saw a brick of thunderbolts for $40.00 at the last Expo gun show and almost caused internal bleeding laughing!

 

[moose]

I bought most of mine years ago for less than $10 a carton. Seeing one sell for $90 is hilarious.

I was wandering the isles of the local wally world this morning and the lady was just starting to stock ammo. I stood there a while just to over hear conversations and they were suprised there wasn't a line forming for what they had. They had received some Tula 223 and 7.62x39, the 223 was going for $5.97/20. There was no 22lr to be seen though.

 

[trekkerpaul]

I have been trying to find 22lr for 6 weeks. I check with Fed Meyer, Bimart and Walmart on a regular basis and none have seen 22lr for a month. I bought some off armslist and did some trading, but still paid more than I wanted to.

 

[osprey]

Damn I have been so intent on getting my Cmmg 22 upper running I totally got caught off guard by the 22 ammo supply drying up. I used the last of my PMC moderators to get it running. I went to buy some more ammo and was quite shocked to see it had all but evaporated. I hope the thing likes federal bulk cause that's all I have left. I can't bring myself to pay triple so I will have to ration what I have until supply catches up with demand a little. It will be hard as this thing is a hoot to shoot.