Why is .22LR ammo in such short supply???

bjc4200

New member
.22LR ammo has not been on the shelves for a while now. What's going on?? The vendors say it's an "industry outage" but with demand up the manufacturers just aren't producing. Any thoughts?
 
More 22's shot per year than anything else, so I guess the run on ammo would mean that people are buying as much as they can get there hands on. Starting to really slow down around here though. I have an ffl and my suppliers are starting to have most ammo in stock.

I stocked up on a lot of 22lr ammo for myself for the sole purpose of if somehow lead ammo gets banned the alternative will be 22lr price going way up.
 
As long as there are people even trying to buy a stores entire stock at one time there will be a short supply. After awhile the hoarders will decide that they have enough and at least some of them will start selling part of their hoard because they need the money.
 
I have my hoard now so availability should be better!
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I stockpiled some 22LR back during the winter and I shoot on average 500 rounds a month which I buy monthly. ammo supplies are starting to pick up in my area. I think the hoarding is slowing down some.
 
Part of the problem was people buying and reselling at guns shows for double.
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This has slowed way down, I hope they are sitting on a stockpile by the way, serves them right. Smart folks already have some, always did.
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Went to the local gun shop Friday. Things are starting to show up (.22, some primers, decent supply of powders, etc.) here. Keeping my fingers crossed.
 
Way before Buck Ofama was HNIC, I bought it at store close outs a the time. Just a couple years ago I got American Eagle for $5.50 a brick. I bought 53 bricks- all they had. I have bought lots and lots since then even. I can litteraly shoot thousands of whistlepig a year and not run out of ammo for many years to come. Yes, I know that I am a pig and righ now I hold my head in shame. But this shameful pig has lots and lots of fine .22 hollow point to shoot. Gotta love it. I got mine.
 
I just think there's more to this than hoarding. Manufactures are tuned in to the market and have been meeting demand for decades. Now all of the sudden out of the blue clear sky they can't meet demand???

Maybe the war has played a part?

And Rusty, you are not a pig, just a guy having fun.
 
I don't know the inner workings of all the ammo manufacturers, but I do know that Remington is cranking out rimfire as fast as their process will produce it. Demand is still higher than supply.

However, it's not just that simple. Most manufacturers don't make that much on rimfire products so they may have shifted some of their operations toward the higher profit centerfire ammo while the demand is white hot.

Also, I assume there are quite a few shooters that have put down their centerfire rifles and pistols and picked their rimfires back up because they are much more pocket friendly to shoot these days.

Lastly, we all know the hoarders out there are stocking up. Personally, it doesn't bother me in the slightest. For this brief moment in time we still live in a free country where Capitalism still runs the show. If you have the $$ and the desire you can purchase all the ammo you want.

The guns and ammo market is starting to cool in my area. You can go to most stores and purchase whatever ammo you want and they actually have some AR style rifles in stock.
 
My hope is that after all of the hoarders get stocked up. Prices will eventually crash on most of this stuff. Those people that have bought thousands of Primers will not need to buy anything for the rest of their life so all that leaves is the people just getting started in reloading and how many of them get started each year.

I stopped at Scheels in Reno the other day and they are getting stocked up on loaded ammo and Brass again so I think it might be finally coming to an end.
 
Manufacturers are definitely cashing in also. Federal bulk packs have gone from 7.97 to 16.47 in 6-8 months and I doubt prices will come down nuch even once demand slows.
 
Bass Pro in STL has any type of FMJ ammo you could want. Not a lot of the good stuff they used to but the shelves are not bare. I found a gun shop that has all brands of 22lr but still no luck seeing any primers. I just hope that it does eventually crash and not get more heated if Obama proposes something in a couple years.

Matt
 
In my area we don't have any problem getting ammo or guns. My local shop is a real small (about 20'x20') metal building. They haven't had any problem shipments come every tues. He also has had Ars flying through the store and still has enough to keep 3-4 on the rack at all times.
 
Local wal-mart has been hit or miss on Federal bulk for a while but they just got a bunch in. Price just went up $2 a brick too...
 
The only shop I've seen with bricks (500) wanted 35$ for them. I paid $7 for the same thing a year ago. They can keep it, and everything else in thier store as I will never shop there again. Sure a guy should make a fair profit but not rape his customers when times are tough. Ammo will be back, and I have a long memory for those who are taking advantage of this situation.

That said other than there and the 1000 or so I have, I can only find boxes of 50...once again at insane prices.

At least some other rounds randomly show up here and there.
 
Originally Posted By: OmnivoreThe only shop I've seen with bricks (500) wanted 35$ for them. I paid $7 for the same thing a year ago. They can keep it, and everything else in thier store as I will never shop there again. Sure a guy should make a fair profit but not rape his customers when times are tough. Ammo will be back, and I have a long memory for those who are taking advantage of this situation.

That said other than there and the 1000 or so I have, I can only find boxes of 50...once again at insane prices.

At least some other rounds randomly show up here and there.

Check out Bimart, Went in last week and they had 2 shelves full of .22lr bricks. I picked up 2 for 16.98each. Need to check in a couple of times a week though to beat the rush. Was there today and they had none. Oh, If you don't see it on the shelf you need ask. Most of the time they do not put it out. Good luck
 
I bought some Federal 510 two weeks ago in Calgary - $3/per 50 and no bricks available. A week ago it went to $4 and only one of three places had it in stock. Mini-Mags are $32/brick of 500 and Rem Game Load HP remains at $22/brick of 400. The latter shoots pretty good in both my revolver and BV so that's what I'm using these days - though I would like to use the 510s but not at $40/500
 
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