.22RL Shortage

[East_TN_Patriot]

I have done some searching on the web to try and get a sense for why there is a .22LR shortage.  Most of this is based on comments made by people on various forums and some from my own conversations.

 

The main reason is what most of us already suspect.  People are hoarding .22LR.  It sounds as if the preppers are in on the game this time because many preppers see it as the most practical survival round and so with their general mindset to prep, they are doing it with ammo as well.  Next we have the general ammo hoarders who see the news and the store shelves emptying out so they buy as much of anything they can afford.  Then we have my favorite group: the hoarders who are doing it for resale.  One person on the web talked about how he was at the store and found 6 bricks of .22LR on the shelf.  He grabbed one and the guy behind him took the other 5.  While waiting in line, he bragged about how he had a circuit of stores he went through and bought out all the ammo he could.  I have spoken with employees at two different Wal Marts and both told me that their ammo shipments are primarily being bought up by local people who mark it up for sale at the gun shows along with some gun shops that do the same.  One of the Wal Mart employees said that people are waiting on the mornings when ammo shipments arrive and the entire lot is bought before the pallet is unloaded. 

 

Associated with that is the massive popularity of the .22LR cartridge.  With all of the .22LR variants of popular weapons, conversion kits, etc., there are many more people shooting more of this caliber.

 

The next reason I read is related to the manufacturing capacity used by ammunition makers to fill military contracts.  I would think that after a decade at war, the major ammo producers would have increased capacity to meet demand, but this does not appear to be the case. 

Here's the info FWIW, so enjoy scrounging for .22LR.

[JoeJ615]

yeah it does suck i have been checking my local walmart every few days for 9mm and 22LR and cant find either, but i have faith that in a few weeks or a month the more common "not in any danger of a ban" ammo will be back on shelves again... until then i have a few thousand .22 rounds and maybe 300 9mm rounds and probably 60 rounds for my 12g home defense gun and i dont see myself going out doing alot of shooting other than maybe some with the .22, since my mother inlaw recently decided she wants to get into a home defense gun and wants me to teach her to shoot 

[eapking]

Been scratching my head on the 22LR shortage myself.  Good theory here.

[gnmwilliams]

My local Walmart on Walbrook Dr. is now limiting people to a maximum of three boxes a day, total.

[SlapChopDonkey]

I wish more places would limit ammo sales, as I have been suspecting that most of it is being bought up by people to resell.

[Stegall Law Firm]

Never understood why people go to a store to buy something...then turn around and sell it.  After the time spent doing all that, plus the gas, how much are you really making?  Just not a very efficient use of one's time it seems.

[gnmwilliams]

Never understood why people go to a store to buy something...then turn around and sell it.  After the time spent doing all that, plus the gas, how much are you really making?  Just not a very efficient use of one's time it seems.

Yeah. Just like driving an extra couple miles just to save a penny on gas. By the time you get there, you've burnt up your savings. But most people don't think like that. Makes me want to beat em with a sack full of hammers though.

[Randall53]

I ran into this same thing on the last ammo run. A local Walmart was always out of ammo even on the days they said the shipment was coming in. I got a hint from a person behind the counter and visited a local pawn shop heavy into guns and ammo sales. Sure 'nough he had plenty of ammo and was selling it at twice the Walmart price. The disappearing Walmart ammo mystery was solved. I walked out and I've never been back.

[mcurrier]

I ran into this same thing on the last ammo run. A local Walmart was always out of ammo even on the days they said the shipment was coming in. I got a hint from a person behind the counter and visited a local pawn shop heavy into guns and ammo sales. Sure 'nough he had plenty of ammo and was selling it at twice the Walmart price. The disappearing Walmart ammo mystery was solved. I walked out and I've never been back.

 

I'll bet he's wondering what happened to you. ;)

[Guest Lester Weevils]

.22LR was pretty dang rare in 2009 as well, but not THIS rare.

[Oh Shoot]

Acute shortage really started after Black Friday...just like ARs, 'bout every semi-auto .22 rifle in America got bought too up in anticipation of O's second term, so was immediate run on .22 just like .223.

 

One other factor also unmentioned: since other calibers have become scarce and expensive, just the rank and file shooters have gone to shooting more .22.

 

Add in all the other factors since the election, and there you have it. Sandy Hook and proposed legislation afterward just made it a perfect storm.

 

- OS

Edited January 23, 2013 by Oh Shoot

[East_TN_Patriot]

Acute shortage really started after Black Friday...just like ARs, 'bout every semi-auto .22 rifle in America got bought too up in anticipation of O's second term, so was immediate run on .22 just like .223.

 

One other factor also unmentioned: since other calibers have become scarce and expensive, just the rank and file shooters have gone to shooting more .22.

 

Add in all the other factors since the election, and there you have it. Sandy Hook and proposed legislation afterward just made it a perfect storm.

 

- OS

 

Except I have never heard of any effort to ban anything in .22LR except maybe the hi-cap mags.  In fact, the list of guns in Feinstein's bill specifically exempts .22LR firearms (assuming the list was legitimate).

[Dolomite_supafly]

My father has been known to drive an extra hour to save .10 a pound on a 3 pound pack of meat. I never understood why but I think some people get a high of being able to say they bought something for so cheap.

 

I know my local Walmart gets ammo in every week day. And every time they get it in they sell it within an hour or two. According to the sales person the same person buys it almost every day.

 

Dolomite

[R_Bert]

<deleted, as irrelevant to OP>

Edited January 24, 2013 by R_Bert

[Oh Shoot]

Except I have never heard of any effort to ban anything in .22LR except maybe the hi-cap mags.  In fact, the list of guns in Feinstein's bill specifically exempts .22LR firearms (assuming the list was legitimate).

 

Dunno about that, the pre-bill hype was much about guns "capable" of accepting high cap mags and the like, only actual exemption I saw was for "tube fed rifles". Whether true or false, that's how folks perceived it.

 

But that part's relatively moot, cause 10/22's  just virtually disappeared by Thanksgiving Day, before Sandy Hook/legislation,  folks were buying them just because BHO got reelected and they feared the worst. Plus there were crazy low sale prices on AR's and semi-auto 22's.

 

- OS

Edited January 24, 2013 by Oh Shoot

[Westwindmike]

My WalMart here in Murfreesboro is the same. They tell me that 2 guys come in every morning and wait on the guns and ammo shipment and buy whatever comes in. Every day!

[Raoul]

I saw that happen locally. Put it in a car with NY tags.

[Guest mikemc411]

Eventually the demand for ammo will ease up... then the folks hoarding / buying for resale will be stuck with it...!

[dlm37015]

i had 8 cases this morning but it is now all spoken for

[Guest Lester Weevils]

I saw that happen locally. Put it in a car with NY tags.

 

So THAT's how Bloomberg makes his money!

[Randall53]

[quote name="mcurrier" post="894095" timestamp="1358983894"]I'll bet he's wondering what happened to you. ;)[/quote] No. I'm not nieve mcurrier. Losing my business didn't affect him a bit, even though I had been a customer in the past. I had bought a new buckmark, kel- tec and a couple of Uncle Mike holsters there before that day. It was principle of the matter to me. I didn't go back because of the same reason many don't patronize businesses that don't allow concealed carry. I choose to spend my money in other places and same goes for the pawn shop that uses a Walmart about 2 miles from his business as his personal ammo distributer and jacks the price on ammo meant for everyone in the community at the expense of his neighbors.

[Guest carter]

I've bought quite a bit in the past month... mainly because I purchased a 22lr bolt for my AR, it was that or buy a 22lr rifle... and since i already had a rifle that would take a 22lr bolt thats what i opted for... a bolt takes up less room in the safe than another rifle... 

[mcurrier]

[quote name="Randall53" post="894304" timestamp="1358994955"]No. I'm not nieve mcurrier. Losing my business didn't affect him a bit, even though I had been a customer in the past. I had bought a new buckmark, kel- tec and a couple of Uncle Mike holsters there before that day. It was principle of the matter to me. I didn't go back because of the same reason many don't patronize businesses that don't allow concealed carry. I choose to spend my money in other places and same goes for the pawn shop that uses a Walmart about 2 miles from his business as his personal ammo distributer and jacks the price on ammo meant for everyone in the community at the expense of his neighbors.[/quote]I hears ya...point was...he probably didn't get the point you were trying to make if you didn't tell him, otherwise, to him it's just business as usual.

[JWC]

[quote name="Oh Shoot" post="894158" timestamp="1358987435"]Dunno about that, the pre-bill hype was much about guns "capable" of accepting high cap mags and the like, only actual exemption I saw was for "tube fed rifles". Whether true or false, that's how folks perceived it.   But that part's relatively moot, cause 10/22's  just virtually disappeared by Thanksgiving Day, before Sandy Hook/legislation,  folks were buying them just because BHO got reelected and they feared the worst. Plus there were crazy low sale prices on AR's and semi-auto 22's.   - OS[/quote] It seems .22 LR is the rarest in actual stores. Makes me wonder if some of the .22 guns will become a little more available sometime. If people didn't stock up on ammo there will be no reason to buy or have a gun to shoot it. Can't imagine too many used ones will be up for sale because generally they're less expensive and there's no sense in selling. But I could see some being in stores longer than they have been... Then again I have what I call a limited supply of .22 and after fondling one the other day I think I want a Sig 1911-22 and even before all this ridiculousness I had considered trading/selling one of my 10/22's for a Browning BL-22 'cuz I just wanted one, but now I want a rifle that shoots shorts, longs, and LR. Just for variety.

[crossfire]

It seems .22 LR is the rarest in actual stores. Makes me wonder if some of the .22 guns will become a little more available sometime. If people didn't stock up on ammo there will be no reason to buy or have a gun to shoot it. Can't imagine too many used ones will be up for sale because generally they're less expensive and there's no sense in selling. But I could see some being in stores longer than they have been... Then again I have what I call a limited supply of .22 and after fondling one the other day I think I want a Sig 1911-22 and even before all this ridiculousness I had considered trading/selling one of my 10/22's for a Browning BL-22 'cuz I just wanted one, but now I want a rifle that shoots shorts, longs, and LR. Just for variety.

Save a few $$$s and get a GSG 1911-22, it's the same gun as the Sig. Use the savings and buy some ammo if you can find it.