Is .22lr ammo now unshackled!?

[graycrait]

With a complete sweep of the Executive and Congress and more to come when Supreme Court nominees are made, do you suppose we will find .22lr ammo in quantity and pricing that reflects pre - 2008 sometime this winter?  I have this nagging suspicion that supply and pricing will stay pat. 

[musicman]

Dunno.  I have been regularly buying 22 for a nickel a pop for months now.  Will it go down another cent and a half?  Doubt it.  Maybe just a smidge more, but I don't think I'll see $14.97/550 again.

 

What I want to see is brass cased .223 or 5.56 at $225/1000.

[xsubsailor]

 I just picked up a box of Winchester M-22 (1000 rounds) at the Raleigh Walmart this morning $50 and change. Has anyone tried this round yet?

[graycrait]

I have an old friend who likes to shoot that M22 through his Russian made CM2 at 300yrds.

I would like to walk into an ammo selling store and stare at 20 different kinds of .22 rimfire on the shelf again while still being able to buy off the shelf bricks of CCI Standard Velocity. Even though that sounds like fantasy it was like that not so long ago.  

[Randall53]

30 minutes ago, graycrait said:

I have an old friend who likes to shoot that M22 through his Russian made CM2 at 300yrds.

I would like to walk into an ammo selling store and stare at 20 different kinds of .22 rimfire on the shelf again while still being able to buy off the shelf bricks of CCI Standard Velocity. Even though that sounds like fantasy it was like that not so long ago.  

I have 2 rifles that shoot the Standard Velocity CCI's very well. It's hard to find for me right now. I hope what your are saying comes true though.

[gregintenn]

I'd be happy to find a brick of Winchester 40 gr 22 Mag.

[hipower]

4 hours ago, musicman said:

Dunno.  I have been regularly buying 22 for a nickel a pop for months now.  Will it go down another cent and a half?  Doubt it.  Maybe just a smidge more, but I don't think I'll see $14.97/550 again.

 

What I want to see is brass cased .223 or 5.56 at $225/1000.

Are you off your meds? lol Would be great, but I doubt it happening. However...I could be wrong.

[56FordGuy]

Brass case .223 has been right around .32-.34 a round for a while now. I doubt it will get much better in the near future.

[musicman]

4-5 months ago brass 223 (wolf gold, pmc) was available for $299/k delivered from a few online retailers.  As Hillary's lead (or so we were told) became stronger it crept up a bit to the $330ish mark mentioned above.

Remember, the price was still falling when it hit $300 but then went right back up a bit.  Unlike 22lr, we haven't really experienced an extended draught of 223, just price spikes and then softening.  I honestly expect the nottom to fall out of gun sales for awhile, especially EBRs.  No reason to horde and panic now, and most folks on the fence bought theirs last week.  Sorry, Springfield. (referencing the Saint)

I think we will see a continued softening in the tacticool market.

And when lowers get back down to $38 each, I'm buying a dozen. ;-)  Oh, and $7 GI mags?!?  Count me in!

[battleop]

I guess my question is where in the supply chain was it jacked up?   Was it at the manufacturer, the distributor, or retailer?    Maybe it will now work it's way back down to sub $25/brick.    If we go back to where we were at $15 bricks we won't get below $18-19 bricks because of inflation.

[hipower]

31 minutes ago, musicman said:

And when lowers get back down to $38 each, I'm buying a dozen. ;-)  Oh, and $7 GI mags?!?  Count me in!

That's ok, but I want the 32 I paid for my last 2. Seriously though, I'm not sure I will buy any more for a while. I've got about all I can reasonably shoot and maybe more. Now if a really fantastic price, and I mean really low price, should come around on parts kits, I might add a few and have some spares.

Which reminds me, I still have one of Dolomite's trigger kits left, maybe I do need another. lol

[Jeb48]

9 hours ago, xsubsailor said:

 I just picked up a box of Winchester M-22 (1000 rounds) at the Raleigh Walmart this morning $50 and change. Has anyone tried this round yet?

I shoot M-22 regularly, most of my .22s like it. My favorite of the bulk ammo.

I still have my tin foil hat on and think the government has been interrupting the .22 flow. Kids start with BB guns then move to .22s, no .22s and the path to bigger guns has been broken for many kids. The libtards like t play the long game. So new government, may open up the market.

[FJCrusing]

22 has been fairly plentiful the past 6+ months.   Haven't had much trouble finding it for the most part (mostly online).  Now I don't have to worry so much about putting it to use on a regular basis with the election results.

[runco]

No joke, I seen more 22LR ammo at my local Walmart last week, than all that I have seen in 3 years (combined).  They had many 500 bricks, and 100 stacks. 

[battleop]

8 hours ago, FJCrusing said:

22 has been fairly plentiful the past 6+ months.   Haven't had much trouble finding it for the most part (mostly online).  Now I don't have to worry so much about putting it to use on a regular basis with the election results.

Rememebr that 22LR is just a gateway caliber.  It stars with BBs then 22 and then the next their you know they are hooked on 556. 

[battleop]

7 hours ago, runco said:

No joke, I seen more 22LR ammo at my local Walmart last week, than all that I have seen in 3 years (combined).  They had many 500 bricks, and 100 stacks. 

It's plentiful but still at gouging prices.   

[DaveTN]

I will agree that the .22 shortage is over when I can stop by Walmart and they have CCI mini-mags on the shelf. I hear of it happening more and more, so I guess we are close.

[Wingshooter]

When it gets down to $20 / brick I'll buy some. Maybe it is some places  I haven't shot, bought or even looked for any in a very long time. I shifted my "small" caliber shooting to 556 since 22 ran dry. I have a 22 can waiting to come home though, so my 22 needs will change.

 

[JAB]

8 hours ago, DaveTN said:

I will agree that the .22 shortage is over when I can stop by Walmart and they have CCI mini-mags on the shelf. I hear of it happening more and more, so I guess we are close.

I was going to say something similar but my measure is when I can walk into Walmart and they have Federal, Winchester, Remington and CCI .22LR ammo all on the shelf (which I haven't seen on their shelves all at once in more than eight years) as well as bulk packs and all in quantities that mean I'm not taking half the available stock if I buy two boxes.

I don't think we will ever see 2008 or even 2012 pricing, again, because - as someone else said - of inflation and natural price increases.  Even if .22LR supplies had remained at normal levels I don't think the prices would be the same four years later.  After all, pretty much ever other ammo type and caliber has gone up in pricing in the past four to eight years from 9mm (the same stuff I got for $8 and change in 2008 is around $11, now) to .38 Special (that stuff has really gone up - ammo that cost about $16 per 50 in 2008 is running in the mid $20s range, now.)

Honestly, I just want to be able to comfortably (and affordably) get back to shooting .22LR the way I did as recently as 2007 and early 2008 - meaning pretty much every weekend and even sometimes through the week through various rifles and handguns - and to be able to find Winchester Dynapoint .22 WMR on the shelf at Wally whenever I want it (it isn't the best but I love punching paper with that stuff and it was around $8 for a box of 50 but I haven't even seen any in over eight years other than on my ammo shelf.)

Edited November 10, 2016 by JAB

[FJCrusing]

On 11/10/2016 at 5:01 AM, battleop said:

Rememebr that 22LR is just a gateway caliber.  It stars with BBs then 22 and then the next their you know they are hooked on 556. 

lol...   True story. 

[battleop]

On 11/10/2016 at 8:39 AM, Wingshooter said:

When it gets down to $20 / brick I'll buy some. Maybe it is some places  I haven't shot, bought or even looked for any in a very long time. I shifted my "small" caliber shooting to 556 since 22 ran dry. I have a 22 can waiting to come home though, so my 22 needs will change.

 

$20/brick for the plinking stuff is about where I'll start buying it again.  Before this mess happened I already had a good reserve built up but I've not been shooting 22 at the rate I was before this stuff go crazy.   I want to get back to where I can buy it a case at a time at a reasonable price.   I just hate having a bunch of miss matched brands that make it a pain in the ass to stack.

[Ski]

I was pleased enough to see some 100pks of Winchester Super X 22lr that I almost completely missed the 1000pk of M22 and multiple 555pks of Winchester 22lr.

About $7, $51, and $28 respectively....

This was at the local Walmart.

BTW, the box of M22 is gone.

Edited November 23, 2016 by Ski
Disclaimer regarding M22

[hipower]

On ‎11‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 4:19 PM, battleop said:

$20/brick for the plinking stuff is about where I'll start buying it again.  Before this mess happened I already had a good reserve built up but I've not been shooting 22 at the rate I was before this stuff go crazy.   I want to get back to where I can buy it a case at a time at a reasonable price.   I just hate having a bunch of miss matched brands that make it a pain in the ass to stack.

Agreed. I like neat, orderly stacks of the same  brands when I look in the ammo dump. lol

Better than half of what I have squirreled away is Blazer 22. Fair to good ammo, but I'd love to get a matching supply of some good 22 without breaking the piggy bank.

[Ronald_55]

I have been seeing some show up for a while in Wal-mart. Last I ordered was several boxes of Golden Bullet from Cabelas back in July. I think I paid 7 cents per round on it, but I could order 5 525 round boxes with free shipping... and I had a gift card lying around. Little more than I used to pay for Thunderbolts in Wal-mart, but nice not to have to go chasing 50 round boxes down a couple at a time.

My marlin 60 eats anything I throw in it, I just have to clean it a little more often if I use the cheap stuff.

 

And I am not sure we will ever see $20 for a 500 round brick again.....

[graycrait]

Friday I saw multiple buckets of Rem Golden .22LR at Dicks in Clarksville, but saw no bricks of CCI SV. I didn't even look at the price of the Goldens. Tonight I walked by the ammo in Wal Mart and saw zero of any .22 LR ammo.