.22 Ammo

[The Old Guide]

The Bangor gun show was very well attended today. There was a big line before the doors opened. ALL of the .22 ammo was sold out in the first half hour. Eley .22 LR target was selling for $23 per box of 50. That's $230 a brick!. That's 46 cents a round for .22 Long Rifle. What do you suppose it will trade for when it is no longer commercially available?

If the enormous purchasing power of WalMart cannot obtain .22 ammunition, this situation deserves to be investigated. Is it being produced? We know that the last lead smelter in our country was shut down last year by Obama's DEP.

[Kosciusko]

.22LR is in production, it's just all being bought and stored

Remington is building another plant in the south, dedicated to .22LR production,  capacity is reputed to be one billion rounds per year.

a recent import deal was struck with a Norwegian company, bringing in 180 million rounds per year

additional .22LR imports are coming from Mexico (Aguila), Italy (Fiocchi), Czech Republic (Sellier and Bellot), Republic of Korea (PMC) and any other place that manufactures .22LR and is willing to export to the US (labelling and shipping are the biggest holdups, plus BATFE, Commerce, and US Customs)

There  have been multiple exposes of and explanations for the .22LR shortage.   

Just my own theory, but the simplest is:

1)the President and other like-minded folk flood the radio, TV, and internet with vilifications of gun owners

2) gun owners become paranoid - question, is it paranoia if they are actually out to get you?

3) the shooter with less than a box of 50 rounds on hand now wants a brick, perhaps even 2

4)  the shooter with 1 or 2 bricks on hand wants 5, 10, or even 20

5) the shooter with 5,10,20 bricks wants 50 or 100 bricks

6)  the shooter with 5, 10, 20K rounds wants 50 or 100K

7) the shooter with 50 or 100K aims at the the 250K mark

when everybody runs to the store to buy, there is soon none to be had

in a good year, making .22LR will let you break even or make just a bit of $$$, just enough is made to meet projected demand, shortages are made up by small batches of imports from a handful of nations

add to that,, 22LR is both  relatively cheap and easy to stockpile. 

you can get 4000 rounds (500 per brick times 8 bricks) in a surplus  .50 BMG ammo can.   

100,000 rounds would cost $3000 dollars at pre-crazy pricing, and occupy a space of 6 cans wide and  4 high, the last can goes in the trunk

I've shot ammo my oldest brother bought in the 1960s,  it all went bang.   The stuff has a shelf life double that of the currently marketed  survival foods (25 years x 2 =50 years).   Other than greed, there is no reason for someone w/ stockpiled ammo to sell it, as it will not go bad in their lifetime.

Consider this:  the  last time you could not go into  any hardware store and buy as much .22LR as you could afford and carry,............................ was 1945

That is 69 years ago, as a result of  US  government war rationing.  You know, when newsreels at your local theater featured black and white images of Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo.

This recent spell of craziness has created a hoarding mentality amongst gun owners.  I do not think it will ever leave us.    My grandparents and parents endured the Depressiion and WWII.  They saved glass jars, bent nails (for us kids to straighten out and put into the jars for later re-use), etc.    Those habits stayed with them all their lives.

Gun owners have long memories (just ask the politicians about us).   Who among the Appleseed community is not making plans to keep a years supply of practice ammo stored for when the next crunch hits?

I already had a supply.  Over the last 18 months, I shared it with family,  friends,  fellow Appleseeders, my fellow board members at the local sportsmens club, and select individuals.

I had built it up in years past by using a simple method.  If the situation normalizes for a time, I suggest all who read this try it.  Whenever one brick leaves your possession (shooting, trading, gifting, etc.), buy 2 bricks.  .50 cal surplus cans are $5-10 at any gun show or surplus store, commercial equivalents with O-rings  are available  at most sporting goods stores for double that.  They hold 4-5000 rounds.   You aren't buying up everything, but you are getting enough extra to get you thru the next dry spell.


My 2 cents. 

Kosciusko

[The Old Guide]

Excellent summary and excellent practice to follow. I became a life member of the NRA in 1968. I bought two forearms through the mail just to be able to say I did. They came in the U. S. mail to the house. I also bought a lifetime supply of primers. That was a lot of primers and the Herter's LR primers from 1968 still go "bang" every single time. Hodgdon H-380 is a versatile rifle powder that measures precisely. It sold for $1.80 a pound in 1968 in bulk. DuPont 2400 is just as versatile in pistol calibers for all but snubby pistols. I scrounged wheel weights wherever I could and cast bullets. It's rimfire that I can't make.

[Kosciusko]

update:

At the local pawn shop, I noticed they got in a case of 5000 rounds of .22LR, and were selling it by the box of 50 rounds for $4.  It's packed semi-loose, like Remington thunderbolt.  1/2 the rounds nose up, 1/2 nose down.

At 8 cents/round, it's expensive ammo, but not gouging.  The good news it was Magtech brand.  From Brazil.  That is a totally new supply for .22LR  .   Magtech pistol ammo is good stuff, on par w/ the other commercial brands I've seen.  9mm, .40S&W, .45ACP, 38/357, and now .22LR

40 grain, lead round nose, STANDARD velocity    I'm thinking I will buy a couple boxes  and have the guys test it at rimfire league Thursday.

here in the midwest, Magtech is carried by the Fleet Farm chain, you also see it carried by the on-line retailers.     It's another source for the US shooter, another sign the ammo-craziness  is taking a hit. 

I see supply improving and prices dropping (I monitor private  .22LR sales on the ammo forum of ar15.com, as well as other places) .   With 1/2 the country going mostly dark (shooting-wise) for winter, I'm thinking we'll be in much better shape come spring.  Of course, there could be surprise  I-have-a pencil-legislation after the midterms which would throw everything into a tizzy.  I'm putting the threshold at $30 per brick of non-premium .22LR ammo.  Once that barrier has been broken,  things are as back to normal as we can reasonably expect.  Then it's time to pay a visit to your local military surplus store and  start restocking your ammo supply.

[TaosGlock]

I do hope the 22 ammo situation improves. Here in NM, our local WM and Big 5 and SW never have it. The NM 22 ammo situation is dire indeed.
This includes Espanola and Santa Fe and Albuquerque.
From what I gather talking to perspective shooters about SW, when the trucks roll in the usual gang is there to buy it up. Even if there is a limit, they bring their buddies and shortly it's gone. Normal folks don't have a chance.
Our local WM finally put up a sign that says "no 22 ammo". Big 5, same situation. Rumor is there are inside re-sellers are buying it.
We discovered this situation at the in Edgewood, NM WM.
These same brands, just a coincidence right?, do magically appear at the local gun shows. What goes for $24.99-$29.99 sells for $70-$80 box 550/550.

At our last shoot, we had 2 women from Nebraska show up with similar stories to share, one worked at Cabella's. They had to work hard just to get 500 rounds ammo to come to the NRA WC-whose gun shop is no longer stocked to the hilt with 22.
One can often find it online at various ammo companies but you have to monitoring it constantly as it gets sold fast.

We have found a new range here in Taos county. The locals have no ammo source to buy from and I often refer them to some online sources where they and their buddies can pool in to buy 5 boxes of 500/550 for $200  auction.  Not everyone has time to sit and monitor an auctions, etc, including me.