IMO, the demand is driven more by "hoarders" than new shooters.
A year and a half, or two, ago the shelves were full of 22. Now the factory's are going at it 24/7 and we are just starting to see it getting caught back up?
I don't think that many new shooters flooded the market. Most gun owners likely don't shoot much at all. A couple bricks would likely last 80% of 22 owners a lifetime. Obviously pulling #'s outta my ass, but I bet its not far off.
The fact is 22lr is incredibly cheap. It is affordable for nearly everyone to buy cases and cases of the stuff, and its small enough to fit in a closet. Lots of these people are morons who simple cant afford 50k rounds of 223 or 308.
We are just in a stampede. Soon the dust will settle and the ammo makers are gonna be competing with Billy Joe and the rest of the prepped gang for 22 market share. That's why you don't see new manufacturing being set up.
