I understand the domestic production of .22 LR is about 12 million rounds a day, more or less. If there are, say, 36 million people who own and shoot .22's, that amounts to one round being manufactured for each shooter every 3 days.
Before the panic, most shooters probably felt OK if they had a brick or two on hand, and assumed they could stop by the LGS and pick up a few boxes any time they needed it. But now, just about EVERYBODY who owns a .22 would be a "hoarder" if given a chance to buy ammo at a price they felt was reasonable.
I don't think that any informed rimfire shooter would ever feel OK again with just a brick or two of ammo on hand, after experiencing the shortage of the past 2 years. Therefore, ammo gets snapped up faster than it can be manufactured and the shortage feeds on and perpetuates itself.
If you were not accumulating .22 ammo over the years to build a decent supply, you are probably trying to hoard it now, if you define "hoarding" as buying more than you anticipate using in the immediate future.
Well stated.
It amazes me that in these times people seem to call a person a hoarder for buying 2 bricks of 22 ammo. When I bought my current supply of 22 ammo 10+ years ago to have an available inventory, never did the words Hoarder come to mind. Those of us that live in the country do the same when we grocery shop, we buy more than we need so we don't have to drive to town to get groceries and supplies, save gas, and avoid the city folk at the supermarkets ( lol). I fill my pantry with goods for a rainy day just like I used to do with ammo. I am just now using up primers I also bought 20 years ago, mainly purchased at a good price, for future use.
The only way I would use the term HOARDING is for those that are buying to resell, not for the intelligent buyers stocking up when a product is available. These anti-hoarding threads do nothing for us, maybe a way to vent for those that don't "wisely buy in bulk" LOL.
Allen
