Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 22 LR ammo - supply issue, or hoarding ??

What is the latest?? Seems around here ammo is not to be found. Wal-Mart says they get 1-2 bricks in at a time, every week or two ??

Are individual re-sellers shorting the store inventory at the distributor level, or is the production not running as in the past? Seems the hoarding would have ended by now and folks would have enough already.

What gives?

Production is running at a higher rate than in the past, but demand is still outstripping production, due to hoarders, re-sellers, new shooters and even gun companies, since they're selling so many guns they need more ammo for test-firing.

Thanks for the insight John. Seems ironic sales go up in guns in 22LR
when ammo seems dried up - but maybe those already hoarded a stash.

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.

Yep, a lot of people are "hoarders" now, even though they ay not think of themselves that way, but the re-sellers have a major effect, especially on prices outside of stores.

If the re-sellers hadn't gotten into the act I suspect we'd be seeing .22 ammo on more store shelves--just like we're seeing .223 ammo. The re-sellers, however, either can't or won't pay the price for .223 ammo to resell. Instead they find stores where .22 rimfire is still priced relatively low, just enough for the store to make it's normal profit.

I didn't buy any .22 rimfire ammo during the first year of the panic, since I had enough on hand. But when things were still just as crazy after a year I decided screw it, and bought a few bricks of practice ammo when it showed up for a reasonable price on the Internet. I don't do much much varmint hunting with hollow-point .22 ammo anymore, preferring the .17's and .22 Magnum, and already had a plentiful supply of hunting ammo.

I stopped by the sporting goods dept in a Walmart Sunday evening and (of course) asked if they had .22 ammo. The man at the counter told me they haven't had any arrive in two months and that it has gotten worse rather than better. I wasn't expecting them to have any ammo on a Sunday evening but I wasn't expecting to hear things were the worst they'd been.

I've been seeing 22lr ammo in the local small gun shop here in st Louis last couple times I was in there. not a huge selection in terms of brands but ammo to be had none the less.

I expected by now that more European made RF would by showing up on the shelves.

It is getting better. I've picked up 2,500 rounds or so over the last few months without even really trying, just buying it when I see it...mostly at Academy. It used to be that in order to get any, you had to be waiting in line when the door opened and standing at the counter when they brought it up from the truck. Now, if you just walk back to the gun section sometime during the day of a shipment, there are pretty good odds that you will get some if you want it.

Last visit to a Sportman's Warehouse I was advised to be there Thursday morning at opening. It's 140 miles away, so I don't think so.

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

websterparish,

There is more European (and other foreign) .22 ammo showing up, but mostly on Internet ordering sites, perhaps because some is just as expensive as re-sellers are asking. Midway's had a bunch of Aguila, Eley, Fiocchi, Norma and RWS .22 Long rifle for sale.

I work part-time at a 'big box' sporting goods store, and we are getting quite a bit of 22LR each week.

We do have a group of individuals that 'storm' the ammo aisle every morning when we open, looking for 22LR. It is the same guys, each and every morning. I suspect they are speculators.

I have noticed that, in general, the customers who come in in the morning will buy all they can, whereas I have seen customers in the late afternoon come in and only buy 1 box, instead of all they can.

You can buy truck loads of 22 rimfire ammo about any day of the week on internet auctions. The stuff never seems to dry up, and the guys putting it on the auction blocks have no trouble keeping tons on hand for sale. It aint like going into the local Walmart and purchasing it at normal prices, but if anyone had to have 22 ammo, you can buy it anytime you wish, if you are willing to pay the internet re-seller price.

Yes sir, that's true. Although a quick check shows only Eley and Norma available at this time.(only checked the first five pages)

I don't think my old Rem.552 would benefit much from either. I guess Europeans don't make "promotional"ammo.

I still have a brick of CCI Green tag I bought when Clinton was running for Pres. After that's gone I'll go to the Wolf Target Match I got when Obammy was running the first time. After that I'll have to pay whatever the market bares.

Hmmm, wonder if Privi Partison makes RF. Their CF is pretty good and very reasonable.

You can thin out the Midway list considerably by clicking some of the options on the left side of the page, especially by eliminating "Out of Stock" items. Right now the .22 Long Rifle in stock is Eley, Norma and RWS, but over the past few months often they've also had Aguila and sometimes Fiocchi, though the Aguila tends to go quicker than the others because some is priced considerably lower. I've picked up three bricks of cheaper Aguila myself when it appears, one brick of target ammo for around $45 as I recall, and two of non-target for around $35.

You do have to check now and then to find when it's in, but the trip only requires a couple minutes on the Internet, instead of the gas and time to check brick-and-mortar stores. I also pick up bargains in bullets and brass now and then from Midway, and some of them in the same order reduces the per-item shipping rate for a brick or two of ammo.

I've picked up Aquila shorts from them (midway) for about 37.50 a brick.

it's hit or miss around here in North Florida. No consistency with availability.
I am still not convinced that the various manufacturers are making it like they say they are.
I'm still not convinced that .gov isn't involved with the supply issue.
Tin foil or not, the unavailability beggars credulity.

Walked into a well stocked LGS today. Lots if everything available with quantity restrictions on powder/primers.

Walked out with 5# jug of RX 7 and the first brick of rimfire ammo I've purchased in years. Win production .22 WRF. Never hoarded rimfire in the past, just did not need to purchase any. Don't plink and spend little time at the range.

It was a bit unusual to see thousands of boxes of bullets in most every caliber and weight imaginable but not a single box I wanted however. They did have a lot of brass. Anyone need some .45-120 Norma brass? See Space Coast Cast Bullets online.

I thought this issue had been settled a long time ago - weren't the sole causes of the shortages found to be hoarding by Mule Deer (with his secret connections) with the actual ammo being sold by Shrapnel, splitting the profits to pad their respective off shore bank accounts?

David

It just seems weird that I am on, and have been on for quite some time, the "Notify Me" lists for several major internet sellers like Midway, Sportsman Guide, etc - and no one has notified me that they have any. I would have thought major resellers like them would have some pull in getting ammo in from the major domestic companies. I did get some SK "Magazine" and some Mexican "CI" brand ammo, albeit at inflated prices.

David,

Unfortunately, you're right. I won't be posting on the Campfire much for the next year, due to being convicted of interstate conspiracy, due to circumstantial evidence. But I didn't rat out Shrapnel, no matter how hard the Campfire cops leaned on me....

Sorry, my leg feels wet and it isn't raining.

The standard line is that manufacturers are producing 24/7/365, but all those old guys are grabbing it off the shelf as soon as it arrives. If the first part is true, retailers should be getting truckloads of .22s not a few paltry bricks or a case here and there. You can't hoard what you can't buy. Also, why aren't the big mail order outfits getting lots of it? You see "Not available from manufacturer" next to listings for common types of name brand rimfire ammo.

It just doesn't doesn't add up.

Paul

Now that the secret rimfire ring has been broken up how much longer till we can expect the local Wally World to be selling bricks for $20?

David

http://ammoseek.com/ammo/22lr

David

So the listed outfits can get it, but Midway, Brownells, Grafs, etc. can't? (Not to mention Walmart). Those look like small to middling dealers.

Why can't the big players get it in quantity? What's happening with the supply chain?

Paul

2 stores around here have had 22 LR in stock for a couple of months for $22.00 a brick.

Well, here's a guess, based on what I've been told by more than one manufacturer, and not just about rimfire ammo:

Demand is so high that even stepped-up production of .22 ammo (or powder, bullets, etc.) isn't filling demand--including orders from retailers. Thus when supplies come in, the companies send as much as they can, proportionally, to everybody on the list. Nobody gets everything they ordered, but the companies try to send everybody something. The big retailers, like Midway, get enough to fill SOME of their numerous back-orders, but not enough to list for general availability.

However, at one rimfire company they've actually cut back what they send to SOME brick-and-mortar stores. As an example, when they sent a pallet of .22 ammo to one store (the store's usual 3-month order) the store didn't put any limit on how much each customer could buy, so sold out the 3-month's supply in 3 days. And when customers complained about lack of supply, the STORE told them it was the ammo company's fault, that they weren't sending as much ammo--which was blatantly false. Whereupon a bunch of customers called the ammo company to whine.

So yeah, some stores may be getting less than others, because they pissed off an ammo company.

In fact, I am surprised so many ammo, powder and bullet manufacturers have been so patient during this entire "shortage," both with various retailers (who blame the entire problem on manufacturers that are making and shipping as much as possible), and some customers complaining that there's a supply-line conspiracy, solely to raise prices.

Having read no end of stories about depression era kids who were sent afield with a single round of 22lr and expected to come back with dinner, or not at all, I hold out hope that the current shortage--by cutting down on mindless 10/22 influenced "plinking"--will lead to the next great generation of American Marksmen.

There is more than a bit of truth in that, and it's an unfortunate reality, in at least a couple of ways. A generation of kids raised with the instant gratification of video games is not going to be interested in starting shooting from a rest, learning sight picture, breathing, and trigger squeeze. As a range officer I see it all the time, a dad bringing excited kids to the range, loading up a banana clip or even drum, turning the kid loose offhand, and it's bang, bang, bang "Hey, Dad, I hit the target", more bang, bang, bang. Sure, it's fun, but the kids don't learn much about riflery. Best I can hope for as a RSO is that some safe habits become ingrained.

To the present point, I would be very doubtful that traditional basic quality standards of American RF ammo are going to survive the heated demand. Too much money to be made producing cheap .22s in volume. It's a sad day when shooters talk about such basics as misfires, dirty residue, leading, etc. Even more so when manufacturers warn against using name brand ammo in their guns. Too many shooters are happy if it goes "bang", at least most of the time.

Paul

My 16-year old son definitely enjoys rapid fire, but also enjoys plinking and keeping soda cans rolling. He also enjoys hunting a lot - practically lives for it - and so knows when he has to take care. As he has been making head shots on jack rabbits at various ranges with open sights with his .22, drops to a knee or sitting when he can, etc I think he understands the importance of marksmanship. He also gets a bit competitive with me on targets and is upset when I always beat him.

I'm sure the recent phenomenon of "tactical" .22's designed to use "cheap and plentiful" .22 LR has added to the shortage because a typical shooter will use at least a brick of ammo in every range session.

The S&W, GSG, ATI and Umarex replicas of AR's, MP-5's, AK-47's, UZI's, STG-44's and others all come with 20 to 25 rd. magazines which take two minutes to load and 4 seconds to empty. It's a different world than the one in which a kid with a bolt action .22 and a box of ammo is all set for an afternoon of shooting.

Ammunition companies, although they are running their existing plants at maximum capacity, have expressed a reluctance to expand their factories due to a fear that demand will eventually fall drastically when the panic ends.

However, I believe that the base demand for .22 LR will remain higher than historic levels from now on, even after today's hoarding situation is resolved, because of tactical .22's and their thirst for ammo.

Therefore I think that a manufacturer of rimfire ammunition which increased its capacity by building new infrastructure would profit in the long run.

It seems to stand to reason that the mail order companies are not getting orders for 22 LR, because they never sold much of it. Typically, in times of shortage, a manufacturer allocates based on historic orders. Places like your local farm supply outfit or LGS are where people used to buy their plinking ammo, so that is who is going to get the most supply.

I do a lot of on-line shopping, but the thought of buying 22's on line never even crossed my mind.

It's going to be along time before people forget about this shortage. I think it would be safe for the major ammo companies to expand production.
After the clinton era primer shortage I didn't have to buy primers for 20 years, but did because the prices dropped to reasonable levels and primers never go out of style.
I plan on doing the same with rimfire, but that may be years down the road. And luckily I didn't get caught short this go-round.

Thanks, John. This is the most succinct and comprehensive explanation I have yet to hear about the ammo shortage and why it looks like it does. I have been trying to put these pieces together for a while, and it wasn't happening.

I haven't seen my preferred rf ammo for well over a year, and I gave up shooting my .22s until I can get a real supply again at a decent price, holding onto my last 300 or so. I can now load cheap plinker ammo in a bunch of cals since I got into bullet casting. This has replaced the .22lr niche in my shooting fun.

.22 LR has been scarce since 2008. This is now 2014. Did not take much longer than that to go to the freaking MOON. There is more at play here, than folks buying what they can find, and it's NOT 'neck beards' lining up at Wally World at 3AM to buy all that came in. That is an urban myth.

Sure seems to be a "Mystery" - really hard to imagine Demand at the consumer level being that high for so long, assuming production levels not dropping.

It ain't demand at the consumer lever that's causing the problem, it's demand at the scalper level. Sometime in the future I hope all those folks offering $70 bricks at the gun shows have to chew and swallow them.

The depression era example of the kid with a single shot and one bullet is not a good comparison. In those days Dad said that ammo was available, it was the people's cash supply that was mostly non existent for recreational shooting. Growing up with first memories mostly during WWII, I have tried to I always have at least some cash reserve. During the war, ammo was scarce to non existent. I recall Mom considering the purchase of ten to twenty five rounds as hitting the jackpot.

Dad told me that from about age 10 or so, that he always had a dollar or two stashed from odd jobs. Even at fifty cents a day, a month of Saturdays was good for two bucks. He said the old Winchester single shot that my brother and I learned to shoot with, cost him $4.50 with a box of shorts about 1929-30.

Being frugal, shorts were his favored .22 round. He said they were plenty good for a cotton tail rabbit or a mess of quail. Dad only had one sport hunting weakness, and that was dove, which we also ate. The rest of his shooting was for meat or defending the farm from varmints and predators. Snakes were always dispatched with a hoe or shovel. Save the ammo!

Burning a brick of ammo a day would have heated my barrel and my butt, if Dad had footed the bill. If it was my money, a stern lecture about being wasteful was sure, provided he found out.

My "hoard" is a case of Super-X LR that I put into reserve storage after the Clinton shortage. I have stopped shooting .22s for recreation. I also have a few bricks of target ammo to start granddaughter off with. She already has experienced air guns and the 28 guage.

Good luck scoring ammo at reasonable prices.

Jack

I've bought .22s online for years, because until recently, there were no large sporting goods stores around and the selection locally was limited. I check online regularly and sign up for notifications on stuff I use. I have been notified many times, but sometimes I'm too late because I am lazy about my email. I did get in on a brick of RWS subsonic a while ago at a good price. I also got in on a Midway backorder opportunity for a case of MiniMags. I seldom buy or use bulk ammo, as I've generally found it to be inaccurate and unreliable.

It takes a little effort, but you can get what you need without haunting the aisles of WalMart and without feeding the scalpers. Saves me time and gas too.

I've noticed some of the online stores offering bricks of .22 ammo with other items in a package you have to buy - like with a cleaning kit or gun case. I bought a brick of Federal American Eagle that way, with a cleaning kit from Natchez, but it was because I could use the cleaning supplies as well as the ammo. I was low on patches and "regular" (non-foaming) bore cleaner and the price wasn't too bad.

I live near the Remington ammo plant at Lonoke, Arkansas and know lots of people that work there. They all say that they are making .22 ammo as fast as they can, 27/7. These people are not management, but workers, and people that I have known for a long time. miles

Well, there's the proof that it isn't a conspiracy by the ammo companies.

In fact, since they're working 27 hours a day, I'd say they're going above and beyond the call of duty...

We got in a bunch of 22 Mag again this week. Also we've had a steady supply of someone's 22 LR for several months now. No scalp prices either. All sorts of brands!

I'll consider being impressed when they start working 367 days a year.



Travis

Defunct Mayan calendar.

When I had a Sporting Goods store, I bought all my live bait down at Lonoke.

I seem to need a proof reader. 24/7 sound better? miles

Lots of minnows raised there. Over a thousand acres within a mile of me. miles

Just picked up 20 bricks today, been buying cases for months now each week, only Federal, so they must be pushing out the most.

Who is "we"? I haven't seen .22mag on the shelves since December 2012.

That's more .22 ammo than I've shot in my entire life.

Got about 10,000 rounds.the grandkids burn thru bout 200 rounds a visit. Can usually replenish them monthly .So it is.

I was in one of the LGS's this afternoon, and they had 4 bricks of .22 Long Rifle hollow-points. I asked my friend at the counter when it had shown up, and he said two hours ago--and there were 12 of them. While we were talking another guy came in and bought one. They were going to be gone by the end of the day.

And people still believe demand isn't higher than production....

Cases for months now each week. Whats that mean, oh, hoarding of course.

no for resale in my shop, don't need to hoard, I been hoarding since the 90's, I have 281 bricks of Federal 711 Gold Metal Target plus others, sold a lot of what I don't use since dirt bag was voted in again

Kinda guessed that, or you were planning on financing a new boat.

Don't take this as a personal attack but IMHO it is the big box stores that have access to ammo due to contracts and volume purchasing but then basically enable the scalpers by having no policy to limit purchasing that are as responsible for the problem as the scalpers. As someone mentioned it may, be helpful if orders were sent to more of the smaller retailers than the big box stores. In the end I'm a bit sick reading and hearing stories that go something like well we get ammo every week but it sells out as soon as we gets it. We get our shipment on Wednesday nite and put it out at 8:30 on Thursday mornings and it gone in 15 minutes. The same guy and 3 of his buddies come in every week and buy it all out. Well yea whose fault is that.

I will play the blame game with you. It is shared among the ones doing the resale, the ones paying the scalper, and the ones putting ammo out at the same time every shipment. In all fairness, the ones putting it out probably ain't smart enough to know that they are a problem. The ones doing the scalping think they are just capitalist following the American dream (verified by their comments in the classified) and the ones buying are desperate, and used to getting everything they want, when they want it (spoiled). miles

Plenty of bricks available at the gunshop below my house.... @$129/brick!! Damn, I might as well practice with my center fires!

129 a brick? Well, you DO live in Assachusetts and deserve what happens.

Miles I don't disagree with you and the reason I said don't take this personal as the employees at Walmart are just doing what they are told but management could make it a bit harder if they did nothing more than put in some limits and more importantly put out small amounts at random times . In reality they don't really care but there is no doubt that Walmart and their ilk has simply become a wholesaler for the scalpers.

However you are right it is a combination of the source, the scalpers and the buyers.

I don't think the average manager or store employee that doesn't shoot gives a rats @#$ if they have 2 lr in stock or not. They are there to get a paycheck and when stocking or managing a whole store a shortage on one item probably is only noticed when they have to stop and tell someone they are out. Then they go back to their life and forget about it until the next shlubb shows up looking for it.

If you use discipline, build relationships, burn gasoline, you'll get 22 ammo too.

If you go to Walmart in the AM, its gone already most of the time. Generally the evening shift unloads trucks and stocks the shelves between 4:30 and 8:30PM

I find it endlessly and I buy all I can at regular prices only. Even though I give much of it away to youngins, I have over 150,000 rounds and one gun.

Gremcat is right, min wage employees just don't care nor do they even like the subject anymore.

I think they ship most of the 22 ammo to Texas because I see it everyday somewhere. I pick up at least 2800 rounds a week bulk ( thats like two buckets of 1400 rems). I sell it to groups for cost plus a 5lb bag of Peanut M&M's. Stingers are hell to get though.

There were a coupla WMRI's (Walmart Rimfire Investors) at the last gunshow I went to. $50/brick. Oddly they had 2 of everything. Clearly a full time job. Well, that and the Redneck 401K (lottery)

Dave: No we don't deserve it, and can't outvote the Massholes in EasternMa that come up with the crazy laws. Lucky I travel and stock up in other places. On the bright side I don't think the hoarders will be hitting up that gun shop!

McBrides in Austin. We've had shipments of 22 Mag for several months now. Got some in last Monday. With that swamp guy on the box. 200 count.

We also got in some percussion caps. Winchester. There was something I hadn't seen since December 2012.

What about musket caps? I am not out, but what I have are old. I haven't had any trouble but you never know. miles

Haven't seen musket caps in forever! But then I think myself and coworker are the only ones there who know what musket caps are!!

I use them on my Thompson inline and have had good luck with them. miles

Maybe another way to look at it. Those guys that get there early saved you the gas to get there and having to be up early so adding twenty to the price they pay might be worth it at the end of the day. I still don't get how they sell bricks for a twenty dollar mark up and find it worth the effort. Think about having to ship it, go to different stores to find it, and advertise it. You would make 100 dollars for every 5 bricks and still have to pay for vehicle, gas, and shipping. It is aggravating that it is never in stock but I usually poke around when I am at different stores for other things and can find some here and there. If I lived where I could shoot a lot and my kids had a 22 I might even pay the 40 bucks for a brick. We shoot bolt guns so a brick would last awhile. The guys that ask 70 a brick or more are just trying to get the newer shooters unawares. I do disagree in general principle on these guys preying on the uninformed new entries to shooting. All the guys that have mentored me would give you whatever you needed with just a hand shake.

gremcat, It ain't really worth their while. Those kinda guys live from dollar to dollar hustling through life.

A lot of these guys are probably living on some kind of gummint check and run a bunch of similar scams to try to make money without actually working. They think the people that go to work every day, pay their bills, etc, etc are the suckers. They spend their lives living in crappy old trailers, drinking cheap beer, eating gummint cheese with ugly women. The Life of Riley! I've had people come to my door driving nasty old trucks I wouldn't haul pigs in try to sell me everything from vacuum cleaners to meat. Usually, they look like they sleep in their clothes.
I'm sure there's a few of them that have had a bad run of luck and are just trying to get by until the Obama Recovery finally kicks in and I feel bad for them, but I ain't paying them $60 a brick for Thunderbolts.

Obviously most .22 Long Rifle re-sellers don't have a lot of money to "invest." Otherwise they would have been scarfing up .17 HMR and .22 Magnum ammo too, and while neither have been easy to find, when they are available the prices are either "normal" or not too much higher.

The re-sellers would also have started in on .223 and handgun ammo when it started appearing again. Both have been in stock for months in many stores, at decent prices. (And if a gummint conspiracy was behind everything, .223 and handgun ammo would still be as scarce as .22 Long Rifle.)

So yeah, it's easy to see why they homed in on .22 Long Rifle ammo. It's relatively cheap, and almost everybody owns a .22.

Everybody owns a 22 but how many of them shoot their 22s on a regular basis? Most guys I know shoot tons of handgun and rifle rounds per year but not that many 22s. And even the ones who do shoot 22s on a regular basis, they wouldn't go out and burn up a brick at one session.

I get the hoarding and the shortage but I wonder how many people were effected by this shortage only after they found out that there was, indeed, a shortage.

Well, suddenly running into the shortage when expecting to easily pick up 100 rounds or so is certainly a factor.

But there are lots of people in my part of the world who shoot LOTS of .22 rimfire, whether in varmint hunting, target shooting, or just plain practice plinking. In fact some often shoot a brick a day in varmint shooting. So it depends a lot on where you live.

I don't shoot ground squirrels as much as I used to, but 20 years ago expected to go through several bricks each year just on them.

I get that, Mule Deer. I realize that there are many people who shoot their 22s a lot. I've just been thinking recently about all these shortages and threats of bans on AR-type rifles and how it has effected the shooting fraternity. And how it has actually increased gun purchases.

I know guys who had zero interest in buying and AR and now they are totally into that sort of shooting. Similarly, guys who only shot a 100 count box of 22s per year are now searching for bricks of ammo.

All anyone has to do is look back to Prohibition to realize what happens when there is a shortage of any commodity. All of a sudden, interest goes through the roof.

Exactly.

Aside from the re-sellers, what's been happening with .22 ammo is people who used to buy a box or two now and then are now buying a brick whenever they can. And people who used to buy a brick are buying multiple bricks.

Which is why there isn't much .22 ammo on many store shelves--at least for very long.

This is a thread that has been on this and other forums multiple times. You just need to deal with it. Pick it up when you see it or do as I do and have an ongoing order with Killough Shooting Sports for more when he receives it.
I bought a little along for several years and now I'm happy that I have some real bargains.
You guys just need to buy a little a long and you will be in good shape.
I don't know how you would classify me, a hoarder? I do have quite a lot, but it ain't for sale. If any are left my Sons and Grandchildren will have fun with it.

Butch,

I don't have to deal with any of it, since I've long kept a sufficient stock of all sorts of rimfire ammo, partly due to magazine editors sometimes wanting me to test rifles and even handguns.

But I do have to answer some of the inquiries from people who want to know the "real inside scoop." And then when I do, some don't believe it....

It's been a long time since folks in MT bought a box or two (of 50) and this goes back 40 years for me. A brick or two was the normal purchase.

The rest of the US I have no idea except SB target shooters who purchase at least a case after proving a lot.

But I have best lots of AEagle puchased in 1989 thru 1994 for $69/ case of 4000 rounds

Don't doubt that at all John. It seems that on all the gun forums multiple threads are on this subject.