Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Once .22LR becomes available again, how much will you buy?

Assuming that the supply train starts to repeatedly deliver an adequate amount of ammo to your favorite store, how much would you buy, usually over a period of time, to add to your storage to feel safe from another scare?

I'm thinking that many of us will want to add/buy around 15,000-20,000 rounds to get back to our "Comfort" level. When you think of meeting the day to day shooting demands of .22LR owners, including the new ones that have been recently added, and supplying enough stock to build up individual stockpiles, it's going to be a long long time before you walk into a LGS/Wally shop and see 500 round boxes sitting on the shelf.

Your thoughts ?

as a personal experience or tesimony, i have tried a local academy for a week, and three local walmarts for a week. nothing, nada.

i don't know what is going on. for those who have the closet filled, good on them. for me, the demand continues to exceed supply.

plenty of centerfire ammo on the shelves. maybe there's a greater profit margin? i don't really know.

If I can keep 4-5000 rounds in stock and rotate a brick or two to shoot up, that would be fine with me. Not interested in hoarding, just want enough to get through the next slump.

This would work for me.

+1

Personally, I don't need any more plinker ammo than I currently have. I would like to try some different brands of match ammo and don't want to pay shipping charges. The selection of good stuff is still pretty slim.

I have what I need. Will take a look at the playing field when circumstances change.

Will replenish anything that's currently in short supply at our house (Wolf MT or RWS), then lay in a coupla bricks of decent stuff (like CCI-SV or Fed. Champion) and lots of bulk.

SOP here for many, many years. Although I may have to curtail my socialist compassion for giving away some of the bulk stuff to the "needy", if things don't soon perk up?




My prediction is that those who primarily shoot just a few boxes of 22 ammo per year, will buy a few more boxes if and when they can find it again. Some will take a hint and maybe buy a brick or two - emphasis on maybe.

Basing this on the discussions had at our club's ranges over the past two years. Have heard guys come out with a coupla boxes and grumble that they can't find any ammo.

Then go on to say something along the lines of "no one needs several bricks or a case of 22 ammo."

Mmm, okay. Go with that and prosper.

I'm buying 20,000 rounds and then the rotten bastids can do whatever the hell they want.

Nothing like taking away a favorite pastime many of us grew up on.

I also have danged neer a lifetime supply of reloading supplies as of now also. I ain't going through this crap again!

Shod

Had 10k-ish this last time and I'm weathering the storm just fine .... granted with a new 2 1/2 yo my shooting time has been slashed. But plan on 3-50k for the next go around .... buy cheap and let plenty on the shelf ... no one is left out in the cold. Supplement my daughter's college fund If you haven't learned from the last two go arounds ... you deserve the screwing you'll get next time.

I like my RFs as much as anyone, but in the main they are used for killing stuff, ergo I don't need a mountain of the stuff stockpiled. At the current rate of consumption my few thousand rounds will last a long time.

OTOH, I do punch paper and slay the odd varmint here and there. I can make all the bullets necessary for that. Simple math says I can kluge up 66-132K or fewer bullets depending on caliber. I'll not live long enough to shoot all that, or probably even the stockpile of primers and powder on hand.

Y'all needing 10-20-30K rounds of RF ammo, go for it. There are other alternatives that are just as much fun and just as effective. A fella might not believe how much mileage he can get with round balls and a .25-20 Winchester.

don't need ... never said it was a need

Alrighty then, change "need" to want/crave/gotta have. GO FOR IT!

How long do you think it will take for 22 ammo to become readily available when people want 20,000 rounds once it does?

I can buy 20,000 rounds with a single phone call. There is ammo out there, you just need to do your homework...

Perhaps want is fitting ... I guess that is where the term "different strokes for different folks" comes from.

I have no reason to doubt that ... I accumulated mine from local sales ... buy 3 or 4 brick when on sale, still plenty on the shelf when I left the store. Its what I'll do again. As for now, I'm fine with what I have. I haven't had to retard my shooting due to lack of ammo. At my rate, I could go another year and a half ... let's hope none of us have to do that!

Thought it had been established here years ago, that want vs need has little relevancy when it comes to firearms, ammo and hunting doodads?

Has sumpin' changed and I missed the memo?

I bought 1 box of the rem. golden bulk 525 packs about 5 years ago, I've got about 500 still left in it. If I happen to see another bulk box in a store that's not over priced, I might buy 1 more box of it. I'm 54 and don't shoot that much, I figure 1 more box, and I'm set for life.

how sad.....

Dunno? That's about how many Golden Bullets I've used up in the past 30 years and there are oodles of 'em around here. Mostly in fancy tins and sech. Some came with a Remington pocket knife, which was the primary reason for the purchase.

Sure as hell wasn't for the ammo.

Although if I'd ever gotten desperate enough during the shortage, mighta coulda fired two or three of 'em before sanity was restored?

I have usually kept 2 cases of match grade 22 ammo on hand and 3 cases of high-velocity gopher shooting ammo on hand.

This spring/summer I went through 2 cases of my gopher shooting ammo and a half case of match grade. It will all be replaced but certainly at more expense.

drover

If shooters as a group continue with the mindset that they absolutely need to stock up 15 to 20K rounds it will be a long, long time until this shortage abates.

Buy a brick or two, leave some for the next guy and then repeat as necessary. This shortage will pass but the length of time that takes depends on us. Continue to operate in panic mode and this self inflicted shortage will drag on a long, long time.

Until the 2008 shortage I was one of those guys who only rarely shot .22 LR. When centerfire components got scare and expensive, I went to .22 LR and never looked back. My current burn rate is about 10-12000 per year. I will probably want to have a pretty decent inventory for the future. And, instead of a grab bag of ammo and a lot of bulk pack, I am going to standardize on CCI Mini-Mags because they are reliable and seem to work well across a number of platforms. Then I will get smaller quantities of other stuff for particular guns. Even at ten cents a round, 5000 rounds is not much more expensive than 1000 rounds of .223 or .45 ACP, and I get 5 times the trigger time.

Now, that is just a quantity and a level of quality that I want. If I had to make do, a couple of bricks could last me a lifetime.

At 60 and shooting Win 52's both target and sporters for paper and tree rats,I feel good at 4-5000 rounds, Wolf MT, S&K match and good lots of Federal auto match. I also put in a couple 1000 rounds of the S&K magazine in the 500 ct cardboard tubes.. I cannot tell any change from the Wolf, same headstamp ,sound and accuracy. I did have sticker shock on last 2000 rounds. Very Best WinPoor

Ask and ye shall receive!

Went to a show today and scored a brick of Wolf MT. Sales lady said they have two pallets of it. The bad part... $74/Brick. However, it's better than $12/50 for Federal Match.

I was going to post basically the same thing. I found two boxes of .22LR at an inflated but not quite painful price that became the early Christmas present for a good friend. He's been out of 22 and trying to take his son shooting for a long time. Compare that to the guy who was moaning about getting more while telling the sales guy at the local sporting box store that he had 800 thousand rounds or more at home. The guy was my age or older meaning he'll be real lucky to see another thirty years on this earth. He could shoot a box a day and never run out.

Probably very little.. As I have enough for gopher shooting for my life time.. I might buy some for my step grandkids to shoot, although I have kept them up to speed with supplies from my stuff.

Belt feed could fix that.

Its nice to see there is more good sportsmen here at this web
site then others I've seen.

For years before the panic I bought a brick of Winchester Super-X every other payday or so and used it for target shooting and hunting.

The shortage hasn't affected my shooting and I was able to give some to a couple of friends when the stuff disappeared off the shelves. I'll go back to my regular buying habits when the supply line catches up again.

There have been some .22's put up for sale locally because the owners decided they didn't want to wait for ammo.

Last week I was able to make a good trade for a Colt Frontier .22 revolver and a Browning semi auto .22 rifle (something I've always wanted) and a Ruger 10/22 cheap.

Hopefully when supplies get caught up the prices will be a little more reasonable again too.

I'll buy none. I have so much from before the panic that my kid's kids will be shooting it.

I hope the guys who have their garages filled with 22 ammo realize that ammo doesn't improve with age, and rimfire ammo in particular has a tendency to noticeably go the other way.

When reports of people getting burned on over-priced junk hoarded ammo come out, it could have the result of keeping new ammo prices up while making privately held supplies become suspect.

I have a feeling that 22 ammo is not where one should be playing the market in planning for retirement.

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800 thousand rounds or more at home. The guy was my age or older meaning he'll be real lucky to see another thirty years on this earth. He could shoot a box a day and never run out. [/quote]

I see you don't have a full auto 10/22 with a can on it, I could put a good dent in that pile in time, it takes a lot longer to load the mags then emptying them

So, like, you were a hoarder before anybody cared or thought you were a bad person because of it. Way ahead of the times. Bravo!

Exactly! I'd grab a 500 round box or 2 from Walmart once in awhile. Buy some SK and Wolf online when it was on sale. Buy some in local ads and attend some estate sales and grab would I could on the cheap. Then by a stroke of luck, a local Super KMart was getting out of the ammo business and was selling 500 round boxes of Winchester Wildcats for $2 and Winchester Dynapoints for $5. I won't tell you how much I bought but it has served me well.

I've also helped out a couple of people on the forums over the years who just wanted to shoot with their kids. One was a serviceman who was coming back home for a leave and wanted some .22 to shoot with his kids. Sent him a couple of boxes at no cost to him because I've been blessed and thought no way a soldier should be denied that experience.

So I don't apologize for what I have and have been lucky enough to watch this debacle of the "hoarders vs wanters" from the cheap seats. In the end, I believe we're all responsible for ourselves. If you don't have any, deal with it. If you have plenty, enjoy it. Nobody owes anyone else anything.

Bought 22lr from Cabelas , brick of 500 2 days ago $29.00 . Couple of other items and free shipping. Today picked up a bit more from Midsouth along with some other items. Its out there. Christmas shopping for the grandkid.

Going to buy 22LR until I can not close the front door when I go to work.

I will slowly stock up on the better bulk ammo, but I will leave some on the shelf for the next guy and to mitigate the panic.

My problem is I live in a metro area and there are so many shooters that its not showing up on the shelves like the coastal areas. Its not worth it for me to pay shipping or even gander mountain prices.

Goal is to have 3 50cal ammo boxes full to weather the storms. These dam You-tube & 15 minutes of fame kids and all the media exposure are going to make this problem occur more often than democratic presidential election cycles...

Redhill: My "thoughts" - are, you are dreaming!
Its been 26 full months now since this rimfire shortage situation started (was foisted upon us!) and I see NO end in sight.
I have NOT seen Winchester Power-Points (hollow-point 40 grain gray box stuff) on a stores shelves in two years now!
If your dream were to somehow come to fruition I would buy 100,000 rounds so myself and my family would never be subjected to another shortage/worry again.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Before things dried up I was buying CCI and bricks of Blazer LR every time I went to my gun shop or Fleet Farm, along with 100s of CCI CB longs and shorts. As that started drying up I even bought a few bricks of Thunderbolts and Remington GBs. Even they are better than nothing and our boys don't seem to notice any problems with shooting them for their plinking.

During the time when things seemed to be turning prior to the big "dry up" I also bought 4 bricks of the Aquila 60 grain SS rounds to play around with, and 10 bricks of Aquila Super Colibri which I shoot more than anything else for pest control, quiet yard plinking at the cabin, and backyard fall squirrel and rabbit shooting for my canned garden brunswick stew. I have been giving some to my uncle and a few good friends when they need a box of 50. At this rate I anticipate needing more Super Colibri a lot sooner then any standard velocity rounds.

I have not seen .22 of any type on the shelves at FF in over 2 years now. I will get a lot more of the Aquila stuff when I find it again.

I wish I bought more of those 60 grain aquilas too. Shoot great and nice anti-pest round.

100K rds sounds about right. Just need a place to store it

I had to take my wife to the Dr.'s this AM so I stopped in the Cabelas on the south side of Denver. They had abut 6 bricks out for $27 each. Limit one, but several guys grabbed two and then got on their phone. I got the next to the last brick. Didn't really need it, but these guys were obviously going to take up all they could and I just wanted to pi$$ them off. I bet they are there every morning.

I have maybe 5 bricks total. 3 left from 4-5 years ago .

Love it!

Wow, you really do a lot of .22LR shooting.

I ran Basic Handgun classes for several years and went thru not bricks by cases of rim fire. Not so much now, hands and elbows have given out , probably from shooting too many magnum loads. Don't discount someone just because of what they are doing at present.

That works both ways, bud.

The 22RF shortage moved me to focus on light loading for all of the guns, and then casting my own. Just picked up a 22 cal mould. The kids will start with CF 22 cals. Plinking is a state of mind.

I can buy 22 shorts now, at 40 cents a shot.
I can buy .223 now, for half that.

And I can reload a .25-20 for about 6 cents a pop with cast bullets. Or less. That is with a full charge load and 85 grain bullet.

With buckshot and a wee pinch of power it is slightly more than the cost of a primer. It shoots surprisingly well.

Then there's the answer to all component shortages to include #10 & #11 caps. It's called a flintlock. It's cheaper still.

And if your a bullet caster you can reload those range PU 223 brass as quiet as the rimfire short for less than a nickle a round. More accurate and hits harder also.

Where can you buy .223 for 20 cents a round??

I'm planning on a case of match ammo and 5-10k of bulk.

I'm more pizzed about the powder situation Can't find a friggen pound of any handgun powder, just ran out of Bullseye and am low on Unique, 2400 and H-110. When that situation reverses I'll be getting at least one 8# jug of Bullseye, Unique, H-110 and probably 2400. At least primers and brass are obtainable again.

Then only upside of the shortage is it's easier to control the urge to buy more guns. Can't see plunking down money on a gun I can't feed.

Going rate in Michigan at Gander Mt is $22 for a 325 pack of Federal. Expensive to what I paid two years ago.

Remington ammo degrades dramatically in my opinion. The primer seems to get hard and become unreliable after 4 years.

Just stopped in a mom and pop LGS that i hit while traveling to relatives for Turkey day each year.

Last year, $29/ 500 rnd brick, as many as you'd want.
One year later, $39 for the same brick.

33% increase since last year? Nice gesture. I passed.

I won't buy any and I don't even buy it when I see it available.

I'm going to keep on doing what I'm doing now; buying the stuff that shoots well in my guns when I can. I'm not going to buy a bunch of crappy bulk just because I can. Bulk serves a purpose, just not my purpose.

Thus ensuring this thing goes on and on and on.

About 7 to 10,000 rds per spring squirrel season, and I shoot single shot.

Brazillions!

Eleventy Billion. Cash.