Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Mystery of .22 rimfire ammo shortage solved

It's all at Whittaker Guns in Kentucky.

Eileen and I had a great time at the big Saturday sale, meeting several Campfire members and buying too much stuff ourselves. I didn't really need any .22 rimfire, but they had bricks of Remington hollow-points for a very reasonable price, so I bought one in order to meet my responsibilities as a gun writer, since I keep hearing reports about how Remingtons do or don't shoot, and had to confirm them for myself.

Also picked up a Model 64 Winchester and some powder, as apparently Whittaker's also has the secret to obtaining powders--though even they don't have them all. Bought an 8-pounder of H110, among others.

So, I guess we can conclude that Kentucky isn't populated by selfish bastards.

Nice to know things are good in KY.
I always thought that Rem 22 ammo dirtied up my action excessively in semi-autos.
Wondering if anyone else had this opinion/experience.
Tim

Don't know about that I only shoot bolt guns, never a problem that Brakeclean and a little Amsoil MP on the bolt can't fix in a hurry. Muddy

Kentucky is not the same as "Montucky." Far away.
But a JUG of pistol powder. Forsooth!

And it not only works in pistols but the .22 Hornet! Have even touched off a few specialized shotshells loaded with H110.

However, must mention that it WAS the last jog of 110 on their shelves.

All the H110 and 22 LR ammo must be in KY. We see none here, except for scapled ammo at $85.00/brick and no H110 at all.

I wouldn't buy a breath of air from a scalper if I were suffocating. I also didn't pay $2,500.00 for a basic black rifle a few years ago.

Consumers are nuts for the most part.

I haven't even found any H110 on the Internet in a while.

They also had some .35 Remington ammo, which is also pretty scarce these days.

Curious to see how those Remington's shoot. Because my last two bricks have been flawless and that is in 4 different rimfires.




Travis

I haven't found any Remington Goldens for quite some time, but the ones that I have have never suffered for accuracy, but I have had more misfires with them than with Winchester or Federal.

I bought a bunch of H110 when Barry was new to the Whitehouse. Still have about 6 lbs last time I looked. 22LR is still rare as an honest politician around here.

Reading your report about Whittaker's bums me out even more than I already was that I wasn't able to stop by for a visit a month ago when I was down in KY visiting relatives.

I wonder if it was made in the new plant in Arkansas? And I also wonder if that matters. I don't remember a lot of problems with the Remington. Some ancient Federal Lightnings from the 70's and 80's was problematic.

Mule Deer, I used Remington .22 ammo over the years with no problems whatsoever, till 2009. It was during shortage #1, and I had picked up some .22 target ammo, standard velocity, in the square plastic boxes. It was not the bargain stuff, by price nor by labeling. I used it in a revolver, and the first cylinder shot well, the second began shooting into about 6" at 20 yards, and the third cylinder went into about 9"...with bullets keyholing. Took a look and I couldn't see rifling. It was gooped up with a strange mixture that seemed part bullet lube and part powder fouloing, and was very difficult to remove...needed a brush. My friend then tried the same ammo in his revolver, with the same results. Both revolvers had digested lots of .22 ammo over lots of years without problems. I had purchased a carton of that ammo, and there are still 400 rounds that I just keep for that possibility that it's all I might have someday.

The same Remington ammo in a 20" barreled rifle also fouled excessively, but didn't start keyholing bullets even after about 30 rounds. It was also difficult to clean.

Don't know if that was an anamoly or common with newer .22 Remington ammo, but I'll be interested in what you find with the newer stuff.

My son and I have shot a ton of the Rem. golden hp in several different pistols and rifles, accuracy has never been an issue but maybe 1 out of every 50-100 won't fire. They are a little dirtier than others, with little gold flakes of the jacketing material and powder residue but all and all good ammo for our everyday needs. I've got to go to Louisville in a couple weeks, I'll have to find out were the store is and make a stop.
Thanks for the info,
Will

Never mind the H110. Where's the Big Game? Where's the CCI Green Tag?

I've explained Big Game elsewhere on the Campfire. The factory in Belgium that makes Ramshot rifle powder partly burned a couple years ago, and though they got it back up and running last year, they can only make one of the powders at a time.

Last year they started with TAC, because it's the most popular Ramshot rifle powder, and after they get enough TAC out there to satisfy part of the demand will start making the others. (TAC has now been selling in the U.S. for several months now.) It looks like Magnum will be next, and I am guessing Big Game will be third.

A lot of component companies are making the same sort of choices, because they can't make enough stuff to fill the demand from shooters who are trying to stock lifetime supplies of various items, whether powder, bullets, primers, .22 ammo or whatever. I would also guess, based on conversations with a bunch of manufacturers, that Green Tag is further down the list than a bunch of other CCI .22 rimfire ammo.

Mini Mags is WAY above GT in my view. Or how about some POWER POINTS, [bleep]?
I think the lack of pow pow is a big reason we can actually find bullets and primers now --

Haven't seen an eight pounder of H110 in Alaska in 3+ years.

Mule Deer, I bought a Model 64-A (the second run) at a gunshow of all places many years ago and found it had a REALLY nice trigger, the nicest I've ever pulled on a lever action. I put a Lyman peep on it and with the 24" inch barrel and longer sight radius I found it shot very well. That was before my eyes got some age on them.

The rounder forearm and the pistol grip make it a sweet handling rifle.

You bought that 64, eh? I looked pretty hard at it, and if I hadn't just bought a little 336SC a couple of months ago, I'd have bought that one. Aside from a few scratches, it looked pretty darned good, and I liked the sights (Lyman peep). The price wasn't awful, but I was pretty set on another CZ 527, so I passed it by.

When those CZs come in, I'll beat feet back down there. I'm glad you were able to find something you can use. I'll look forward to a good article on the thing. A new article on loading the .30/30 with the newer powders would be pretty interesting, too...... hint, hint..