The Wal-Mart store in Renton, Washington just got in a shipment of Federal 22 L.R. hollow-points and they are selling VERY briskly at $13.40 cents per 550 pack!
I bought a bunch of them and even got to beat the Taxingtonians out of their 9% sales tax!
Many stores I shopped at on my just concluded whirlwind trip to the west coast were sold out of all rimfire bulk pack 22 amunitions!
Obama-itis has me storing and stocking up on ammo and components like a giant nervous Tree Squirrel hoarding nuts!
Anyway the price was good and they had been out of the ammo for more than two weeks so I stocked up.
Anyone interested should call their local Wal-Mart and if its in stock they will set it aside til you get there.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

local store has none, and has none on order. Even so, I probably have around 50 of those stored away in the safe.

Mannlicher: I don't have quite that many on hand -,but I may have by springtime!
You keep your ammo in a safe - huh?
Hmmm...?
I keep my ammo on storage shelves and in a metal storage type locker (no lock!).
I would hate to see anyone wait til the last minute before a Varmint Hunt or something and then be unable to find munitions!
You all have been warned.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I'm not a big fan of the Federal 22 ammo but given the current situation, I'm gonna go see is our local Wal-Mart has any. Another brick or three to store away can't hurt anything.

Thanks for the heads up. My Walley World no longer has any and I have 3300 rounds. I also have 400 more rounds of shotgun ammo.
Looks nice having a stockpile on the shelf. The federal 100 packs of shotgun ammo is cheaper than I can load for.

Our's is out of Federal, but had Winnie Xpert for 12.97 though.

Yeah, our China Mart has been out of the Federal 550 bulk for some time now. They had AutoMatch for awhile but that is gone too now. My Ruger M77/22 and MK II loved the Federal bulk. I've been afraid to try the Winchester after having read some less than glowing reports about it.

Mike

I forgot to mention our Wally's had one of these and I bought that too (along with two of the Winnie Xpert bulk packs).

My Rifles LIke American Eagle Hollowpoint.

Its one sale from time to time.

A guy can acquire a few rounds pretty quick.

BMT

Man those 550 packs used to go for only 8 bucks!

Maser: I think the lowest price I ever paid for the Federal Bulk Packs was $8.99 SEVERAL years back, and that was at a Wal-Mart.
I can NOT recall positively - but I think that was when the Federal Bulk Packs came in the amount of 525 rounds - not 550 like they do now!!!
But your point is valid - ammo is going up!
I have heard that it's going up again next week for the "yearly" price increase of 2,009!
But relatively accurate ammo at 2.5 cents apiece is a price I am not even hesitant to pay.
Granted I wish it was less but its not.
If you ever see the bulk packs at Wal-Mart for sale at less than $13.40 PLEASE contact me and let me know!
I have two Wal-Marts within a days driving distance of me - the one to the north is only 65 miles each way and the one to the south is 145 miles each way!
I don't get by the Wal-Mart to often.
Again please let me know if you see it cheaper.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I think they're fetchin' close to $18/550 @ SW.

VarmintGuy,

I just dug up an old empty box that you are talking about or at least I think what you're talking about. Are they the hollow points that are 36 grains? If so then this Federal pack is what you're talking about. And it IS 550 rounds. I don't know remember when I got it, but sure it was around the time I was 13 and addicted to my Ruger 10/22 when I got it for my birthday. And that was 6 years ago. But I am sure it was 8 bucks. Like 7.99 or 7.97. And yeah, it was from Wal-Mart.

But yeah, I'll shoot you a PM if I see them cheap again. I really haven't been buying .22LR ammo from Wal-Mart because I'm more into the specialty ammo that can only be found in an actual gun shop. I'm addicted to the Aguila Colibris and Super Colibris. But yeah, next time I go to Wal-Mart I'll see the price on them Federal .22LR bulk packs.

I checked at the local walmart yesterday and they have recieved a new shipment. Now the price is $13.97 and the supply is limited. I got my share.

Our's still does have lr ammo.

Remmy "golden" boolits $16.97
Winnie Xpert HV boolits $12.97

Several of each

I picked up some more last nite.

At the end of 07, they were just under $10. Went to $11.50 or, then $12.97, and recently about $13.50.


Buy now, cuz the tree huggers are going to ban lead ammo. Too easy for them to do it. The death of cheap plinking is just around the corner.

Maser: I have scrounged around as well and found a "Federal 525 Round Value Pack" the bulk pack box is also marked "CHAMPION" as well. This pack is full and un-opened.
I am not sure how old they are but they are described on the box as High Velocity - 36 grain - Copper-plated - Hollow point - 525 Rounds - Value Pack - Every Shot Counts
Again I am not sure when this 525 round bulk pack was available but I know it hasn't been for at least a couple years.
Maybe someone ordered them up for some reason - anyway the price of ammo is only moving one way and like someone posted - the days of cheap "plinking" have come and gone!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I believe when the current contract to Walmart is over, we will see a big increase in bulk .22 ammo. I've been checking the web for bulk .22 ammo an some places have bulk 550boxes of Federal approaching $30. I have a friend who has been calling all six Walmart stores withing a 50 mile radius in my area trying to find any .22lr ammo for his kid's new Christmas gun. It's just plain gone. I saw a few boxes of bulk .22 ammo at the SW last Saturday. I told him about it and he said it was now gone. I hope I'm wrong on the price increase.

BigBoreFan: Yikes on that!
I better try to find some more myself and lay in the next couple of years supply!
Dang.
I was hangin out at my local pawn/sport shop today when a very attractive cowgirl came into the shop and her conversation to the owner went like this "Hi - its me again, my boyfriend wants me to buy another couple of cartons of Winchester Power-Points". "He told me that every time I get enough money for 2 cartons of them I should drive to town and buy them".
I'm saying her Levis were tight... errr ahh... I mean her thinking was RIGHT!
Yeah its a shame but I think the writing IS on the wall - a person had better stock up now or risk running out of ammo/components sometime soon.
Sheesh.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Well if .22lr gets too high it won't sell. Heck, if you are going to pay that kind of money for ammo you might as well as shoot center fire. Maybe I spent $1,000 for building a .22lr for nothing.

I agree but the price of centerfire has increased also. Just an example, the 40 S&W has risen to $19 per 50 now. All of the local WalMart stores are out of all popular centerfire loadings (06, 308, 243, 223). I was buying Winchester 30-30 for $10.97 a box of 20. I can't reload it for this anymore. 100 bullets for the 30-30 sells for $24, brass is $35 per hundred, powder is about $10 per hundred, and primers are $3 per hundred.

I have shot IPSC and IDPA for years, but I am no longer doing it because of the cost. I was getting 9mm for $135 per thousand and 40 for $160 per thousand. The price now has almost doubled.

If I can get 500 rounds of .22lr for $20 then I consider it a bargin. I can shoot for a few hours on $20. I don't like paying more for any ammo, but volume shooting in .223 and handguns is now out of the question for me.

Yup, can't argue with you there.

I think the reason demand has skyrocketed and supply can't keep up is because of the anti-gun movement and the Democrat Party. I know and I'm sure all of us know of people who own guns now and shoot that would never have owned guns or shot before except for the anti-gun movement.

Prior to the 68 Gun Control Act I don't think the NRA had more than 50,000 members nationwide and most of them where gun collectors or competitors. After 68 the NRA numbers swelled into the hundreds of thousands and now are into the millions. I'm sure some of that growth is due to more competitive shooting events but I bet most of the growth is fear.

I look for BHO to drive the ammo and gun cost through the roof for the eight years he occuipes the White House.

It is interesting to note that a Conservative Christian in the White House doesn't drive the prono prices through the roof the way a Liberal in the White House drive ammo and gun prices through the roof. Both have constitutional protection.

I was just there today (Wally's @ Renton WA) and scooped up 4 boxes of the federal 550 packs for $13.something each!

Last weekend, everybody seemed out of bulk packs of anything!.. even been noticing at the local gun shows since the election that good/reasonable ammo in 22 was hard to find, 9mm was VERY hard to find, and 38 spl was nowhere to be found. (this is around the NW part/Puget Sound part of WA)

Haven't tried these before, but I'm a big fan of the Federal (Champion Target) 525 packs and really was looking for a deal on those...being too cheap to pay retail price.

The Champions shoot better in <my> pistol than anything else I've tried (your mileage may vary), but these days you just can't have enough ammo on hand, so I got the Federal 550's to try out. Headed for the range Tuesday to try them out. Hopefully they will do as well as the Champions...if so, I'll keep on buying more than I shoot, just to keep ahead of the game!

Happy Trails!

COW_54

COW_54: I was born at the old Renton Hospital just a stones through from where that Wal-Mart is now.
If you don't mind I will call my friends and relay to them that Wally-World has bulk packs in?
Let me know if I can pass the word on.
One of my friends from Maple Valley has been touring the Wal-Marts in the southern Puget Sound area and buying up ammo when its avaliable. He mentions rarely seeing any pistol ammo or 22 ammo as well.
Good point, lay in a supply - I am now convinced there is (or we have created!) a shortage!
Renton High Class of 65!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Yea VG...

I sure don't have a lock on the goodies there Let 'em know that they are available.. seems like supply comes & goes, ya just have to be ready for that knock on the door!

I just wanted to pass along what I found at the store yesterday. Looks like they had a dozen or more boxes under the counter & up for grabs to whoever needs them most/gets there first. Yeah I was hunting for ammo at the Auburn & Maple Valley Wallys also, and they were both WIPED last week.

Oh, BTW... I like the Federal Champion 525 pack, but got the Federal 550 wally-pak, and according to e-mail I just got 20 mins ago from Federal product support, they are the same rounds, just in a bigger package.

...headed to the range tomorrow to test 'em out. (Ladies' day at the range, so I can hang out with the hot chicks with guns, and test out the wife's pink 'skeeter ((geez, i hope she doesn't read this!!) hahahahahahaaa!

there's a skeeter on your peter...whack it off....

When folks first started posting about ammo shortages a few weeks ago, I noted that our local Super Walmart seemed to have plenty, including handgun ammo and .223s. No longer.

I don't go there often, but yesterday I stopped by after church. They were completely out of handgun ammo, but had a few .223s What was interesting is that they had quite a lot of .22 ammo, and I was pleasantly surprised that it was not only two or three types/brands of the common cheap bulk packed stuff, but even some less common .22s like shot cartridges, CBs, and possibly shorts. They also had a type I was not familiar with, Federal Champion Match for semi-autos, 325 per carton at $14+. I picked up a couple of cartons to try. Another nice thing is that they had a ballistics chart with velocity and trajectory on the carton. Seems like sort of a semi-HV with a MV of 1200 FPS.

Paul

I bought some of the Champion Match too and it did well out of my bolt guns and my 10/22. I was in Walmart last Monday and I asked about .22 lr and the clerk said they got in 25 boxes on Saturday and sold all of it to three people. My area has a shortage of primers, Varget powder, and 22lr. I found the bulk box Federal at another Walmart in a neighboring town. I bought two and left four or five for someone else. I

COW_54: Okay then I will spread the word to my friends.
I appreciate it.
Have fun at the range!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I bought a 550 rd, box of Federal2 22, the brown box, to take my grandson shooting.
Took a Ruger 10-22 and a Weatherby xxii. the ammo worked about 30% of the time. They would either not fire or would jam.
Sent that crap back to federal with a note. They said they would run tests and report back. Well, no report just sent me two boxes, 250 rds ea, of the blue box stuff. It works ok.
Just my experience, yours may vary.

Walmart update

I posted above that as of Sunday our local Super WM was out of just about all handgun ammo, had a good supply of .22s and a small batch of .223s, etc.

I stopped in this afternoon and must have just caught a shipment.

They had a lot of Blazer Brass 115 gr. FMJ 9mm, @ $8.97 per 50, and a few 100 packs of the same load in Winchester @ $19.97. Still seemed to have plenty of .22s per my previous post.

Paul

I hear you. I think the Fed Bulk Pack of 550 was $8.99 about 3 years ago at the Chehalis WalMart.

Wifey's new Mosquito actually LIKES this stuff!! (Major surprise to me!!) So far they are the only thing other than Mini-Mags that don't give it indigestion...at a way lower price than the CCI.

I'm gonna have to start shopping more at Wally's, just so we can shoot more and pay less (Forgive me Wally's.. I had a pretty low opinion of those stores, but now that I realize they sell cheap bullets that aren't yet made in China, I will return as necessary to stock up on the "essentials" (heh heh!)

Be smart: phone ahead to see if they have what you need!

Got a gun show scheduled nearby next weekend, and I have the grand idea to pick up a decent used .22 rifle of some sort (currently only have handguns) to keep around for just-in-case big bro has us hunting bunnies for the table... You never know what's coming, and it seems that quite a lot of used but very usable rifles are out there for under a hundred bucks. Why should I pay retail already???

BTW, I love .22's of all kinds..They are possibly the most versatile guns ever constructed, PLUS you (currently) don't need to have a co-signer just to buy the ammo

COW_54

"Life's tough... it's even tougher if you're stupid"
J. Wayne

Istopped in at Wally today, they are out of the Federal 550 packs as well and the guy there said he cannot get them now and is not sure when he will be able to. I bought 3 of them this fall, and today decided to buy two 550 packs of the Remington 22's for $16.97 each. At least now I have about 3k in bulk. Hey, it ain't hamburg, not like it's gonna spoil right?

I am on the buy some every trip plan now. Every now and then we need something from walley world and I swing over to the ammo counter and grab another 550 and some shotgun shells.

Waders & Maser: Say "Good-bye" to the $8.00 price per 550 pack of Federal 22 L.R.'s - those days "will never return"!
And I remember it as $8.99 for a 525 pack by the way.
As opposed to todays price of $13.40 per 550 pack (or 1.7 cents a shot a few years ago as compared to 2.4 cents a shot today!).
It is a sad reality that ammunition prices (both for factory ammunition and for loading components!) have risen STEEPLY in the last year or two!
The question now is - can we afford to continue shooting in the manner to which we had been accustomed or are we going to have to curtail our habits?
I have a close friend who has been shopping the "web" and the Puget Sound area for 223 Remington brass this past week - he even travelled to the Centralia, Washington Gunshow yesterday to try to find some.
No luck!
So yesterday on his way back up I-5 from the gunshow he called back to Midway USA and ordered 500 "nickel plated" Remington brass as that was all they had!
They did have a few LaPua (very expensive!) 223 pieces of brass but he did not want them for his new 223 Rifle!
I tried ALL DAY yesterday to get through to Midway USA on the computer and I kept getting a message "Web Browser To Busy" prompt instead of the components pages!
It seems a lot of folks are "buying" components with less regard to the prices and more concern of getting their components no matter what the price!
I am convinced - getting ammo and components of recent has turned both difficult at times and expensive, ALL THE TIME!
If we could ALL just jump in the cartoon dog professors "Way Back" machine and go ammo and component shopping back in say - 1965!
I remember buying all the powder I could use for $1.00 per pound back in 1965!
Sadly we can't go back to 1965 or even back just 2 years to do our shopping.
Pay or NO play - it seems nowadays.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I got the same "server too busy" screen from Midway most of the day on Friday. IMHO, there are one hellova lot of people out there that feel quite uncertain about the future of the 2nd Amendment and are in the serious stock-up mode.

Cheaperthandirt.com advertises (as of yesterday) the 525 bulk packs of Federal Champion Target rounds for $16.something...BUT...add another $22.50 to ship 5 packs to me, and the price comes back to near local retail around here.

I'm not hurtin' for ammo, but I keep the phone # of my nearest Wally's handy, and keep checking with them pretty regularly, just to check...


Ya see, I use my 22's to train and practice with, so as not to blow the budget on centerfire ammo. I get really good results and have seen much personal improvement when I do shoot a box or so of the larger cal's. Hey, you get 1,000+ rounds of .22 in the bulk packs for about what one decent box of 9mm +P HP's cost. Hmmmmm...1,000 shots or 50 shots?...hmmm...!!!

Keep yr powder dry!

COW_54

1. Deliberation
2. Accuracy
3. Speed
-----------B. Masterson--------------

Just a heads-up for all:

I passed by the Renton WA Wally's yesterday on my way back from a gun show (was looking to get an inexpensive .22 rifle but couldn't find anything suitable, as any well-kept examples were priced at nearly the new retail level, so ended up with only another ammo can).. Wally's had an ample supply of the 550 Federal bulk packs, so I picked up a couple more.

Perhaps the availability problem here in the NW was just a temporary aggravation?

COW_54
___________________________

How will YOU spend your massive $13/week share of the gov't stimulus package?

Cow54: I hope you are right!
Maybe all the 22 L.R. shooters out there have stocked their shelves to the "bursting" point and demand is slowing down a bit?
Wish you had come across a "good deal" on the 22 Rifle though.
I assume you went by the Puyallup Show?
Maybe this won't fit into your plans but I have been attending the W.A.C. Gunshows since 1963 - and my favorite tactic there is to have several arms or items in mind that I would like to own!
And I wait.
Then late on Sunday afternoon just before show closing I burp about making lowball cash offers on each of these arms/items!
You would be surprised at how often I get good deals this way!
A lot of vendors are wondering how they are going to make up for that item "they just had to buy" and they often will lower their prices - sometimes dramatically late Sunday!
Saturdays are worth doing at 2 day (and 3 day) Gunshows but I have had better luck on Friday during set-up and again on Sunday afternoons.
I just got a call from the Puyallup Gunshow this morning and my friend sold ALL his primers out yesterday!
The Puyallup Gunshow does not allow powder sales but he had sold out all his extra powders at the Portland Gunshow a couple weeks back.
Every once in a while I get a good deal on Rifles at Ben's Loans there in Renton. Since Marty retired that occurrance has been more rare, but its still worth a check. I was in there in mid-January and they had a LOT of 22 Rifles.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Hi VG and all..

Yeah, I did the Puyallup show last week... unfortunately did not find any "deals" on any good utility .22's. There seemed to be only two grades of used rifles on the tables this time.. those that looked like they were found underwater somewhere and worked over with a brillo pad to get <some> of the rust off, or relatively clean examples that were so near to the new retail price that I figured that for a few bucks more, I could get the warranty AND a nice cardboard box to carry the rifle in

My "want to buy" list is one hellova lot longer than my "want to pay for" list!! HAHAHHAHA!! (just tryin' to be realistic!)

...still looking for a nice 22 rifle to round out the Obama survival box, so if there's anyone out there in the Seattle/Bellevue area that wants to get rid of a dust-collector that is in good condition for a fair & reasonable price <i.e: cheap>, I'm a WAC member with CPL, of legal age etc, etc..

I planned on checking by Ben's tomorrow morning.. geez, that's my favorite shop! (bought my CZ P-01 there and also the spousal unit's pink Mosquito, which she's become quite fond of!)

Come to think of it, as long as I'm in that part of town, I'll probably go the extra mile to Wally World and maybe come back with a couple or so more Federal bulk packs, if they have some. (other than that I have no particular use for Wallys, but they provide a GREAT service to the community by selling cheap ammo!

We'll see what develops!

COW_54
____________________________________

NOT a right-wing maniac wacko... just tryin' to have my butt covered so that no matter what the future brings, my family and I will be okay ...and maybe have a little fun along the way!

Got the Federal 550 packs at WallyWorld in west Houston for $13.47, also had Winchester 333 packs. Guess the only thing they stock out of around here is 9 X 19 when MS13 goes shopping!!

Seems every Wal-Mart in the greater Austin area has plenty of the Federal 550 bulk packs, and kind of hit or miss on which ones have the Remington golden bullets or the Winchester Xpert bulk - the Federal Champion 510's have become quite scarce though... and those are the ones I really want!

Academy carries Federal bulk .22LR solid bullet in 550 packs for $13 and some change if you have Academies in your part of the world. Good plinking ammo.

Wal mart here is pretty hit or miss.

Academy here doesn't have jack at the moment, they ran an ad last week for bricks of the Federal 510's for $13.90 and they have been out of those for six months (at least thats what an associate told me).

Some of the Wal Marts here have 20+ boxes of the Federal 550 bulk at the moment.

They have them around here. I just bought 8 bricks at the one in Lufkin, TX and the one in Tyler, TX had just as much.

hey all...

(please excuse if this turns out to be a duplicate post)..

I just completed part of my quest to find a useful, affordable .22 rifle!!

Since this is going to veer off-topic for this thread, I started a new one, pls see details in new thread: Marlin model 99

(no, I didn't stop on the way back at Wally-world to see how stocked the ammo counter was!)

Thanks to everybody for the encouragement I got in my search!

COW_54
_____________________________

3 ammo cans filled! ..go figure

sigh, they were $7.95 back last July.

FWIW - our Wally-mart has been out for quite some time but had 8 boxes of the Federal Bulk 22lr on the shelf when I stopped last week. You won't find any there now but they may be shipping to other locations now as well. They also had a 100ct box of Federal 223Rem for ~$40 which isn't too bad (can't believe I'm saying that) if you're low/out of 223.

Picked up a 525 count "Value Pack" box of Fed. Champion last week for $18.95. Our WalMart had about zero rimfire ammo a few weeks ago and Dynapoints are $29.95 at the local Kmart.

I've not tried this one before, but the price was right. 36gr bullet; copper-plated HP; 1280 FPS muzzle velocity;

BUMP for kicks and grins. I think somebody once said that you don't know whatcha got til it's gone! Oh, to pay $13.40 for a bulk pack again!

Always put Win Xpert on par with Remington Thunderbolt. However at that price I would be buying.

The nearest box stores are 130 miles away, and I've not seen a 22 cartridge on a shelf in over 2 years.

Checked the shelves on our trip earlier this week and was advised to show up at opening on Thursday morning. Fortunately, I'm stocked such that I moved the guns out of the safe and inserted the ammo.

Don't see an end until after the next presidential election.

Azimuth: Viewing your receipt is like having a pleasant daydream!
I don't think we will ever see those prcies again.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

1minute: Although many on this forum poo-poo the "politics" of this shortage I tend to think after 22 months of it now- I tend to agree its at least partially political!
Sad that!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy