Curious About .22LR/.22Mag Availability

[Bailey Guns]

I haven't shopped for either in some time...maybe a couple of years. But I've read of how hard it is to find, still, after the shortage started several years ago.

I was in Sportsman's Warehouse in Lewiston today and if there's still a shortage it wasn't apparent there. The had an entire endcap stocked full of various brands, including the Winchester M22. Several hundred Remington and Federal bulk boxes (550s and 325s) were on the gun counter. Price for run of the mill Remington, Federal and CCI was about 6 cents per round up to 7.5 cents per round for the M22.

Is this getting to be the norm? Are the shortages easing or did I just catch them on a good day?

[cstone]

The shortage seems to be easing. I travel quite a bit around the country and often stop at WalMart just to check if they have any in stock and most places do not have anything in the case. On line seems to be the best source and as you noted, the price seems to run 6 to 8 cents per round. Before the shortage, I would normally pick up a Federal 550 box at WalMart whenever I was there. My normal buying price was 4 cents per round for bulk .22lr but I have almost given up ever seeing it at that price again in the near to long term future.

Not as bad as it was a year ago, but still not great and not looking like it will ever be the bargain it once was.

[Bailey Guns]

I haven't bought it at retail in a long time. The only time I've bought rimfire in the last several years is from members on the forum and I rarely think to look for it in stores. It's still a lot more expensive than I remember it being...then again, so is everything else now. Except for AR rifles...cheaper than I can ever remember them.

[kidicarus13]

What about the 'ol 2009 "it's not prudent to add another .22LR production line because once supply returns it'll be a waste of capital investment."

HAHAHAHA

[Circuits]

It's 2016. Prices have gone up. If you're lucky, $30 for a 525 milk carton will be the least you pay. Same reason Cokes don't cost a quarter at the vending machine anymore.

It's never been impossible to find .22 - prices have just been up due to very high demand. You could always find it if you were willing to pay the price.

[Aloha_Shooter]

That reminds me, I should get a letter from BigBear for the case of .22LR I gave his Appleseed event ...

[HoneyBadger]

There is .22LR on the shelves at Walmart about every 2 weeks out here. Usually lasts for a few days with no limit on purchase amount at about $.08/rd. It's almost always the Federal Automatch 325 boxes or little 50rd boxes of CCI. Once, they had half of a display case (easily more than 50k rds) 50rd boxes of CCI "standard velocity" (which is subsonic in most pistols) so I bought a bunch of it. Much cheaper than ammo that is labeled "subsonic".

Unrelated: There actually are a lot of gun owners in this part of CA. Not sure whats going to happen now that the bullet button will be outlawed within a few months.... I can't imagine how they will deal with an estimated 80k+ legal AR-15 owners... And that doesn't include the 145k+ already registered "assault weapons" in CA.

[TheGrey]

I somehow keep missing the .22Mag ammo. It's always a case of "we just had some this morning" I'll have to start buying online. Grr.

[beast556]

Haven't seen any up here in ft fun for some time. The little that I do see is 10 plus cents a round and seems to last a few days. I have been trying to hold out for some value packs.

[Colorado Osprey]

Two weeks ago was the 1st time I had seen 22lr in my local Walmart. With my work schedule I cant be there when they stock the shelves.
When I asked, they said they had a two box maximum. Others around me heard they had some and a line started behind me. They were sold out before I left the store.
This was the 1st and only time I have even seen 22lr for sale in a store since the shortage began.