Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

JoeMartin

JoeMartin

Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Dec 13, 2008
1,126
5
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USA
#1
Just came back from the Midway USA's website, and there's hardly any .22LR ammo available. With most of the brands completely out, they simply state; "No Back Order"

I know a lot was bought up before and after the election, but I would think by now that we would see (or start to see) a recovery in .22LR availability. Have I missed some important information I should know about on the availability of .22LR?
confused.gif




 
#3
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

Right now any ammo is tough to get, especially for a good price. It's not just the election, and it's not going to get better anytime soon. Everyone said it would be back to normal by January, then March, well the gun show here yesterday was worse than the one we had in mid November, it isn't getting any better. At the show they were selling 22 ammo as much as they were bulk .223 and 9mm, I've never seen that happen before. There were also local dealers buying ammo at the gun show, never seen that happen before either. Guys were saying distributors were quoting 6+ months on ammo orders right now. Add to that the fact that the shooting season is getting going in the entire country now, so demand is going to go up even more.

Sales of 22 guns and ammo have gone up, as have sales of 22 conversion kits. With the extra cost of ammo now, along with the poor economy, and all ammo being harder to find, a lot of people are buying 22's and ammo for them. I'd also guess those people that already had 22's are shooting them more now.

Plus places like midway and natchez are hit and miss right now, EVERYONE knows about them, dealers and individuals both make major orders through them so they have HUGE backorders waiting, and if they do get some in stock, if they offer email notices for in stock status it's gone in minutes. My understanding with midway's backorders is if they say "no backorder" it means they already have enough backordered qty. to sell out their next incoming shipment completely.

Every time I'm in walmart lately I check the ammo, they are still getting small shipments here of blazer brass and federal automatch 22's and still selling .40 blazer brass for $12.50, .45 for $14, and .22 automatch for $14.50/325.
 
#5
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

I'd like to get my hands on some more Federal 510's, but can't seem to find any. I checked Cabela's and Brass Pro, guess I'll just have to keep looking and hoping for the best.
 
#6
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

no doubt. I bought a .22 conversion for my 1911 and ran a thousand golden bullets through it last monday.

Went to cabelas to buy a couple more boxes and they had sold out of the several hundred boxes they had in a week.

Seriously? There cant be that many people running 1,000 a week through there .22 can there?

Freakin CCI minimags are everywhere but they are spendy as hell.
 
#8
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

As much as I hate to do it, if I find ammo in caliber that I am shooting I buy it. You know things are tight when dealers are showing up at the shows buying as much as they can. Shields is now limiting you now to two boxes at a time and one Wal-Mart that I was at it is 3 boxes at time (the popular rounds)

I have been dropping major dollars on ammo. I still go out to shoot on a regular basis and I make every round count as if I am shooting my H&R single shot (even with my AR)

You know thing are bad when you have a hard time finding 22LR. I hate to see it and hate to say it, things may not get any better or it could go from bad to worse over night. It is not my intent to be an alarmist; facts are we have an ammo shortage.

Yes, I do reload. The next thing to do will be to switch to shotgun; I see a lot of rounds around for that.

Alexander66
 
#9
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

It's called ballistic wampum. People that suspect the economic future may suck big time are stocking up on everything they normally use . Many things make good trade or barter items. For guns it is popular ammo .22 lr is the most popular, afforable and probably highest in demand in hard times.If ammo taxes go sky high I want to have a huge longterm supply in my cache.Booze is another good trade item to stock up on.

Check out www.survivalblog.com for good intel.
 
#10
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

My local Walmart get in the ammo on Thursday AM. If you are there you can usually get it fairly easy.
I got Fed. 510 and Win HP last week.
Pistol ammo is limited to 2 box per customer. So far no limit on 22s.

Coach
 
#11
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: oldgrayone</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Widener's has wolf match $49/500 </div></div>

Champion Shooter has it for $45/500 $412/5000. They always seem to have it.
 
#13
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

FT Worth Cabelas had pallets of Fed 22lr bulk pack 2 Saturdays ago when I was there. $21.99/525rnds. I didn't want it bad enough to stock up at that price.
 
#14
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

Cabelas has it a lot,like Spotrsmans Whorehaus, IF you want to get it..............and screwed at the same time.
Butm, if you are short,.get it whike the gettins good,.
 
#16
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

Out here on my side of the puget sound it is the same story, wally world out, sportsmans whorehouse out, local sport shops are out of any of the bulk boxes.
You can still find the 50 and 100 round boxes of some of the target or specialty stuff but thats it.
I have not hit the cabelas because that is a 1.5 hour drive for me and does not seem worth it.

The big question is still this, are the manufacturers still pruducing the same levels as before?
 
#18
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

I was reminded today about the 500% tax increase that had been talked about being placed on ammo. I'm now wondering if this has slowed production of all ammo perhaps through the scare that if this 500% tax increase happens, manufacture's will be stuck with loads and loads of ammo.

I wonder? Did Federal lay anyone off like CCI/Speer did? If they did and did not call anyone back then they may be going 24/7, but their out put is suffering...

Thanks for the info. Was beginning to think this shortage was just in my area...
 
#19
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

I talked to some people at different walmarts today in the area, while I have been able to find ammo there on and off, while I was talking the sales guy about it just in passing I bet he had 4 guys call to see what if anything they got in this evening, said they get 15-20 calls an hour just to see what they have or got in that day. He said they can get ammo stock any evening, and there are 5-6 guys that will call between 10-11pm and if they get anything new in 9mm, 45, 223, 22 bulk they buy whatever they have said one guy must have bought at least 50K rounds in different calibers just from him over the past couple months. So you get a few guys doing that and there's no ammo left for anyone else.

The walmart that had federal automatch must have had 75-100 boxes of it two days ago, cleaned out. They also had probalby 100 boxes of the winchester 333 stuff, that was almost all gone.

One walmart had a 3 box limit posted, but while I was there at another walmart a guy bought all 10K rounds of bulk federal 510 22 they got in, and two cases of 9mm, so not all stores are limiting purchases.

The big double whammy with walmart is they are still selling ammo for great prices and they get a ton of people every day all day. blazer brass there is sick cheap, $9 for 9mm, 12.50 for .40 and $14 for .45, no one else around here even comes CLOSE to that, other shops around here are $20 a box for blazer brass if they have it. Same with 223, their federal 200 round bulk packs for $80 are the cheapest deal going right now anywhere locally by $20.

 
#20
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

Yeah the Walmarts around here get some in little by little but it's gone within an hour.

I found out that our local Walmart gets a big shipment every Sat morning so I started showing up early on Saturday morning. One Saturday I walked away with twenty 100rd value packs of .223 and fifteen 550rd bricks of .22LR

Brandon
 
#21
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

Yeh it's getting bad everywhere. I'm in greensboro, NC and all the stores here same story.
Walmarts have 5 box per customer limits (no problem with me) and all the gun stores have jacked the prices up to stupid levels.

I have never in my life seen 22lr out of stock. This to me is a very weird occurance. I have always been able to go buy 22lr bricks or 50rd or 100rd boxes any time at any store, including most hardware stores. I used to buy 50 rd boxes or Remington Thunderbolt 22lr for .85 cents a box. Then they went up to .95 cents, then they went up to 1.09 then they went up to 1.47 and now they are 1.97. So basically they have gone up 100% in a few short years.

I have no idea what the hell is going on. I don't believe the 500% tax bullshit stories. That would bankrupt all ammo plants except the ones with military contracts and the ammo companies would not stand for it. So I personally think it is a manufactured bullshit story that has gotten around and is doing nothing but making the ammo manufactures rich as hell running their plants 24 hours a day maxed out and making as much money as they can. The ammo manufactures are loving it. And in my opinion one day the whole thing will blow over and fade away and bullets will be fully stocked on shelves. At least I hope so.

I am buying ammo when I see it but I have a limit to the price. I will not be roped into paying stupid prices for ammo. The Walmarts here have Blaser brass 9mm 50rd boxes for 8.97 per box and I've gotten American Eagle 9mm 50rd boxes 124 grain for 9.50 (pallets of this stuff). They sell 550rd 22lr Winchester hollow point XpertHV for 13.00 and 500rd Remington Thunderbolts 22lr for 12.97. These prices are double what they were a few years ago however. I used to by the bricks for 6.50 in 22lr.

It's getting to the point that the sport of target shooting will be slowly gringing to a halt with the bigger calibers like .308 and my 22-250 hell you're talking one dollar per bullet.
 
#22
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

I can't say as I believe the 500% ammo tax either. If this was the case I think we would be hearing about it from the NRA every single day.

This whole ammo shortage is strange to me. My understanding is that it isn't just .22 Rimfire, it's with all ammo. I think the manufactures need to come clean and tell us what's up with all this.

I'd really like to know what the NRA thinks about all this ammo shortages? I'll have to go to their web site and see if there's any information. Perhaps Cam Edwards can shed some light on what's going on?

 
#23
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

Yeah it's pretty much all calibers aside the non-popular or hunting only stuff. I've seen no issues getting like 270 WSM, 30-30, 25-06, or 220 swift things like that. Shotgun rounds are pretty easy to find as well.

In fact one of the worst I've seen around here has been .45 ammo, While places get a few boxes of 223, 9mm, 40 in I've yet to see any replenishment of .45 locally.

It does seem odd, and I'd be willing to bet there are other reasons working in the background for these ammo shortages. I mean I know guys are hording and all, but that has happened in other election years as well, along with the economy down. I'm sure in past years/decades we have been giving other governments ammo and using ammo in the military on a similar scale as we are now. Yet I can't remember a single time in the last 40 years that even one caliber of ammo has been this hard to get much less all the popular calibers across the board. The same can be said of reloading components.

While the ammo companies might be working major overtime now, in the past lets say they were working half the hours they are now, since most are running 24/7 these days from what I hear that's probably close to true so their production was 50% or less than what it is now, and there was never any issue finding ammo in any caliber but now for some reason their production has doubled if not tripled but demand is so high (for some reason) that even doing that they can't get ammo to stores in any amount.....it seems pretty fishy to me. I know a lot of guys are stocking up on ammo, and some guys are walking out of stores with cases of ammo, but that has happened before as well.

The gun show was insane for guys wanting ammo, but ya know a lot of those guys I heard talking that they never buy ammo at gun shows but since they can't get it anywhere else they all showed up at the show.

Friend of mine had an interesting thought, more conspiracy than anything. He suggested that perhaps certain gov't agencies were charged with stockpiling ammo by the new regime in essence putting in orders so large and being for the gov't taking priority and in essence nearly halting the amount of ammo getting to the public.

While the Gov't probably would not stockpile a ton of .22 ammo, if they were stockpiling 223, 308, 9mm, 45, etc. public demand for 22 ammo would go up and factories backlogged with orders would be less likely to produce as much 22 ammo.

Sadly right now it seems like it's do what you can to get the ammo you need, because at least as things are going now it's still only getting worse.
 
#24
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Whisper</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> One Saturday I walked away with twenty 100rd value packs of .223 and fifteen 550rd bricks of .22LR
</div></div>

Why is it gone? Because a bunch of people are doing this that previously didn't. No conspiracy, the supply just has limited flexablility.
 
#25
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

That is the case, but is it the chicken/egg thing? Is it because guys are hording or because of the shortage? Certainly there are guys that are hording out of fear, but frankly from the people I've talked to they are few and far between. The vast majority of people are buying whatever they can because 90% of the time they go to the ammo store they can't buy anything, so now when they find a few boxes they buy all they can, if there was not already a shortage most guys would not be doing it.

I mean I know guys, myself included, that if they can find ammo now they will buy whatever they can get, however, 6 months ago they would never do that. I believe it's the shortage itself that has caused most of that behavior we currently see not the other way around. If stores had ammo on the shelves on a regular basis guys would not be walking out with cases of it. That and stores would still be getting the same amount of ammo they used to get, that is not the case, every store I've talked to they are getting way less ammo than they would like, and much less than they have ordered on a regular basis in the past well before the rush. So if all the stores are unable to get ammo in quantities they could order say a year ago for the horders to even get a shot at, where is the rest of all of this 24/7 production going? It's not making it to the public, or dealers and distributors, it's not making it to gun shows.

One other thing I've heard is that distributors have raised their min. order amount for dealers, so many dealers who might have carried 20 versions of one caliber are now only ordering 4-5 because they don't want massive qty. of poorer selling ammo.
 
#26
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

I talked with our supplier today and I won't mention the name of the Wholesale Distributor,,, and I frankly had to tell our Rep that if we can not get ammo, we damn sure can't be ordering firearms to sell because with out the ammo we have no firearm retail market. No one is going to buy a firearm they can't get ammo for to shoot.

I then requested she pass these concerns on to management and that management needs to pass them on to their directors, and the directors of these Wholesale Distributor's need to pass this on to the manufactures. Bottom line,,, gun sales can't work without ammo, and ammo is not needed if we can't sell guns. So the bottom line,,, the ammo manufactures need to get their head's out their a$$ and higher back those they most likely laid off to save a buck and they need to start full 100% production,,, not full 25% production.

That's all I can do as a small retail sporting goods manager in the store I work at out here in the middle of no where. However, this no where is the hunting capital of the state in which I live. Can you imagine what it must be like in the much larger areas of the country where ammo shortages exist as well.
 
#27
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

Friend of mine had an interesting thought, more conspiracy than anything. He suggested that perhaps certain gov't agencies were charged with stockpiling ammo by the new regime in essence putting in orders so large and being for the gov't taking priority and in essence nearly halting the amount of ammo getting to the public

i know for fact that DHS has been doing this....fwiw
 
#28
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

I just received several K of Wolf ME from Widener's that I ordered 3 weeks ago. Haven't seen much on the shelves though. I did see 6 cases of XM 193 and lots of 9mm in a store yesterday-you could have knocked me over with a feather.
 
#29
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

I talked to Federal tech support today and asked them why I can't find .22 bulk packs in TX anywhere (except Cabelas Ft Worth where they wanted $22/box). She said they are running flat out, 3 shifts max capacity on ammo production, 24/7, and they cannot keep up with sheer demand.
 
#30
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

Yeah, I have no doubt they are running 24/7 but where is the demand coming from? If stores are not getting the ammo, and their current production is obviously at least 2x if not 3-4x what it normally has been prior to say Oct-Nov. The ammo has to be going somewhere, it's not making it to stores. Sure guys are buying whatever they can get from the shelves, but the stores I've talked to (cabelas, scheels, walmarts, etc.) they are not getting even close to their normal ammo qty from before that time, much less more qty due to increased demand.

If it was just hording from the public, they should be getting even larger amounts of overall ammo, but then having it fly off the shelves, this isn't the case at least anywhere around here the stores can't even get their normal orders filled to get to the public much less increased orders.
 
#31
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

Didn't realize that the stores were not receiving stock.
I figured that it was just folks buying everything they saw when it first came in.

Sounds fishy.
confused.gif

Any alternate explanations that don't include a conspiracy theory?

I know that there has to be at least one member here with a business degree...
 
#32
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

I think the biggest reason rimfire is such an issue is just plain usage. So many people are getting into shooting it now because it is cheaper.....and a lot more fun.
 
#33
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

They need to be........................cause they see terrorists, all over.............likely check under their beds at night.
What used to be NORMAL, is now considered suspect.
whistle.gif

Reality is, the list put out, includes ANY group that does not agree w/ the current regimes belief system.
wink.gif

( IOW's, a Political Hit List).
 
#35
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

I agree with "fr3db"; we're shooting our .22's more often now and "resting" the .308's (saving ammo for the F-class matches here this summer). And, we have found good quality rimfire ammo is available if you look long & hard enough. Our local big box stores have mostly bare shelves, but at least one local gun dealer has a few cases of Federal GMM 519 in stock, and even Wolf ME.
 
#36
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

I think that has something to do with it, but I also believe the manufacures are not operating at full capacity...

Look at CCI/Speer... They put 80-85 folks back on their payroll that they had laid off earlier in the year. They seem to have no problem keeping up with supply in demand now. At least we see this being one of the middle cost end rounds becoming more available through the dealers.

Maybe the rest of these manufactures need to do the same and hire back a full work force. I personally believe that this is at the heart of the matter, along with being driven with the almight greed of the dollar.
 
#38
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ToddM</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Yeah, I have no doubt they are running 24/7 but where is the demand coming from? If stores are not getting the ammo, and their current production is obviously at least 2x if not 3-4x what it normally has been prior to say Oct-Nov. The ammo has to be going somewhere, it's not making it to stores. Sure guys are buying whatever they can get from the shelves, but the stores I've talked to (cabelas, scheels, walmarts, etc.) they are not getting even close to their normal ammo qty from before that time, much less more qty due to increased demand.

If it was just hording from the public, they should be getting even larger amounts of overall ammo, but then having it fly off the shelves, this isn't the case at least anywhere around here the stores can't even get their normal orders filled to get to the public much less increased orders. </div></div>

Your thoughts are very logical and rational, but as Keynes once said, markets can remain irrational longer than you and I can remain solvent. I saw this in the wine industry recently. People were buying up huge quantities of wine, ultimately bidding up prices. Eventually, the bubble popped (it took 10 years). Now retailers, distributors, speculators, and consumers are bursting at the seams with wine.

I agree with you that a shortage caused some hoarding, but now the hoarding is out of control. Speculators are coming in and buying ammo to sell at gun shows.

But to get to the bottom of this, I am curious to know if sales volume has gone up. What you are saying is that sales volume has gone down because of a shortage. What it looks like to me is that sales volume has stayed flat and inventory has become really volatile.

If the manufacturers are making more than ever before and speculators are gobbling up all of the ammo while actual consumers are keeping more on hand, we might have the makings of an ammo glut.

But I'm just like anyone else... a shortage of 22LR is really suspect... what is going on
 
#40
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ba_50</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Wait till everyone wants to unload it, at bargain prices I hope! </div></div>

I can't wait that long
smile.gif


As the commercials should say: "It's my ammo, and I want it now" lol
 
#41
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

Heh, yeah people have been saying that since October, about mags, AR's, ammo, etc. etc. ....hasn't happened yet, not going to, demand has continued to go up, availability continued to decrease, especially for ammo. There might be more availability and less gouging down the road, but you aren't going to see tons of anything being sold at dirt cheap prices anymore.

 
#42
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

Local expensive gun store here send his help out to clean out other store's supply. Then marks them up 33% and sells them.
It's just madness, like gasoline last summer.
Ammo keeps comming in but to many people are hoarding.
Takes one to know one.
 
#43
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

Clodhopper, that sounds ridiculous. A few years ago before we go shooting, my friends and I would make a stop at walmart, pick up the ammo we wanted to shoot for the day and then go have a cheap day of fun. Now, you have to plan/call/source places for ammo. I went to Turners the other day and special prices on ammo aren't very special.

 
#45
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

Just got in from my local wal mart. As of last Monday all bullet sales are limited to 6 boxes of each caliber/brand. The days of going and getting a "brick" of .22's are over at wally.
The clerk said that as of right now shotgun shells are not effected, but if they see and run on them they will limit them also.
 
#46
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

I got an email from Midway USA this past Friday letting me know they had Federal 510B in stock (the bricks)... Went to their website and they had none. Typical...

Well, looks like I'm going to just ride out the shortage storm and play around with my longbows this summer. I've had enough of this out of stock crap. I can get as much enjoyment (maybe even more) shooting traditional archery and if I need arrows I'll continue to make my own just like I make my own bows. I've simply had enough of this BS..
mad.gif
 
#49
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Joe Martin</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I got an email from Midway USA this past Friday letting me know they had Federal 510B in stock (the bricks)... Went to their website and they had none. Typical...

Well, looks like I'm going to just ride out the shortage storm and play around with my longbows this summer. I've had enough of this out of stock crap. I can get as much enjoyment (maybe even more) shooting traditional archery and if I need arrows I'll continue to make my own just like I make my own bows. I've simply had enough of this BS..
mad.gif
</div></div>

Yea what's up with that? Midway's pulled that stuff on me twice, and I was right quick to get to their site. I really hope that they won't do the same thing when primers finally arrive.

Who am I kidding? Primers will be in stock for less than 5 minutes IF they get them.
 
#50
Re: Where Has All The .22LR Ammo Gone?

yeah midway is horrible at this. I'm not sure why, if there is a time delay between when they put the item on the website until when they email the notices out, or if it's something in their stock system that doesn't take into account back orders or what.

I'd say at least 20 times since January they have sent me emails, some of which I went to the site within seconds of getting, and in every instance they were already out of stock on what they had emailed me on. So you can't put any faith at all on their emailing system. It was probably never designed for high demand items.

It depends on the walmarts we must have 4-5 of them within 20 minutes and some of them are limiting as much as 2 boxes per customer some are not limiting at all. It also depends on who is working the counter I'm sure.

From what I've heard it's only getting worse in fact at least two local walmarts are considering dropping ammo completely from their sales. It's too much hassle for them now, they have 10-20 calls an hour for it and one counter guy said that they will have 5-10 guys hovering around sporting goods every evening just to see what they bring out on the new stock pallets for the next day, and constant complaints from angry customers that they have no ammo. All it would take is one incident of some idiot trying to grab ammo or a customer fight over ammo and you could see walmart dump it completely.

I've also heard some of the major ammo suppliers that do both reloaded and factory ammo are pretty much at a standstill right now, they can't get primers or 9mm bullets and are telling their dealers not to expect any shipments of ammo for an indefinite amount of time.
 
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