“I’ve never been much into large conspiracies–that is, until now,” Brian Buru writes at gunnews.com writes. “In talking with a few WalMart managers (who happen to be relatives), I can say that WalMart is in fact starting to hoard .22 long rifle ammunition from their normal suppliers. I can also confirm that it is very purpose-driven. WalMart is planning one of the greatest marketing coups in history of marketing. They are saving all their .22 long rifle ammunition to attract one specific marketing demographic: Men, on the accursed Black Friday (The big sale night and/or day after Thanksgiving). Black Friday is often so important to retailers’ bottom lines that some would go out of business entirely if it were not for the masses of people coming in.” Yes, well, my LGS (Sportsman’s Finest) is still restricting customers to two boxes. What’s the sitch in your neck of the woods? [h/t SS]

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143 COMMENTS

  1. Why would they hoard ammo that is currently in high demand, just so they can sell it later at a discount?

      • I had the same thought regarding a “loss leader” item … but I don’t think Wal-Mart has to sell bricks of .22 LR at a loss to draw people into their store.

        • I doubt they will sell it at a loss, but the principle is the same. It’s a high-demand item, and they could probably get more for it than they will sell it for on Black Friday, but it’s worth the extra foot traffic to sell it at a bit lower profit and draw in customers.

    • Because retailers want you to come in, get caught up in the Black Friday frenzy, and spend a bunch of money on stuff that you would not have spent money on.

      • Which is exactly what guys looking to get .22 won’t do. You’re talking about two totally different types of customers. If anything, they’ll go from Walmart to Walmart “hoarding it back”.

        • It’s a brilliant idea on Wal-Mart’s part, guys as a matter of norm avoid the hell out of Black Friday sales…

    • The 22 ammo is just to get you into their store for BF, period. Walmart can pretty much guarantee the ammo won’t be the only thing you’ll be walking out with that night.

    • Stores already get a high volume of female shoppers on black Friday. As the story states they are planning on using the .22lr to attract men into the store. When you are missing a huge demographic segment you create a strategy to attract them. This could do it. ….or the men could just ask their better half’s to pick it up for them.

  2. I did the “Black Friday” thing once. That was enough for me. Not even a $21.99 brick of .22LR could get me to go through that again.

    • I actually worked Black Friday once at the local Academy (yes, behind the gun counter). Just glad I wasn’t a cashier–or a customer. Hopefully, never again. Speaking of Academy, still no .22 LR on the shelf last I checked.

  3. I have 7000 rounds of 22 with 2000 rounds purchased in the last 60 days. My local Dicks has had 500 round bricks available twice a month. I cam good to go and have a life time supply of TEOTWAWKI of squirrels, rabbits, crows and pigeons.

    • I wouldn’t be so certain about that. As a kid in the 70’s, my grandpa told me during the Great Depression the forests were nearly completely cleaned out of all game, people were so hungry.

      • Common suburban/urban SHTF plans:

        Plan A: the civil authorities got this. Everything will be okay. Just do what the radio says. Giggle.

        Plan B: I’ll hunt squirrels and rabbits in my neighborhood. Yep, you and 50 other guys. What will you eat on day three?

        Plan C: I’ll head to a state park and live off the land. Until they throw a fence around it and now you’re in a refugee camp. Not to mention that within 72 hours it will have turned into an unsanitary cesspool. Camping it ain’t.

        Plan D: I’ll go Mad Max and take what I need. I has gunz! Good luck. Try that around these parts you won’t make it one block.

        Less Common:

        1. Get to know your neighbors. Invite the guys to go shooting. Sign them up at your range. Take em it a gun store for the first time. Some new guys feel funny about going to a gun store if they’ve never been.

        2. Get your wife to talk to their wives about keeping extra food and water on hand. Not a hard sell. Chicks dig security and like projects to do on their own. Stuff like canning and things.

        3. Have enough supplies for you and yours and some extra to help other people.

        If you live in a standard suburban neighborhood there are three houses across from you, one on each side of yours and three in back. Eight other families that you know, with even rudimentary preps and some skills puts you way ahead of the curve if the mythical SHTF ever happens.

        Even if you’re only planning on tornado, hurricane, blizzard, earthquake or brush fire. That stuff does 100% happen.

      • Same goes for farms and large gardens. I recall reading about a farmer and his 15 acres of various garden crops being pillaged following the 2008 financial crisis in indiana (yeah indiana) from the unemployed sneaking on his property at night and other such tomfoolery.

        Fvck that noise. I would be less than civil about that. in SHTF even LESS civil (and my neighbors, who have the same gardens, would be less than enthusiastic also).

    • I’m with you on that. I have at least 7K rounds (stopped counting at 6K a couple of months ago) and I’ve been picking up a few hundred every week or so when they show up at the LGS (still have purchase limits). I’m starting to feel kind of guilty since I’m not shooting it nearly that fast, so I am starting to walk away and leave it for others. I still grab the subsonic stuff when I see it though as it’s not as popular as the supersonic with most people and my silencer likes it.

      • You have no reason to feel guilty, Jim.

        It is not hording if you are buying for your use, or for shelling it out to friends who might not have taken the ant’s perspective in being prepared. And, the next time this foolishness happens, you will not have to stress about where your next box of .22LR is coming from (if any) and your friends will be happy that you can ‘spare’ a box for their shooting needs (as long as you don’t be come the default ‘goto’ when fools didn’t have the foresight to buy their own ammo).

        If I had a stack of 22LR to draw freely from over the last two years of nonsense, it means I was appropriately prepared, which should be the norm given our current political climate.

  4. I can find any caliber ammo I need cheaper online, even after paying delivery charges, than I can in any of the stores in my area. I quit buying ammo at brick and mortar stores during the panic of 2012-2013. If they want to gouge me I’ll never go back, and they will lose my business on gun purchases too. My rule for guns is, if they have it in stock, or can order it in a reasonable amount of time, and I can buy it for what it would cost including shipping and transfer fees if I bought it online, =/-$20, then I’ll buy it from one of the stores in my area.

    • “I can find any caliber ammo I need cheaper online, even after paying delivery charges, than I can in any of the stores in my area.”

      Roger, I’m going to have to politely call BS on this, when it comes to .22LR ammo. Centerfire ammo? Probably yes. .22LR rimfire? Sorry, no (unless your local Walmarts don’t carry .22LR ammo at all).

      When they have it (BIG qualifier), Walmart has far lower prices on .22LR than ANY online store that I’ve checked in the last year or so (in-stock items only), and that is BEFORE you tack-on the inevitable shipping charge. You may find stuff that Walmart doesn’t carry (Remington buckets), or rare loss-leader-type special sales, but I eagerly await ANY examples of your claim when it comes to .22LR ammo (the subject of this article). Walmart does not have a wide selection, but what they sell in .22LR is priced the lowest, by far.

      • Some of us live closer to Havana, Cuba, than a Walmart. Ergo, we CAN get .22 cheaper online, as well as all other calibers, with a little judicious shopping. I KNOW, hard to wrap your brain around that first sentence, isn’t it?

        • Not really; I live in a state with a long Canadian border, and many of the rural farm/ranch folks along that border are probably in the same boat as you. But they (and you) are the exception, not the majority, and even THEY “go to town” every now and then to pick up supplies and items that are impractical to ship, or stuff they want to see/handle/try-on before buying.

          You NEVER “go to town”, perhaps to pick up someone from the airport, or otherwise travel by motor vehicle to a point that is close(er) to an ammo-stocking Walmart? How far out in the Keys ARE you? Maybe we could get you a free ammo “care package” air-dropped in a nearby field (or sandy beach)…

      • The walmarts in my area haven’t put 22lr on the shelves in close to 2 years. When it shows up in the brick and mortar stores its 12-15 cents a round. I can buy it online for 6-8 cents a round. Piss on the hoarding bastards. Go gunbot.net.

        • I will do without b4 using a credit card online to get it, but I don’t do without and can and do but any kind of ammo they make at a decent but more expensive than 10 yr. ago price of course but its in this area. Only problem is .22 mag. Just bought 2-420 rd.cans of 5.56 @ $140 each, expensive yea but everyone in the world doesn’t know I have it, or at least any “gummitt A-Hole who has a nose problem because my name and address isn’t on file with the good ole greenback.

        • Roger, your Walmart almost certainly HAS put .22 ammo on the shelf, probably every month for the last year. It’s just not STAYING on the shelf long enough for you to see it and buy it.

          Have you ever tried using BrassBadger.com, or other similar sites? They will show you when ammo of each caliber shows up at your local Walmart(s), and if you can get there quick enough, you might be able to grab some.

          Even though it doesn’t last long enough for me to get there in many cases, I’ve been able to use the results to predict what days of the week they might get ammo (based on past deliveries), and use this info to get there BEFORE the stuff is shelved. I just ask whoever is working the department if they’d be kind enough to check in back and see if any .22 ammo has come in, and a few times, I hit the jackpot.

    • Same here, if I happen upon it a retail store/Gun range (happened to be at Red’s South in Austin testing a new pistol, had on the counter cartons of CCI Standard Velocity 40 gr. 50 rds. box ,10 boxes per carton 500 rounds ea carton for $35.00 + sales tax, so brought two cartons. I give ammo & jerky for guys on my Christmas list and ammo & choc. for girls. Otherwise buy on line. Right now have over 4K rounds of .22lr (full boxes, not inclined right now to count bulk partial filled boxes) I’ll stock up before end of October for Christmas presents. Mostly .357, .38 special, 380, 22lr. Have all the 9mm needed right now cause I’m the only one in the family who has that caliber in a pistol & a revolver.
      No such thing of too much ammo, too many guns or too many pairs of shoes in my opinion, but damned if I’m going to stand in line outside a store waiting for the doors to open. Hate crowds, never ever doing Black Friday, in fact I’m certain Hell is one never ending Black Friday.

    • Our local Dick’s (yeah, I know, I have a short memory though) had the Remington Bucket O’Bullets a few weeks ago for $70 (1400 rounds, works out to 5 cents a round). A couple of days later CDNN Sports had them in a mailer for $139, limit 2, and they were sold out.

      Our Walmart got a medium shipment of CCI subsonic on Saturday. They were getting $7.49 for the 100 round boxes (7.5 cents per round), limit 3 boxes.

      Best deal is our Bass Pro Shop. They have .22 almost half of the time I stop in there. Boxes of 50 rounds of off-brand, like American Eagle, or Blazer, are $2.39 (less than 5 cents per round). Jacketed CCI mini-mags are like $8.49 for 100 rounds. They enforce a strict limit of 3 boxes per customer.

      There is no way that the internet is going to compete with those prices, not with shipping involved.

  5. I bought 400 rounds yesterday. 300 at Bass Pro (St.Charles, MO) and 100 at Cabela’s (Hazelwood, MO).

  6. There is almost nothing…..even free .22 ammo, that would make me go to a big-box store on Black Friday.

    • agreed. Even in the event that they setup with a beer tent in the parking lot with football on the TV and live entertainment/pole dancers, i would still say nope. Too many people get too emotionally locked onto getting a great deal, its like watching first graders fight over jolly ranchers. Tall glass of Nope for me boys, im sitting this one out.

  7. My local Walmarts (basically all in SoCal) just decided to each sell off three-hundred boxes of .22 (the 100 rd. CCI boxes) for $7 each yesterday morning.

    • Years ago, I think around 15, or so, I picked up about 15 to 20 boxes of the CCI 100 round boxes at K-Mart.
      They had them on sale for $2.00 a box, went back the next day to get more, but they were sold out.

      • When K-Mart was in its prime they were big on guns and ammo. Remington even made one of the Nylon22’s (Mod. 66) in green just for them to sell. If Im not mistaken that is but I think its very true.

    • Was traveling yesterday and stopped at a Walmart to pick up other things. A worker asked if I would be interested in some .22lr.
      They had a whole bunch but limited to 3 boxes of 100 each for $7.95. The worker said they were shipping a bunch to all the stores so I should drop by any I pass along the way.

    • Yu. Picked up some yesterday. I also found out last night (after ammo sales close) that ZQI was 20% off for some calibers.

      • Speaking of ammo sales cutoff times at Walmart, anyone know what they are? Travel a lot for work and it seems I’ve bought ammo at all different hours at different states. But if I remember correctly, was told I couldn’t buy it after 10pm at a Walmart in Mississippi. Seems I’ve bought late in: Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama. Are these ammo sales hours store policies, district store policies or state and /or local laws?

  8. Don’t shop @ Walmart and refuse to give any $ to Dick’s. My local gun store of choice is happy to sell me all his .22lr ammo when he gets it in. He is a good man and doesn’t gouge his customers on price. Still sells it close to pre-craze prices.

    • Must be nice to have that kind of LGS to shop at. All of the LGS within (un)reasonable driving distance to me are members of the “Dewee, Cheetum, and Howe” partnership.

      Walmart and online are about it unless you wish to support gougers. I’d love to support my LGS, but I am not supporting that type of practice.

  9. How are Black Friday frenzies? We don’t have them in Europe and I always thought the concept is fascinating.

    I sorta got acces thousands of rounds of Eley ammo (the golden box stuff). It isn’t mine but the shooting club that I am a member of owns. Should probably take a picture and post it on gun forums to see what reaction I get.

    • People crowding store entrances and literally trampling each other to get in and be the first to grab whatever deals are on the shelves. Sometimes people even pitch tents in parking lots, sleep in their cars, or the lines may even start the day before, and people bring sleeping bags so they can keep their places in line overnight.

      A number of big retail stores here in the US had black Friday sales on .22LR last year. Multiple palettes stacked out in the store. A lot of them sold out in less than five minutes as people rushed into the store and went directly to the huge stacks of .22LR.

      I totally refuse to be a part of it. I don’t bother going anywhere near retail locations on this day.

    • Black Friday is the worst thing ever. I refuse to participate. Online deals are the way to go. The deals aren’t always as good, but at least I don’t have to deal with hordes of stupid people.

      • no joke about the online deals! There are always some sweet packages companies throw out, hoping to find me an AR pistol on sale this year 🙂

    • They’re horrid. I wouldn’t go near a mall or big store on that day for $1000. It’s starting to ruin one of my favorite holidays, Thanksgiving, because these sick women want to start shopping Thanksgiving night. It makes me hate Christmas even more than I already do. I get irritated just thinking about about how soon it’s coming up. Shopping online or in little boutiques is the only way to go for me now.

    • It’s not so bad if you go during the middle of the day and can maneuver around the fat sheeple. Go with a purpose, say “excuse me” politely, and don’t dwaddle. I’ve bought $120 shoes for $40 on a Black Friday.

    • Black friday is fvcking stupid. Thank god or the cosmos or whatever you believe in that you dont have to deal with that bullsh it.

      It ruins holidays, immerses stupid people into more materialism, and makes people buy sh it they dont need.

      And, the funny thing about that, is these same groups of people have no preps whatsoever. None. They think crazy fringe lunatics do that kind of nonsense.

  10. The new price of .22 LR is pretty much $.11 round or higher. There are a few exceptions, but that seems to be where the market has settled. I still have the $23.97 for boxes of .22 LR Winchester 36 gr CP HP of 525 in my mind as a find. That’s a fond memory.

    If Walmart has that as a Black Friday special of decent .22 LR at about $.04 / round I’ll darken their doors at 4 am.

    My ammo storage is now secondary to extra water and food. We’ll be getting solar soon, and possibly energy storage capability later.

    • Not even remotely true. I bought 500 rounds for $30 last week. You just gotta hit the right stores at the right times.

      When supply normalizes, it’ll be back at $25/500. Still a huge increase over five years ago, but still worthwhile.

      • Well, it’s true in my neck of the woods, given I work 60 + hours / week and don’t have time to stalk my local retailers.

    • I strongly suggest that you research how your PV system and batteries are supposed to be installed, as many contractors for solar either don’t know or don’t care how to do it properly. A proper installation will protect your system, protect you and your property from fire, water, and wind damage, and significantly improve your system’s efficiency and the lifespan of your batteries.

  11. .22LR supply is tight and sporadic here in MA. The manufacturers weren’t making much low-margin .22 during the Great Ammo Extinction because they were selling every high-margin cartridge they could make, and then some. Now that demand is stabilizing, we’ll see .22LR again, but we won’t like the prices. Solids will cost about the same price as 9mm FMJ.

  12. What is this .22 ammo shortage I hear so much about? On last Wednesday I purchased 2 bricks of Federal from my local Outdoor store for $24 a brick and then at WalMart yesterday I picked up 300 rounds of CCI for $24. All told I have accumulated enough .22 to keep me and my immediate family shooting for a couple of years even if I can’t find anymore ammo. It’s just been a matter of being patient and talking to various store managers to know when to be where and I haven’t paid any gouger prices (relatively speaking) for any of it. $12 bricks are never going to be seen again, but I think the most I’ve spent is .08 a round for CCI. Maybe I’m just lucky.

    • You’re lucky. You can find off brand or limited quantity .22 LR on ammo seek / gunbot for less than $.10 / round.

      I really wish I could shop where people are getting .22 LR Federal and CCI for $.08 / round or less. I’m in Orange County, CA, and deals are tough to find unless you can shop at weird hours or are naturally lucky. Those advantages don’t apply to me.

  13. .22 is still hard to come by in my neck of the the woods. I’m in northern Illinois. Must admit I don’t go looking too often though. When I happen to be somewhere that may have it, I take a look.

    • I’m about 90 minutes from Chicago, and none of the box stores have .22LR. We have one LGS that usually has a little in stock, but it’s always 10¢ per round or more, 2 box limit. If I drive about 45 minutes out of town in nearly any direction I can get it every day in the 6¢ to 8¢ range, with more or less no limit. I have found 3 or 4 small, small towns where the LGS has decided to not scalp the customers, so now I make the drive to each of them a couple times per month. My favorite guy had 1400 round buckets for $79 the other day.

      I have a 4 shooter household, so we burn through a lot of .22. We had a period of a couple, maybe three, years when no one had .22 on any kind of regular basis. We went to the range far less often, and each shot far fewer rounds because the 9mm, .38, .45, etc was also hard to get, but not impossible, and pretty pricey. As long as we’re careful now, and buy as much as the budget will allow on any given ammo quest, we have plenty of cheap stuff to shoot and we can maintain a 3k-5k round cushion.

      I almost never go into Walton-mart, though. When I am forced to do so, I glance at the ammo, but they never have anything I want. I absolutely will not be there on Black Friday. I might be at the range, though.

    • They are not. I can’t seem to find it again, but another gun blog ran an article this week from an employee from ATK saying that are favoring centerfire cartridges in production expansion because the profit margin on 22lr is so low to almost be a loss.

      So, ammo makers are not lying when they say that they are still making as much 22lr as they ever have, but they sure the hell are not making any MORE than they ever did before.

  15. In Dallas, I find .22 LR fairly often to add to my stockpile. Still restrictions on amounts at most places. Many retailers hoard ammo for there ‘store specials’. Personally, I have attended promo events at Gander mountain, Academy Sports, Dicks, Wal Mart, Bass Pro, Cabellas, and a few others that have all employed this same strategy to get folks into the stores.

    • True statement on the promo events, but those other store chains don’t have the huge pre-programmed crowd of haters that Walmart has, so you probably won’t hear many negative comments about the same tactic being employed elsewhere.

      • Those other chains, all combined, probably don’t have the number of stores Wal-Mart has, either. It’s a question of scale – if every Cabela’s store hoards a pallet of ammo for a promo, it’s not that much ammo in total. If every Wal-Mart does it, that’s a warehouse full of ammo.

        • Granted, and a good point.

          But not every Walmart store sells ammunition, and Cabelas also sells ammo online, as do some of the other retailers listed above. I’m sure that increases the amount they sell vs. in-store-only sales, but it probably still doesn’t get them close to Walmart’s overall .22LR ammo sales figures. Closer, but not close.

  16. .22LR in these parts (Southern LA) is still as rare as that spray can of squelch we used in our commo gear back in the day.

    Last time I saw .22LR on the shelf it was selling for $6 box of 50, cheap stuff looked like they broke down a couple bricks, that was about a months ago, so I happily took the last 8 boxes of .223 (@ $3 each) and went on my merry way.

  17. Where I live, Cabelas limits one brick (usually 222 or 333) or 100 round small boxes. Sportsmans & other smaller store have similar limits. I have heard that Cabelas corporate ordered no sale of bricks to employees. Supposition is that some of the stores have failed to keep .22 on hand for sale of guns. Not so my local store, they also keep an eye out for hoarders & resellers who have been known to hide ammo around store. New local indoor range & store is charging $60 & up for bricks.

  18. We can find match .22LR all the time here in Wyoming.

    Commodity grade .22LR? It comes through in fits and spurts, usually restricted to purchasing 50-round boxes at a time.

    I’m hoping that by the end of this year, the match ammo comes down a bit in price, as I need to select & buy another 10K round case for competition purposes.

    • For yourself or for a club?

      Let me guess, the old school kind of competition that involves a sling and diopter sight? What target guns are used in the US now in “modern” times?

      • For myself.

        When I buy a case of ammo, it is after buying a brick (500 rounds) here and there, trying out what brands/labels of ammo shoot the best in my rifle.

        I’m shooting an Anschuetz 1807, aperture sights. Choosing the wrong ammo leads to groups over 1.5″ at 50 yards. Choosing the “right” (meaning, “ammo that agrees with my rifle) means groups about 1/2” or less at 50 yards.

        Once I find a brand/label/lot of ammo that my rifle likes, I try to buy a 10K round case. That means I’m set for years to come. No muss, no fuss, no wondering “how will this particular 500 rounds shoot in my rifle?” When you buy a case of the same lot that worked in your rifle the first 500 rounds, you typically get the same performance brick after brick.

        If I change lots, I sometimes find that groups change in size. In this aspect, shooting .22LR for scores sometimes really is annoying, because you have no control over the loading. You have to quality pre-made ammo, the parameters of which you might measure, but cannot change.

        The last time I bought a case of .22LR ammo was 2007. I’ve just about finished it off, I’m down to the last three bricks. That won’t make it through the winter shooting season.

        • That’s a nice one, Anscütz 1807. Haven’t tried Anscütz yet but from what I know they are bees knees, correct or?

        • They’re very nice. There are several very nice target .22’s out of Germany and Austria.

          Anschuetz is simply the most common, because you can take someone who wants to get into competitive shooting at the highest levels down to an Anschuetz store and outfit that person head-to-toe in everything they need to compete in serious shooting.

          Walther makes competitive .22’s, as does Feinwerkbau and others. We used to have several very nice .22’s made here in the US by US companies, but they’re all gone now. The Winchester 52, Remington 40X, along with guns made by Kimber, Mossberg, Marlin and others. No one really makes a competition rifle in the US any more unless it is a custom gun.

  19. Walmart still has the 3 box limit around here, not to mention that ive only seen .22 there once in the past 6 mos and of course got my 3 boxes while standing next to another dude who was equally amazed.

    I dont even think .22 LR will get men out on black friday. But that is quite the conspiracy theory hah Then again, I am wrong plenty, but I would just think Walmart would be like “aint nobody got time fo dat.”

    Academy had some match grade .22LR for 15 bucks a sleeve 2 days ago as well.

  20. I will preface this by saying that I will NOT stand in line at 6am and fight re-sellers to get a couple boxes of 22lr.

    When I moved away Gettysburg PA this spring, out of at least 20 LGS, 3 Gander Mtn stores, a Cabelas and a Bass Pro all within 30 mins of me, there was NO 22lr to be had. Now that I have moved back to my home in central Maine, there is also absolutely none to be had here either. The only 22lr that I have purchased since Sandy Hook was online and that was $.11 a round. I’m not paying that price for 22lr. Not when I can reload 9mm for a few cents more than that.

    • “I will preface this by saying that I will NOT stand in line at 6am and fight re-sellers to get a couple boxes of 22lr.”

      3 tiny 50-round or meager 100-round boxes? I agree.

      3 full-size value packs of 500+ rounds, at 5 cents a round or less? Well, you just might be able to find me in THAT line…

      I am a little bit ticked-off that they are withholding ammo (if all this is true) during the summer target-shooting season and fall small game hunting season in most areas, so they can try to draw folks into the stores later, after much of the prime hunting/target-shooting weather has passed. In the south/southwest, it probably doesn’t matter all that much, but it does where I live.

      Not many folks found on the outdoor ranges in the northern plains/midwest during or after the holidays.

      • I thought the spirit of Black Friday was fighting other people wanting to buy the same thing as you?

        • Well, not necessarily the fight, but the victory of getting one or more of the good deals before they run out.

          But it has to be worth the effort; getting up at oh-dark-thirty, driving across town, finding a place to park, standing in line (often outdoors in the cold/windy weather, in my area), just to get a chance to make the purchase. If they have large amounts of decent-quality .22LR ammo at a good/great price, many folks will turn out; if it is low-quality ammo, or a non-spectacular price, or severely limited quantities, or one-box-per-person, then I don’t think many folks will make the effort.

          Anything left-over will end up on the shelf the next day, although at a slightly higher price; sometimes, waiting may be a better overall deal, especially if you hate dealing with large throngs of tightly-packed hopped-up shoppers.

  21. Wife says, “Let’s camp overnight to get a bunch of stuff we don’t need for less.” Husband ridicules the idea and they both stay home. Add ammo to the mix and it’s a whole different scenario.

  22. Walmarts around here (Oklahoma) did hoard up a bunch of .22 and just released it all for sale yesterday. 3 box limit per person.

  23. Offical report caliber 22 lr in northern middle Tennessee is as follows

    little or no 22 lr in area 17hmr can still be found in limited quantities any 22 lr found in area very overpriced at gunshops if found the following is found : Norma tactical , Aguila and Remington thunder bolt ( ammo in own depot less than 1000 rounds )

    • I am not far from Murfreesboro and if you go down I-24 to the Outpost you can get .22 but the last time I was in there (about a month ago) there was a 4 box limit.

  24. Walmart placed hundreds of 100 round boxes of CCI on the shelves yesterday (10/04/14).
    I saw 300 boxes per store in my area.
    With Walmart’s self imposed rationing ( 3 boxes per person per day ) that was 100 sales per store.
    I did not know it was an advertized sale but I was lucky enough to stumble across it
    I had three stores that I had to drive past while working..You do the math.
    After tax it ran to $0.08 a round. That’s not a SALE price.

  25. Bizarre situation at a Wal Mart in Westchester, NY. Generally I go there just about every morning, and have been for the last three months or so. In that time, netted a few bricks and a few 50 round packs. Nothing odd there… but – I saw some CCI .22LR Standard Velocity behind their glass case a few days ago. It was “masked off” – on display but not yet for sale – that particular SKU had an interlock that prevented it from being sold. I was told, apologetically, “it’s on a recall – we can’t release it for sale until we clarify which are the bad lots, send back the ones identified as bad/suspect and sell the rest.” Oddly customers I ran into yesterday were told something slightly different, that it was available for sale but “not before Saturday at 8am.” Interlock still in effect. I return today for more – and encounter another early bird who was told, “we can sell it but not until 8am.” Sure enough the “recall block” was lifted. I bought the limit of three, and texted one of my friends from the range…

  26. I have no plans to buy a .22anything. If I have any $ on Black Friday I’m heading to my local Cabelas. Or Blythes. If I can save a lot of $ I’ll try. But NEVER at Wal-Mart. A lot of crazy lowlifes frequent these sales…

      • Please? I’ve never had a problem at Cabelas or LGS. The local Wal-Mart is dangerous on any normal day. Google shootings at Wal-Mart & Black Friday violence. And I live south of Chicago and very close to NW Indiana. Plenty of ghetto lowlifes to go around. From an OFWG married to a beautiful black woman.

        • I wasn’t talking about Black Friday, anyone who goes out in that cluster (fill in blank) is crazy! I don’t relish the thought of being run-over by a 400 lb. couch cow with her herd of pups in tow.

    • WTF does ‘low lifes” at the sale have to do with anything? That’s strange man, strange. Got a self-confidence issue there or what? Im not trying to be a wise-azz but I swear I just don’t get that unless your name is ‘Thurston Howell III” or something. If I want some ammo and thereis a place that I can get some I don’t care if Satan himself is there as long as he doesn’t buy it all out. Geesh…

      • Don’t want to get run over by a 400 pound cow? I’m lacking? Had a few too many beers? DUH

        • I don’t drink, but I was joking and I dont think you was. No offense but I just get so tired of the ppl claiming that they “buy American or not at all” because they apparently don’t have very much. You cant buy American anymore, its just impossible. And Wally World employees more people than anyone I think. Noones getting rich there but are they anywhere else? Later and hope I didn’t rub ya the wrong way.

  27. Field and Stream had a grand opening in Raleigh last month that essentially had up to 5K rounds per person at 5c/rd remington and 6c winchester. After the first hour the customer line was gone and the pallets were lightly guarded and you could essentially grab as much as you wanted. With my stash on hand I was satisfied with my 5K.

    BTW, IIRC they had 4-5 monster sized pallets.

    I see that there is an opening in Big Flats, NY. Someone may want to stake that out. I saw no local Raleigh advertising that they were going to have 22LR. I almost didn’t go.

    • The Field and Stream grand opening DID have advertising in the N&O which listed several .22LR makes. If I recall, they had a flyer in the paper the Thursday before the event and then the same flyer again on Sunday during the grand opening event.

  28. I’ve had orders for .22LR at one online store pending since May 2013, and at another store since November 2013.

    And so I wait…

    • The .22. L.R. isn’t to hard to get here, like I said in my post 1 in 3 places have it usually but the .22 mag. is almost impossible. Now a year or so ago the L.R. was just nowhere to be found but its gotten better around here as of the last 6 months or so. Now some have a 2 box per customer daily limit but some don’t. Awhile ago a shop on the way to work had L.R. in the 2 box-per day so I just stopped everyday for a cpl weeks and got a decent lot of it. Hell Ive got it everywhere now, every ammo box I look into has some in it I have stashed, I wont keep all my ammo in one place, it gives me the feeling of always having some because I have some I just will not shoot unless….well you know, that perverbial day we all hope will never come.

  29. Walmart and others can do whatever they want, I will not be going out into the hell that is Black Friday even for 22lr. Unless I can buy it online, the answer is no thanks.

    In the mean time, various LGS have had limited supply and I was able to pick up 1000 rounds which will be fine for me for now

  31. Not to much of a problem w/.22 L.R. round here but my problem (and others as well I sure) is the .22 Magnum, its almost impossible to get. In two yrs. time I have found 4 boxes of .22 Mag. and that was tree weeks ago and interestingly enough it was Hornady 30 gr. V-Max w/a red ballistic tip on them for $14 & change a box. (50 ct.) Im afraid to shoot it and wont for awhile. I actually put 2 rds. of it in my .22 Mag. Derringer. They said they was going to get more and interestingly enough again this is a pawn shop, the gun shops cant get it and I even went to Cabellas an they said they haven’t been able to get any (.22 Mag) for awhile. But as for the .22 L.R. one in three round here have it. The pawn shop I got the .22 mag at has a lot of Armscor .22 Long Rifle w/no limit.

  32. 7.62×39 has become my .22 replacement. I have about 2k in .22 but I save it to train new or inexperienced shooters. Another great deal is the ZQ1 7.62×51 for $9.97 per box. It’s cheap enough to actually shoot my .308 rifles a bunch. Although I’m saving to get a reloading setup and haven’t been buying too much ammo.

  33. On Black Friday, every deal but the “OMG we only have 4 per store” loss leaders are there an hour after open, when the Horde has passed on.

    At that time, the store is empty of customers, full of stock, and every checkout is open.

    There is no better time to shop.

    Even if you do join the rush, the shoppers are organized and on a mission. There is no 300 pound dolt playing looky-loo, waddling down the center of the aisle so no one can get around them.

    It’s good times until the minivans show up about 10am. If you’re not done by then, give up.

  35. I have some .22 tucked away, but I have almost given up looking for it because I can’t accept that $35 for 500 rounds of .22 is the new “normal” price. Just a few years ago, I was bitching about $15/500 rounds. I am beginning to feel like ammo is one of those things where you might as well buy as much as you can afford, because it will never be cheaper than it is right now…..

    • “I have some .22 tucked away, but I have almost given up looking for it because I can’t accept that $35 for 500 rounds of .22 is the new “normal” price. Just a few years ago, I was bitching about $15/500 rounds.”

      We’re in the same boat here.

  36. Isnt Walmart one of the companies along with Dicks that caved and no longer sell ar-15s because they are black? Do not support weak minded businesses.

      • All the Walmarts that I know of that sold AR-style rifles, still do (maybe a dozen stores in a three-state area).

        I think any dropping of AR-style rifles may have been a local store decision (or perhaps regional), not a chain-wide decision.

    • I saw evil black rifles at Wal-Mart in Scheriville,Indiana. Bushmaster too-the evilest 🙂

    • Maybe. But I still see ARs in Walmart here in AZ. Although I’ve never looked for them in Tucson.

  38. Doesn’t surprise me at all….. A friend of mine, told me when they were looking for .22lr rounds, the cashier said they didn’t have any in stock and to try back later in the week. So at a later date, he went back and checked to see if they stocked up on.22s and the same cashier told him the same thing again!!!! So he asked to speak to a manager, come to find out WalMart had shelves upon shelves of .22lrs in stock! The cashier was holding them back to sell to a friend of hers!!! So, to hear that WalMart is doing something like holding back .22 rounds, it just doesn’t surprise me one bit…….

  39. My local Wal Mart and Dick’s and Sports At. have still not had 22 ammo for the last 2 years plus , can get some at local gun shows every other month at very high prices… So What gives ?????????? Where is it at… Local range can’t get any either………saw some on inter net but if you add in shipping it’s way high too………

    • Speaking here about Walmarts (although the same may apply to the other stores as well), for the past year or two, unless you were standing nearby when the shipment was unpacked/shelved, you never saw it. Virtually EVERY Walmart gets SOME KIND of .22 ammo at least monthly, but it usually lasts less than an hour after it hits the shelf. Sometimes it doesn’t last five minutes. That does not mean that they aren’t getting any .22LR ammo; it just means the .22LR ammo is selling-out before your next trip to the store.

      Therefore, your statement “…have still not had 22 ammo for the last 2 years plus…” is simply not accurate, unless you add “on the shelf, when I was there looking for it.”

  40. All of my local Wal-Mart’s just sold out of a ton of Black Friday branded CCI 40gr round nose ammo. The three near me each had 200 boxes (20,000 rounds) per store and they decided to put on the shelves early. It sold out all three around 12pm yesterday. So I can confirm that yes the Wal-Mart’s are getting large shipments of 22 ammo in! (I’m in Florida for what that’s worth). Anybody else see this black Friday Cci ammo? The boxes are black and the CCI logo is Orange

  41. I’ve got 3800 rounds, including 1800 of CCI Mini-Mag, 1500 of 36gr CPHP and 300 of 40gr CPRN. Also a bunch of Federal bulk 36gr cphp and some assorted Aguila stuff, most bought at various online stores, some from Wal Mart. All the Mini-Mag was 8 cents/round, all the Federal was 5 cents/round. All in all, not bad. I can go to the range without worrying. I have no interest in getting on line at 6:00 AM hoping against hope to score some ammo when all it takes is patience and persistence online. Thank you Gunbot.

  42. Wal-Mart in Hattiesburg , Ms. releases their ammo shipments on Fridays at 7 am , usually there is only about three cases of .22 lr on the pallet , that breaks down to not too much in the long run , this allotment is way less than before the buying frenzy , myself I think that quite a few retailers have hoarded .22 lr so they can keep the prices high for a long time to come , on another note a lot of gun show retailers are gouging folks constantly , 65 bucks for a box of 550 is outrageous , but that is wants going on , but since the ammo manufacturers have not increased making .22 lr , since it is not a big profit maker for them , we have a purposeful shortage for profiteers , just my 2 cents . Be prepared and ready . Keep your powder dry .

  43. Nope: not waiting in any lines at Walmart at 5am, or Black Friday anytime, for ammo or not.
    Just about break out in hives in the malls anyway.

    Too easy to get decent ammo online, if patient.

  44. FWIW at the new Field & Stream grand opening sale in Columbus a month ago they had a 1400 round bucket of .22 for $69, limit 2. With a coupon and going back twice I bought 3 buckets for 4.8 cents a round. I have no idea if they have any more in stock as of today. But they did use .22 to get butts in the door for the sale. I agree about avoiding black Friday… I went on my lunch hour. Stayed focused.. Was in and out in 20 min.

  45. My ammo situation is a total outlier with the guns currently in NJ and me away at school most of the year. Paying $20-$25 per 500 round brick pre Sandy Hook was the accepted norm by me. A week before the shooting I said screw it and bought 2,000 rounds. I was younger and stupider back then, never thinking to sojourn out to the Pennsylvania boonies for a couple of days to find cheaper ammo. Once the great extinction was under way, I gave up. This past August my two favorite shops had those 50 round CCI packs with a two per-customer limit. Can’t remember the price but it was definitely higher than what y’all in the free states are paying.

    Because I only get to go shooting a handful of times a year for the time being, that paltry 2,000 rounds I bought has been serving me quite well and it always attracts a bit of friendly jealousy at the range. I’ll definitely pool some money together this winter, take that trip out to PA, and stock up while prices for factory 8mm Mauser are semi-sane and small pockets of surplus ammo still exist. Better late than never, right?

  46. I wouldn’t go to a store on Black Friday, even if they were giving bricks of .22LR away for free. I really wouldn’t.
    I’ve got plenty to last me for quite some time. I haven’t bought any since before the panic (@ $20 / brick for Federal).

  47. Have the same 5k rounds of CCI that I had in 2012. Unbelievable. Now I have a CZ452 FS in 22lr. on order, predicated on the belief that *sooner of later* 22lr will eventually become economical to shoot again.

    I swear, the whole friggin’ world of jobless ‘preppers’ must be wasting their entire lives, waiting at Wally-world for the “2nd-coming” (of more ammo).

  48. My local Walmart in Illinois just had 1000 round packs of winchester for $51. I bought my limit of three.

  49. The other day I bought five boxes of 225 rounds of .22 from my local walmart. I can’t remember the price but it was definitely well under 10c/round. Some guy after me bought five boxes as well, and there were a few more boxes on the shelf. If Walmart is hording for BF, they’re doing a crappy job at it here in NH.

  51. I have more .22 ammo then I’ll ever shoot.. I did the black friday thing at cabelas last year and made out like a bandit. I think everyone should try it once.. if the store is geared up and managed right, you can get some pretty awesome deals…

  52. If you’re gonna use a chess set as a classy-looking prop in a photo, how about setting up the board correctly? Each side has a white square on the right corner, and each queen is on her own color, i.e. white Q on a white square, and black Q on a black square. You guys are 0-2 at this!

  53. i refuse to pay more than $35 for a brick of 500 rounds. most of the problem is people going to a store, buying what they have and then reselling it for $50 to $100 for the brick. if everyone stopped paying these people these prices then they will stop doing it. till then it will not end.

    • It would also end if supply could ever catch up to the ongoing demand, as no one would feel the need to buy at inflated prices if stores regularly had it on the shelves at NORMAL prices. Although I basically agree with you that “flipping” is one of the major causes, I can’t tell a new shooter who just bought their first .22 firearm in the last year or two (or received one as a gift) that they shouldn’t buy ammo at inflated prices; heck, a lot of them don’t know how to define “inflated ammo prices”, as they have no past experience buying it. If the choice is expensive ammo and the ability to shoot, or wait for cheap(er) ammo which may not come back for an unknown period of time (and not shoot at all during this long wait), then it’s really no choice at all. I’ve GIVEN ammo to folks who were in this type of bind, to help KEEP them from having to buy ammo from the flippers, but a person can only do that for so long.

  54. So what this means is that WalMart will blow the dam on Black Friday and THE SPICE WILL FLOW thereafter.

  55. I don’t care if they sell it for $5.00 for a box of 525 I’m not going to shop on black Friday and especially at Walmart.

  57. Local Wal-Mart and gun stores still have problems – nothing on the shelf unless you are standing there when it is delivered. One gun store in Boise has a pretty good supply, but that is because they have raised their retail price to “gun show scalping level” prices – $60/brick for the bulk stuff, $25/100 for CCI Green Tag, etc. That has slowed down their sales, because the people who were buying it for resale at a gun show or online can no longer make a profit. Not sure how/if this will help the Boise store with its regular customers.

  58. I guess I am the only one that noticed the chess board is wrong. ‘White to the right’ is the rule and that white Rook is on a black square.

    • Yea, I noticed that too, but I noticed the white queen was on black first. A queen is supposed to be on her own color.

  60. The approptiate article headline would read…

    “OMG!! Retailer stocks up on hard to get products to attract custimers on black friday… just like always, OMG!”

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