I was a little surprised to walk into the Athena Gun Club in Houston and find this ammo pyramid. The sign on top of the pile offers Athenians a 5,000 round case of of hecho en Mexico Aguila .22 for $599. That’s .12 a round folks. Which may well account for the pyramid’s continued existence. How’s the .22 supply in your neck of the woods? Still rationed? And what of other calibers? Are you hoarding stocking-up?
Foe some reason, while most other calibers have come back down to pre-panic prices and availability (at least 9mm and .45 ACP), .22 seems to still be expensive and unavailable…I don’t get that.
It’s because that’s all everyone was shooting for 2-3 years. No one wanted to shoot their 9mm, when it was worth 80c/rd. So, most people’s supplies are/were depleted.
Aguila .22 at 12 cents/rd is outrageous. On Sept. 5, 2015, I was passing through York, NE and I picked up two 525 rd. boxes of Remington 36 gr. H.P. .22 at a Walmart for $29.64 per box which included tax (5.6 cents/rd.). Being from Illinois, I was shocked at not having to produce a birth certificate and passport to purchase the ammo – just pay for it! There are virtually no bulk boxes of .22 on the shelves of stores in Springfield, IL unless you just happen to be there when it is put out for purchase.
As a side note, Aguila .22 stinks when fired.
Funny you should say the .22 ammo stinks. I shoot skeet every weekend. ANYONE who goes to Walmart and buys the bulk pack of Federal 12 ga. shotshells always gets a lot of grief. Those shells fire well. If you are pointing your shotgun in the right direction, the birds break. But, the powder has a particularly nasty smell to it.
Oh well, given the price that Walmart sells it for I, too, have been guilty of buying it.
It stinks and is dirty and should be about 7 cents a round . The sub sonic stuff is sort of fun .
I have plenty of .22. I now only buy when I see it on sale for about 8 cents a round or less when I can find it. I no longer even search Wally world. But I see lots of it for 10-15 cents per round in lgs. Otherwise I don’t buy and instead shoot 9 and .45.
12 cents a round seems a little high considering the bulk quantity, but at least you can get it in bulk. Academy still won’t sell more than two lousy little boxes at a time. And I’ve STILL yet to see ANY Walmart stock ANY .22 for more than 10 minutes, going on three years now.
Other than that everything seems reasonably available and prices have somewhat stabilized.
Tom
My first sighting at all of .22lr in a Walmart was back in about April. Throughout the summer, I’ve seen it consistently on the shelf at whatever random times I might show up. There’s still a max. per customer and quantity on hand is usually fewer than ten boxes, but it’s available now at not too shocking prices.
It an be had and is readily available on in from multiple locations and multiple brands and grains but when you calculate in shipping it generally sells for around 12 cents a round . The HV and CD stuff can be 20 cents and usually limited supply , but such is life and I would rather spend thirty bucks on 250 rounds of 22 LR ammo than thirty bucks on four nasty cardboard hamburgers , two large greasy fries , two large cups of ice with 4 ounces of cola thrown in and maybe a couple apple thingies that aren’t awful .
I really didn’t type ‘ it an be ‘ or ‘ on in from ‘ WTF ?
Sometimes when the site is bogging down from all the crapware in the code, it will freeze up while you are typing, then unfreeze. Anything you typed during the freeze is gone, so I’ve learned to watch the screen as I type. Still gets me from time to time.
Our 2 Walmarts 30 miles away from each other have stopped stocking .22s. Haven’t seen any in years. Online has been my only option unless I want to drive hours. Have been able to find them online at .08-.10 but by the time you add shipping…
I have it on good authority that my local Walmart (Melbourne, Fl.) gets .22 in, and it is bought right off the truck by the local pawn shop owners. Doesn’t even make it into the store.
You can easily find .22 in bulk online. And even last time I bought it, which was several months ago, it was priced ~10c/round for quality stuff (i.e. CCI).
Still rationed at most places, here in Austin, but not necessarily hard to come by. If you get to Academy before 10 AM, they usually have some for normal prices. It’s easy to order on the internet now also, with sites like Gunwatcher and Gunbot. Site-to-store online orders to Cabelas, Bass Pro, Academy or Gander Mountain gets you free shipping also. There’s no reason to pay inflated prices anymore.
I managed to pick up 3 Bucket O’ Bullets at the Bass Pro in Round Rock for $75/bucket last week. Color me pleased. 😀
Just picked up a bucket ‘o Bullets at the LGS. After going through a bunch of them in the M&P 15-22 I am convinced Remington manufacturers those to help push more cleaning products on the user…lol.
I stop by a local Academy and pick up 22 on a regular basis. Is the price incredible? No. But a Bucket O for 70 isn’t the end of the world bad.
You’re just seeing ripoff prices because you forget that Athena is a range, not just a retailer. American Shoot sells Colibris for $8/50
I’m regularly paying .08/rd shipped, which is double what it should be, but better than not having any. Still no joy at Wally Mart, but LGS tends to have some in the .10/.12 range… I think demand is still pretty high but is leveling off a bit, as evidence by your pyramid of goodness there.
$0.12 a round for 22lr. What has the world come to.
Just a few years ago it was $0.015/rd.
I remember of buying 3 boxes of Remington Golden bullet, 550 rounds each for 14.99. Times have changed. The way the 22 prices are going, some fool will probably someday figure out a way to economically reload the dam things!
It wasn’t that long ago. What 5 years maybe? Ten years ago, we’d get the Federal 550 bulk packs at Walmart for 8.99 or so. To me, bulk pack .22 is worth 5-6 cents per round max (7-9 cents for quality stuff like Mini-Mags). I definitely won’t pay anywhere close to 10 cents a round for basic .22lr.
I can shoot 7.62X39, 7.62X54R (surplus corrosive), 12 gauge target loads, and 9mm for around 20 cents a round. I’ll just shoot those instead (plus a little from my stash of .22). I can wait a few more years for the price to come back down.
You have to be really young to not remember sub-$10 bricks.
And just two years ago, people were asking $0.25 per round… Such are the vagaries of a (somewhat) free market.
It’s heartening to see that nobody appears to be taking that store’s bait and buying crappy Aguila .22LR for 12 cents per.
I could start my own Central American war. None of it is .22.
Ah yes, but you are missing out on the all important Zombie Apocalypse prep. 22LR is the perfect zombie head shot round. It goes in but doesn’t come out. Time to stock up!
Little to none in my part of NY. I stopped shooting 22LR a year ago. Saving my stock for better days. I can reload 38 special and 40 S&W for near 12 cents a round. So I have been shooting that.
11.6 ¢ a round for a box of 500 Remington Thunderbolt. It’s still hard to find at cheaper prices in Mo.
I’m starting to see more expensive brands (e.g., CCI in the fancy plastic boxes) more often, somewhere in the 10c a round range. I’ll buy it provided it’s under 10c per round, it’s better ammo. I won’t pay that price for the dumped-in-a-box loose brands though.
Maybe the flippers aren’t bothering with that stuff, when they can go get loose-in-a-box-of-500 and flip it, but eventually, people will realize they can get better stuff cheaper than what the flippers are asking, and that will finally puncture the bubble they’ve created.
As someone said above, here in Austin I’m not seeing much. Cabelas had a rack of the stuff for I think .12-.15/rd and there was a limit.
The academy near my house has maybe 3 different varieties of 17hmr and that’s about it as far rim fire ammo goes. I don’t own a 22 so I haven’t paid that much attention to it.
Have you been to Cabela’s recently? The store in Buda lifted their purchase limits a couple months ago, and always seems to have some Remington and CCI .22LR in stock whenever I’ve stopped in, usually in the 7-10 cents per round range.
Only time I see more than a 50 round box on a shelf is when I look in my safe, saving my last bricks as a back up funding source to my 401K.
It’s here and there in N. W.VA it does sell out fast but its usually at .8 a round (CCI) or less (Thunderbolt). Still too high but folks are walking right past the gougers at flea markets etc. So that’s a good sign hope they all end up stuck with thousands and thousands of .10 a round with a retail value of .5 again.
Of course I do stock up at .6 a round but I need to get through the election cycle after all regardless of what the reality ends up those (politicians) with stock in ammo companies will stir the pot.
Upshur county here. Have seen .22LR at CabelS in Charleston, and CCI standard for $0.11/rd at McFly Outdoors in Weston. Still haven’t seen any at walmart since Sept 2012…
I’m shooting more .223 than .22LR
Hello my fellow WV friend . Check out Gunbot or one of the other directory sights on line and support your independent merchant when ever possible , even if they’re in another state and scr__w Walmart .
Love Weston , Davis , Elkins , Spruce Knob , Canaan area , love the mountains , love West Virginia .
325 round boxes of Federal auto-match for $25 per.
EDIT: That Athena place is way to clean looking for my tastes.
In so cal .22 is still not to be found. If by some chance you do find it, you will have to pay double what you should for it. In Phoenix AZ I have not seen .22 yet but I have only checked WalMart. All other calibers in both areas seem to be pre panic price and availability.
I’ve had decent luck at Big 5 believe it or not. The one by work usually has .22 on Thursdays and about once a month or so you can get a brick for 8 or 9 cents a round.
In Arizona or California?
For a while LGS had CCI in the 300 boxes for about $30 – call it 12 cents/round with tax. Not terrible, bought 6 boxes. Cabela’s in Hartford usually has some sort of reasonably priced .22lr, but it’s strictly rationed.
My LGS here in Western NY does have some .22 LR in stock. It’s a bit more than I want to pay for it though. He is cool so if I want bulk pack I just let him know I’m looking for some and I will get a text within a day or two.
It is a blessing and a curse to be able to see what he has in stock from my area at work right across the street.
Cabela’s just opened a store in OKC. They are limiting people to 500rnds of .22 at a time but seem to be keeping it in stock. Other than that there is one lgs I go to sometimes that has .22 for $.10 a rnd or less. The other calibers that I shoot I reload for less than I can buy it so I dont even really bother to look.
Where do you go to for .22? I’ve never seen any at H&H, Big Boy’s, Walmart, Academy, etc. I usually buy off a guy out in Choctaw I found on Armslist.
Just checked out Cabela’s the other night, pretty cool place. I love how they have all the long guns out to fingerbang. That really got my wallet itching, as opposed to just window shopping.
You know, I’ve never actually stepped foot inside a Cabela’s before. I like them and have bought from them online for years, but we don’t have any in the Houston area and I never seem to get the chance to stop in when I’m travelling.
I saw on their website, though, that they’re opening one up in League City (Houston suburb) in spring 2016. Should be cool. Maybe they’ll have a grand opening deal on .22?
During the Great Ammunition Drought the Cabellas in Buda, right outside of Austin, made a customer for life out of me. Reloading supplies were extremely difficult to find. The employees that ran the gun counter and stocked the reloading supplies took to taking request and calling customers whenever something came in. They said their company policy would not allow them to just hold stuff off the shelves, and they had no idea when and what would come in, but they would call folks who asked as soon as it came off the truck, and their prices stayed the same.
.22 LR is still spotty. Seems like the new normal. Usually, you can get a brick of something at the LGS or Dick’s.
The only brick I have seen is an actual brick holding up a sign with the message
“We have no .22 ammo, Sorry for the inconvenience”
Picked up Rem .22 a few months ago at Dunham Sports in Ohio, right off the shelf, for under $0.06 a round. I refuse to pay over $0.07.
An hour before closing Dunhams had so many thunderbolt boxes on the shelves (and all end caps and piles in the aisles) at .6 a round a month ago and I honestly though it was shortage over and the price would drop further. I grabbed a box went back next day early for a cleaning kit, it was all gone.
I don’t run to the store every day, but I haven’t see any 22lr in my area of Illinois for a while. I actually saw more a year or so back when it was going for 13-14 cents per round. I’ve used maybe a brick’s worth since all this started teaching new shooters whom I quickly moved to 9mm. I shoot 1000 rounds per month on average, mostly 9mm which I reload myself. Powder is more available but still not back to pre-scare levels. Prices are higher a few dollars per pound. Other calibers are plentiful and back to normal prices. The shortage will be over when big box stores start advertising bricks in their sale ads at close to normal prices without limits or multibrick limits. I suspect the 22 shortage will last a while longer, maybe another year or longer. There are still too many people buying every box they can.
chicagoland has .22 long rifle again. six or seven cents a round, limits on quantity. i never had any trouble finding anything else but .44mag, and that was brief.
Still can’t find any locally at a reasonable price. Reasonable being NOT $60 for a 550 pack of federal bulk.
Yes, yes, ‘the new normal’…whatever.
Walmart and BassPro still have truck squatters sitting at the counter at 4AM waiting to scoop up anything that they might be getting in that morning. Sure, I can find a random box of 50 rounds at GunStoreX…for $10-12 each…
I continue to be very happy that my old habit of “shoot one box, buy two boxes” has kept me happily in stock for years. This allowed me to keep my shooting friends supplied with low-cost .22LR for the last few years.
That said, bulk .22 has become a ‘grab 3 boxes of different .22LR’ each time Midway has a batch come in. It is pretty much the only way to restock my plinking .22 without going broke locally.
Besides true match ammo, the only brands that deserve a premium are the CCI SV and Gemtech. Both are subsonics. And even at 0.10/rd they would be overpriced. Which makes this pyramid ridiculous.
What is this .22 of which you speak?
It’s something your wife might get for you for Christmas, if you’ve been good. But only a 50 round box!
Have to pay off the HELOC you put on the house for the last box you bought first!
Ah, I see. I know what a HELOC is, but what is this “wife” of which you speak?
Its supposed to be an upgrade from girlfriend version 8.9…takes you straight to wife version 1.0
Beware – a lot of the standard features in Girlfriend 8.9 are premium features that cost extra in Wife 1.0. Some features have been removed entirely, and some are time-limited, and will expire after a short while.
There is a picture of wife 1.0 above on celebrity leaked photo scandals and the other version is above the article on how to remove dark spots , I’m waiting for 2.0 coming out next spring , picture unavailable here .
I managed to hoard about 10,000 rounds of this new gold a few years ago and only shoot my old stuff and replace with new . It sometimes pays to be a prepper .
Here in Rochester NY, Field and Stream has a pile of.22.
325 round boxes $20.
Sporadic and strictly rationed in rural eastern WA.
Wal-Mart sells out in minutes, the small shops never get any in, and Tri-State (the big sporting/outdoor kahuna out here) frequently has some, but it’s still limited to 3 boxes (of whatever size) per purchase, you never know what kind they’ll have at any given time, and the shelves are usually bare before the next shipment comes in.
Price is usually about 8-10 cents/rd; not too bad, but I really miss the old days of three years ago…
I see it every time I go to my LGS.
I don’t recall price though.
Tell Dean I’m still waiting on that big price crash he was predicting. Should I keep waiting? I think it’s been a year now since Nostradamus over there made his predictions.
I used ammo seek to find a great supply of .470 NE.
My new rifle should be here in a couple of weeks!
.22 is hit and miss. 20-25 bucks a brick for thunderbolt, 45 bucks for bricks of CCI
I’ve seen ammo in stock at walmart for a while now. Don’t really frequent the LGS just b/c I don’t have time. :/
I’m sure most errthang is in stock, though I’ll admit I’ve not been actively looking for anything but 9mm.
I don’t even remember the last time I saw a brick, except advertised on line for $75. Add to that my rifle has a distinct preference for Remington Goldens that I never see. I’ve stopped looking.
You’re a lucky man. My guns HATE those Golden bullets.
I know what you mean, bought 3 cartons several years ago, my autoloaders don’t like them. I can only use them in my Henry lever gun, and 22 revolver. Never buy them again.
Not a big fan either . Hit and miss on dependability in the semis ,
I’ve always hated the Thunderbolt golden rounds as well. My Marlin 60 runs cheap Federal bulk pack and Blazers just fine, but jams with the crappy Thunderbolts. Now that I’ve got a .22 bolt action and revolver, I may consider buying them again sometime.
Local gun stores seem to always have .22 it’s a little high. .08 / round for bucket of 1400. CCI 100 counts are about the same.
About 25 or 30 years ago, KMart had CCI Mini Mags on sale for a buck a box, 100 rounds per box. It doesn’t take a mathematician to see that’s a penny a round. I still have about 3 boxes of the stuff. Almost afraid to shoot it, because every round I shoot, gets me closer to paying 10 to 15 cents a round!
I last bought MiniMags seven years ago in the run up to Obama’s first election. They were 10 cents a round, and I was happy to get them, as everything was disappearing from the shelves.
I found thousands of rounds of .22 on gunbroker from $50-$70 per brick. The best part is no one is bidding on them. I hope the price gouging bastards choke on that ammo.
A++
I saw some 500 round boxes of .22 LR recently at a regional sporting goods store in my neck of the woods. They were selling for about $25 (about $0.05 per round) with a limit of one per customer per day. I purchased one box and decided that I have enough (for now — I didn’t go back on following days to purchase more). I have seen 500 round boxes once or twice before that in the last year.
More importantly, it looks like the .22 LR scalpers are finally feeling the pinch … an acquaintance claims that scalpers were offering it for sale for around $0.08 per round at the latest gun show. And I just checked online vendors … several are offering .22 LR for $0.09 per round.
I think the problem at these high price points for .22 LR is that a lot of people will simply shoot 9mm, 7.62 x 39mm, or even 12 gauge shot shells which you can find in bulk for $0.20 per round if you know where to look. And honestly, given the option of .22 LR versus 9mm, 7.62 x 39mm, or 12 gauge light target loads, I think a lot of people would reject .22 LR and prefer the more substantial calibers.
My guess is that .22 LR will be plentiful for about $0.05 per round within 24 months … as long as nothing extraordinary happens.
That’s what I’m looking for – 5 cents a round or 25$ for a 500 round bulk pack. You mentioned 20 cents a round for 9, 7.62X39 and 12 gauge. That is what I am shooting instead of buying .22lr.
Don’t forget that you can also get surplus 7.62X54R in the 20 cent per round range as well.
I sold my 22 pistol because it’s a pain to find that ammo in Colorado. Centerfire is more fun anyway. I reload, so 9mm or .40 only costs me maybe 14 cents/ round.
This. I see no reason to own a .22 when I can reload 9mm for the same price.
Just started reloading. Any suggestions on good recipes – 9 (124 gr) & 5.56 (~62 gr) – would be appreciated.
By the way, .22 is spotty here too. Sometimes it’s feast other times famine. WallyWorld NEVER has .22.
I have a few thousand rounds each of .22, 9mm, .380, 5.56, and 300blkout. I buy when I run low, or when I have less than 1000 rounds of any of those calibers. I’m gonna have to take up reloading for .300 blkout I think, its kinda pricey to shoot regular.
Just started on this one and I think it’s going to be fun , love experimenting with newer calibers and I think there may be real potential here , may end up rivaling my 30.06 library before I’m done with . I wish there were more articles here on reloading . More people need to try it .
I don’t have hard evidence, but my gut is that a lot of manufacturers shifted production away from .22lr, into making centrefire calibers with greater margins. That probably won’t reverse until those centrefire calibers are completely glutted, and the lower rimfire margins become attractive again. Of course, that might never happen.
^^^^^^Exactly this.
Sounds about right.
I figure if it took nearly 3 years for reliable inventory to start to show up on the shelf, and if the online sellers are starting to level out at .10 a round, then its probably going to take another 3 years for prices to drop, if at all.
Add the extra cost for retail at a couple pennies and there you go for the Aquila.
Here, just S. of Ft. Worth, I can almost always get something at Academy in the 5 to 9 cent range. That includes an occasional bucket or brick. The brands vary and seem to come in bunches. There was apparently a good quantity of Winchester that came into Walmart a while ago, but mostly it went to the dealers who squat and wait on it. They were boxes of 2 500 round bricks and I saw reports of some guys buying three of them. I personally haven’t found a single round of .22 in Walmart in way over a year.
22 is avail every now and again for 4-6c/rd from wallmart in WY. The 6c stuff is 40gr target.
Other rounds are more plentiful and defensive rounds are easy to find now.
Canada is still fairly supply constrained with .22lr, and all the calibers are seeing rises thanks to the exchange rate. I can’t see that improving any time soon.
It looks like your supply of cheap ChiCom rifles and ammo is drying up too. No more $100 ChiCom SKS, though these Russian ones are not a bad deal, especially considering where the loonie is today.
http://www.leverarms.com/rifles/semi-automatic-rifles/simonov-sks-rifle-investor-packs.html
2500 bucks for 15. That would be a decent price for 10. I had a russian refurb sks til I got stupid and traded it for a Beretta pintail shotgun.
Undoubtably the best buy for the buck, the sks at under 300 bucks. My refurb was like a brand new rifle and it never, I mean never, jammed or otherwise hiccupped.
I miss my sks.
Apparently the problem with Chinese ammo is finding shippers willing to transport it (or at least that was the rumor). Well, that and corrosive ammo being sold as “non-corrosive”. I’m not sure that Chinese SKS were ever a big seller up here, especially given that the Russian ones can still be found for 199-249 or so. In the main, however, it’s one of the few bargains.
“Hoarding”?
Hoarding is what you do after an event is upon you. Then prices start to go up causing greater scarcity and further price increases.
Planning ahead is what you do in anticipation of possible events that might cause hoarding to occur and prices to skyrocket.
Schwarzenegger’s signature on CA Assembly Bill 962 in October 2009 certainly caused a few Californians’ to invest heavily in a very large personal stock of high quality, durable ammo for their various calibers.
CalGuns, and Cabalas/Midway USA, kept their regular CA ammo buying customers well informed of the possible curtailment of purchasing handgun ammo online and resultant shortages. Planning ahead was the prudent move that proved timely, especially since ammo prices were still good and “sale” pricing on popular, quality brands were popping up on a regular basis, particularly in bulk.
Ultimately, enforcement of AB962 was permanently enjoined with Parker v. California in early 2011, which was upheld on appeal in 2013. By then, those who pre-planned were quite well stocked for any eventuality.
This being CA, anything can happen when it comes to guns and ammo. One must always plan ahead if the opportunity presents. Given the make-up of the CA Legislature and the likelihood of an even more anti-gun politician in the governors mansion, this topic still has legs.
I have not seen many brick-and-mortar stores with bricks of .22 in many months and I have nearly forgotten what a case looks like. The situation was a little improved at the last fun-show I attended with bricks available from quite a few vendors with prices ranging from 8 to 10 cents per round.
I don’t hold much hope of things improving anytime soon with regard to low-cost (5 cents or less) after seeing that Remington has started putting their Golden Bullets in high-end plastic packaging (like CCI).
After supplies dried up in 2013 I decided to add a zero to what I though was a reasonable amount of .22 to keep on hand. I’m still stocking up when possible since I’m only about half-way to that level.
Taking 4 kids to Appleseed soon. Local Cabalas has had on the shelf at least 1/2 time over the last year so I’m adequately stocked. But using it up feels a bit like seeing your 401K dropping.
1st page of .22LR on Ammo Seek ranges from 7.5-.10/round. At this point, .12 is robbery for bulk .22
Buy on-line or store when available. Have a stockpile of 6000 rounds of CCI copper top mini mags another 3500 rounds of .22lr of various brands. I shoot mostly 9mm, & .38 special only have 1500 rounds of the 9s and 600 of the 38 spec. HP Will stock up on those soon.
Only have 350 rounds of .380 but don’t shoot that caliber much myself, but will buy more for X-Mas presents. If once I shoot 300 rounds, buy another 300, Ruger 22SR will feed any brand but really likes the mini mags.
Hope the TX stands for Texas . My daughter attends Rice and I like knowing Texans are armed and stockpiled , makes me a little more confident I’ll be able to get her home if SHTF .
Most of the supply has returned to Dick’s Sporting Goods in Northern Virginia. They have American Eagle at $2.97 / 50 or about 6 cents a round, but there is a 3-box limit. I always take the GF with me so we can get 6 boxes, but they make us ring it up separately.
They also had CCI standard .22 LR at $8.99 / 100 but it went fast.
Local gunstores have supplies at higher prices, about $13 for CCI. It’s the 22 WIN MAG that’s a real problem. Have yet to find that at less than $0.50 a round, which is WAY too much. A buddy found boxes of 50 for $13.00 (Winchester $0.26 / rd) last weekend, but, again, 3 box limit (or so he said, no reason to doubt him). Still expensive but moving in the right direction.
I figure we have 6 to 9 months before it becomes obvious who will win the next election, so there’s still a bit of time.
no .22LR in town since this time last year year
It is weird how .22LR prices have not come down to pre-panic prices.
But that’s the way it is. I suspect that that whining about it on gun forums is going to make much difference.
I spoke to a VP in Federal ammo group and he said simply that the that the brass, powder, copper and lead needed for other calibers takes first place over 22LR and there you go.
Unless you guys can find a source for all these components, plus equipment, plus overhead, plus, etc.
You are out of luck.
Sorry, capitalism….because ‘Merica.
Here in Tennesse pickins are pretty slim at the Walmarts. At Academy they consistantly have 50 and 100s at $.08 a round. there is one local gun shop that had buckets for $80, and 325 Federal for $24.
I’m near Atlanta, still no .22 at Walmart.
I check 3 different stores Ellenwood, Locust Grove and McDonough
I’ve been able to walk into Dicks on several occasions and purchase boxes of 325, and boxes of 50 for decent prices..about 6-7 cents a round.
I work at a Walmart in N. Alabama, and we get about 500-1000rds (in 50 or 100rd boxes, usually CCI or Blazer) once a week (usually on fridays).
The limit is 3 boxes per customer, but there are 2-3 particular OFWG customers who camp out at the sporting goods counter in the morning and wait until the ammo is brought out at 8am. They each bring a couple brothers/cousins/buddies, and buy up all the .22 before it even hits the shelf. They normally buy all of the Tula-brand 7.62×39/51 as well, if any comes in. They then drive down the road to the weekly flea-market and promptly resell everything for 2-3x what they paid of the tailgate of their trucks.
Anaxis,
I used to work overnight front end at a Walmart near Springfield, Missouri until they set me free for Christmas 2013, whereupon I moved to NWGA, not too far from you I reckon. Miss the coworkers….hate the company. Anyways. The reason I think all of us talk about Walmart is simply because it enlists the age-old debate between online shopping vs. brick and mortar retailing, but there’s the twist of shipping and sales tax involved. Like everyone else I remember the old days when you could walk into any old Walmart in most any old town and buy a brick of either Winchester, Federal or Remington for $13.97 to $18.97, depending. That’s what we all miss, even if no one has said as much. Then came Sandy Hook, and everything just turned upside down. Since I worked the overnight shift I never was able to buy much .22 as it was almost always gone before I could even get to the store and certainly gone by the time I clocked out for lunch. I think I got lucky only twice in a year or so. Despite that I was able to slowly increase my .22LR stock from about 1,500 rounds to 7,500 rounds give or take without paying scalper’s prices – took about a year of looking under rocks and checking most every WM, Bass Pro, and Academy in the area. Although I’m a strong believer in the free market, I hate scalping and so refuse to sell my stock. 7500 rounds wouldn’t be enough to make a living anyway. What I sorely wish I could do is save up for a Smith & Wesson 41, which has always been one of the few guns on my bucket list, but what’s the point if you can’t afford to practice with it? So my .22’s have pretty much gathered dust in my safe.
Meanwhile, it appears that the ammomakers have cottoned on to the fact they can make more money by doing away with bulk and repackaging to sell 50-100 round boxes only as long as it’s the cheap stuff – no Winchester Super-X loads for example. And Federal pulled a really shitty move IMO by cutting some of its American Eagle .22’s to 40 rounds per box priced the same as a 50 round box. That’s just one of all kinds of tricks the ammo industry has played to squeeze every last drop of blood out of us turnips. At least the scalpers are up front about it – you can take it or leave it.
I don’t think the good old days will ever come back again. In fact I know they won’t. And I despise the National Socialist 2.0’s for causing this. They are a true blight on humanity as far as I’m concerned. We don’t and shouldn’t really have to have this acrimonious debate about gun control and worse yet, conflating it with race relations simply because one or possibly two ethnic groups happen to have a few more bad apples than most every other group, yet refuse to take some form of moral responsibility for the actions of their young people. I suspect that even in traditionally anti-gun states up North some people are getting weary of the whole thing as well. Of course the Nazi 2.0’s will never stop, even as they start a second American Civil War, and that too, saddens me. A lot of good people are going to die, and I have no idea what will become of this once great country or what kind of world our children and grandchildren will grow up in. It is all so very depressing.
But back to the here and the now. Nothing to do but keep trying to find, buy and save (or sell, if that’s your thing – just remember I hate scalpers) whatever .22LR you can and hold on to the last forlorn hope that this country might, just might, survive after all.
Tom
In Dallas, the sporting goods stores have .22LR again. Limit is usually 4 boxes. I paid 2.19 for a box of 50 American Eagle today.
.22lr still remains completely unavailable In north-central Floriduh up to Valdosta, GA. Not a single box to be found.
Bought an air gun, Condor SS by AirForce. No more worries. A few minor mods and she hits harder than a .22lr, lower velocity, higher weight. Like a wrecking ball… Integrated silencer with no NFA BS.
Airguns are actually starting to look like a smart way to go, vs 22LR for plinking and suburban varmint control.
http://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-Marauder-Synthetic-25-Caliber-Pellet/dp/B00CBQUOT8/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8
http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/archive/index.php/t-428959.html
ammo a penny or so ($6.47 for 500 for the cheap stuff),
up to dime for something bigger and better
http://www.amazon.com/JSB-Diabolo-Exact-Caliber-Pellets/dp/B002QNCLRO/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1443592286&sr=1-1&keywords=.25+caliber+airgun+pellet
compare to similar tacticool silencer ready bolt gun in .22LR
http://cz-usa.com/product/cz-455-varmint-tacticool-suppressor-ready-22-lr-16-bbl-5-rd-mag-black-laminate-stock/
I don’t shoot 22-but I see it at Cabelas and a couple other Indiana stores. ALL the Illinois stores are more expensive(for pretty much everything)…
For once we Aussies have something over you guys, 7c/rnd here and as many 5000-rnd boxes as you can carry 🙂
Not too shabby….. I wonder how much it’d cost to ship ammo from Australia, considering that exchange rate is currently .70 to 1 US dollar.
Yeah with the X rate that would be real cheap for you. Around here shipping of anything that goes bang is about $150 AFAIK, so online purchases of powder/ammo/primers etc are pretty much a no go.
Gander Mountain around Minneapolis has had .22 for 10 cents a round lately. Saw some Remington for 8.5 cents a round.
Yes, we all dream of cheap bricks, but inflation sucks.
22LR has been consistently in stock at Gander Mountain for months now. Usually $0.08/rd to $0.10/rd. I buy anything I can find under $0.10/rd.
The Winchester 36 grain CPHP is a decent deal. Ammoseek has some for $.10 / round on a 555 rd box. I doubt we’ll ever see $.04 / rd for CCI again.
I keep Ammo Seek and Gun Bot and a couple others on my favorites bar and visit every day for my unique ammo I HOARD . If you can afford to put some back , do it , and ignore the crybabies that cry hoarders . I call it being prepared and good economics . I hoard 22 magnum , 5.56 M855 , 9 mm + P (CD) , 20 gauge #2 Buckshot , a couple powders , 30.06 and 9mm copper and brass and Tracer rounds in 22 LR and 2.23 because I can .
It’s one thing to try to buy it faster than you shoot it. I don’t find a lot of .22, but I shoot even less of it.
It’s another to be part of the problem by systematically buying up all output in your area and then scalping it.
Never said I scalp it , wouldn’t do that , may give it to people in a pinch but I’m not an ammo dealer .
Ammo is a good choice for Christmas present. No double standards put the DC politicians on Obamacare and SS.Thanks for your support and vote.Pass the word. mrpresident2016.com
San Diego CA call before opening- Turner’ s today Tuesday. FEDERAL 525 for $33 if you are lucky. Limited to one box. Otherwise 325 for $36 at SoCal guns. That’s almost 12¢, but at least it is usually CCI.
When the .22 crunch hit I had just completed buying ,22 versions of my big guns, thinking that it would make range trips cheaper 🙁
I am now the proud owner of Airsoft versions of the same, I just hope there isn’t a plastic BB shortage.
On the up side, I do get in a lot more practice with a “shooting” range in my garage.
No problem finding 325 or 500 rd boxes of .22 on line – usually with no limit – at 9 cents a round. CCI even turns up occasionally but is priced a bit higher. I’ve found Federal and Winchester bulk packs in Cabelas in Kansas City and Fort Worth in the past few months with 500 rd per person per day limits. Prices were 5 1/2 or 6 cents a round. Locally (OKC) I occasionally see the same good prices at Academy Sports, again with 500 round limits. I’m building my stock up as I can before the next election cycle panic starts. Here in central Oklahoma I haven’t seen one round of .22 in Wally World since Sandy Hook.
Twelve cents a round? Neckbeard pricing.
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