.22 shortage mystery solved! (supposedly)

[Sweden9]

If everyone put away their semi-autos and just used a single shot rifle or single action pistol for a week or so the shortage would be over!! Just picked up a Ruger Single Six Hunter. I was amazed how little ammo I had used when I got home.

[shadow65]

We do it. I said it before it started.
Government didn't buy it up, no shortage of metals, no mystery.
Greed does it.

Dave N

[G21Shooter]

I was told by a friend that rep'd for ATK that the federal, and CCI production lines HAD NOT been augmented for increased capacity (back in 2008 when SHTF). The suits had expected the "spike" in demand to fizzle out... go back to normal. Now that it has not gone back, but has continued on, those same suits believe that it cannot last much longer... so... still no increase in production capacity. There is a worry that an investment now would not see the payoff in the end, now that the end of the craze is presumably closer. The figure of 25 million per day is combined from all .22 mfgs. As I understand, centerfire rounds are much faster to load than rimfire. A machine can only make somewhere around 50,000 over a 24 hour period- about 2 seconds per loaded cartridge.

Best way to fix this thing... STOP paying anybody who is not a licensed retailer for ammo. Let the stupid idiot gougers be stuck with their ammo. eventually, they will stop making the effort if there's no payoff for it.

Bottom line many things need to happen for the .22 lr shortage to be over, and for everyone to stop buying .22 lr ammo priced over MSRP is a big one! Shoot centerfire until you can find reasonably/honestly priced .22.

The other thing is manufacturers need to step up production. The demand of .22 lr has increased from 2-3 years ago. Flippers aside, there are more people shooting and simply more demand shortage or not.

Hopefully people learned from this and spend some money in times ammo is plentiful and stock up, because the next panic will likely be worse probably when Hilary Clinton is the leader of this land.

[viet4lifeOC]

I use to shoot 2-3 times a week for 3 hours per range trip.

Haven't shoot in three years...only shot for CCW reapplication once and that test my new model 41 with 100 CCI minimags.

I'll just waited out.

[23 Blast]

If everyone put away their semi-autos and just used a single shot rifle or single action pistol for a week or so the shortage would be over!! Just picked up a Ruger Single Six Hunter. I was amazed how little ammo I had used when I got home.

LOL - one of the justifications I used when I bought my Ruger American Rimfire was because I knew that I would likely use less ammo than I would using my 10/22. I even started shooting my old Arminius revolver over my 22/45 for the same reason. Heck, my 22/45, with the speed loader, can easily burn a brick in a matter of half an hour if I'm not careful. With the RAR and revolver, I might shoot 100 rounds and be satisfied.

Eventually the "shortage" will go away. The defeat of SB53 will help immensely in this regard. The flippers/hoarders will find that fewer and fewer people are willing to pay $10 for a box of 50 and will just either begin shooting it themselves or better yet, stop camping out at Wal-Mart waiting like vultures for the next shipment. Then things will return to more or less "normal," even if the new normal will be $35-$40 for a brick instead of ~$25.

[Izzy43]

.22lr ammo is has been and still is available from online retailers, one just has to know who they are. Places like ChampionShootersSupply periodically has various kinds of match ammo available. Must buy in case lots but mostly its at pre-panic prices or close to it. Around $550-$600 per case for SK or Wolf, same price the gougers are selling bulk ammo for. Can't afford a case, get a buddy or two to split a case. CSS with alert you by email when it comes in. Put in an order to CMP for a case of Aguila, may take a year to get it but at least you will get it eventually, my cost was $340 for a case. Stop wasting gas $$$ looking for it at Walmart or paying high shipping for a brick from other sources. Just my free advice, worth what you paid for it.

[Fetterly Powders]

flippers

I get a laugh still from everyone blaming the evil flippers. Its simple supply and demand.

There is truth behind supply and demand. But we often see in the ammunition and the powder ind. that prices have not been influenced by s&d. Stayed the same for the most part. I received a small shipment of Fed525 for $17.60 ea which we passed on to many here.[ Had to charge for tax and shipping expense].It is the retailers who do what they want to the prices once they get them. We stop paying the prices, they will go down.. Just what I experienced being on this side of things.
Doug

[Bobby Ricigliano]

I get a laugh still from everyone blaming the evil flippers. Its simple supply and demand.

Even as a capitalist, I do not chalk the .22lr ammo flipping phenomenon up to "simple supply and demand." Your perspective is overly simplified and does not address the market distortion that is created by "flippers" who buy everything up in order to insert themselves into the supply chain as another middleman.

One of the "flippers" posted a thread a few weeks ago to defend his actions as a "service" to buyers. He was rightfully pummeled into silence in short order.

A true organic shortage occurs when the actual market consumption rate outpaces the rate of manufacturing. This did not happen here. People have not been buying more .22 ammo and storing / shooting it for their own needs than the manufacturers provide. This has been the result of opportunists who camp and stalk ammo aisles and buy it up simply to flip it. I would not be surprised if most of these folks don't even own a .22lr or even shoot at all.

If it was just simple supply and demand, Walmart or Cabelas would never put a limit on what you could buy. As long as they were moving units, they would not care otherwise. They realized that a few undesirable types were distorting the market and trying to make a living by inserting themselves uninvitedly into the supply chain.

I don't think it is illegal, I just think it is revolting. If you want to have a good laugh, take a look at the abundant supplies of .22lr that are for sale in the CG marketplace. The flippers are on their way to taking a haircut with all their hoarded wares and I am going to love it.

[MongooseV8]

No it is as simple as supply and demand. If there wasnt enough demand nobody would pay the crazy prices flippers charge. But $40 bricks of Golden Bullets sell out almost instantly.

If we had more of a balance between supply and demand flippers wouldnt exist. Happens every time a new game console is released, flippers make some money til supply catches up. The ammo shortage is the same thing, its just on a much larger scale and lasting much longer.

[MongooseV8]

A true organic shortage occurs when the actual market consumption rate outpaces the rate of manufacturing. This did not happen here. People have not been buying more .22 ammo and storing / shooting it for their own needs than the manufacturers provide.

Also I would like to point out this is not true. We as a nation have greatly increased our buying of arms and ammo since Obama was elected. Its a fact that we have increased our demand far more than the factories can roll out. Most if not all have increased production more than double to try to keep up, buts its like pouring a bucket of water in the desert to make a lake. Flippers have a small influence even in this market, they dont really affect the millions of Americans that want to buy TRILLIONS of rounds of 22LR.

I dont buy from flippers, but blaming them for this whole thing is irresponsible.

[MongooseV8]

There is truth behind supply and demand. But we often see in the ammunition and the powder ind. that prices have not been influenced by s&d. Stayed the same for the most part. I received a small shipment of Fed525 for $17.60 ea which we passed on to many here.[ Had to charge for tax and shipping expense].It is the retailers who do what they want to the prices once they get them. We stop paying the prices, they will go down.. Just what I experienced being on this side of things.
Doug

You havent been on that side for very long then. Powder, Primers, Bullets, Shotgun Ammo, Rifle Ammo, Pistol Ammo, and Rimfire Ammo have increased every year. If prices havent changed from supply and demand, then Varget would still be $14.99 a pound at PowderValley. We are buying more components and ammo and arms then ever in America. Ask any reloader or avid shooter thats been at this for a while if prices have changed and see what they say.

Edit: I can remember not that long ago when that same brick of Federal 525 was $8.99. So unless the distributors were taking enormous losses back then, the prices have gone up. And that huge of an increase does not come from inflation over ten years. If distributors were selling them $8.99, that means you would be getting them far cheaper closer to $5. If that is a close number, that means distributor cost is at an increase of 350%.

[Bobby Ricigliano]

Most if not all have increased production more than double to try to keep up, buts its like pouring a bucket of water in the desert to make a lake.

I don't agree, but that is a great analogy.

I dont buy from flippers, but blaming them for this whole thing is irresponsible.

I am not one to suggest outlawing or intervening into it. I just look forward to seeing people enter the opportunist market under such circumstances and getting hosed and selling it later at a loss thanks to market saturation which always catches up eventually.

[MongooseV8]

The factories have gone from 8 hours a day to 24 hours a day. Its been discussed many times in many mediums.

[tanakasan]

My Cabela's glitch order from 3/2014 for Mini Mags just shipped.

Robert

[dc7rr1]

I just recently got into .22's and it's very frustrating. I tried going to Walmart a few times but I stopped doing that. It's almost embarrassing asking if they have .22 ammo. They look at me like "are you kidding?"

I think flippers are a small part of this but it does have an impact. The shelves would probably still not be plentiful but a person might be able to stop by and get lucky once in a while. The way things are now, that will never happen.