.22LR ammunition

[sigstroker]

.22 has been worse than everything else. Price has accelerated in just the last couple weeks. I've seen sales up to 25 cents per round, more than 9mm was a year ago.

[Dan_Eastvale]

Properly stored, centerfire ammo is reliable for decades. What are people's experiences with old rimfire cartridges?

I have .22lr stored in a steamer trunk from the 90s. Functions well in my Marlin 60 and 10/22

[CWL]

Given low profit margin of 22LR, manufacturers are probably ramping up other popular and more profitable calibers like 9mm, 556, 45ACP

Nope. .22lr manufacture hasn't stopped in place of other calibers.

There is a finite amount of machinery available for manufacturing of any caliber. Nobody is going to build more machines to make bullets to fulfill temporary demand spikes. They will just run at full capacity until supply = demand.

Same thing happened when Obama was prez.

[golfish]

I've seen sales up to 25 cents per round, more than 9mm was a year ago.

Wow, that's crazy high.

[rg_1111@yahoo.com]

You ain't kidding. A quarter a round is high.

[CWL]

You ain't kidding. A quarter a round is high.

Wow, that means I'm sitting on $4,250 worth of .22s!

This should be the new way to discus how much ammo one has!

"Dude, how much 9mm did you bring?"
"I have to leave early so I only brought $200 worth!"

[sigstroker]

Nope. .22lr manufacture hasn't stopped in place of other calibers.

There is a finite amount of machinery available for manufacturing of any caliber. Nobody is going to build more machines to make bullets to fulfill temporary demand spikes. They will just run at full capacity until supply = demand.

Same thing happened when Obama was prez.

That's not what I've heard. They run .22 in batches, then shut down to convert machines to run something else.

[Garv]

Properly stored, centerfire ammo is reliable for decades. What are people's experiences with old rimfire cartridges?

I had some 20+ year old .22lr that was just stored in my house lightly oxidized, shot fine.

I have two boxes of 40+ year old Mohawk (precursor to Thunderturds) that I will shoot in the next trip or two. It looks fine.

Kept in an ammo can w/desiccant, much longer shelf life.

[n8vrmind]

Per guntuber

https://youtu.be/TKKfBHIeuIc

[Norcalkid]

22 has been available locally. From bricks to buckets lots available every time I have been at Sportsman's Wearhouse in the last couple months.

[hermosabeach]

lots available at 30-60 cents per round....

[Sputnik]

That's not what I've heard. They run .22 in batches, then shut down to convert machines to run something else.

[unusedusername]

The machines that run 22/rim fire rounds are specific to that type. They can’t be used for anything else. Running in batches could be a thing though. If demand is high enough I’d imagine they just run full on non stop.

Quite true about the 22 machines not being able to make non-rimfire rounds.

They have been running non-stop 24/7 since February. The demand is 100x normal. The ammo companies are buying new buildings to make the factories larger, but that takes a while in COVID times.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=KIgvoJKovIg

[oddball]

Properly stored, centerfire ammo is reliable for decades. What are people's experiences with old rimfire cartridges?

About 8-10 years ago, at a buddy's place before he moved to Oregon, we shot a couple hundred rounds of his Mini Mags he bought from the late 1970s and they shot like new, no issues whatsoever.

And to answer the OP's question, yes, there is a shortage of ALL ammo, worst I have seen ever. I was at my local Bass Pro yesterday in hopes of finding some 20 gauge slugs, and their shotgun ammo was nearly depleted, about a dozen boxes each of 20, 12, 28, and 16 gauge, all at extremely inflated pricing, more than a buck per shell. And of course they had zero of any other kind of ammo. The local Walmart only had about 6 boxes of 28 gauge and 16 gauge, nothing else at all.

Thankfully I'm stocked up on most of my calibers, especially .22LR. But this ammo shortage is real, and disconcerting, since nothing is hitting the shelves lately. All empty.

[cudakidd]

You've got that right.

The ammo shortages started in 08 and continued off and on since then. Always store enough ammo to prevent desperate purchases.

Some lessons are presented and NOT remembered/learned.

actually started in 1992! geez almost 30 years of this nonsense...