Why the 22lr shortage ?

[PaintItBlack]

Well It is actually pretty simple. There are a bunch of people out there that have more money then brains. They will pay $65+ dollars for 500 round of 22lr when it used to cost $20. And people with no life and buy and sell ammo for a living now go out and buy every drop of 22 they can find so they can resell it to the brain dead person with more money then brains who will pay the ridiculous mark up because there is no 22 on the shelf due to this vicious circle. How to solve the problem, well if you have a brain dead friend or you suffer from brain damage, Stop the madness! If you stop buying the crap from these people it will in fact appear on the shelf again. Don't believe me, look at all the ammo there is at walmart and other vendors as well as gun store locations now.

[ja308]

I've read that many new people have taken up shooting and of course they will buy ammo everytime they go shopping. Just like most of us have done !

Its was rare for me to shop at Walmart, kmart etc and NOT buy some 22 . I suspect most of you had the same shopping pattern !

Now consider millions of new gun owners doing what we all have done and would still do if ammo was still available !

The folks running Appleseed clinics fire about 500 rds alone and they have a nationwide schedule of hundreds of attendes every weekend, according to the website .

The good news is our free market will adapt and produce enough to fullfill the desires of shooters . This is temporary and I suggest we stop blaming people for doing what we have always done .

As for price gouging ? Its still a free country and if I wanted to shoot, I would gladly pay whatever they wanted ! It's better than not having any option .

[Heretodaygonetomorrow]

I'm with Don't Blame the Shooters.

And what do you consider to be hoarding?

Just because somebody is buying what you might consider to be a large amount of ammo, doesn't mean that he is hoarding it.

My Uncle taught my Cousins and I all to shoot way back when we were all between 5-8 years olds and we went shooting with him on a regularly up until we reached college age. Taking us out by Magic Mountain in Valencia, to the open shooting area, or farther out to hunt rabbits, he brought a minimum of 500 rounds of .22LR for each of us, each trip. That calculates out to a minimum 2K-3K of .22LR alone.

He was buying 5K-10K of .22 at a pop, and it took him years to get ahead of our usage. Years later when I starter buying my own, I was shooting once or twice a week, and got into the habit of buying 5K of .22LR at a time.

I've built up a comfortable stash over the years, no longer shoot as much (even counting what my kids shoot up), and have been able to avoid buying at the current prices. Don't assume because someone is looking to buy a large quantity that he/she is hoarding or reselling it, he may simply have a family that enjoys shooting together.

The time to go looking for ammo is before you need it. I would not call that hoarding if you're simply buying some ammo ahead of going shooting. It foolish to shoot off all your ammo, and have nothing at home till the day before you go shooting again, and then go looking for one box of .22LR or .45ACP, or 9mm, or 5.56mm. That's like going to the store to buy a quart of motor oil AFTER you check the dipstick on your car, because you don't store any spare motor oil in your garage.

If you're not buying ahead of your needs, and end up buying from the ammo speculators, that's your fault because you have been too lazy to get off your ***** and get to the store.

While it may seem unfair or distasteful to you that someone is getting to the ammo to resell it, before you get to the store, they are providing a service, and risking their money to try to make a profit. If nobody bought from them, they would not be selling at the prices they are getting. If you beat them to the ammo at the store, they would not be able to stick it to you.

If nobody hoards (I do believe in keeping more then you are going to need on the next few trips to the range), then eventually there will be no one making a profit by sucking up all the ammo, and everybody will get the ammo they need.

[ja308]

I'm with Don't Blame the Shooters.

And what do you consider to be hoarding?

Just because somebody is buying what you might consider to be a large amount of ammo, doesn't mean that he is hoarding it.

My Uncle taught my Cousins and I all to shoot way back when we were all between 5-8 years olds and we went shooting with him on a regularly up until we reached college age. Taking us out by Magic Mountain in Valencia, to the open shooting area, or farther out to hunt rabbits, he brought a minimum of 500 rounds of .22LR for each of us, each trip. That calculates out to a minimum 2K-3K of .22LR alone.

He was buying 5K-10K of .22 at a pop, and it took him years to get ahead of our usage. Years later when I starter buying my own, I was shooting once or twice a week, and got into the habit of buying 5K of .22LR at a time.

I've built up a comfortable stash over the years, no longer shoot as much (even counting what my kids shoot up), and have been able to avoid buying at the current prices. Don't assume because someone is looking to buy a large quantity that he/she is hoarding or reselling it, he may simply have a family that enjoys shooting together.

The time to go looking for ammo is before you need it. I would not call that hoarding if you're simply buying some ammo ahead of going shooting. It foolish to shoot off all your ammo, and have nothing at home till the day before you go shooting again, and then go looking for one box of .22LR or .45ACP, or 9mm, or 5.56mm. That's like going to the store to buy a quart of motor oil AFTER you check the dipstick on your car, because you don't store any spare motor oil in your garage.

If you're not buying ahead of your needs, and end up buying from the ammo speculators, that's your fault because you have been too lazy to get off your ***** and get to the store.

While it may seem unfair or distasteful to you that someone is getting to the ammo to resell it, before you get to the store, they are providing a service, and risking their money to try to make a profit. If nobody bought from them, they would not be selling at the prices they are getting. If you beat them to the ammo at the store, they would not be able to stick it to you.

If nobody hoards (I do believe in keeping more then you are going to need on the next few trips to the range), then eventually there will be no one making a profit by sucking up all the ammo, and everybody will get the ammo they need.

Good post, that's the way I see it too

[Jimi Jah]

Eventually even the hoarders will have enough or get tired of spending $ on ammo they don't need. Eventually production will ramp up to meet demand. Eventually the flippers will stop making profits. Eventually things will return to 'normal', what ever that is.

Or, people will start shooting other calibers. I shoot way more cheapo .223 than .22LR just because it's cheap and available. Used to be the other way around.

[Deadon]

Eh you can find it on sale on the net pre panic. You just have to look around. I haven't paid panic prices for anything.

[calif 15-22]

There is TONS of .22lr on gunbrokers . . . Expensive but tons of it

[compulsivegunbuyer]

I suppose the question is, at what point would an ammo manufacturer invest in expanding a facility to meet demand.

[.22guy]

I suppose the question is, at what point would an ammo manufacturer invest in expanding a facility to meet demand.

I think the problem there is that by the time they get through the red tape and spend the money to expand their facility, demand will drop off.

[Merc1138]

I suppose the question is, at what point would an ammo manufacturer invest in expanding a facility to meet demand.

When they see a long term trend(not simply a few months or even a year) forming that will generate revenue after the investment required for manufacturing equipment and space.

It wouldn't make any sense to drop a few million dollars, spend 6-12 months or more getting everything going, then once the manufacturing capacity has increased, demand drops and now you've got a bunch of equipment sitting idle. There was one manufacturer(I forget which, aguila maybe?) that had said they were buying more equipment but it'd take 18 months to get it running at full capacity.

[golfish]

I suppose the question is, at what point would an ammo manufacturer invest in expanding a facility to meet demand.

Good point. If the stuff keeps flying off the shelves why not keep filling them. I have more then enough 22lr but someday I will need to buy more. We shoot 1-4x a month.

[Excelsior]

I suppose the question is, at what point would an ammo manufacturer invest in expanding a facility to meet demand.

If you want to drill-down and get very technical about this, it would be fascinating to know the lead times and prices to equip and tool a new line?

Someone told me that due to demand, the price to set-up a high volume centerfire ammo line has almost tripled in the last year or two -- and the vendors/contractors have a waiting list.