The latest word………

So, I was in Fleet Farm his evening and got to talking to one of the full timers behind the gun counter. The Federal rep was just in there last week and said the plant is pumping out 12 million rounds of 22LR/week. The employee said they’re getting shipments weekly now and they’re keeping it behind the gun counter so you have to ask for it. Price is up…… $8.29 per 100rd box. According to the rep, he figures it’ll take up to 2 more years but he predicts the days of 22LR being readily available will return. What was new news for my ears is that they were (supposedly) focusing on more profitable lines like 9mm, 45acp and such. Basically, the other stuff that was impossible to find for a while. I guess they don’t make any money on 22LR. Riiiiiiiight…….. Anyway, the shelves are bursting with almost anything else you can wish for so word is that they are now focusing on the rimfire loads. That’s the grapevine update!

No .22 ammo ay Wal-Mart Elk River Sunday. I am down to about 100 rounds , but will not shoot it until I can get more. Every time I go to Cabela’s, Fleet Farm, Wal-Mart etc I ask. They never seem to have any.

Picked up 100 rounds at FF yesterday. Didn’t even consider asking for “Behind the counter supplies”

I haven’t seen .22 at FF in…well, I can’t remember when. Plenty of other stuff, thankfully. I’ll have to ask at the counter next time I am in.

It is getting better in terms of .22 RF showing up in a variety of places. I’ve heard similar things, that .22 is showing up every week at most big box places.

But after such a long drought people are panic buying whatever they see because they’re afraid they won’t see it again. Which still leads to empty shelves which leads to more panic buying.

I think it’s going to be a long time before you will reliably be able to buy .22 off the shelf when you want to.

Grouse

I have not seen or stumbled upon any .22lr on the shelves where I shop but I know others that have. I know a guy who happened to be at FF in Winona 2 consecutive Saturdays and found it one the shelf. I have not asked about any behind the counter either or heard that locally. Last I heard if you find it at FF they are still only letting you buy one at a time.

I was recently at a Gander Mountain store and they said they are had allowed shoppers to buy 2 boxes and it flew off the shelf from the last ad they had a few weeks ago.

The local auction house is still getting in plenty from guys looking to really cash in and folks are still paying but the prices there are starting to drop. It used to be guys were buying a brick of 500 rounds for about $85. The most recent auction had boxes of 333 going for about $40 -$50

Dave

I don’t know if all Fleet Farms are putting 22lr behind the counter or not. Hudson is for sure. If you walk the isle, they’re putting other rounds in the shelf bins so right now, it doesn’t even look like there’s a “home” for it.

Speaking of, if anyone’s looking for 17WSM, they had TONS it!

After making the rounds through my Illinois dealers, i noticed most of them had a variety of 22LR; not just on e or two brands

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

Picked up 100 rounds at FF yesterday. Didn’t even consider asking for “Behind the counter supplies”

I have often thought of telling the weekend workers that I am related to the sporting goods department manager and he/she said to ask for .22 shells and find out if there are any “behind the counter supplies” or “in the back room” deals that are there for just friend and family. Problem is I am not very good at acting!

I’ll hand out some more good advice. Shop around. Over lunch today I stopped at Gander to get some ammo I rarely get to shoot. 10 MM. Then I swung by Cabelas for something else and they had the exact same ammo for $15 LESS PER BOX!!!
I tried to immediately return the ammo to Gander but they wouldn’t take it back.

suzuki wrote:

I’ll hand out some more good advice. Shop around. Over lunch today I stopped at Gander to get some ammo I rarely get to shoot. 10 MM. Then I swung by Cabelas for something else and they had the exact same ammo for $15 LESS PER BOX!!!
I tried to immediately return the ammo to Gander but they wouldn’t take it back.

Ask for a gift card for the difference after showing them your Cabela’s receipt.

The local Farm and Fleet by my home in a week had three varieties of 22lr come through, I only bought the Remington Thunderbolt 50rd box for 2.99, but they also had Winchester 100rd and the Remington value box 22lr, 525rd come through. They too started the have to ask for 22lr policy and have a small sign that is placed on the shelves when it is in stock.

The Fleet Farm here in Stevens Point, has only had 22lr on one occasion I have been there, and it was Winchester 100rd boxes.

Now this was heard second hand through the lady who runs the ammo department at that Farm and Fleet, but she was told by a customer that CCI is essentially sending all 22lr they produce to Wal-Mart. Which explains why anytime I have seen CCI it has been in Wal-Mart recently.

I stumbled across some .22LR this weekend, but $5 for a box of 50 was a bit rich for my blood.

Nick,
I work in the sporting goods department at Runnings in austin on the side and CCI is usually what we carry when we can get it in. We havent had any in close to 2 months, before that we had about a 2 month stretch where we were getting it in weekly. Those were 22lr, stingers, magnum and the occassional birdshot. We get 3.99 for a box of 50. Haven’t got any of the 325 or 350 packs in in over 6 months.

Here’s where you want to buy pistol ammo. I have been using them for a couple years and could not be happier. 9mm’s can be had for as low as .19/rd right now. With shipping .21/rd which is $10 for a box of 50. Those are old school prices. Go in on bulk group purchases and the price keeps falling.
Next time I need some maybe I’ll see if somebody here wants to go in on 1000.
http://www.freedommunitions.com/

Suzuki,

Are those for the alloy cased rounds or brass? My Taurus will handle the alloy rounds but I prefer to shoot the brass. Just curious…….

I’ve been shopping around and got some prairie dog 22-250 rounds for $.78/rnd and FREE SHIPPING! Also found some 16ga. #5 Pheasant loads for….. get this….. $59.99/case!!! Same resource had 12ga. 2 3/4″ #5’s for $67.99/case! When is the last time anyone saw upland loads for less than $9.00/box let alone $6 or $7/box?

I’m noticing a lot of ammo prices on the decline……. so long as it’s not rimfire! I’m not sure what to attribute that to but it does feel good to see it!

All brass. Top notch reloads. Better than new.

stillakid2 wrote:

I’m noticing a lot of ammo prices on the decline……. so long as it’s not rimfire! I’m not sure what to attribute that to but it does feel good to see it!

Well, for one thing the manufacturers have been just PUMPING out ammo as fast as possible during the panic spree and finally supply has overtaken demand.

Some categories like .223 are still going to be highly venerable to “AR Panics” where any rumors of an AR-related ban will send TactiCoolers out to clean the shelves of the ammo.

While it would be nice for me to just lay in a “long term” supply (whatever that is), I shoot quite a bit and hunt as well, so with multiple rifles, etc, it’s not possible just to hoard “enough” of one kind of ammo. I have enough components to reload thousands of rounds, but if there’s a hard shortage, that’s not really all that much in the scheme of things.

And, of course, .22 RF. Which there isn’t the slightest reason for a shortage, except for the epic shortage.

I wonder when this shortage will end? My previous guess/hope was last fall/winter. That didn’t happen. By the end of this year will we start to see some relief?

It seems like it could NEVER have been–the times when there was a whole shelf or even shelves full of .22 RF and the thought of it all being gone would have been as laughable as the thought that air was going to be in short supply next week.

Grouse

I had to do a triple-take yesterday afternoon at Fleet Farm! Not exactly what I wanted to pay, but it’s the first I’ve seen on the shelves there in a long, long time. Hopefully, this was not a fluke and we’ll continue to see more.

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TheFamousGrouse wrote:

But after such a long drought people are panic buying whatever they see because they’re afraid they won’t see it again. Which still leads to empty shelves which leads to more panic buying.

It’s going to be a tough mentality to break I think.
I posted about this last fall when I was surprised to find out I couldn’t find any 22LR anywhere. I got lot’s of help and tips and I’m up to 700 rounds now.