What's the deal with rimfire ammunition?

[tularetom]

I have a ginormous stash of .22 cal ammo, several thousand rounds.

Yesterday I get a call from my grandson (18 years old) wanting to know if he can buy some from me because nobody seems to be selling it these days. I haven't actually bought any for a couple years so I didn't even realize this was going on.

I know there has been a general shortage of ammunition, but I haven't been affected too badly, because I reload, except I've had to sift through my sand pile for lead much more these days. Obviously that doesn't apply to rimfire ammo.

Obviously there is a shortage. Why is it so bad for .22 cal?

[OffWithTheirHeads]

1. Because Bengazi!

And the nuts who still think Obama gonna take all da guns.

[beemer27]

2. Good question

The other calibers have been available. Not a lot, but it is out there. For some reason, 22 is still scarce. When you figure out why, let us know.

[oneshooter]

3. I have a brand new 22 handgun that is going hungry

because I have to ration what I have to my students.

[beemer27]

4. I know how you feel.

I have a small stock of 22LR, but do not want to use a lot of it until I get this "shortage" figured out. I picked up a new SR22 pistol last year and then got one of the Take-Down 10/22s when they hit the shelves. It would be nice to be out breaking them in like they should be. They both have about 300 round thru them to make sure everything works, but that is not enough to find all the bugs and get the action nice and broke in. I will only go to the range after I have bought enough ammo to replace what I plan on shooting. The ammo companies claim that they are running full tilt, and the government has no use for 22LR. It has to be going some place.

[Jenoch]

5. I can't understand the scarcity of .22 LR either.

I have semi-auto .22 rifles and a semi-auto handgun and don't have any .22 ammo on hand to shoot them.

A few weeks ago our local fleet store advertised in the newspaper that they had .22 LR at a special price. When I got there, I couldn't believe what they were selling. There were boxes of 50 rounds, made in Czechoslovakia in 1982. I might shoot that stuff in a single shot rifle, but nothing else. I did not buy any. I prefer the Remington jacketed .22 LR ammunition. I have not seen it on the shelves for a long time.

[oneshooter]

6. Picked up 400rds yesterday, and another 400 today.

Do you want to know how, you won't like it. But it works.

[Jenoch]

8. Ok, I'll bite...how?

[oneshooter]

9. wall Mart. Get there early, before 7am, and wait at the

sporting goods counter till they bring in the stock from the cage. You may have to stand in line, and they don't always get rimfire in daily, but if it is there you can get it.

[Jenoch]

10. What brand have you been able to buy?

I am interested only in jacketed ammo, such as Remington. The non-jacketed stuff is just too dirty to put through our semi-autos.

http://www.remington.com/product-families/ammunition/rimfire-families/22-rimfire.aspx

[oneshooter]

11. In the last week I have picked up 1200rds of CCI both HP and solid.

Last month I got 3-1000rd cartons of Win. solid. All at WallMart price.

Got to keep my Walther/Colt 1911 and my 422 Smith fed.

[bluedigger]

7. My guess is that it has a lower profit margin than other calibers.

And is therefore not a manufacturing priority. The industry can make money faster and still stoke the paranoia of gun control and government induced shortages driving demand up at the same time. Win-win. For them.

[sir pball]

12. Can't be, it's on its own dedicated production line

Centerfire is manufactured on a different set of equipment; rimfire production is completely disconnected and scaling it back would make no difference to the capacity of the centerfire lines (barring a powder or lead shortage but I haven't heard anything about that). I suspect it's just hordes of preppers and paranoids buying up - then again I haven't been in the game in a few years, even my .22s are verboten in Bloomberg's Paradise..