The Firearms Forum banner

How much 22lr do you keep on hand?

13K views 85 replies 52 participants last post by  ms6852 
#1 ·
I just counted all the 22lr I have been able to buy over the last 2 years together. I used to keep a stock of about 1000 rounds. After I shot a brick I would buy a new one. Over the last 2 years I have been buying it when ever I see it at the store. Not a lot but one of whatever they have. I now have 7525 rounds in storage and another 5oo in my range kit.

I will keep doing this until I have 10,000 rounds. When this shortage 1st hit I was down to about 50 rounds. I may have become some what of a hoarder I don't know.
 
#60 ·
I remember when all this shortage of ammo began. Everyone said it'll be back to normal in a few months. Then they were saying 6 months, then it was a year, then it was someday. Don't hold your breath! I'm glad some of you think things are going to get better in the ammo department, but I don't think it will. As a matter of fact I think it's only going to get worse. A lot worse!

When I have money in my pockets for ammo I buy what ever I need, .22lr, and magnums, if they have them, and the price is reasonable. Mostly I just buy rifle bullets, because there are no .22's. Most of my ammo money goes for buying .308, 30-30, or 7.62X39.
 
#63 ·
IMO it's never going to go "back to normal" . The anti gun Libs are a patient bunch. Every few years they give it another try. Regardless of whatever success they had in reaching "a compromise" the last time. And just like closing down the last lead smelter in the U.S. (EPA), they are working behind the scenes as well. And each compromise is another chunk off off your rights.
But there are so many guns already in America that are not registered that they could never hope to get anywhere near all of them in a gun grab. They'll dry up the ammo first. Because a gun w/o ammo is useless. And eventually the ammo will run out. Some recognized this as much as 10-15 years ago and began stocking up then.
 
  • Like
Reactions: carver
#64 ·
All are good points. Mine is really that I refuse to be a subject to the whims of the market place. Let the hoarders sit on their millions of rnds. of .22lr. In a pistol it's not what I consider a potent defensive rnd. & in a rifle, I can buy ammo for my AK-47 for less than what their asking for .22lr. & it's plentiful & more fun to shoot.
I'm looking forward to a .40 cal. gun. It's a cal. I have yet to have an example of. But I noticed that there has always been plenty of .40 ammo even at the height of the shortages. I have no favorite caliber. I shoot them all about as well.
 
#65 ·
IMO you're looking at it narrowly. It's not merely about have arms & ammo for personal/family defense. But very possibly for food gathering. As was seen in hurricane Katrina, all social order can disappear virtually overnite. There may not be food on the shelves at the grocery store. Or you may not be able to access your cash even if you found some. And the .22LR offers much in this regard. Still the most economical as per number of rounds per purchase. Small enough to hide easily. With well placed shots able to take the vast majority of N. American game large and small. And do it w/o a loud attention gathering report. In a SHTF scenario, a .22 rifle and good supply of ammo would certainly be on my list of necessary items.
 
#67 ·
How do the hoarders find all the .22 ammo, and buy it up before I get there? I shop three Walmart's, and they all tell me that they aren't getting any .22. So how do I become a hoarder? There's nothing out there to hoard!
 
#68 ·
seriously, I don't know how you could hoard it, in the last 2 years, I've only seen it available all of about 3 times minus the overpriced old stuff at the gunshows folks are selling. Remington thunderbolts going for $80/brick, I don't think so hoss!

I can literally cite all I've been able to buy in the past 2 years in fact;

2 x 50 round boxes of federal subsonic for $3.50/box
1 x brick of armscor for $60
and passed up 2 boxes of federal match ammo for $23/box, yikes

and someone in the family gave me some older stuff, maybe 200 rounds or so of CCI's and some snake shot.

I've got a bunch of winchester T22 on backorder since December! still waiting....

but when I do find it eventually, I will buy what I can afford!
 
#73 ·
Good luck, and welcome to the forum! I haven't bought 2,000 rounds in the last 2 years, can't find it!
 
#75 ·
When I was in Norfolk I checked 3 or 4 Wal-Marts and a Dicks (I think that was it lol) and nothing. One guy said there's a city north of there that seems to have it but I couldnt dive up there. O well I'll keep my eyes peeled. Maybe see if one of my local stores can hold me a box.
 
#77 ·
I was curious to see what the total qty of .22lr was in this thread, so I added it up the best I could.
Total of 194,925 rounds. That includes 30 responses which works out to an average of 6,498 rounds per person.
 
#78 ·
I check local stores once a week or so. Been scarce. I found some at Wally world couple weeks ago. They had a 3 box per day limit on 22. Other ammo was plentiful.

I usually only have a couple boxes of .22 on hand. I don't shoot it very often.
 
#80 ·
I have one brick. The only reason I bought it was because Gander Mountain gave me ten dollars off for using their credit card. I've gotten rid of all my .22lr guns except my late 70's stainless Ruger single six convertible. I keep it because it's unfired & new in box. I can shoot .9mm or .40 cal. for about the same price.
 
#81 ·
I found a 500 round brick of CCI standard velocity for $34.95 at the local Academy store. That's the first CCI SV I've seen in over 2 years for less than $50.00. My 10-22 shoots the CCI SV better than any other round and that includes mini-mags, stingers, thunderduds, or any other .22 LR I've ever found.

In total I have about 5,000 rounds of .22 LR and continue to buy about everything I find except the Remington 1,400 round buckets. I have one of those I paid $59.95 for at Bass Pro and some guy at the gun show here yesterday was trying to sell two of them for $175 each.
 
#82 ·
I remember the days when CCI, SuperX and Remington were $12 a brick at Walmart. Call me a cynic but I believe that the shortage is due as much to economics (greed) as it is production or hoarding. That said, it's plinking ammo that's most difficult to come by. I can get RWS any time for the Anschutz, but at $18 for 50 I cycle that bolt slowly....

To answer the question, I have 3500 rounds of plinking ammo and 500 of match-grade.
 
#84 ·
Probably the same reason I keep buying it, it's just so hard to get now days. Stock up while you can, shoot how ever much you want to, but keep buying it!
 
#85 ·
I aim for a minimum of 1,000rds per caliber, and replace what I shoot as soon as I can. I don't have much room in my shed for more than that amount per caliber. I have probably 1400rds of .22lr (I only buy one box per shipment so I don't rob our customers) I usually use my overstock to trade for other calibers to replenish what I am low on. If I can talk my Mrs. into giving me our back room for my guns I will be able to bump that up to about 5k per caliber :)
 
#86 ·
I have around 25K of 22lr, and about 4000 of 22 magnum. I practice 2 or 3 times a week with my week hand so I always keep a stash. I make it a point of buying between 1 to 3 thousand rds per month.

Luckily during the "Drought of Obama" and as it continues I had enough stash for several years so I avoided all price gougers for several years. It seems that I will weather the drought as well.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top