The .22LR world is hurting pretty bad right now I think it is safe to say. In the past year and a half now, I have had less than about 50 cases of .22LR come in for us to sell. Whenever something happens in the country and people start to panic buy, .22LR dries up insanely fast. People think it’s a caliber that is typically the cheapest to shoot and usually is the cheapest to buy. Right now though, it’s been in such high demand and so little available quantity, that many people just arent shooting their .22LRs at all.
I would say the typical gun owner should have 1000rds of each caliber that they shoot on hand. That’s a good number and it’s fairly easy to obtain. If you talk to a .22LR guy, he would say 5,000 or even 10,000. Just because the ammo used to be so cheap. It allows you to shoot often without breaking the bank and without digging into your stash too far. If you have 5,000 rounds and shoot maybe 100 or 2 a month, you have more than a year’s worth of ammo. 10,000rds of 9mm or even .223 can be pretty expensive and take up a lot of room. Bricks of .22LR are so small and were relatively cheap that you could get 10,000rds into the bottom of your safe and not feel like you have to eat ramen for the next 3 months.
Right now .22LR has been scarce. I would say that most of the guys who had nice big stockpiles of the ammo are starting to get to the point where they aren’t too comfortable digging into it because it’s not going to be as easy to replace. Even the most prepared guy has shot a few thousand rounds by now just between having fun and scratching that itch to shoot. I would say besides 9mm at the price of 2010, .22LR is the most commonly asked for ammo right now.
Even though the ammo is difficult to get. The firearms are popping up more and more frequently. This is where people are messing up though. Even if you can’t find the ammo right NOW, you will eventually. Some of the more rare and harder to find .22LR models are going up for sale and being ignored by the normal .22LR guys that would grab them up. This is the general population’s chance to get some of the cool and unique .22LRs out there. The Ruger Hunter MKIV for example. It is a very sought-after Ruger and we have had it in stock for almost a week. Usually, these guns don’t last a few hours. This is the chance for somebody that has been trying to track one down, to do so. Things like these don’t last long and it’s good news if you’ve been looking for one.