[Oatka]

Per given man-hour, you can make more money on 9mm, .45 ACP, .223, .40 S&W than you can make on .22LR.

I remember reading that the ammo companies only made x-amount of 22 LR per year. The problem comes from all the gun owners getting "an extra brick or two, just in case", which wipes out any availability (I'd do the same, but I haven't seen any bricks in over a year.)

[ZULU]

At this point, even the most obtuse manufacturer would realize the demand and produce more if that was the sole issue.