Until these raw material prices revert to 2006 levels, ammo prices will remain higher than they were back then..
Posted on 10/06/2015 9:50:36 AM PDT by marktwain
Is the .22 bubble finally bursting? I have, with many others, been watching WalMart for .22 ammunition. It is a good indicator that demand may be saturating, and prices dropping. For two years, the availability of .22 long rifle ammunition in WalMart stores has been very spotty. They have had a “3 boxes per customer limit” for most of that period. When .22 ammunition comes in, it is snapped up by the first few customers; then the shelves are bare until the next shipment, which usually happens a week or more later.
On September 30th, in a Dallas WalMart near the North boundary, off of Marsh Lane, I spotted these boxes of Blazer .22 Long Rifle, at $2.47 for a box of 50. That is less than 5 cents a round, starting to approach pre-bubble levels.
Appropriately, there were 22 boxes of Blazer on the shelf, and a few boxes of .22 shotshells above them.
Suspecting that I might have come across one of those rare moments when the shipments were just put on the shelf, I asked a nearby associate about the presence of the .22 ammunition. They were a little reluctant to talk, but an explanation of my interest as a writer convinced them to open up.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
Just walked thru my walmart at 33525 and the entire shelf of all flavors of .22 was empty. No 25 or 32. There was 380 and .38 etc
My local Wal-Mart has a fair selection of calibers but no .22 on display.
On the other hand while I was there just looking things over, an old man walked up and asked for a box of .22LR. The clerk reached under the counter and asked how many he wanted.
He just wanted one box so not sure how many he could have gotten. I have forgotten the price but it was reasonable but more than 5 cents a round.
I certainly hope that the bubble is bursting. The spike in .22 has forced me to refrain from using my Marlin 60’s as much as I would like. My favorite rifle. Wouldn’t be unusual for me to go through a 500 round bulk box in a day.
When I first started buying them they were $9.88 at Walmart. By the time the shelves cleared they had gotten up to $15.47.
The only place I’ve seen the bulk boxes is on auction sites at $60 or more. I expect when they show up at Walmart again they will be $25-27. I doubt we will ever see $0.03 .22 ammo again.
Bought 380 round boxes at my walmart for 18 dollars a box.
That was a week or two ago, need to go by and see if they
have any more.
Dawsonville Ga.
I was at Cabela’s yesterday. They had lots of Winchester .22 rimfire for $9.99 a box of 50.
Before the “shortage” (7-8 years ago) I could get a 550 round “carton” of Remington 22 LR for about $8.50.
I’ll believe the “bubble” has burst when I can get 500 rounds for less than $15.
Local Walmart hasn’t had .22 in stock for more than two hours for years. I don’t know about price, because I haven’t seen it.
As a kid back in the fifties I paid $.75 for a box of fifty long rifle rounds and there was nothing special about them, just solid nose, forty grain Remington. That would be equal in real terms to about twenty cents a round now. We were selling large cantaloupes by the pickup load at the farmers market for an average of about seven cents each. The most we ever got for some that would have weighed eight to ten pounds each was eleven cents each. They go by weight now but back then we counted watermelons and cantaloupes. We were happy if we got fifty cents apiece for forty pound watermelons.
Cabelas yesterday had a 1qt tub of 1400 RDS for $89.99 and lots of them. That’s more than $.05/rd but the quantity is impressive
75 cents a box seems rather high for the 1950’s.
In the 1960’s I purchased 50 round boxes for 44 cents a box at the local Erickson’s gas station. I gave a box of .22 ammunition away at the Christmas gift exchange in High School.
In constant dollars, $.75 in 1955 would be $6.67 today.
$.44 in 1965 would be $3.33 today.
My father said that he paid 25 cents a box in the 1930’s.
$.25 in 1935 would be $4.35 today.
So, $2.47 a box of 50 is not a bad deal, historically.
I recall paying as little as $9.99, (on sale, in 325 round bulk pack) in 2012. That is only $1.54 per 50 rounds, fairly recently.
That would be only $1.60 a box today, so the prices can still drop a bit.
I do not know if it will drop to $1 per 50 rounds, but looking at the historical levels, .22 ammunition at that rate is a very good deal.
$89.99 for 1400 rounds is 6.42 cents per round, not too terrible.
Very interesting.
Nope. Lucky Gunner prices are up by about 5 cents a round over six months ago.
For .22 LR?
75 cents for a box of standard .22LR in the 1950’s? I’m thinking about 50 cents.
Until these raw material prices revert to 2006 levels, ammo prices will remain higher than they were back then..
Around 1959 the price was 55, 65 and 75 cents for shorts, longs, and Long Rifles in that order.
Of course that was the local grocery store. I suspect shorts and longs would now be higher than LR simply because they are extremely hard to find now, particularly longs.
Look for things to tighten up again with this latest “gun control” (really gun registration as a prelude to confiscation) talk. That’s what started the shortage, and we’re about to get hit again.
Over the past few months, both Academy and Dicks have had .22 LR. I picked up several 325 round boxes of Federal for $18 and a couple 550 boxes of Remington for $25. Academy has also had some of the bulk Winchester, but I don’t remember their price.
Even though I’m finding reasonably priced bulk boxes locally, I have noticed gun show prices are still insane. Two weekends back, one guy was getting $75/box for the bulk Remington and I have seen them going for as much as $100.
The bubble has not burst yet, and every time President Obama threatens more infringements on the Second Amendment, he reinflates it.
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