A little more than a week ago, I was in the local Yuma WalMart. There are three, but I primarily visit one. Last Friday, I was surprised to find 2300 rounds of CCI Mini-mag .22 Long Rifle cartridges and 1,000 rounds of Standard Velocity CCI .22 Long Rifle cartridges for sale. The clerk, Yittzel, told me that it was unusual, but they saw .22 come in about once a month. She said it would be gone quickly. I had not seen .22 ammunition in the store for three years.
Yittzel tempered this by saying it appeared to be coming in a little more quickly lately.
Today, Sunday the 3rd of July, 2016, I stopped in again. As is my custom, I stopped by the ammunition department to see what was there. I seldom buy anything. I have enough .22 to last me and to pass on to my children. But with the .22 ammunition bubble lasting three years, it is an interesting subject.
I was amazed to see more .22 Long Rifle ammunition on the shelf! This was only nine days since the last appearance, after three years!
Today's offering was 1900 rounds of CCI Stinger, in 50 round boxes. It is premium .22 Long Rifle ammunition, and has always been pricey. The price was $6.47 for a box of 50, or a little under 13 cents a round. They also had CCI .22 Maxi-Mag, .22 magnum rimfire cartridges, for $13.47 a box of 50, or nearly 27 cents a cartridge. It has been scarce, but not as bad as the .22 Long Rifle.
The clerk, Brittany, was very helpful. She said the .22 Long Rifle would be gone by tonight. She said it was still there because it was a Sunday. Still, two sightings of .22 ammunition in the local WalMart after three years of none, seems a bit more than coincidental.
Does this mean the .22 ammunition bubble is deflating? It is too early to be sure.
Industry insiders at the Shot Show in Las Vegas in January, told me that they were increasing production to meet the long term increased demand. Aguila said that they were increasing production about 30%. Industry sources assured me that CCI/Federal were increasing their production by 20%. Those increases should be coming on line about now. The combined increases would be about 1.2 billion more rounds each year, an increase of 20% of total market production.
That should have an effect. Maybe it is.
Every time it appears that production has started to meet demand, the Obama administration pushes for another infringement on the Second Amendment. Then demand spikes. Hillary, as a candidate, has been the most hostile to Second Amendment rights, ever. The House Democrats demand more infringements, without due process or any Constitutional protections.
All of these things spike demand, as do mass shootings in the news.
I would love to see the .22 bubble deflate. There have been several times that I thought it would, only to see political tantrums by Democrats re-inflate it.
Maybe this time will be different. I think it more likely we will have to wait until after November and the 2016 elections.
©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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