By Dean Weingarten
Arizona – -(Ammoland.com)- 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 2015, 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.
The shelves in the North Dallas WalMart had been stocked with .22 LR for two weeks, nearly constantly. The three-boxes per-customer limit applies, but shipments have been coming in regularly.
The rest of the shelves were nearly full of centerfire ammunition of the common varieties.
Two weeks earlier, in Yuma, I had seen a few boxes of Winchester Varmint .22 LR in the local WalMart.
It was priced at $9.97 for a box of 50. It is some of the highest velocity .22 LR out there, with an advertised velocity of 1650 feet per second and a special, hollowpoint, 26 grain, tin bullet. I do not count those as an indicator of the end of the bubble, but some have said that the stocking of the higher-priced .22 is a precursor to wide availability of the garden variety loads.
A bit over a year ago, I wrote that:
You will know that the bubble is close to the bottom when you see .22 LR on sale for below 4 cents per round. At the lowest, we might see .22 cartridges below $10 for 500.
We are not there, yet. There is still that three-box per-customer limit, and the price is nearly 5 cents a round. But we are getting a lot closer. The .22 ammunition bubble may be close to busting, but it would only take a few words from President Obama to start it inflating again.
I checked on the 4th of October, and the same shelf now had 23 boxes of the Blazer ammunition at the same price. On the 5th of October, there were still 18 boxes of Blazer, same $2.47 per box of 50. That is about three weeks that reasonably priced .22 ammunition has been consistently stocked at this particular WalMart.
An internet search showed that Natchez Shooting Supply was selling the excellent Federal Champion Target .22 LR for $2.79 a box of 50, or 5.6 cents a round, with a maximum order of 10 boxes a day.
About Dean Weingarten;
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of constitutional carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and recently retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
Does one really trust Wal-Mart having 22 ammo??? My experience (because I had a friend working there) is that at a particular Wal-Mart in Kansas when the pallet of ammo came in, they immediately put up “no 22 ammo.” Why? Well because those who worked there were buying up the stock that just came in. They were selling it to their friends, etc. You have no chance of purchase under those conditions. I suspect that this practice goes on at other Wal-Marts as well if not at other businesses as well.
I’ve been to Walmart around a dozen times in the past 2 months since I recently got a 22 pistol. I’ve yet to even see one box around the Dallas area EVER in a Walmart but I have seen some rude employees for just asking about 22lr. I can go to about ANY sporting goods stores and they have some limited 22lr ammo; mainly for about $7 per 100 rounds… not a good bargain at all. I think a lot of this, besides the hoarding, is that a lot more 22 pistol models are being created and that supply &… Read more »
Here in Colo., eight days searching for 22’s and 22 mags. Walmart limits 3 box per customer on 22lr’s but none in stock and no 22 mags ever. All gun stores have no 22’s at all. Found one ammo dealer in Tenn. @ 31.00 a box for 50 ct. Plus 19.00 shipping.
I desire to purchase a pistol. I have fired 9mm but am not a Pro by any means. Just want personal protection. Should I consider purchase of 22 pistol to use for proficiency shooting. Are there matches between 22 and 9 mm for similarities. Are there brands of munitions I should price check. Thanks
22 cal. is not a trustworthy cal. for self protection , they are really fun to shoot but you have to clean these guns more often or they will jam and misfire much more often than the bigger cal. they just simply do not have enough kick to operate most semi-auto guns, would probably be ok in a revolver.
Nothings changed in (western) NC nor (eastern) TN – in my local Walmart they had a hand written sign “NO 22 AMMO” – which except one visit was always on display… then apparently “corporate” paid a visit and ordered the sign be removed (it didn’t look “professional”) FFS! I believe Walmart are now deliberately NOT stocking it – as a sales tool. How many folks go in looking for 22, and then even when there is none to be had make another purchase? just because “they are there”… Even the helpful folks in sporting goods have no idea why there… Read more »
When it gets back to $9.99 for a brick of 500 I will start buying again. Thankfully I stocked up when prices were low.
I agree with you 100%.
I STOCK UP WHEN PRICES WERE LOW, I WELL NOT PAY THE PRICES THEY HAVE ON THEM NOW, WHEN THE PRICE OF 22 GOES DOWN THEN ILL START SOOTING AGAIN. OR SALE OUT AND QUIT.