Sighted in WalMart: 4.5 Cents per Round .22 Ammunition

By Dean Weingarten22 in WalMart 4 Cents

Dean Weingarten
Dean Weingarten

Arizona – -(Ammoland.com)- A WalMart in North Dallas, Texas, just off the George W. Bush freeway and Marsh rd, consistently had 5 cent .22 ammunition when I visited my Daughter in October.  When I checked in late November, there wasn’t any more on the shelves.  I was disappointed, and believed that the .22 bubble was re-inflating.  I was gone for a couple of days, but checked out the display again on 29 November.

In October, a WalMart employee, who wished to remain anonymous, told me that the same people came in when .22 bulk packs were available and bought them all up.  They did not buy the 50 round boxes, because they were not worth their time, with a 3 boxes per day limit.  The bulk packs were bought up regularly.

22 WalMart Limit

Maybe the ammo resellers were on Thanksgiving vacation on the 29th of November. Maybe they noticed a slump in demand. I cannot be sure why, but there on the shelves were five boxes of Winchester copper-plated .22 LR, 333 round boxes for $14.97. This was late in the afternoon, about 4:30 p.m. WalMart restocks .22 ammuntion in the morning, I have been told.

That price converts to a little less than 4.5 cents per cartridge. I predicted the bubble would be considered burst when .22 ammo became commonly available at 4 cents a round. The demand is still up, and supply has not increased enough to get to that point, yet. But I am commonly hearing of people being able to obtain .22 cartridges in limited quantities for 5-7 cents a cartridge, and 8 cent ammunition is fairly common.

The production plus shipping and retail profit price of inexpensive .22 ammunition is likely below 3 cents a cartridge. Most of the current profits are going to middlemen like the enterprising Wal-Mart shoppers, pawn shops, or local gun shops. I have seen quite a bit of .22 ammunition at 10 cents a cartridge or higher.

Much depends on the political climate. The more President Obama talks of the necessity of restrictions on gun ownership, the more the bubble will re-inflate. The more the media cartel publicises public shootings and/or terrorist attacks, the more demand will remain high.  Several events have occurred since the middle of October, all of which may have contributed to keeping demand for .22 LR high.  Those have been the rampage shooting on the streets of Colorado, the spate of knife attacks in Israel, the massive attack by Islamic terrorists in Paris, the call for President Obama to institute new restrictions on the selling of guns by Democrat congressmen using executive orders, and President Obama saying that he would devote his last year in office to furthering the passage of more restrictions on gun owners and gun purchasers.

Those things do much to create a demand in the minds of gun owners who only have a little .22 ammunition on hand.  They may want to have a stock pile for bad times, for trading material, to hunt, or for self defense.

But, the desire to have a supply of .22 ammunition on hand at home is being satisfied. When the demand drops below the level of supply, prices will come down and stay there.

It is hard to predict when, in the current political climate.

c2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included. Link to Gun Watch

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.

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Doug Hammack

sorry man but you might want to re-check your math. that’s .55 per round. you would need to get 10,000 rounds to get .05 per round

Eric

I too was shocked when I went to the Augusta, Maine Walmart at lunchtime on December 1st and found a 1000 round “brick” of Winchester M22 22LR for $550.87 (.05/round). I bought it! It’s the first time I’ve actually SEEN any 22LR on the shelf in years.

Mike

Our local Walmart is limited to 1 shipment every 2 weeks of 10 boxes of 100 rounds each…

And the customers are limited to 3 boxes each….. so they are gone before you can turn around…..

RICK

OBAMA IS JUST TRYING TO GIVE A FAIR CHAMCE TO
HIS IMPORTED MURDEROUS TERRORIST MUSLIM
FRIENDS……….: YOU DONT UNDERSTAND…… ITS
FOR ” THEIR ” PROTECTION……..NOT ” YOURS “

Pamela

I was shopping in Walmart one afternoon and as ALWAYS went by the Ammo counter to check on the 22 LR; SURPRISE !! For the fist time in months there were THREE boxes of the 325 round variety sitting on the shelf. I bought TWO of them (a bit short on cash the day before SS check deposit) and as I finished paying another gentleman stepped up to buy the LAST box. Then Last week, went by there was ONE box on the shelf; It SAID that it was lonely and wanted a NEW home, SO I bought IT too… Read more »

Capn Jack

The biggest problem with buying On-Line is the cost of shipping
often out weighs any savings in price.

Vanns40

And yet for all the talk about waiting for ammo at WallyMart, if you simply go online to a couple of the major consolidator sites there are tens of thousands of 22 rounds listed for sale. Some dirt cheap.

Russ

Yes, I’ve been suprised more than a couple times this year to see 10 -20 boxes of bulk .22 sitting on the WM self around noon. I usually buy 3 boxes, then call all my friends that shoot it, and get them over to WM quick, or sell them what I purchased. I keep 1 ammo can full at home, and try to help out friends and family with the rest.(no profit & sometimes gift it) Last time I saw it on the selves, I called around, and nobody needed it, so I passed on it. Mind you, I’ve seen… Read more »

john carr

I bet there isn’t ten boxes of .22 rounds goes through all six central West Virginia stores in any given month. No reloading supplies other than a few odd ball bullets that nobody wants.

jamie

People are still buying it as fast as they can put it on the shelf. Yes it is more available now but you still can’t find it sitting on the shelf at walmart for long.

notalima

What, did the 10 guys who camp out at the store on lawn chairs from the garden section all get in a multi-car pile up that morning? Seriously, I have, on occasion, been in WM pre-dawn and see these guys camping at the ammo counter, reading magazines and sitting on chairs pulled the camping or pool sections.

Jay Dee

Personally, I suspect the ammunition industry has underestimated the effects of all the .22 guns that the Obama administration has sold and has not built the capacity to keep up with the market.