By ABIGAIL SNOW
Moapa Valley Progress
One of the most popular and common types of ammunition in the world is .22 caliber. This is especially true for target shooters. But for more than two years now .22 caliber has been the hardest ammunition to obtain for the public.
Gun and ammunition sales have been rising steadily since 2008, according to cbsnews.com. This is largely amid concerns over gun control efforts by the Obama administration. Sales numbers spiked again in late 2012 and in early 2013 after a series of events involving gun violence took place.
“It has been two years that .22 caliber ammunition has been scarce,” said Jan Sullivan, Co-Owner of Guns and Guitars in Mesquite. “In my thinking, I believe what brought it on was the re-election of Obama in 2012, Christmas was drawing near, and the Sandy Hook School shooting took place. Everyone was afraid of what would come about in the future with possible new laws. They wanted some security.”
The Sandy Hook incident was a shooting rampage that took placein Newtown, Connecticut on Friday Dec 14, 2012, in which a lone gunman left 28 people dead, including 20 children killed, inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School. Since these events, Sullivan said she has seen a lot more people interested in shooting and obtaining weapons for self-defense; with an increase among women as well.
Likewise, Mark Hopkins of Overton Ace Hardware said, “What brought on the scarcity of ammunition, and particularly the .22 shortage, was a number of factors. Citizens anticipated and feared more restrictions on guns and ammunition would come about.
People began to stock up on guns and ammo-related products. This made 2013 the biggest gun sale year ever in the nation. Everything was emptied and cleaned out.”
People have started to realize they were vulnerable and needed to be prepared and ready to defend themselves, Hopkins said. They learned they could not always rely on government and started leaning toward self-reliance, he said.
“We are grateful for the police, and they do all they can,” said Mark. “But they cannot always be there immediately when self-defense is needed.”
Toward the end of 2012, all ammunition was affected. Producers responded by adding more time and manpower into bumping up production. But this was still not enough because more unit specific machines of various types needed to be added to produce different types of ammunition. The .22 caliber is still the hardest to obtain and the slowest to produce because of unique production limitations.
“People are getting mad that we don’t have ammo,” said Matt Hopkins of Overton Ace Hardware. “They think we have control over it, or don’t want to sell them .22 ammo. Of course we do! We just don’t have it in stock. It is frustrating for all of us that they cannot buy it like before.”
The .22 caliber gun is the most commonly used. It is the smallest caliber and is a “starter” gun for those who are first learning to shoot, as well as for those who like to keep up on their skills. It is also appealing to those who may want a gun with less recoil, or kick, than larger caliber weapons.
“The .22 is the gateway of guns,” Mark said. “For kids first learning it is most always their first gun. Because people can’t obtain .22 ammo, it is hurting everyone from the seller to the buyer.”
Another factor is that other calibers of ammunition can be reloaded, but the .22 caliber cannot. Many have the necessary supplies to re-load ammunition they use for hunting or other sport. But they don’t have a way to re-load the small .22 caliber shells.
Mark said there are a lot of conspiracy theories out there as to why ammunition is hard to obtain. These include the notion that government is buying all of the ammunition so that citizens don’t have access to it, he said.
The truth is that it is simply a supply and demand issue, he said. A series of events caused the public to buy a lot of ammunition which caused a shortage. The availability of ammunition is still scarce because of this.
Matt said the price of 22 ammo is also very high when you can buy it. Customers will go into a store, buy the ammunition, then sell it on the internet for a higher price to make a profit. This kind of competition is not helping bring prices down and lessen the problems already existing with .22 ammo shortages.
Matt said the US Military has its own ammo-producing facility named Lake City Army Ammunition Plant. They specifically produce standard military ammunition for government and military use.
Lake City Army Ammunition Plant (LCAAP), located at Independence, Missouri, is the largest small-arms manufacturing plant in the world, according to www.globalsecurity.org. The facility originally began operating in October 1941 and is currently the only active small-caliber ammunition manufacturing facility within the Department of Defense.
Mark said there has definitely been a decrease in the amount of people out target shooting in the desert now, because of the lack of ammunition. Things are now starting to slowly recuperate, he said, but businesses have had to limit the sale of .22 ammo to just two boxes per customer; if they have it in stock at all, he said.
Sullivan said that Guns and Guitars would sell more .22 ammo if they had it. But they have to reserve it for repeat and loyal customers, as well as those purchasing a new .22 caliber gun in the shop.
“We are getting a lot of customer draw from Vegas,” said Mark Hopkins. “About 60% of our sales come from Vegas because of our good reputation, selection, price, and knowledge. We can give more personal customer service and information as to the proper firearm for their needs. We have a lot of women customers because of this. In a lot of places in Vegas it is just about making a sale and not teaching and properly informing the customers.”
According to Tim Brandt in thefirearmblog.com, rimfire (.22 ammo) production is running 24 hours a day and essentially, demand continues to outstrip supply. The good news is, Federal Premium Ammunition company is expanding its production capacity, Brandt writes. This will be the only thing that will catch inventories, he said.
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20 thoughts on “Local Gun Dealers Experience Continued .22 Ammo Shortage”
I don’t buy the Supple & Demand excuse anymore. Any other commodity that is manufactured for retail sale would only be scarce for a very short time. The producers would amp up their productions to meet the demand. That’s how they make money. Over two years and still not enough product to supply the demand is unbelievable. More believable is that production is kept below demand to get the price of .22 ammo higher. Come on!
What the previous commenter doesn’t understand is that supply and demand only work if the seller actually RAISES prices. What you lot like to whine about, “gouging”, is the necessary result of an increase in demand. The reason some can buy the ammo off the shelf and sell it for more online means that the mass sellers have not raised prices enough to allow the supply and demand curves to converge; in other words, your whining about “gouging” has created a shortage. This voluntary “price control” is the same thing that makes single payer health coverage “inexpensive” but it always has a shortage.
Why can’t supply rise quickly? How long does it take to build another factory with normal expenses and government red-tape? By the time it gets built, the demand may have fallen and the company may not be able to eat the loss (so it will go out of business). Actually talk to the manufacturers and you’ll realize this is the main reason supply can’t increase over what it is.
In short, government red tape creates the supply shortage, governmental attacks on freedom creates the demand, and government schools (lack of understanding how economics works) creates the misunderstanding about “gouging” and the shortage. There appears to be a common denominator here…
Signed, an economist with no horse in this race, just a desire to educate.
So, have the Manu. stock pile the goods for a short time or until they have no room for it, Then release it to the public.
Would help too when people got back to being people, but this is the world we have created.
You are right, ACE. .22 long rifle should be $100/brick.
Same problem we face in the medical field, no free market
I started shooting with a 22LR and I taught my children to shoot with rimfire rifles. Now we’re teaching the grandkids. Until a few years ago rimfire ammo was ALWAYS available and very inexpensive.
I don’t know about any rimfire supply and demand problems of manufacturing issues. I do know the obama White House and democrats hate guns and gun owners. Democrats have been using teachers and the education system to push an anti gun agenda for decades.
If a powerful group wanted to deny education and training to young people that group would do so by taking away the supplies and tools.
I have my own reservations, but it all does seem odd…
In the past, Walmart was the place to go for cheap 22lr ammo. The shelfs were ALWAYS stuffed with the stuff. People probably shot more 22 then, than today (as its too much of a hassle for anyone to hunt it down and most people won’t pay the inflated prices). I don’t buy that the total ‘end-user’ demand is so high that the actual end users can’t find it any…
Now, here’s my contention: How did the shelfs seem to always stay full back then, without a problem with regular resupply? If the manufactures are producing at “record levels,” then why is it that when Walmart gets a new shipment, it is only a few small boxes?
The true problem seems to be a trifecta; gougers who keep the available supply controlled, paniced consumers grab whatever they can and further limit availability, and then the guy/gal who just wants to shoot who gives in to the gouger, all keep this ball rolling.
It does seem suspicious, however, that the big box stores are recieving such limited shipments if the production is supposedly ramped up. It seems to me, those who are cornering the market have found a way to cut out the middle man. It would make sense that if a smaller level distributer offered to pay a higher price for a good, while being able to move the product on as high of a level as the big box distributors, then it would only be reasonable to sell to the distributor who will pay the most for the product (as long as demand isn’t affected by doing so). The smaller guy, who’s pop-up business cares little about image or ethics, has a field day.
So, how do we end it? Don’t panic purchase; just buy what you need and will use (leave a box for the next person). Most importantly, DON’T PURCHASE ANYTHING FROM GOUGERS. If you find a store that is taking part in this practice, remember it. Tell all you know. I’d rather send my business to a store who decides that they rather not offer a product, than to rip off loyal customers.
Right or wrong,
That’s my 2 cents.
About a year ago, I noticed that when 22 rim fire ammo came in at our local Wal Mart, if I looked at the manufacturing date stamp of the box, it showed a date that was over a year and a half to 2 years old. Now this makes me wonder that if the sales of this rom fire ammo was taking all the producers were making and selling them off due to high demand right away, where did this “new” ammo come from before being put on the shelf for sale.
The next time you find 22 ammo at one of the big box stores ( good luck on that ) check out the date stamp and see if this is the same. I could have just gotten an old batch.
We all have plenty of ammo, why don’t we get together and pick an “ammo free month” where we shoot from our stash and buy no new ammo for 30 days? At the same time, we stay out of the big box stores, stop ordering from Gander, Cabela’s, etc. and see if that gets the message across.
There’s a reason ammo is at the back of the store. The big box folks want you to drop the wife off in the clothing section while you go pick up ammo and turn a $30 sale into a $90 sale.
Once the inventory starts piling up they will finally do the right thing.
I put an order in on a wholesaler site, its been pending for over 2 years now.
I agree… don’t buy it at inflated prices. Every time I see a brick of generic .22 LR for over $50, I shake my head and walk away. Somebody suggested not buying ammo for 30 days. I personally haven’t bought a single round of .22 LR for way more than two years. I had a good long term stash on hand when the shortage hit. So I’ve just shot out of that since prices went crazy.
Problem is… you can’t do that forever. Not and actually keep shooting. It becomes harder and harder to walk out and fire off a hundred rounds of rimfire out of your stash because you know you can’t replace it. So over time you shoot less and less rimfire. I almost never go out and plink away at like we did earlier. I go out, shoot maybe 50 rounds in a very deliberate way, then I’m done. I’m far more likely to shoot a bunch of centerfire that I reloaded.
I really, really hate conspiracy theories or anything about “this is being done to us on purpose.” But you have to admit… this has been going on a very long time now. I’m willing to believe there was a rush on the ammo after Sandy Hook, etc. Six months later, still a problem. OK, it will get better. Another six months, another six months, another six months. GOP even takes control of the Senate… now it will relax and get better. And yet my local Walmart never, ever has any rimfire ammo for me to buy. I’m in there 2-3 times a week and I always walk past the gun counter. I haven’t seen any rimfire in that case since before Sandy Hook.
At what point will we have to say there really is “something going on?” Because right now it feels like this is never going to stop!!!
To all the people thinking that its the President falt grow up. Its all BS. Its not horders. Its all the ammo makers win rem cci est. Tell me why 4-10 shells are 18 bucks a box. Its not horders or the President
Well, I guess not to many of us are agreeing with the reasons given for the ammunition and reloading supplies shortages are we! Hmmm, let’s see, wasn’t there a big gas shortage a while back? Oh yes, yes there was a couple times. But then there was a glut of gasoline on the world market but somehow the prices never ever seem to fall back very much and stay there did they. All boils down to just another “tuck it to the consumer”. I don’t believe the lying government, manufacturers and middlemen. Most of them will do just about anything to get your money and your vote and they have done it. Do you really think they care if you have to pay an outrageous price for a box of 22 cartridges? There will be plenty of 22 cartridges and others back on the shelves again someday but never again at the prices we once enjoyed. Face the fact, you have been had again. I used to very much enjoy shooting my 22 guns too, but no more. I can’t afford it, I don’t need it and I won’t waste what little money I have on it. If more people would be this way there wouldn’t be this false manufactured shortage! God Bless America and use your head!
In all actuality there IS no shortage of .22 ammo anymore. What’s happening is twofold.
#1. Big box stores are rarely being sent this ammo, and when it DOES come in? The employees snatch it up almost immediately. I work in a big box retail and see it with my own eyes. The stuff sits on the shelf for 10 minutes and it’s gone. This is by 5 AM.
#2. PRIORITY.
Blackwing shooter supply, a huge gun store near my house has tens of thousands of .22 rounds. If you go into just about any big gun store, you’ll find them because these shooter supply stores are given first priority, and there’s a reason. Why sell them to b-b stores when they can be sold to these specialty stores and be sold at double the price?
Blackwing has them and there’s no limit and I can see why. What we sell for $17-$24 in my store(555’s, 333’s, 222’s and the common 500 round nose bricks) is being sold for $40+ at these specialty stores.
He who makes the most profit get’s first priority.
The bullets are out there. They’re just not being shipped regularly to your local retailer unless they are a gun store.
The real reason is the industry makes more profit from centerfire ammo and would like to see the rimfire go extinct. You can buy the 5.56/.223 ammo almost as cheap and it is in massive abundance. As for: “This is largely amid concerns over gun control efforts by the Obama administration.” There has been no evidence of Obama suppressing firearms.
More profit from centerfire ammo? When a single .22 round costs as much as a 9mm, or 7.62×39? Or almost as much as 5.56/.223 ammo? I don’t think so. There is HUGE profit in inflated .22 LR.
The “supply and demand” explanation when it comes to .22LR is bogus. The real culprits in this fiasco are the distributors.
The big “middlemen” like AcuSport, Jerry’s Sports Center, etc. are the players who scheme and rig and hoard. They want to manipulate the price the best they can. They also want to have “supply” available in metered quantities so they can continue to sell the plethora of .22LR firearms produced every day of the week.
Do you think some of the big firearms manufacturers like Smith & Wesson or Beretta would move forward with “yet another” form of something that shoots .22LR without first checking in with the ammo guys?
If it is one thing I have learned over many years in this industry, it’s that the supply chain is archaic, the classic “distribution model” is clouded and broken, consolidation is bad (e.g., ATK to Vista to Freedom Group, etc.) and the distributor is your enemy.
A big supplier like AcuSport or Jerry’s doesn’t plan on getting caught flat-footed come November without .22LR on hand to promote another piece of crap gun that barely works.
The availability of .22LR is all about manipulation, consolidation in the industry and resource allocation.
Want to solve it? Don’t buy another round of .22LR ammo for 12 months.
Years ago, Texas Parks & Wildlife came out with the Kid Fish Program. From research, they knew if they were able to get people fishing at a young age they were much more likely to become life-long fishermen. I have heard all the excuses for the lack of 22 ammo and the very high price for it when it is obtainable. I have not heard anyone say it, but I think the purpose may well be to prevent fathers and grandfathers from passing along the American tradition of firearm sports. This article states, “The .22 caliber gun is the most commonly used. It is the smallest caliber and is a “starter” gun for those who are first learning to shoot…” How true. Do you think it is possible “someone” is using the philosophy of Texas Parks and Wildlife in reverse to prevent the passing on of this tradition? Just a thought.
It’s economics 101 folks. If you want to raise the price of a popular product you create a false shortage of that product. The problem here is this was so successful with ammo that it continues even today. Manufactures are producing less and charging more and that equals more profit. Plus they get their pat on the back from politicians for producing less ammo and they don’t push the ammo ban agenda to hard. Manufactures still make their profit dealers jack the price up to us even more and we take it in the shorts. Just remember the gas and sugar shortage in the late 70s there was a glut of the product so they created a shortage, I remember it well.
I think everybody has hit on all the right issues. It’s more than a trifecta if that’s possible. It’s the scare form the gov’t, the gouging of retailers, employee’s buying it up before customers, the “loyal” customers who are in cahoots with the employees who know the shipping times, the manufacturers who are holding back shipments and production and yes the panic buyers and hoarders. Please stop buying ammo for at least a month if not two. And refuse to buy price gouged ammo. We are playing right into their hand when we panic buy. I would love to blow through a brick on 22s in a day of shooting again but it isn’t going to happen until the mass of American shooters will realize they are the cause of this problem. The NRA, and major shooting magazines need to go balls to the wall with articles telling us shooters to chill out! I’d like for my boys to be able to enjoy shooting some day and not be worried about if ammo will be available.
CCI has missed the boat big-time, because of so many NEW & (women) shooters; demand for 22LR will outpace supply for decades to come !! Being afraid that any substantial investment for new machinery of this caliber, might turn around and bite them if demand slows, CCI’s management has totally misjudged future demand for this never-ending, most-popular, needed & demanded round !!!
It is CCI’s failure to expand whole-heartedly in the production of their 22LR ammo, that has so many loyal to the brand shooters – ready to disregard and diminish that brand loyalty !!! Don’t look for CCI Velocitor, Stinger, or Mini-Mag ammunition to be readily available(unlimited quantity) at reasonable prices before 2020 at the very earliest – – – Period !!!!!!!!!