I will be getting my first .22LR pistol (Sig 1911-22) soon and was looking to get a couple of bricks of .22LR.

 

What is considered to be a "good" price? I've seen as low as 7 cents/round and as high as 15 cents and higher.

 

What do you usually pay?

To buy in bulk right now your looking at .10¢-.10 1/2¢ /rd.

You need to be very quick on the trigger if anyone finds an online deal.

 

In the past month I've gotten a brick of CCI Blazer from Cabela's for 6.27 cents/round (after shipping) and a bucket of Remington from Natchez for 6.87 cents/round (after shipping).

 

Typically these deals don't even hit gunbot because they don't exist long enough.  Just have to be in the right place at the right time.

I won't buy over $0.10 a round unless it's CCI Mini-Mags. I'll go up to $0.13 or so for those because my P22 REALLY likes them.

When I got my SR22, I hunted and hunted for cheap(er) ammo, but at the end of the day I bit the bullet and bought almost 12,000rnds at just under 10c/rnd. I don't see prices going any lower or availability being any better for a long time, so I figured just get a crap load now and cry once.

You can still get it for 10 cents/round on Armslist.

I typically wont buy for more than $0.08/round..  i did at first, just to have some, but now i wait for deals..  wont need to buy any for a while since I have a good stock of it now unless i see a great deal on something.. but $0.10/round for someone just looking to get a bit to start off with is ok...

 

(IMO)

I was trying to get cheaper but the effort wasn't worth the timg cost. I gots other shit to do. :-)

I plan to just get a few boxes to start, and if I see a good deal I will buy in bulk. 

You can still get it for 10 cents/round on Armslist.

 

How can you buy from an Armslist listing without getting screwed? They suggest an escrow service but where do I find one?

How can you buy from an Armslist listing without getting screwed? They suggest an escrow service but where do I find one?

I have made at close to 15 purchases from Armslist and have never been "screwed." I've never used an escrow service either.

 

My advice:

 

1. Beware of super bargains, like bricks of match-grade ammo for 3 cents per round. Actually this is quite rare.

2. After engaging the seller through the Armslist messaging system, start an email exchange with him. You'll be able to pick out a schlemiel pretty easily. If they can't spell, send you one-word or one-letter messages (i.e. "y"), are reluctant to discuss details, or get instantly back with a ridiculous shipping rate (e.g. $5, or $100), I end it right there.

3. Ask for their full name, address, and phone number. Look them up. Then ask if you can call them. If they balk move on. Also keep in mind that many sellers on Armslist are dealers, whom you can also look up. 

4. You can tell a lot about them during the phone conversation. 

5. I always ask if they wouldn't mind taking a personal check instead of, say PayPal. I tell them, "I don't mind waiting for it to clear if you don't." If they say no checks then move on.

 

That's my modus operandi, which has worked perfectly every time. Mileage may vary.

 

 

 

 

3.  

"I always ask if they wouldn't mind taking a personal check instead of, say PayPal. I tell them, "I don't mind waiting for it to clear if you don't." If they say no checks then move on."

 

 

Not that I've ever used Armslist, but as a seller on Craiglist or elsewhere I'd be glad that someone "moved on" if they offered to pay with a personal check.   If you have the money in a checking account, go to the ATM and turn it into little pieces of green paper.

I can reload .38 spl or 9mm for .13 cents a round,  why bother with .22's that are over priced.

I can reload .38 spl or 9mm for .13 cents a round,  why bother with .22's that are over priced.

just a silly thought..   maybe because someone has a 22 gun?  lol

If you've been around guns long enough to understand how nuts it was after Sandy Hook, you know how stuff is available and then it isn't.  .22 is the last ammo that is still hard to get from that event.  At this point you can generally find some, but it isn't the brand or type you were looking for and the price is higher than you would like.  My advice is to use whatever you can get in the short term, but hold off on the bulk purchases until things improve.  Once the market completely normalizes, probably next year, put aside enough to make it through the next crazy shortage.

i dont know that you're ever going to see the market completely normalize.  For every Sandy Hook, there will be another thing that happens and the same run on everything will happen all over again.  True, 22lr is the last thing to be available most of the time, but I dont know that we are ever going to see things improve to the tune of finding $0.05/round bulk 22lr ammo regularly. 

By normalize I don't mean $.05 per round.  By normalize I mean it is easy to locate and the prices are not rapidly changing and highly variable, i.e. there is a steady functioning market, whether that is $.05 or $.20 I am not predicting.

 

My expectation is by next year you will be able to find what you are after without searching and the prices will not be gyrating all over the place.  However, you could be right that some other event sets off another panic.  In fact I am pretty sure there will be another panic, but I am hoping we will have a period of calm in between now and then.  That interlude would be the time to set aside some of your favorite .22.

.22 is going to be the last thing that stabilizes and becomes available. That and powder for reloading.

 

They have very small profit margins so the manufacturers won't be prioritizing it.

When I got my SR22, I hunted and hunted for cheap(er) ammo, but at the end of the day I bit the bullet and bought almost 12,000rnds at just under 10c/rnd. I don't see prices going any lower or availability being any better for a long time, so I figured just get a crap load now and cry once.

How long does it take for you to go through 12,000 rounds of 22? Panic buying helps fuel the shortages and price fluctuation.

So, get a .22 air rifle in you can't get .22 bullets.

.22 is going to be the last thing that stabilizes and becomes available. That and powder for reloading.

 

They have very small profit margins so the manufacturers won't be prioritizing it.

Unfortunately I think you are correct, but it did seem like Blazer was able to put at least a little out on the market for a decent price, hopefully othere follow suit.

Part of the problem is that if you have a run on 9mm, you can repurpose other center fire production machines to make it and odds are if you have idle capacity it is center fire. Rimfire capacity is much less flexible without liberal applications of capital investment.

 

As for normalizing, that's going to be up to the manufacturers. We have mid term results to panic over, then primaries, then presidential elections.

 

There will be no respite from the panic.

And to think we used to get Federal 525's delivered by Dunn's for 169.99 a case (5250) even in 2012.  Will those days ever return?

And to think we used to get Federal 525's delivered by Dunn's for 169.99 a case (5250) even in 2012. Will those days ever return?

It's unlikely. Even by the end of 2012, it had risen to $19+ unless you caught a good sale.

 

About the only thing poised to help is that China put the kibosh on holding metals in warehouses and using the 'sale' of such to make an end run around lending rules.

 

Going against are such things as having employer contribution to SS going back up, disincentives for coal generated power which means higher utility prices for most of the nation, and midterm elections followed by primaries and then presidential elections for everyone to get panicky about. Not to mention inflation.

 

But it'd be nice to see the federal 525 bricks generally available at $25 or so.

How long does it take for you to go through 12,000 rounds of 22? Panic buying helps fuel the shortages and price fluctuation.

2013/09/22 FED750 5500 $545.00

2013/09/22 Rem GB 6300 $610.00

 

still have 9650 left.

I wouldn't characterize it as panic buying. I'd spent 2 weeks prior trying to find better deals and couldn't. Like I said I have better things to do than watch the ammo markets, so when these 2 came up that were "close enough" and I said fuqit, bought them, and will be out of the buying market for quite some time it looks like. Since I don't agree with the requirement to have my SBR# number recorded every time I buy ammo I procure it from other sources, which means I generally buy more than a box or 2 to make it worth while. I'm fine with that. I can afford to buy in bulk.

If it is impolite to ask a Texan how many head of cattle he has, it must be impolite to ask a sporting arms owner how many bullets he has.

I have "enough"... for now

the good price at this time is when you go to a reputable store and buy it. Not from online guys who like to flip the product and get to pay 2 times what its worth. I know I will get flack fro this but they have the same business model as a drug dealer buy it cheap and sell it to people that are desperate for a high price. So don't be desperate just be patient and keep on the lookout for stores to get it in stock. you can set email updates from just about any online seller for stock alerts. good luck!

Like I said in another thread..the manufacturers should get together and blow the prices through the roof so you can kill two birds with one stone...1. Eliminate the panic gougers...2. Get shooters to calm the freek down with the constant obsessive chase of .22...oh and allow inventory to rise..

The Wally world in East Stroudsburg had Winchester 333 packs for sale this morning for 17.99. That's 5.4 cents a round. I have never shot them and the reviews don't look that great. But it is ammo non the less.