Wall-Mart .22 rimfire has been uncommon for three years now. When President Obama pushed for more infringements on the Second Amendment, starting in 2013, the demand for .22 rimfire skyrocketed. Instead of raising prices on the ammunition sufficiently to bring demand down to reasonable levels, manufacturers tried to keep prices stable to earn customer good will. It failed as a strategy. With the demand so high, less public entrepreneurs purchased all the .22 they could obtain, then offered it over the Internet, at gun shows, and other venues, at three to four times the price purchased. The producers stayed with their artificially low price policy, and the middlemen made money.
Gradually, producers did raise prices, though far below what the market would bear. In 2016, producers have purchased and put into production the expensive machinery needed to increase the output of .22 rimfire.
At the Shot Show, I was told by a reliable source, that CCI and Federal production would be increased by 20% in 2016. That would be close to 900 million rounds a year. Aquila said that they would be increasing their production by 30%. They were a little vague about the total numbers, but the increase should be about 250 million rounds a year.
Those are serious numbers, over a billion more .22 rimfire a year, with serious investment behind it. Gradually, producers did raise prices. In 2016, producers have purchased and put into production, the expensive machinery needed to increase the output of .22 rimfire. As a consequence, we are starting to see a bit more rimfire in the retail outlets.
Last Friday, the 8th of April, 2016, I observed 31 boxes of 50 rounds of CCI Standard Velocity .22. This is excellent ammunition. The price was $3.47 a box, a little less than 7 cents a round. It is a bit pricey for what I used to pay, but quite a bit less than .22 has been going for in the past three years.
The cartridges were observed at the Wal-Mart on the corner of Marsh Lane and Frankfort in North Dallas.
Today, I checked back. The supply had dwindled to a dozen boxes of Standard Velocity, but it was still on the shelves.
Another customer was looking while I was there. I mentioned the .22 to him. He said that he wasn't interested, he wanted the bigger boxes.
A few months ago, an employee at the store said that when they received supplies of .22 in the bulk packs, they were snapped up immediately. Wal-Mart has a three box limit on .22 rimfire to spread the supply out a bit.
Maybe we will see the 50 round boxes return to the market first.
©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
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I used to sell .22lr for 78 cents a box of 50. three cents a round retail is to high. the cost to manufacture .22lr is less than one half cent per round. Wholesalers, retailers and consumers are all being ripped off with these high prices It is an unending string of rip offs. I have stopped using .22lr until the market gets flooded and the prices have to come down. if everyone would do this the price would drop. I have at least 7,000 rounds in reserve that I bought at 1.10 per box. I'm not buying or using another round until the price comes down.
ReplyDeleteNo .22LR at any Walmart I visit here in South Carolina. Not for 3 years running.
ReplyDeleteStrange, because the other Big Box retailers have limited supplies.
Dick's overcharges for what they have, Bass Pro is somewhat reasonable, as is Academy.
Have not been to the recently opened Gander Mountain in Myrtle Beach yet.
I was at a Gander Mountain store this weekend and there was plenty of ammo in all calibers. They did note that amounts might be limited depending on circumstances. The prices were much better than I had paid in the past couple of years.
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to forget how to shoot so I'll wait until the 22lr supplies are back up to normal before I start buying any more. My inventory was purchased when they were displaying cases and stacks of cases selling the ten box bricks on special. I have just about every type of 22 caliber available. I'm waiting for the May gun show in Yuma. several more items on my list for other guns and ammo. I sure miss owning my own gun store.
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