The Great .22 LR Drought.

[TR675]

As for the why hoard it/stockpile it/whatever label you want to apply?

At 1400 rounds per minute, even my large stash dwindles quickly.

I had over 50k of .22LR when the current shortage began. I have since donated (as in given for free) over 6500 rounds of it to BSA, buddies in need, and used it to bribe Fred (along with some 9mm) to help me move.

It dwindles more rapidly when I subsidize for those who failed to read the writing on the wall.

If you built up a stash in fat times - however big - and replenish as needed, I'm not talking about you. I'm irritated at the people who clean out five gun stores in an afternoon so they can build a throne of Minimag boxes to sit on.

Re: the writing on the wall - I admit the current .22 craze caught me by surprise. "Obama's going to ban AR's! So buy all the .22!" I'm not sure that people should be expected to make that logical leap.

Something else to keep in mind: most of our fellow shooters don't keep a big supply on hand. They buy as needed, a box or two to go to the range. That's the vast majority of our fellow 2nd Amendment supporters. A lot of them don't have the discretionary time and money to care and feed for an American 180 (which, by the way, is awesome) or buy 11,000 rounds at once. I think the hoarding mentality hurts them, and by extension positive gun culture by keeping them away from the range.

[Chuck Haggard]

I think the hoarding mentality hurts them, and by extension positive gun culture by keeping them away from the range.

^This^


Lack of ammo is doing long term damage to the gun culture, IMHO.

[John Ralston]

I buy a brick or two every time I happen to be at the LGS. I don't shoot enough to use it up, so my supply builds...I wouldn't call it hoarding (you might). Having it on hand when you don't isn't really my problem. I have the same issue you do with target ammo for my daughter. I buy when I can find it, and so does everyone else, which means it is hard to find. Supply and demand. If a guy wants to buy 50,000 rounds to put in his garage, is he any different than the guy that wants to dump it all into the berm behind the target over the next 12 months? You still didn't have a chance to buy it, and neither guy is going to help you out.

[TR675]

Well, if you never shoot it, then why do you keep buying ammo? All you're doing is keeping it out of hands of people who would actually like to use it.

Both guys in your example are examples of a "gotta get mine" attitude in our society that I find distasteful. Never mind that Joe the Plumber would like to shoot 200 rounds with his daughter on Sunday, I want to dig a deep hole in my yard and fill it with $15K worth of sealed ammo tins because I want to shoot it more/think the apocalypse is coming/think it's pretty/whatever.

This isn't a critique of supply and demand or the market economy. It's a critique of what seems to me to be a disregard for the larger community.

[JeffJ]

Should I also not save money? What about emergency food rations? Where does one draw the line between having adequate reserves of a consumable product and hoarding?

I agree that it isn't good for the shooting community at large that ammo is unavailable, it's unfortunate that some people cannot get what they want at the price they want to pay for it - but, tough kitten. If demand for a good increases the price and/or the availability of that good is going to be impacted, and opportunities will be created for enterprising individuals. You might find the "gotta get mine" attitude distasteful, I find the attitude of "that's not fair, I haven't allocated my resources the same as you so gimme, gimme, gimme" distasteful.

I also think it's a real stretch to think that those who have been building a surplus stock of ammunition over time (or even quickly, especially in the run up to the election) are grabbing bulk packs of .22 and gleefully thinking about when Joe the plumber isn't going to be able to take his daughter shooting.

[Josh Runkle]

Well, if you never shoot it, then why do you keep buying ammo? All you're doing is keeping it out of hands of people who would actually like to use it.

Both guys in your example are examples of a "gotta get mine" attitude in our society that I find distasteful. Never mind that Joe the Plumber would like to shoot 200 rounds with his daughter on Sunday, I want to dig a deep hole in my yard and fill it with $15K worth of sealed ammo tins because I want to shoot it more/think the apocalypse is coming/think it's pretty/whatever.

This isn't a critique of supply and demand or the market economy. It's a critique of what seems to me to be a disregard for the larger community.

This is America dude. If a guy's life dream is to fill a room with ammo he never shoots, so be it. If I won the lottery, I'd have pallets of the stuff delivered to my house. Why?

Here's my thinking. I'm taking an Emergency Management course concurrently with a Disaster Aid course. The idea is that, if you live in a flood zone, preparing (prepping) for floods is smart, not silly. If you love in a tornado area, having a shelter is smart, not silly. Prepping for a Martian invasion is not only silly but crazy. That being said, while floods and tornadoes are very unlikely for those that live in the peak zones (to occur on the exact same property) it is still viewed as smart to prepare for the possibility of a problem that most likely will not occur, but instead "may" occur.

It is highly unlikely that the government will ban ammo or firearms. However it still fits into the category of something that is highly unlikely but still "may" occur. Prepping (preparing) against that possibility AFTER people have secured their persons against more likely possibilities should be viewed as smart, not silly.

Additionally, ammo doesn't really expire. Modern ammo lasts 10 times the lengths of MREs and other expirable gear.

So, even if the person doesn't shoot it now, they have a product bought in bulk that they can shoot at any later date they wish to. They have bought it before any future possible bans or taxes, so cheaper, easier to find, and they haven't necessarily invested in an impossibility.

I agree that short-term thinking always leads to negatives for all involved parties, but this country has SO many more short-term thinking problems...

Also, consider that a huge segment of the uneducated firearm owners in this country own .40 cal, and they still can walk in just about anywhere and buy a couple boxes and head to the range anytime they want.

So, if I could buy pallets I would, because it would eventually get shot, even if it took me 3-4 years to do it.

[MGW]

Deleted.

[John Ralston]

Well, if you never shoot it, then why do you keep buying ammo? All you're doing is keeping it out of hands of people who would actually like to use it.

Both guys in your example are examples of a "gotta get mine" attitude in our society that I find distasteful. Never mind that Joe the Plumber would like to shoot 200 rounds with his daughter on Sunday, I want to dig a deep hole in my yard and fill it with $15K worth of sealed ammo tins because I want to shoot it more/think the apocalypse is coming/think it's pretty/whatever.

This isn't a critique of supply and demand or the market economy. It's a critique of what seems to me to be a disregard for the larger community.

Because I can...and it only makes sense, since I drove all the way there, why not pick up a couple bricks and save myself a little money and time later. I also have about 25 cases of 12 GA that I bought 6-8 years ago, using the same formula. I bought 3-5 boxes every time I was at the LGS and it was on sale (3 for $10 back then). I have more 12 GA than I could shoot in the next couple years, but I have it if I need it, and I bought it for less than half of what I can get it for now. Do I feel bad that I did it? NOPE. Am I preparing for the Zombies? NOPE. Do I have more than you? Yes, but I bought it when I could and have it here, now, for when I do want to shoot it.

One guy in my example is a guy named Jerry Miculek. He shoots morel like 80,000 rounds of 22 a year in preparation for things like the Chevy Challenge. I wouldn't call him a "Gotta have mine" kind of guy. He does what he needs to do in order to win.

[shooter220]

I don't think of myself as stockpiling .22LR, I think of myself as preparing to teach my kids. I actually have more confidence in being able to get centerfire ammo than I do rimfire, so I have stopped shooting the rimfire stuff. While I am years away from teaching my boys to shoot, I want to have enough ammo on hand to not rely on paying $50/brick for it.

I also have to add that I must be the oldest person on this board because I distinctly remember WInchester Super-X .22 for $9.99 a brick at Service Merchandise, and Federal Lightnings for about $8.70 or so a brick. If I were smarter I would have bought a warehouse full of it all, and sold it off at the peak at $50/brick.

-shooter

[EMC]

When I go shoot with my Dad we shoot his 1970's 22 ammo first. It's like rotating your food storage. We also get all nostalgic about the price tag stickers. While it cycles worse in semi-autos than new stuff, I wish he had been a bit more of a hoarder back in those days.