Anyone else soured on .22lr?

[Jim NE]

When I got back into guns several years ago, I bought a new Smith and Wesson 22A, and I just loved it. So much fun, and accurate. I then found a cool vintage old 101 Duramatic High Standard in excellent shape. Just as much fun, and about as accurate. Reliable, too, with the original mag. After that, my dad gave me the old Stevens Buckhorn rifle that he bought new when he was a kid in the 1930's. Simple, but fun and loaded with vintage vibe.

But now, after 2 years of .22lr ammo shortages, all of the luster has worn off the .22lr cartridge for me. I bought another beat up old Mossberg rifle that I thought would revive my interest, but it hasn't. The appeal of .22 was cheap and available ammo. I still have many many hundreds of rounds, as I kind of stopped shooting the stuff regularly when the shortage hit. So it isn't the lack of ammo.

Even if ammo becomes widely available again, I don't see myself ever getting excited about .22's again. It'll be a good cartridge to start my kids on, but that's it's only redeeming quality. I know that the next time a run on ammo comes, .22lr will be the first to disappear, and the last to return to the shelves. And overpriced when it does.

What's your opinion? Anyone else soured on .22lr? I think it's more fun to shoot 9mm and .38 Special.

 

[btg3]

Too bad the shortage has messed with your mind. When you find your price point, think about buying 2-5 yrs worth of 22LR. Then enjoy, but replenish and maintain the inventory to assure you won't get caught short during the next cycle.

I shoot both 22LR and 9mm at steel challenge. Hmmm, the 22LR is more fun... and faster.

 

[Master Blaster]

Nope Still love the .22lr

 

[Mike OTDP]

Not at all. The secret is buying by the case of 5,000, not box-by-box.

 

[Jim NE]

Hey, you guys are being too positive and upbeat!

 

[Sniper66]

I'm always looking for .22s in a variety of configurations and have owned many rifles and pistols over the years. I love shooting most and sell the ones that I've grown tired of. I do have to say that the shortage of ammo does give me pause when I am not certain about a purchase. I used to buy questionable rifles, thinking I would just shoot them for awhile and sell or trade them if I didn't like them. But, now I hesitate because I don't have the ammo to waste on an experiment. But, I love the 22LR and always will.

 

[notaglockfanboy]

I personally don't shoot much .22 but my wife, son, nieces and everyone else who shoots with me does. Cheer up, it can only get better.

 

[greenmtnguy]

+1 what the others said - the price will come down some more, and availability isn't that bad around my area. The key thing is to just periodically buy a brick or two anytime you go the the LGS, and not just when you *think* you need it. In no time you will have years' worth of 22LR

 

[Fremmer]

One thing that'll quash your interest in a caliber is lack of available ammo. I'm right there with you on that.

 

[susieqz]

what else can i use to shoot evil bunnies in my garden?
i'd feel silly using a 9.

 

[mavracer]

Nope I learned my lesson in 2008, I do feel sorry for folks like you who are basically SOL, one suggestion I'd make is work on precision there's plenty of high end target ammo available. Why pay $50 a brick for junk bulk when you can buy match ammo for just a bit more.

 

[Plastikosmd]

Not on lr but a bit on wmr. I can find it, just not in much variety for accuracy work up

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

Nope, not soured at all on the .22LR!

I refuse to let the antics of others get me down on this. I buy .22 wherever I happen to find it and add it to my personal stash.

How's this been working out for me? I entered the panic with just a few hundred .22LR, because it's always been so readily available. I've got somewhere around 8,000 rounds now, every one of them bought off the shelf at places like Walmart and Dicks.

I'd have more if I actually pursued it more avidly, but as it is all I do is keep an eye out every time I go to a store somewhere that sells ammo.

 

[WestKentucky]

I have been soured on 22lr for a few years. I still like the cartridge, but I don't love it like I used to. My beef wasn't ammo availability but rather ammo quality. I admit I use cheapo bulk ammo but the quality of those dropped off a lot even before the panic and shortage. When ammo went from 7.99 for a miniature milk crate to 11.99 I didn't fuss. When it jumped to 17.99 I got aggravated, and when I started worrying about squib because every 15th shot or so was a poof rather than a pow, I got pretty aggravated. When my autos quit cycling because of crap ammo and I was relegated to my revolvers I was done with it. I did step up and start buying better ammo but the problem persists in much lower regularity. I have instead bought dies to reload literally everything I shoot.

 

[NelsonIII]

Love small game hunting with it. My only real interest in the round. Its out there if you look, isolated small town gun shops, I haven't seen it in a Walmart for two years, just an empty shelf.

 

[C0untZer0]

Every time I am at Walmart I check for 22LR ammo and if there is any I buy 3 boxes. I now have around 3500 rounds and I have fun at the range without worrying about not having enough ammo.

 

[ACP]

Nope. Like most others here, I buy it a ton at a time, hold on to it, buy more before I get too low. I must have 4,000-5,000 rounds on the top shelf of my ammo cabinet right now -- mostly good stuff, too.

Gotta get more M193, though... I'm down to about 1200-1300 rounds....

 

[dodo bird]

I don't know about soured, maybe frustrated. I agree it was always the ammo to buy for plinking and fun. Now it's a hassle to find and I don't want to use all my reserves when I shoot. I would have thought the major ammo companies would have caught up by now.

 

[thefish]

Only soured that I can't seem to find any. I haven had any .22 in 2 years.

 

[ADKWOODSMAN]

Always fun with the .22lr

With 7 pistols and 9 rifles to feed and 3 grandkids I'm glad I had 9000 rounds when the shortage hit. I can never have enough .22 fun with the kids.

 

[4v50 Gary]

I still use the 22 LR to train novices before I transition them to center fire. They're hard to get though and that really puts a damper on things.

 

[joem1945]

Not soured on .22lr at all. I have a little over 15K rounds left but I reload and like center fire rifles and pistols better. I use 22's when i get a critter in my live trap. Sometimes I think 22lr on a PO's racoon is a little light.

 

[ford8nr]

.22 is still the cheapest ammo by far. Even at $50/brick it's 10 cents a round. If you don't want mis-fires for your semi's get some CCI MINI MAGS. I've been buying them for $35-40 brick. I've seen Winchester bulk packs for $25/brick online but you have to be quick, I won't shoot bulk pack though, life is to short to shoot crap ammo. My bolt guns get Agulia Golden Eagle, CCI Std or Wolf Match. Even during the shortage I've replaced what I've shot (2000 + rds/yr) and increased inventory to 15,000rds to hedge against another shortage. So to answer your question NO I have not soured on .22lr. Heck I just bought the wife a 10/22 Classic V.

 

[Candyman87]

I can reload 9mm for about the same price as .22LR so I'll plink all day long with 9mm pistols.

However, good luck finding a rifle round that cheap! Not gonna happen.

My 10/22 has more rounds through it in the past year than any other gun. Nothing like blowing through a box of 300 rounds in a day at the range. You won't get that much trigger time with anything else that cheap.

 

[SVTOhio]

I prefer small game hunting with them. They are the most fun to shoot as well!