Well, they had seven bricks there, and sold me one. "Sorry, only one to a customer, per day" they said.
So I went back the next day, and they were out of stock. "Come back next week", they said.
When asked, they said that they wouldn't get any replacement ammo until their next stock shipment .. next Tuesday. "But I can't guarantee that we'll receive any then, either."
It has been four weeks, and I still can't find any more .22 LR ammo.
Oh, if I was buying .22 Magnum? No problem .. the shelves are plentifully stocked in that caliber. It won't work in any gun I currently own. (I'm not sure if selling that Ruger .22LR/.22Magnum convertible single action revolver a few years ago was such a good idea.)
So, I'm wondering why the lowly .22LR is such a high-demand item?
It can't be for defensive gun purposes.
Surely it's not a hunting caliber.
So why IS it almost impossible to keep up with the demand for the lowly .22LR?
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If you're expecting the answer to the conundrum here, you best go somewhere else. I have no idea, and the good folks at Bi-Mart and local gun stores don't have an answer.
In fact, about 3 years ago I went shopping for a replacement .22LR revolver, and was shocked at what I found.
There was this Iver-Johnson (think: "John Deere", but not in green) single-action revolver with a loading mechanism that required you to remove the cylinder to reload it. I paid over $200 for the antique monstrosity; I was sure it was the kind of deal where they took it in on trade for a 'real gun' a few years ago, and made a 1,000% profit on it. But I had to have a .22LR revolver, so I bit the bullet.
So to speak.
(I haven't shot more than a couple cylinders worth of ammo through it since I bought it. Well, can't find ammo, can I?)
Somewhere, someone is making a ton of money off the ammunition shortages in this country. And I don't mean just the Philomath Gun Shop (which also doesn't have any .22LR in stock ... 'this week').
[sigh]
I've heard a lot of
And we've all heard the stories about the U.S. Post office (or some federal agency) buying up umpteen billion dollars of ammunition for training.
I know USPS and Border Patrol, and ATF, and every other Federal (and state) agency including local police departments and the Military are using a lot of ammunition in training. I don't begrudge them that. Hell, I want them to be fully trained!
But I just wish that I could get another brick of .22LR so I could go slaughter sage rats.
Is that too much to ask?
It's the American Way, to slaughter varmints!
2 comments:
The answer is simple-hoarding.
You are lucky to find one brick to buy. 22LR has been unobtainium in my area for almost two years. It can be found at the gun shows, but it's worth it's weight in gold. $75-$100 a brick worth. It is easier and cheaper to load for a centerfire cartridge. The few times it is available in stores, you are usually limited to one box/50 per day. The supply rarely lasts more than an hour.
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