22 long rifle ammo

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Derek Z

Well-known member
Hey guys -
I have been looking and looking like crazy and cant find it anywhere. I know there is a nationwide shortage - why and how long? Does
anyone have any 22LR they want to sell. PM me if you do - I have two young shooters going through it like a mongolian BBQ through a stomach...
PM me if you want to unload some.
 
Good luck. It sucks and I have no idea why there is such a shortage. There are people hoarding it but I'd think they would be just about filled up if the ammo makers could come out with big numbers for a while. I know I will be stocking up once it is easier to find.

You might be better off buying a .17 HMR. I've seen more of that then .22 in the past year... since I have seen no .22 that isn't saying much.

Tim
 
Wow, my impression was that things were settling down a bit. I just did a search and WOW! That is still horrible.
 
Think air rifle. A good air rifle is a great tool for developing good shooting habits, and at the price of ammo it/they will pay for themselves. Add in that they are quiet and can be shot in basements and other tight areas and I recommend any serious rifle shooter have at least one. When I was shooting high power rifle I shot loads of pellets in my back yard. Great off hand practice.

Scott
 
One thing that has happened recently is the increased EPA/Nanny State regulations. As a result, the last primary smelter of lead in the USA....just closed their doors. Lead will now have to come from secondary sources or ......... China. Thank you Obummer.
Lou
 
It's way beyond horrible....... Soon as it comes in the same folks hog it up. I cannot remember the last time I saw a box of .22 ammo on a store shelf for sale.
 
One thing that has happened recently is the increased EPA/Nanny State regulations. As a result, the last primary smelter of lead in the USA....just closed their doors. Lead will now have to come from secondary sources or ......... China. Thank you Obummer.
Lou
Click to expand...


Was this Doe Run by chance Lou? I've been there many times. Spent weeks in their mines and more in their tailings and smelting operational areas. They have 26 miles of freeways underground (under the Mark Twain National Forest I believe).

If Doe Run is closing it's Heculaneum facility, it is too bad people won't realize what Doe Run is now going to do. The mine the lead at the mine and then convert it to what is called concentrate. They then put this concentrate into waht is essentially a big dump truck and ship to the smelter. Want to take a guess at how much lead concentrate is lost along the way. Wonder where they have to ship it to now.

We worked with Doe Run on a new way to "refine" lead via an electrowinning process (same way they do copper today). Was difficult to do due to the chemistry involved and to meet tough air emmission standards as well. Wonder where they are at on this project. They sure sunk a bunch of money into it.

I also wonder how much longer Doe Run's recycling center will stay open now that smelting has been shut down. People in this country who make the rules cannot even begin to fathom how successful lead recycling is. Bet they will try to shut this down as well. Idiots......

Sorry about the hijack -

Mark W
 
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Mark,
Yes, it's Doe Run.
Here's some info:
It is true that Doe Run is shutting down the smelter that has been in operation since 1892.

This is the last primary lead smelter in the U.S. and the Doe Run Company, citing a settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency, issued the following release on their website:

The Doe Run Company (Doe Run) has issued the following response related to the company’s Herculaneum, Mo., smelter:
On Dec. 31, 2013, The Doe Run Company’s primary lead smelter in Herculaneum, Mo., which has operated since 1892, will cease operations. As a result of the smelter’s closure, 145 Doe Run employees, and approximately 73 contractors, will lose their jobs. Seventy-five positions will be retained for closure and limited operations. Although the United States is home to a number of secondary lead smelters, which recycle lead from various sources, the Herculaneum facility is the last primary lead smelter in the United States. (Primary smelters produce lead from mined resources.)
In 2010, Doe Run reached a comprehensive settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state of Missouri. As part of that settlement, the Company agreed to discontinue its smelting operations in Herculaneum by the end of 2013. Over the operating life of the smelter, the Company spent millions of dollars in environmental and other upgrades. Continuing to upgrade the aging smelter to attempt to meet the increasingly stringent environmental regulations imposed on primary lead smelters was not economically feasible given the many other requirements of our business.* We shared this news in 2010 in a press release available on our website.
The Company had hoped to bring a revolutionary lead metal production technology online prior to the closure of the smelter. This proprietary, new technology (also announced in 2010) uses a wet-chemical, electrowinning process instead of a heat-based smelting process, greatly reducing sulfur dioxide and lead emissions. In 2012, we announced that the cost to build a comparably-sized electrowinning plant was too great for our company, given the present economic conditions and other demands on our operations. We continue to pursue opportunities to bring this technology to commercialization, perhaps on a smaller scale.
This past year, we have worked with our Herculaneum employees to help them transition into new opportunities. Some have taken jobs within other divisions of our company; others have found new careers. Those who remain have been provided skill assessment and training, resume and interviewing skill building, financial counseling and a variety of services. We have a dedicated, hardworking and skilled workforce and we are making every effort to help them transition successfully. As noted above, we expect to keep approximately 75 employees at our Herculaneum facility in 2014 to assist with the continuing operations, including refining and alloying of lead metal, and closure of our site.
More than 80 percent of all lead produced in the U.S. is used in either motive batteries to start vehicles, or in stationary batteries for backup power (particular in military, telecom and medical applications). In the U.S., the recycle rate of these batteries is approximately 98 percent, making lead-based batteries the most highly recycled consumer product. These batteries are recycled at secondary lead smelters. We own such a smelter in southern Missouri.
Lead is used in numerous other products, including ammunition and construction materials, as well as to protect against radiation in medical and military applications. While most applications can use secondary lead, those applications that require primary lead will need to import the lead metal in the future. Any additional demand for lead (above that which can be met through recycling at secondary smelters) will also have to be met through imports.
*In 2008, the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for lead was reduced from 1.5 µg/m3 (micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air) to 0.15 µg/m3.
 
We may all need to start seeking some therapy on this. Plinking with a .22 will be a fond memory we can tell our kids about. I can't believe I am considering .223/556 and 9mm as alternatives for practice.
Good thoughts on .17 and pellets - but just not the same zip as .22
my kids have a new ruger 10-22 just begging for some attention.
Signed: Sad in California!
 
The sad thing here is lead can be considered a strategic metal. This country would fail in short order should we be unable to get lead. This shortsightedness is already occurring in other metals the US has either stopped mining, or is not allowed to mine due to environmental regulations. Raw material to build fluorescent lights has increased 37% this year due to these restrictions. China has stopped providing some key raw material to make products the US needs. These raw materials are only mined in China.

A couple of years back the US slapped tariffs on Chinese produced solar panels accusing them of dumping. This was about the same time Obama was caught providing billions to Abound Solar and Solyndra as pay back for their support. Funny thing happened, I was in this business at the time and I supplied many of the materials the Chinese manufacturers used to make their panels. What did they do, slapped tariffs on the products I supplied making them uncompetitive making the group I worked for unprofitable. The politicians didn't care as they were tough on the Chinese and it deflected from the problems of government giving to select sUS solar panel manufacturers.

I would bet there is something similar going on here. Doe Run was the world's largest lead producers in the world. There is something more to this story.

Mark W
 
I have seen more .22 on the shelf over the last two to three months than prior. I do not see big 550 packs but I do see them in the 300 bulk boxes. CCI shells still on the shelf but as expensive as my .17hmr shells. I agree with the quality pellet rifle in .17 or .22. highly accurate and at 1200 or more fps they do get out there a little without falling off of target.
 
Derek,

Just to follow up on the Air rifle theme. Adding a couple of sets of Air Rifle [font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Silhouette sets greatly adds to the ZIP. The pellets definitely make the [/font]
[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Silhouettes jump, and have the kids shoot side by side competitively trying to clear a rail will stir up the juices. U-tube has some videos showing sillies getting smacked. Just a warning, never shoot steel targets w/ BBs. BBs can & will bounce back.

Scott
[/font]
 
Why? Ammo & Gun Control Media-hype inspired panic buying, I cannot see much other reason. There was never any discussion of restricting .22 ammo that I ever read about.
How long? Who knows, there is so much back-logged demand, it gets snatched up as soon as it hits the shelf.
My understanding is that the manufacturers are going flat out.
I guess it will take the people who hoarded hundreds of thousands a rounds to dump their stashes back on the market to loosen things up.
 
I was in Academy Sports in Huntsville yesterday morning when the doors opened to return something before heading to work. In a matter of 2min, two different guys walked up to the lady taking my return and she said "we don't have any .22LR today" before they even asked her anything. I said, "does this happen often?" and she said she has about a dozen ppl walk in every day in the first 30min of opening looking to buy .22 rounds. I too thought the mad rush was over but evidently it is not.

Relative to some other's comments about Chinese running up prices. I worked in the tungsten heavy allow (WHA) business for several years and the reason tungsten (W) prices went so high is because we let the Chinese come in and buy all of our scrap. Our ammonium paratungstate (APT) plant was one of the few (efficiently ran) left in the country that could process scrap W and WC back into tungsten powder. I've never been one to pay high dollars for the WHA non-tox shells but I just read that many of those are now off the market and is it true that even the "heavy shot" does not carry as much W content as it did at one point compared with a few years ago as prices have continued to rise? Anyway, interesting to see the developments in that market since I moved to a defense contractor job and have not kept a close tab on industry news. When I was there, they were researching getting into smaller markets such as fishing weights and shotgun shells since the EPA was really working over the regulations for lead. Looks like regulations are hurting both industries now.
 
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I wanted to thank a couple guys here on the site for sending me out some- more than I expected from the post and very much appreciated.
D-
 
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