It was fun show weekend here in the Silicon Swamp. We missed yesterday screwing around with a bad cable TV issue, so dropped by today. I was especially curious to see if the Ruger Precision Rifles have made it here yet, get my hands on one and see how the fit and finish felt, but there were none - at least not today.
I saw a couple of odds and ends that I kinda liked, but nothing that caused me to scream "take my money!" I noticed that ammo in general is much more available and that .22LR continues to drop in price. Well, the word "dropping' implies faster changes; it's more like oozing lower. For example, on the 525 round bricks, like the Federal bulk Champion or Remington Golden Bullets that used to go for $20 or $25 and then went up over $60, the best price was $45 or around 8 1/2 cents per round. Bass Pro lists those boxes for $30, "in store only". I was in there just last weekend and forgot to go look.
Despite the record NICS checks for June, July and August, prices look pretty reasonable. Definitely more like before the panic (early '13?) than right after it.
As fall approaches and then arrives (usually by Halloween), it gets much easier to spend hours down at the club range. The next couple of months are usually peak saltwater fishing season, too, as the fall migration peaks through October, so I'll hopefully doing one or the other every weekend.
I'm just wondering if prices on 22LR will really drop once the hoarders have their fill, and maybe we'll see some "bargain" pricing as the vendors clear out all that stock they bought when 22LR couldn't be had.
ReplyDeleteMight be nice to grab a dozen or so boxes of the 525 round Federal stuff for the next time.....
Yeah, I wonder about that, too. I always wondered if any of the fun show vendors asking $90 for one of those 500 round bricks ever got that $90, or if it was just opportunism. I haven't bought any in a couple of years, now, because before the spike, I'd grab a brick anytime it was convenient. $20 every couple of months didn't hurt. Anybody who bought 22 at $60 or $70 hoping to get $90 has got to be hurting.
ReplyDeleteExactly how much .22LR can be made and how much is used in an average year would be cool to know. One of the gun shows did an episode on it a while back and they took you through the process from brass and powder to ammo. I figured this one plant in Idaho made something like 3.5 billion rounds a year. What I don't know is how many plants making it are out there. The factories have to catch up sooner or later, if people aren't shooting everything they produce.
Yeah at the last Funshow I went to here in Washington, one of the tables had 22lr in 325 and 100rd fun packs, from Cabala's with Cabelas stickers still on it and was still asking 2.5 times his cost, yeah I did not buy any, and I let him know that it was people like him that were causing most of the problem with finding 22lr.
ReplyDeleteIIRC, there were 3 major, and a couple of minor companies making it in the US.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that the production lines for 22LR are so specialized that's all they can be used for.
I'm positive it's not being fired at the rate it's being produced.
I think one of the reasons it got so scarce was all the prepper and doomsday websites saying after the economy crashes people will be using 22LR and junk silver as pocket change!
I don't think I'd care to be running around on a regular basis with ~100 rounds of 22LR in my pocket...
Don't get so distracted by the fall mullet run you forget about the hamfest.
ReplyDeleteTight lines and good DX.
Ah....another Ham!
ReplyDeleteThe best hamfest/swapmeet in the area is in the process of moving.
The W6TRW TRW/Northrup-Grumman is going to have to leave the Northrup-Grumman facility in Redondo Beach where they've been since 1978.
The DOD and Homeland Security are making N-G fence in the entire area, including the parking lots, and severely restricting access to it.
They were granted a "reprieve" until December of this year, and they're scrambling to find a new place to hold it.