AZ:.22 Rimfire Spotted in Yuma

Gun Watch ^ | 7 September, 2014 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

.22 rimfire is starting to become more available, as tremendous demand is being met.   From around the country I am hearing reports of more .22 rimfire being available, though supplies are still not sufficient to keep stores stocked.

My friend Jerry needed to purchase some shotgun ammunition for dove hunting, as I was taking his son and friend out as beginning hunters.   We drove to Wal Mart.   Shotgun ammunition has never been in short supply.   Wal Mart was out of dove loads! 

Shooting dove with duck loads or buck shot is not a good idea.   I should explain that this is in the middle of dove season in Yuma, and after I had taken Joe, Jerry's son hunting, we went out for brunch.  We had to wait over an hour to get a table, because all the restaurants in town were crowded with dove hunters that had come in for the season. 

So, we went to a local gun shop and range, Sprauge's.   They had lots of dove loads, at prices lower than Wal Mart's.

We looked around the store, and I noticed that they had some .22 ammuniton in stock, at almost reasonable prices.  $3.19 for a box of 50, is 6.38 cents per shot, much lower than it has been for a while.  I talked to the clerk, and she confirmed that two months ago, it had been $5 a box of 50, with a one box limit.  Now the limit was three boxes.   You could buy one 333 round box for a little over $21.  Standard velocity CCI was available for about 10 cents per round.

Wal Mart had no .22 RF in stock. 

This all points to supply starting to meet demand.  Prices should drop, if we escape another political scare from the Obama administration.


©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included. Link to Gun Watch

[steve86]

Why would anyone want to shoot a dove?

[B4Ranch]

No idea. I’m in N. NV

[Lurker]

Because they are mighty tasty.

[MikeinMotley]

seriously? never heard of “dove” hunting? bird hunting?

takes a few to make a good meal..but tastey..was my papas favorite type of hunting..that and rabbit!

Mike

[theBuckwheat]

I bought two half-bricks of 22 a few weeks ago at the local WallyWorld. These were the first I had seen in several years. Central semi-rural Midwest.

[PhiloBedo]

Sprauge’s, in Yuma, is one of those best kept secrets. They’ve had .22 since the beginning of the “shortage”. I always bought some, during our 4 trips out there each winter, although the customer is limited to one or two boxes a day.

I bought a used 1965 Ruger Mk1 there and had it shipped home. The dealer at home was impressed at the price and the condition. It was in the original box with paperwork, little or no wear to the blueing and no corrosion. Sprauge’s let me test fire it in their range and tweeked the safety and no charge.

[SolidRedState]

You shoot dove to get in practice for duck season.

They aren’t as easy as it sounds.

I have about 2 dozen doves here at the spread that are very fat from my feeding them constantly. A few of them look like the spuce goose trying to take off, they are so fat.

I am sure if they ever are encountered by dove hunters the hunters will wonder what they have been eating.

[HiJinx]

.22 ammo is available if’n you do it right! My local FFL was able to procure 5 bricks of American Eagle for me at the beginning of August.

I used them in a raffle at our Friends of NRA banquet on the 16th last.

[MikeinMotley]

not aroud here...hunt dove and quail to eat em...very little duck hunting done around my parts...i used to dove hunt frequently when i was younger...not so much now only deer and turkey hunt when i can find time

Mike

[HiJinx]

The only one I know of is over in Scottsdale.
I’m sure there are others, though....

[Buffalo Head]

"I’m down to about 10,000 rds right now"

And folks still wonder why there is a shortage. We have met the enemy - it is you and like minded kooks of all persuasions. Yes, each of you has fabricated rational of why your unreasonable hoarding is good for yourself (and nobody else). Eventually someone will coin a name for that type of mental illness.

The fear of want is a fear that even the best shrinks can't fix. The good news is that you are helping create jobs and high profits in the ammunition industry.

The bad news is that you are freezing youngsters out of the sport when we now and in the future will need every pro-gun vote possible.

You should feel ashamed of yourself.

[steve86]

I was not aware that dove hunting existed in this area, so I looked it up and it turns out that the doves often have flown south by the time the season begins, or even if not they tend to stay hidden in private orchards so not a reliable bird for hunting here.

[S.O.S121.500]

I’ve been checking all manner of stores - Cabela’s, Gander Mountain, small local shops, other large stores ... nothing anywhere.

-—==000==-—
Too much/heavy foot traffic, cheap enough for impulse purchase; doesn’t last long.

[S.O.S121.500]

Why would anyone want to shoot a dove?
-—==0==—
TASTY and a challenging target.........and tasty.

[marktwain]

Normbal wrote:

It’s out there. I saw ONE box at a local Walmart a few months back ($24.99 - last time I bought was $8.99, maybe five years ago) but I was/had been looking for .22 Mag and they had three boxes. 3 Box limit. Didn’t occur to me to go out to my car and come back for the lone box of Federal .22 LR I didn’t really “need.”

I’m down to about 10,000 rds right now, maybe 5k of subsonics... you never know when the SHTF or you’ll need a thousand rounds to entertain family shooting steel critters at the local range. So you buy it when you see it, right? Only thing is, I never see it.

Buffalo Head replied:

“I’m down to about 10,000 rds right now”

And folks still wonder why there is a shortage. We have met the enemy - it is you and like minded kooks of all persuasions. Yes, each of you has fabricated rational of why your unreasonable hoarding is good for yourself (and nobody else). Eventually someone will coin a name for that type of mental illness.

marktwain comments:

Buffalo Head, if you look at what Normbal wrote, you will see that your theory that he and people like him have caused the shortage, is incorrect. Note that the last time he purchased .22 ammo was five years ago, long before the shortages. People who stockpile ammunition, such as Normbal, actually reduce shortages, because they do not buy when the demand and prices are high, thus reducing demand a bit, because they have prudently purchased when prices are low.

Normbal’s purchases during times of low demand actually help maintain production during those periods, which maintains a higher capacity to produce ammunition, which again helps reduce shortages.

Storing when times are good for when times are bad is just prudent human behavior, not a mental illness.

[crusty old prospector]

So, where are we getting the lead now for bullets?

[T-Bird45]

Given your screen name, the snappy answer would be we’re digging it out of back stops and melting it to pour in casting molds over a campfire...:-)

Actually, a good question that I’ve not seen answer to but a SWAG would say foreign sources.

[marktwain]

Virtually all the lead for bullets comes from recycled lead. This comes from car batteries, wheel weights, and other sources.

There is a large lead recycling smelter reasonably close to the virgin lead smelter that was shut down, I have read.

[T-Bird45]

Good to know - thanks!!

[normbal]

I’m a pistol instructor. Had you read my post you’d know I can easily go through a box of 500 rds in a single day.

I bought a box of 5,000 rds through midwayusa about five years ago.

Back when I owned an American 180 I could go through 300 rounds in under a minute. It’s all relative.

Not a hoarder.

You missed the point.

Please take a remedial reading/rhetoric course.

Your discourse pains me.