From what I understand is that the “Soros” controlled 22 ammo manufacturers have been stock-piling their inventories to create the initial market distortion.
Unfortunately the tooling and setup to produce 22 is quite expensive.
Manufacturers have tooled up to produce a billion more .22 rounds a year.
It has been extraordinary demand that has caused the shortage. Distributors, retailers, and quick buck entrepreneurs are the ones that raised prices. I hoped that manufacturers would do so, but their price increases were modest and slow in coming.
http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2016/01/ccifederal-to-increase-22-production-by.html