The chart shows the prices, in the value of unskilled labor, of a .22 Long Rifle cartridge, in 2022 dollars, from 1911 to 2022.
Posted on 06/08/2022 5:24:09 AM PDT by marktwain
The author has been interested in the historical costs of .22 rimfire cartridges since childhood. Starting in early adolescence, and continuing for many years, the value of things and time was measured in .22 cartridges. It was a simple calculation, an easy comparison. From that era, 1964 to the present, .22 Long Rifle cartridge list prices, converted to constant unskilled labor dollars, have been fairly stable.
The unskilled labor number is based on the time it takes for an unskilled laborer to earn the same purchasing power for a particular year. It took about 146 hours (about two weeks, 12 hours a day, six days a week), for an unskilled laborer in 1911, to earn the same purchasing power as 1 hour of unskilled labor in 2022. The chart shows the value of unskilled labor increased rapidly from 1911 to present, with some glitches. The most obvious is the depression, in 1932, post-WWII in 1950, most of the 1980s, and after the election of President Obama, 2008 onward.
The .22 caliber rimfire cartridges are the most successful cartridges in history. Billions are produced annually. They are the most used cartridges of all time. The .22 Long Rifle is the most common. For a considerable time, the .22 Short gave it significant competition. The .22 Long, while sold in considerable quantities, was never as popular as either the Long Rifle or the Short.
.22 rimfire cartridges have been used to kill the biggest land animals on the planet, from elephants (according to Peter Hathaway Capstick, in Safari, the Last Adventure, p.114 to 116) to grizzly bears.
The chart shows the prices, in the value of unskilled labor, of a .22 Long Rifle cartridge, in 2022 dollars, from 1911 to 2022.
Never had any problem with them.
IIRC, she had an extensive knowledge of bear anatomy, and knew exactly where to shoot it.
She had been doing taxidermy and such for years.
Not taking away from her experience, just explaining her shooting.
Do .22 rimfire differently here: Build an Accurate rifle, wring maximum accuracy preference for that arm from several current offerings from several manufactures; once that is determined purchase 5+ cases of that particular lot number and keep them for sale/use with that rifle only. Sub inch grouping at 75 yards and 2 inches or less at 100 yards is my criteria. I get to use/teach from the left overs.
From an Ammoland article by Dean Weingarten:
“On 10 May, 1953, Bella Twin was hunting small game with her partner, Dave Auger, along an oil exploration cutline south of Slave Lake, in Alberta, Canada. She was 63 years old.”
Hardly a young girl.
i was buying those in ‘06-08 for about $8 and still have a few dozen stashed away
I got my grandpa’s 1906 bolt-action .22 rifle around 1969. I bought a much more modern and reliable Marlin bolt action .22 rifle in 1971. At the time, I was in high school and college and just about “unskilled labor.” Even then, I thought .22 ammo was cheap. It’s interesting that the chart shows the price (in inflation-adjusted dollars) today is just about the same as when I bought that first rifle of mine.
Back in the 60’s we had old bolt action 22 rifles for target shooting - my uncle would buy 22 shorts for shooting at cans and bottles. Don’t even know if they still make 22 shorts - they were really cheap 60 years ago!
Sigh. Those were the days.
In high school, I discovered “BB Caps” which were a .22 cartridge with no powder, just primer. They were REALLY cheap. I fired a lot of those, .22 short, .22 long, and occasionally .22 LR. The BB Caps gave a lot of fun for pennies.
All I see left on the shelves are the oddball sizes. 22 shorts cost as much as a box of centerfire. The only thing I can think of that uses them are the North American Minis.
In the 80s I bought a Bucket of Bullets-500 of them for 7.95.
I’m invested in RUGER,
primarily but I looked
It up.
Thanks.
thanks,i haven’t checked lately for local prices
I would too if I hadn’t dumped them all into ammo cans.
LOL
L
Now, BB Caps are much more expensive than .22 Long Rifle!
.22 Long Rifle cartridges are still relatively cheap.
A Long Rifle cartridge today, at about 8 cents, cost 1/8 the amount of gold it did in 1911! It takes about 1/13 the amount of unskilled labor to purchase a Long Rifle cartridge than it did in 1911.
Lots available at $.37 a round.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.