Cost of .22 ammo in the price of unskilled labor.
Posted on 07/23/2022 6:51:31 AM PDT by marktwain
The short answer is: 1987.
.22 Short rimfire cartridges became more expensive than .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridges in 1987. They have remained more expensive since then.
This correspondent has been able to obtain manufacturer price list information for .22 Shorts from 1911 to 1996, and .22 Long Rifle
ammunition from 1911 to 2022. That is 111 years of pricing history. Of the 111 years, this correspondent was able to collect data for 70 individual years. There are enough data points to give shape to the curve.
There are several ways to measure the value of money, and how it changes over time.
You can choose a particular commodity. Gold has been popular. Determine what an ounce of gold has cost in dollars over time. This was easy when the price of gold was fixed by the US government (the gold standard) from 1789 to 1932, at 20 dollars per troy ounce.
It became dubious from 1934 to 1973-74, because the price was set at $35 per ounce, but you could not legally own gold in the United States. After 1974, the dollar was completely decoupled from the price of gold, so the dollar prices are readily available.
In 1911, a round of .22 Short cost .625 cents. Gold was 20 dollars an ounce, so a .22 short cost of .0003125 troy ounces of gold. Today, that much gold costs 57.8 cents. Using the same measure, a Long Rifle in 1911 cost .000347 ounces of gold, or 69.4 cents of gold using the price of gold in 2022.
In 2022, a Long Rife cartridge costs about 8 cents, or .000043 ounces of gold at 2022 prices. The price of a Long Rifle in 2022 is almost exactly 1/8 the amount of gold it costs in 1911.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
In the last 12 years, it has risen because of demand.
Cost of .22 ammo in the price of unskilled labor.
You ever try the ..22 super Colibri? 20 grain, primer only. Super quiet from a long gun, quieter than a high powered air gun. I like that stuff for around the house.
Slow day for writers at ammoland.
Tomorrow: Why does .380 ACP cost more than 9mm?
I need both! Along with everything else...
I have a few cartons. Good load for small pests or birds.
I have not heard of those in a while. I need to look and see. I think I have one of my grandfathers old long rifles. Its a single shot bolt action. It may shoot shorts. I cleaned it a few years ago and it was some kind of dirty. Not like my grandfather, he usually kept his guns clean. He would not like some of the cleaners now. The ones that are cleaners and oil all in one. It was hoppes cleaner and then oil. I think it was rem oil.
I still clean mine that way..
I put a 14" hand made choke on the end of a 22 and it increases the effective range from 8-10 yards to about twice that distance.
Obviously, with # 12 shot, the closer the better because that stuff is about the size of salt grains.
“Why does .380 ACP cost more than 9mm?”
Funny story. During the reign of the Greatest Arms and Ammunition Salesman EVER, President Obama, I got together twelve people where I worked, and we bought guns and ammo together. For each gun, I got us, usually a few hundred dollars off as I bought twelve. I also bought us each 1,000 rounds of ammo.
However, I could not buy .380 ammo as everyone was tapped out making the more popular 9mm. No matter who I called, it was the same story. Then, I called a small manufacturer in Georgia, if memory serves. I finally got to speak to the floor manager, and I could hear the machines “kerchunking” around him. He told me, no, they wouldn’t be making any .380 for the foreseeable future.
I said, “I need 12,000 rounds and I’m happy to pay your 9mm price.”
He said, “I’ll ship it Friday.”
It all arrived stamped, “9mm Luger.” So, they ran it that night, but they didn’t change the dies.
When the UPS guy dragged it from the truck he said, while huffing, “Are you ordering lead bars?”
“Sort of.”
“You’re breaking my back, you know.”
It is called absorption cost accounting.
Fixed set up cost of a machine for 1,000 production run. Is expensive in terms of number of rounds.
Fixed set up cost of a machine for 1,000,000 round cost much less per round.
If you run same setup for a year is cheaper than if you only run it 2 weeks.
I have a 1958 Mossberg 144LS Rifle, and its 5-round mag takes shorts or longs. I can’t remember using shorts in it, ever.
“You ever try the ..22 super Colibri? 20 grain, primer only. Super quiet from a long gun, quieter than a high powered air gun. “
In a long barreled bolt rifle it makes very little noise.
Great story.
Sounds like the old BB Cap, with a heavier bullet - a CB Cap with no powder. Fun pest rounds that are pretty tough to find.
I actually have a box of CB caps around here somewhere. Don’t remember what I paid for them.
L
In a long barreled bolt rifle it makes very little noise.
I have had a couple stick in a 28" barreled rifle.
I figured it was an example of economies of scale.
My friends think I kinda eccentric because I usually practice slow fire revolver shooting with shorts. I pay more for a brick of shorts but it uses up less lead they are accurate. I’ll set up a four by five-foot cardboard at 100 yards and put a human silhouette target on it. With my old Colt Buntline Scout I’ll score six out of six on the target but of course it is a BIG target AND I’m sandbagging my revolver. But the shorts print about as well as standard or high velocity 22 LRs.
With offhand shooting I can do better with an old Cold Police Positive 38 Special with a 4-inch barrel than with my Ruger Redhawk 44 magnum (loaded mild) with its 2X Leopold and its nine and half inch barrel ... but sandbagged the Redhawk is supreme.
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