That is not a contention. It is fact, well known to all of us inside the ammunition industry. We don't know whether to laugh or cry when reading all the nonsense written about ammunition on forums like this. Some of these folks seem quite akin to the Aborigines that were trying to decide what a piano must look like after listening to one on a portable radio they found in the Outback.
"If so, who was selling it?" All the usual suspects.
"Who was buying it?" The usual suspects plus carloads of low information kooks.
"Seems like an awful lot of ammo to be sold in secret." Secret? What have you been drinking or smoking?
"Sorry, but the answer has to be (HAS TO BE? SAYS WHO BESIDES THE KOOKS?) something different than..."
"The reason there is no ammo for sale is because so many people are buying so much ammo." Whomever you quoted knew of what he communicated to you. Bless him."
"That is kind of like Yogi Berra on why he quit going to a restaurant....“Nobody goes there anymore because it’s too crowded.” Funny, but totally unrelated to the subject at hand.
I used to see .22 for sale at my local Walmart and all three of the sporting goods stores that I frequent. I have not seen any for several months.
What you are saying is exactly like the Yogi Berra quote.
...The reason I don't see any of the .22 ammo at Walmart or my sporting goods stores and the reason nobody I know can find any and the reason why my son's scouting group had to cancel the shooting camp out....is because there are just so many .22 rounds being sold.
Sorry, I ain't buying it. Any other industry that finds itself in a prolonged period of high demand finds a way to keep the shelves stocked.
There are some outside forces at play here. Whether it is something nefarious like the government messing with supply and demand or something benign like raw material shortages or ammo companies concentrating production on higher margin rounds such as 9mm, 5.56 & .223....I don't know. Something has changed and it isn't just the "kooks".