Posted on 11/23/2017 9:11:33 AM PST by marktwain
The new .22 rimfire plant in Lewiston, Idaho, is on line. Vista Outdoors owns the CCI and Federal rimfire brands. They have increased production for both brands by 20 percent.
With end of the Obama administration, the .22 ammunition bubble is deflating. Most stores have ammunition available. Prices are coming down.
From the Lewiston Tribune, November 10th, 2017:
Parts of Vista's approach have worked well, such as investing in infrastructure and preserving market share, Metz said.
Vista recently debuted a new, 37,000-square-foot, $35 million rimfire ammunition plant near the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport, which has resulted in what company officials describe as a “very satisfying” reduction in the time needed to complete an order.
“It pays dividends when you come out of the trough,” Metz said. “We're able to make some changes in our facilities that will enable us to participate really strongly as the market returns.”
Vista Outdoor has reduced ammunition prices to maintain market share as its customers work through stockpiles they amassed under the administration of Barack Obama – when they feared new regulation that never came to pass.”We're the market leader in rimfire,” Nolan said. “Brand preference in ammunition tends to be somewhat sticky. It took us a long time to gain our market share. … We are loathe to cede that during a period of challenging pricing because it's going to be very difficult to get that back.”
The ammunition manufacturers, such as Vista Outdoors, do not want to lower prices. As with any manufacturer, life is easy and smooth when both prices and demand are high. But the market does not guarantee that prices and demand will remain high. Only force, in the form of government granted monopolies, or collusion, as with the OPEC cartel, can do that.
(Excerpt) Read more at ammoland.com ...
This is a far cry from never seeing any .22 LR on the shelves at WalMart and only seeing it at gun shows at 15 cents a round.
Curious as to what it looks like around the nation.
.223 ammo is a bargain too. Hardly worth it to reload.
Per other family members there’s plenty of .22 on the shelves at the local big box sports and walmart.
IMO, people are feeling more secure under new WH management.
And a lot of the farmers around here are converting tomato/corn fields to sod. The existing sod farms are harvesting more than they have in years. Hopefully a sign construction and development of all types is beginning to take off again.
I haven’t bought any in almost a decade. I’ve got a pile of 500 round bricks from back in the day. Some of them still have the price tags on them at $12.99 per.
I used to toss one or two in the cart every time I was at the sporting goods store. I toyed with the idea of getting a booth at a gun show and selling them at ridiculous prices.
But the only way I part with ammunition is by pulling the trigger.
L
13 months ago had you bet me that we’d be seeing these prices again , you’d be living in my house now.
In Reno I am seeing 22LR on Armslist.com for under 4.5 cents each, saw one about two weeks ago at about 3.75 cents.
The Remington brick in the picture has a sale price on it of $9.50. Less than 2 cents a round.
I was paying that price in 1965 at the local gas station, cash, no questions asked, per box of 50 rounds.
I’m not sure what was going on, but I agree with you take on it.
I’m so glad Obama is gone. It’s a new day in the United States.
The fresh air smells so good, after the stench of the last eight years.
I repeatedly predicted these prices would return over the last four years.
People repeatedly told me we would never see them again, because of the conspiracy of ammunition manufacturers.
Now, most of them say nothing.
I appreciate your honesty in speaking up.
It has happened very close to what is expected for markets to work.
It likely would have happened a lot faster if the manufacturers had not been afraid of being called “price gougers” and had pushed their prices to what the market would bear.
More capacity would have been online a lot faster.
When I was in my 20s, I could get a brick (500 rounds), 3 gallons of gas, and a case of beer for a $10 bill. It always made for a fun Friday night!
When was that?
.22 ammo prices were at about 2 cents a round for a long time. (mid 60’s to the 1990’s).
I was too young to be buying .22 ammo in the 50’s. Inflation shot up post WWII and continued right on through the Carter era. Then the inflation slowed for a while.
I can recall buying bulk packs at a little less than 2 cents a round well into the 1990’s, on sale.
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I get 2 $6 boxes of brass cased federal 55 grain .223 at academy at least twice a week. Half the price of a year or so ago.
Also, a 33 round 9mm Glock mag is $50, down from about $120, same time frame. Mag prices dropping like rocks, too
I bought many 550 round bulk packs of Federal ammo at Walmart perhaps 15 years ago. At one point there was a "price rollback" to about $9. a box. But back then, 7.62 x 39 East German surplus was going for about 7-8 cents a round in bulk.
Got a 333 round box of Winchester at Walmart the other day for 5 cents a round.
But back then, 7.62 x 39 East German surplus was going for about 7-8 cents a round in bulk.
“”””I repeatedly predicted these prices would return over the last four years.
People repeatedly told me we would never see them again, because of the conspiracy of ammunition manufacturers.”””””
I bought 8 bricks of .22 the day after hussein got elected the first time. A few other supplies as well such as a whole gob of primers. I never got into the hoarding thing.
Now the supply is abundant and the price is cheap.
Bass Pro shop is actually putting .22 on the shelf now instead of behind the counter.
Friday was payday, and I'd stop at Woolco and get a brick of 22 LR for $4.95 (don't remember the brand but could have been Remington or maybe a generic).
Gas was 30 cents per gallon, and beer was around a dollar a six pack. Non-premium beer was 99 cents per six pack and your "premium" brands (Bud or Schlitz) were something like $1.15 to $1.25 per six pack.
Add it up: $4.95 + $(4 * 0.99) + $(3 * 0.30) = $9.81
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