I would bet that most of us members of this wonderful forum were not surprised that with yet another crisis that .22 RF ammunition is again in short supply. I know most of us who were caught by surprise with the last one, stocked up as supplies became plentiful and more reasonably priced. Somewhat like toilet paper, it appears that in almost any crisis, when one needs to have this valuable commodity, supplies will quickly dry up with none available. While our groups main focus is for & related to cast bullets, most of us also shoot a lot .22 RF. .22 RF ammunition is important to us as if cannot be reloaded (easily). I use it as a supplement to my cast bullet shooting. When using .22 RF ammo, one is saving the use of cast loaded ammo. Heck even Hickock45 shoots the stuff, despite the seemingly endless ammo supply he enjoys from Federal. Now to those that have been caught short (hopefully not again)....it's too late to stock up now. Hopefully you will stock up and keep a hefty supply when you can to avoid running out on the next crisis. I also would like to add....when .22 RF stocks were readily available. most of us stocked up gradually...we didn't horde....buying a few boxes every so often.
Congratulations.....you/we have learned!
- Thread starter Wallyl
- Start date
CWLONGSHOT
Well-Known Member
What I learned last time was I didn’t “need” 22 LR as much as I thought that I did. 
The couple extra quantities I bought THEN, are still sitti in my shelve.
The primers are what I have stocked up with.
One can use all kinds of different powders and we can cast our own projectiles. But primers... we all need primers.
CW
The couple extra quantities I bought THEN, are still sitti in my shelve.
The primers are what I have stocked up with.
One can use all kinds of different powders and we can cast our own projectiles. But primers... we all need primers.
CW
Primers are very important. A few years ago Cabella's offered S & B primers @ $18.00/M...I bought as many as they had on the shelf (7)....they were supposed to get lots more, but never did.
Most of us have quite a few .22 RF firearms....always enjoyable to shoot, up to a point. I then move on up to my cast loads. I have found I shoot them more accurately after using .22 RF as they provide one with additional practice.
Most of us have quite a few .22 RF firearms....always enjoyable to shoot, up to a point. I then move on up to my cast loads. I have found I shoot them more accurately after using .22 RF as they provide one with additional practice.
Hawk
Well-Known Member
That's when Ian's thread on subsonic .223 is appropriate.
www.artfulbullet.com
Having said that, I've got ten bricks of PMC Zapper .22 LR.
Was testing out different brands back in the 90s and it was by far the most acurate of any .22 LR ammo I had ever shot, despite being the cheapest.
Found out they got a deal on Eley Target primed brass and that was the secret to the accuracy.
Bought all I could find for $10.00 a brick
Subsonic .223 in my AR-15
I think I have a winner, third try. Working with the Lee 224-55 bullet cast from basically WW alloy, sized .225" with one very light coat of Ben's Liquid Lube before and after. NO gas check. Brass FL sized and expanded to basically .224" or a tenth under. Left a .256" bellmouth which gets...
www.artfulbullet.com
Having said that, I've got ten bricks of PMC Zapper .22 LR.
Was testing out different brands back in the 90s and it was by far the most acurate of any .22 LR ammo I had ever shot, despite being the cheapest.
Found out they got a deal on Eley Target primed brass and that was the secret to the accuracy.
Bought all I could find for $10.00 a brick
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358156 hp
At large, whereabouts unknown.
I've had some serious issues with older Federal 22LR ammo misfiring. I had stored it well, and there was nothing wrong with the gun, but very little of it fired. I ran across yet another 555 round box of this stuff and have been pulling it down for disposal. The powder goes on the lawn, the bullets will get melted into bullet alloy, and I'll probably WD40 the inside of the cases and throw them in the garbage. I started out with three boxes of this crap and can't count on the priming to ignite. It makes me cautious about relying on rimfire ammo for anything important.
L Ross
Well-Known Member
I stuck my wetted finger in the political wind in 2007 and stocked up. My wife, God bless her, stood looking at a pallet of Blazer at the time and asked my if I had enough .22? I told her a number after cipherin' a bit, and she said, "Is it going to get any cheaper than $168.00 a case?" So I brought another one home. I cruised through the "crisis" and even gave some bricks to youngster and a couple of friends who were "stuck." I was able to spare a case of a particular brand that shot the best in a friends rifle and was unobtanium. That deal was to be replaced in one year. I never got a case back but was traded a Bannerman Krag sporter for it.
Time passes and regimes change. As prices fell I took advantage of that. I told my friends, "We are only one election away from shortages!" I did not foresee a pandemic. How ever the solution was exactly the same. Buy it cheap and stack it deep. I very recently built a Kidd 10-22 and I don't feel the slightest twinge of regret when the ground is littered with empties after a plinkfest.
Time passes and regimes change. As prices fell I took advantage of that. I told my friends, "We are only one election away from shortages!" I did not foresee a pandemic. How ever the solution was exactly the same. Buy it cheap and stack it deep. I very recently built a Kidd 10-22 and I don't feel the slightest twinge of regret when the ground is littered with empties after a plinkfest.
Yes, with Federal .22 RF ammo I have noticed it has less energy to cycle the actions on some SA rifles, but works very nicely in a bolt action rifle and a revolvers.
358156 hp
At large, whereabouts unknown.
I still have a lot of primers that I bought almost 20 years ago. I decided that primers were the weak link in the chain and made it a point to buy three or four thousand of a couple of sizes at the gun shows where they were cheapest in those days.
It's paid off many times over.
It's paid off many times over.