22LR shortage - what's going on?

The smelters are shutting down due to the high rate of recycling going on in the industry. The lead used in the firearms industry is a very low percentage and not enough to support a large smelting operation. The majority of lead in the world is used in batteries and most if not all batteries have a core refund hence the efficiency in recycling.

The lead used in bullets cannot easily be retrieved thus recycling is not really a viable option. There will always be enough lead but the demand will dictate the cost and I would imagine it is all going to be going up as it already has.
 
Care to share where? Other than some bulk blazer at Sports Action, I haven't seen much of anything. Lebaron and Sail are dry.

Any info for for ottawa would be appreciated. I've been picking up some variety at CT in Belleville when I drive that way.

Found the same thing ... anyone ?
 
I give..... you are right. Wiping out the local lead supply in the North American economy will have absolutely no affect on either the supply or price of lead in the future.

well there's no helping ignorance i guess. i never said it wouldn't effect the price, but it will not effect the supply. read the pdf below.

http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/lead/mcs-2013-lead.pdf

wheel weights, dentistry (x ray films), plumbing solders, cable coverings, etc have all gone to lead free. would you care to explain where all that lead has gone?
 
Besides panic buying anyone ever think it might be the large number of high capacity magazine rifles now? Not knocking them, but I know when I've used a high capacity mag rifle I go through a brick pretty quick.
 
There was a time, when any shooter, would buy ammo when he needed it, and shoot without any concern as he knew he could head down to the local supplier and replenish his own supply of ammo at any time. Absolutely not a worry in the world. Would you guys who say there is no ammo shortage, say that those days still exist? or are guys being more judicious in how they shoot based on not being able to replace the ammo so quickly?

When I see guys like Nut'n fancy and Jerry Miculek and many others saying outloud that they don't shoot as much as ammo is getting harder to get, I tend to believe them. its just plain harder to get, sure its out there, and spread around the country, but it sure isn't nearly as plentiful in the retails stores as is once was. If you don't believe this, ask ANY retailer if they can get all the ammo they would like to get. The answer is NO, and it likely will be for some time.
 
There was a time, when any shooter, would buy ammo when he needed it, and shoot without any concern as he knew he could head down to the local supplier and replenish his own supply of ammo at any time. Absolutely not a worry in the world. Would you guys who say there is no ammo shortage, say that those days still exist? or are guys being more judicious in how they shoot based on not being able to replace the ammo so quickly?

When I see guys like Nut'n fancy and Jerry Miculek and many others saying outloud that they don't shoot as much as ammo is getting harder to get, I tend to believe them. its just plain harder to get, sure its out there, and spread around the country, but it sure isn't nearly as plentiful in the retails stores as is once was. If you don't believe this, ask ANY retailer if they can get all the ammo they would like to get. The answer is NO, and it likely will be for some time.

could not agree more, but the shortage has nothing to do with lack of lead supply.
 
The last few days I shopped all over the Pt. Huron MI area for 22 ammo. No retailers have any, from the likes of Gander Mtn, ####'s Sporting Goods, Walmart, to Specialized gun shops. They have not been getting anything since last summer and don't see an end to the drought.
 
No shortage at P&D.

Yes there is. They don't have NEAR the stock they typically carry this time of year. You might see some out on the floor, but I can assure you its not stacked to the ceiling in the back room, like it normally is and they surely can't place an order and get it on demand, like they could just a few short years ago. P&D may soon appear to confirm or deny.

No retailer in Canada, has all the ammo in their store that they would like to have, not one.
 
We have a lot more ammo than what is on display including .22 and .17HMR. We have an ammo room and alternate storage pilled to the ceiling with ammo. Yes we don't have every style of ammo we would like so the selection is not as good as sometimes in the past but we make great efforts to deal with just about every ammo supplier in Canada and usually keep the shelves full. It's agreed there is almost no residual .22 ammo in the various distributor warehouses as it gets shipped right away to those customers who ordered big and early and of course pay their bills on time. Could we run out in the future?..I suppose it's possible, only time will tell but for the time being we have a good supply. Phil.
 
Last edited:
The last few days I shopped all over the Pt. Huron MI area for 22 ammo. No retailers have any, from the likes of Gander Mtn, ####'s Sporting Goods, Walmart, to Specialized gun shops. They have not been getting anything since last summer and don't see an end to the drought.


Isn't that odd, you can go to Cabelas and find 50000 round out on the shelf. I have not heard any complaining about lack of ammo in Alberta, now powder is a different story. FS
 
We have a lot more ammo than what is on display including .22 and .17HMR. We have an ammo room and alternate storage pilled to the ceiling with ammo. Yes we don't have every style of ammo we would like so the selection is not as good as sometimes in the past but we make great efforts to deal with just about every ammo supplier in Canada and usually keep the shelves full. It's agreed there is almost no residual .22 ammo in the various distributor warehouses as it gets shipped right away to those customers who odered big and early and of course pay their bills on time. Could we run out in the future?..I suppose it's possible, only time will tell but for the time being we have a good supply. Phil.

The bold highlights the real state of affairs.

Ammo is not as readily as available as before, and if you want to have supplier you have to pre-order huge supplies, and pay on time, or even put down deposits. ammo can be got....just not as easily in the past.
 
Naysayers and cup half empty, what I see here are opportunities, for entrepreneurial Canadians, and companies to start make quality .22 and other calibers for our and foreign markets. Why do we have to get everything from the U.S. like a baby bird getting fed by it's Mother. Should be the other way around especially with our dollar low. Tell me why we cannot? There are already Canadian ammo makers producing quality shotgun ammo at fair prices, it is not a huge step to other calibers! We need to back anyone who starts up any quality ammo factory in Canada, so they can move forward with more projects. the only way we can assure a solid constant supply of good ammo, is make it in house and support those initiatives!!
 
Yes there is. They don't have NEAR the stock they typically carry this time of year. You might see some out on the floor, but I can assure you its not stacked to the ceiling in the back room, like it normally is and they surely can't place an order and get it on demand, like they could just a few short years ago. P&D may soon appear to confirm or deny.

No retailer in Canada, has all the ammo in their store that they would like to have, not one.

You're correct I called them looking for CCI Standard nada and only very little of anything else CCI
 
Back
Top Bottom