High price of .22 LR ammo?

I have a tough time complaining about the price or quality of todays 22 rimfire being offered at what I would rate as fire sale prices.

I'm no spring chicken, unlike some of the complainers of todays prices.

Back in the day of $1.00 per hour being "good" wages, a 50 round box of "Whizzbangs" went for .18 for shorts, .22 for longs and .25 for long rifles.
That averages out to 2 1/2 hours of wages (after taxes) for a brick of 500 rounds. Now that's pricey, but fair. We paid it, without complaint.

Most people I knew, didn't buy a brick of cartridges at one purchase. Usually just bought a 50 round box. Shooting gophers or squirrels or rabbits was a serious thing and a miss brought on much ribbing and embarassment. So it was a point of honor and reputation to make every shot count. The spray and pray doctrine only came about since all of the Viet Nam epics made their debut.

Spray and pray can be fun, I admit it, but is also a huge waste of ammunition as well as not leading to decent accuracy skills.

By the way, I'm not suggesting that all of the complainers are spray and pray shooters, but I'm willing to bet many are.

I'm not sure what the average wage is these days, but if you're makeing minimum wage, the price of 22rf is about the same or possibly cheaper than it was 50 years ago, as far as working time goes. Not pricey if you're a disciplined shooter.

The quality of ammunition is also better today than ever, as are the rimfire rifles offered by todays makers, even the cheap bulk brands.

As far as I'm concerned, todays 22rf ammo is cheap, for what you get.

bearhunter
 
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I not saying its expensive, but its been a 30-35% price increase in about a year. So its just more expensive than it was.

I dont know about you but my wage didnt increase that much.
 
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