.22rf ammo becoming harder to get

Tulloch

Well-Known Member
I was reading on an American forum yesterday that .22rf ammo is hard to get and in some cases nigh on impossible in the states , does this mean we will have the same issue in the UK?
 
No it shouldn't mean the same here as most of our .22 doesn't come from the U.S. The problem in the U.S. is still hoarding, that combined with shooters expending ridiculous amounts of ammo plinking.
Think about where most of our .22 ammo comes from. Winchester comes from Australia, Eley is British, RWS and Geco comes from Germany, Lapua and SK from Finland,Fiocchi from Italy. There was certainly no shortage in the guns shops I have visited in the last few days.
 
Not had a problem recently buying "main stream" .22 ammo but I am waiting for CCI Quiet which is, I believe, more specialised
 
Just wondering as to be fair I know very little about ammo . I know what works in my rifles and in my rf it seems to be CCI subs that it likes. I know I have no problem getting what I need at the minute just wondering if I am going to have issues in the future and if I was would it not be better going for a cf .22
 
No it shouldn't mean the same here as most of our .22 doesn't come from the U.S. The problem in the U.S. is still hoarding, that combined with shooters expending ridiculous amounts of ammo plinking.
Think about where most of our .22 ammo comes from. Winchester comes from Australia, Eley is British, RWS and Geco comes from Germany, Lapua and SK from Finland,Fiocchi from Italy. There was certainly no shortage in the guns shops I have visited in the last few days.

This simply is not true. There has been nothing to 'hoard' for a couple of years and for well over a year now -closer to two- shops and distributors have placed limits on the amount of ammo a person can buy. The truth is that production has been severely curtailed and the UK is at the end of the supply train. We have many more shooters than in the UK so even if each shooter bought the minimum, you'd still feel the shortage.~Muir
 
And the price has gone up! A box of vanilla CCI .22 LR Standard Velocity is about $6.00 retail.
A few years ago, you could buy a box of 550 Federal for $10.00.
 
If only we didn't have the current UK powder drought. Especially since most US powders are made in Europe, shipped, rebadged and sent back.
 
That depends where you look Rob. I went into Dauntsey guns to have a look on the way home from Bisley and they certainly didn't have any shortage of powder and a pretty good selection too. They also had quite a good selection of bullets.
 
That depends where you look Rob. I went into Dauntsey guns to have a look on the way home from Bisley and they certainly didn't have any shortage of powder and a pretty good selection too. They also had quite a good selection of bullets.

I bought some powder and they had exactly the bullets ( 2 types) I wanted in stock and powder on offer. If you look at there website they show all their stock which is pretty comprehensive powderwise.
 
I bought some powder and they had exactly the bullets ( 2 types) I wanted in stock and powder on offer. If you look at there website they show all their stock which is pretty comprehensive powderwise.


WELL???? NO Varget No H4350 No H3813 ?? OR is it me :cuckoo:
 
Well I didn't say that they had every powder but they do have a small mountain of Vihtavuori N140 and N160. They also have Swiss powder, IMR, some Aliant and some Hodgdon. If you can't find something to satisfy your needs there I don't think that you will never be happy.
Going back to the original question they also have a fair selection and quantity in stock of various .22 ammo.
 
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And the price has gone up! A box of vanilla CCI .22 LR Standard Velocity is about $6.00 retail.
A few years ago, you could buy a box of 550 Federal for $10.00.

And the cheap "American Eagle" ammo that used to be $11 a brick is now $18 a brick (when you can find it) but a 'brick' is now 400 rounds and not 500.

The notion that Americans are "hording" ammo and causing shortages abroad is so ill founded. The truth is that US distributors and dealers are back ordered through the roof. What little that is being shipped ends up retail shops to be purchased by their customers. And, for sure, it's sold to the bare walls; but that never influenced the flow of ammo to the UK. That happened far up the line and far away from any individual who might be accused of 'hoarding'.~Muir
 
$18 (£10.72) for 400 no wonder the shops can't hold on to it. If you look on the NSRA website and choose their cheapest cooking grade target ammo which equates to the ammo you mention that works out at £23.60 ($39.65) for 400. $18 for 400 would be an absolute bargain for us.

Good quality sporting .22 is substancialy costlier and as for the "premium" target ammo that is generally around £205 ($345) - £312 ($524) per thousand. Look at the website and do the sums for yourself if you don't believe me. The NSRA may not be the cheapest but there are actually some small dealers charging more than them.

Incidentally I heard from a member of staff in one of the bigger gun shops in the U.K. the other day that a major importer has made the conscious decision to concentrate more on importing reloading components from Europe in future and be less reliant on the U.S.
 
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I don't know much about it but isn't it about time somebody started producing good quality reloading components in the uk ?

Nice idea minikeeper but as discussed previously on a similar thread some months ago the small U.K. market wouldn't justify the necessary investment of several million pounds to set up a production facility that could produce quality components in sizeable quantities. Fortunately with regard to .22 ammunition we still have a producer of quality ammunition here in the U.K. (Eley), and don't forget the other European manufacturers also.

Just a thought but I wonder if Eley have ever considered going back into the production of rifle and pistol primers, after all their production must in some ways be similar to making .22 rimfire ammunition?
 
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