Making .22 Ammo

[jameslovesjammie]

Another thing to keep in mind is that the U.S. isn't the only country buying ammunition.  Don't forget that our Brother to the North also gets a majority of their .22 ammunition imported from here.  I don't know how much gets exported to other countries, but I'm sure the major manufacturers also have large contracts outside of the U.S. as well.

[1SOW]

To the supplies available  "COMMERCIALLY-Not Contracted",  add:  Remington, Federal, Winchester,  Plus many more from here and abroad.
Annual US production is estimated at 2?2.5 billion rounds,  before the increases in production hours .  Adding in imports and production increases would have to make this number much larger.   That's a lot of plinking going on.  Or a lot of new shelving being sold.

[Bert2368]

I just wish someone like Henry would make a small frame rifle in a small cartridge like .32 S&W Long.  Cheap to shoot, low recoil, and reloadable.  At 2 grains of Bullseye per round, it's about as cheap as you can sneak by powder wise.  With home-cast bullets, I can shoot these for about 4.5 cents a round.

Here you are on CZ firearms website, wishing for HENRY to make such a thing?!

Been casting, reloading and shooting my CZ527 in .22 Hornet for the last 6 years of ammo shortage/price gouging. I seldom shoot the several .22LR rifles I own, even though I DO have adequate ammunition put by for them. The Hornet does everything a .22LR or .22mag could, and MORE.

With a swage tool set, whatever .22LR one does shoot can provide spent cases as raw materials for bullet jackets to be used in .22 centerfire cartridges...

[gmlogmd7]

Do you guys think it will ever stabilize? Maybe a year or two after the next presidential elections?

[NavyVet1959]

The last .22LR ammo I bought was 500-round bricks of Remington Thunderbolt and it was around $7-8 per brick.  It was easy to go through a brick at a day at the range.  I still have 2 bricks, but I don't shoot the .22s that much anymore since I am not willing to replace that ammo with the current prices they are charging for .22s.  As such, I got into reloading and for pretty much any handgun caliber, I can reload it for around $2.50-3.50 per 50-round box as long as I can recover my brass.  The two variable costs for reloading are the powder and the bullet.  Of these, the biggest cost is the lead, so lighter bullets make for cheaper ammo.  I usually figure on $1-1.25 per pound for lead.  Wheelweights used to be the best source for a good lead alloy, but these days, you're lucky to get a 50% lead return from a 5g bucket of wheelweights thanks to all the eco-weenies and their push to move away from lead in wheelweights.  Lately, I've been finding mostly steel plus the occasional zinc one when I get a 5g bucket from a tire shop.

The round that I see as a potential replacement for the .22LR for me is the .22 TCM.  I already have a 0.224" 55gr mold and I suspect that I can work up a load with that would be a good plinking round with a cheap powder without having to go all out and load for full blown .22 TCM ballistics.  Of course, if you are shooting either a single shot or bolt action rifle or a revolver (handgun) your reloading options are quite a bit more flexible than if you are shooting a semi-auto.

[Sidecar2]

7/6/18: video is gone. YouTube is not the friend of Free Americans.

[TDoug]

The original video is gone, but here is another one showing the CCI process.
[/url]http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2017/09/rimfire-genesis-how-cci-22-lr-rimfire-ammo-is-made/[/url]