Author Topic: Damn 22LR ammo hoarders are still out there - idiots!  (Read 14637 times)

Offline goodfellow

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Damn 22LR ammo hoarders are still out there - idiots!
« on: May 09, 2019, 09:56:49 AM »
Went to Wallyworld early this morning for some lacquer thinner to paint up a fender for a buddy. He wants acrylic lacquer, and I didn't have enough thinner on hand to do the job and the clean up. Anyway, while I was standing in line a few old guys (in their 60s/70s) rolled up in their SUVs and trucks and got in line waiting for the doors to open. Overhearing their conversation, it turns out that these dolts were "ammo hoarders". They canvass WalMart stores in a particular area and then buy up all the cheap 22LR (and some other calibers) to hoard and resell on the Web.

I struck up a conversation with one of the guys and feigned ignorance on ammo knowledge, and he gave me this huge lecture on how this group of guys do this two times a week in different locations across Northern Virginia. They and other members of "their team" (who go to other Walmart locations) buy every round of 22LR in the store when it opens, and then move on to other stores within that geographic area. By 9:00 AM they have cleaned out 5-10 Walmarts within a 20 mile radius. They then meet up for coffee and split the booty evenly among the team members, who then re-sell the stuff on the net for a profit. According to the guy I was talking to, they've been doing this for years.

You wonder why we had a 22LR ammo shortage for so long? It's jerks like this that are the main problem. No conspiracies, no manufacturing problems and no profiteering by the manufactures, but simply an artificial feeding frenzy created and based on political rumor and fueled by pure greed. These guys are some of the sorriest a$$holes I've met in a long time. They're probably all retired, and judging by their vehicles, doing financially very well in their retirement. The ammo hoarding and reselling business must be very good. I only hope that with 22LR stocks and prices coming back to realistic levels, these guys are sitting on huge stockpiles of expensive inventory and are forced to sell at a loss. I truly have a disdain for all the people in this group. 

« Last Edit: May 09, 2019, 09:59:59 AM by goodfellow »

Offline john k

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Re: Damn 22LR ammo hoarders are still out there - idiots!
« Reply #1 on: May 09, 2019, 10:11:28 AM »
I agree,  have run into a couple of them that always have plenty of ammo for sale.  If they keep it up,, will get burned sooner or later..  Cleaning out a store is just wrong. 

Offline gtermini

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Re: Damn 22LR ammo hoarders are still out there - idiots!
« Reply #2 on: May 09, 2019, 10:13:52 AM »
During the awful period around here, I'd go to the local everything store on my way home almost every day and buy whatever I could get. It has returned to normal here now, so I only buy bricks when they are on sale.

Here is garbage thunderbolt for $135/5k shipped with code "freeship1". https://www.laxammo.com/rimfire/22-lr-ammo/remington-22-lr-40-gr-lrn-500-rds-tb22b-on-sale-no-limit-detail Online deals are beating the local stores and I don't have to stand at the counter with the ammo vultures.

I laugh when I see bricks at over $25 at the shows now. It's $18 in the store every day of the week and I don't have to pay admission. Plus screw those guys for wanting $75+ a brick when it was bad.

Offline goodfellow

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Re: Damn 22LR ammo hoarders are still out there - idiots!
« Reply #3 on: May 09, 2019, 10:25:53 AM »
During the awful period around here, I'd go to the local everything store on my way home almost every day and buy whatever I could get. It has returned to normal here now, so I only buy bricks when they are on sale.

Here is garbage thunderbolt for $135/5k shipped with code "freeship1". https://www.laxammo.com/rimfire/22-lr-ammo/remington-22-lr-40-gr-lrn-500-rds-tb22b-on-sale-no-limit-detail Online deals are beating the local stores and I don't have to stand at the counter with the ammo vultures.

I laugh when I see bricks at over $25 at the shows now. It's $18 in the store every day of the week and I don't have to pay admission. Plus screw those guys for wanting $75+ a brick when it was bad.

LOL -- Yeah, I've seen good pricing on 5K cases as well. Funny you said "Garbage Thunderbolt". I have a junk 22LR Sig Mosquito that I had to polish and tune to feed any kind of ammo consistently. Well it turns out that the one bulk ammo brand it will feed absolutely consistently is Rem. Thunderbolt. It's dirty as anything, but that Mosquito will run it all day long -- as long as I clean the chamber after every 200-300 rounds. It's weird -- but for some reason this gun works with that ammo.

Online skfarmer

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Re: Damn 22LR ammo hoarders are still out there - idiots!
« Reply #4 on: May 09, 2019, 10:45:49 AM »
it killed our shooting. the boys and i used to head out to the junk pile to shoot cans, bottles and any other thing we could use for a target. it would be nothing to wipe out something close to a brick of 500. it would cost less than 15 bucks for good clean fun. i can't recall the last time we did that.

when we got down to the last few 100 rounds and couldn't find any ammo at any price it just wasn't that much fun anymore.

if those old codgers fell over and died today the world would be a better place. the damage done to our shooting heritage won't fully be understood for years. a whole generation of kids will have lost the skills and shooting confidence that can only be gained by the experience of  shooting a few  thousand rounds (or 10's of 1000's ) of .22 through a 10/22, single six or other classic firearm.
from the ashes shall rise a phoenix

i was here when the hangout turned into mexican food site!

Offline gtermini

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Re: Damn 22LR ammo hoarders are still out there - idiots!
« Reply #5 on: May 09, 2019, 10:48:47 AM »
The neighbor had an old JC Higgins pump 22 he was playing around with. Gave it a good scrub and took it to the range. He said he took a good selection of different flavored 22LR just for giggles. The thing ate up and loved the cheap stuff. It would bughole thunderbolts at 50 yds. A friend of his there had some $20/50 comp ammo and gave him 5 to try. He said it flung them over about 8" at 50. Just proves you can't always predict what guns will like to shoot.

My 10/22, on the other hand, misfires or jam loads about every 10th thunderbolt, won't group them for anything, and they gum the bore up like crazy. I'll hold off panic buying them so you ahve a fair chance to get some.  :)

Offline highland512

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Re: Damn 22LR ammo hoarders are still out there - idiots!
« Reply #6 on: May 09, 2019, 12:47:29 PM »
These people will get burnt eventually. The problem is now its the reverse of 7-8 years ago, now the lefties are gunning up, hording ammo, and buying MRE's. I was in a Acadamy sports in NC the other day where a Bernie bro (his tshirt was the proof) was buying 5ea 250 round boxes of 9mm.



I wanted to ask him if he would give me my fair share of his ammo  :))

Offline DeadNutz

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Re: Damn 22LR ammo hoarders are still out there - idiots!
« Reply #7 on: May 09, 2019, 01:41:09 PM »
We had the same problem here with a group of guys hitting Wally Worlds in the area and buying up all the popular calibers and there was virtually none available. The shortages can be regional also. Back in 2010 the ammo situation sucked badly here but I had to go to L.A. to prep stuff for moving and do work on the commercial building. I went to one of my favorites stores down there and bought bricks of .22lr in wood cases for a cheap price. Went to a Wally World and bought a bunch of CCI 100rd boxes for $7.39/ea and hauled it all 400 miles home. The local store that had .22lr CCI was asking $18.99 per 100 rounds. I have never spent a penny in that stupid store.

There was no .22 shorts around here for a long time. A neighbor asked me to look for it whenever I went somewhere as he uses it to give ground squirrels their departure when he catches them in the live trap. Finally found some a year or so ago.

Offline bonneyman

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Re: Damn 22LR ammo hoarders are still out there - idiots!
« Reply #8 on: May 09, 2019, 02:44:16 PM »
A buddy of mine shoots 22's and has been griping for years about the situation. First it was short supply, then it was the hoarding. Last we talked he'd put away his 22 guns.  :(

Offline hickory n Steel

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Re: Damn 22LR ammo hoarders are still out there - idiots!
« Reply #9 on: May 09, 2019, 05:47:42 PM »
That's damn horrible, it coul lead to Walmarts limiting how much one customer can buy.
It kind of makes me glad I'm still just shooting airguns.
I can shoot in my house or backyard, they're super quiet, and ammo is cheeper.
Plus I know my airguns are a deal more precise than most affordables .22 rifles.

I plan on getting a .22 at some point just to have ( hoping to find an old sears or Western field ...ect cheap at a pawn shop or something ) but Im not rightly sure where I could go to shoot it.
Always lookin' to learn

Offline ken w.

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Re: Damn 22LR ammo hoarders are still out there - idiots!
« Reply #10 on: May 09, 2019, 08:54:31 PM »
When ammo was scarce Walmart did limit 22 ammo to 2 boxes. The same guys here were doing the same thing. 22 Ammo now is  as cheap as you can get it now. All those folks who bought it was high and hoarded it are most likely pissed that they have all that expensive ammo.

Offline goodfellow

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Re: Damn 22LR ammo hoarders are still out there - idiots!
« Reply #11 on: May 09, 2019, 08:59:56 PM »
........... All those folks who bought it was high and hoarded it are most likely pissed that they have all that expensive ammo.

I sure hope so. I would love to see these guys take a financial bath from their idiotic crusade. I hope they choke on all that ammo.

Offline muddy

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Re: Damn 22LR ammo hoarders are still out there - idiots!
« Reply #12 on: May 09, 2019, 09:22:31 PM »
F* them guys. I don't mind if your a shooter and stock pile up because you will use them. But I don't care for resellers like that.

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Offline slip knot

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Re: Damn 22LR ammo hoarders are still out there - idiots!
« Reply #13 on: May 09, 2019, 10:27:53 PM »
I bought a couple of cases when they had the $20 rebates. I'm set for a long time now.

I carried a Marlin Glenfield in the truck till the hogs got bad around here. it thrived on cheap ammo. The only time it gave me problems was when I cleaned it. Then it would FTF, stovepipe rounds, misfeed rounds etc. So I just quit cleaning it ;D

Offline ken w.

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Re: Damn 22LR ammo hoarders are still out there - idiots!
« Reply #14 on: May 09, 2019, 11:03:51 PM »
Sounds like you need a new feed throat for that Glenfield.