22LR Ammo Supplies in Australia

[rc42]

Looks like the US supply shortage is starting to ramp up here, certainly for the less common ammo types.

I found that CCI Quiet semi-auto is ideal for pistol steel challenge competitions as it recycles perfectly but the reduced noise and slightly slower projectile means the initial 'bang' and echos are fading when the 45gn projectile hits the steel plate to create a very distinct 'ting', I find it easier to be sure of a hit with this ammo than any other type.

"Based on current advice from CCI. Nioa does not expect this ammunition to arrive until the second quarter of 2021 at this time"


I heard that CCI Stingers became unavailable a few months ago too and this will certainly be the case for the more CCI brands as local supplies are depleted.
I expect this to eventually affect every caliber that CCI produce, although existing Australian supplies will be larger for the more common types it seems unlikely that they are going to last for another 6 months (or more).

As CCI comes from Speer in the US it will probably be the most affected company but others will certainly be affected too, reports in the US suggest over a year backlog between orders and manufacturing for some ammo companies, the future is not looking good.

[Bello]

If it get any worse we'll be using slingshots

[Ziege]

I bought up a heap of ammo pre covid and wondered if I should do it again, one store told me that there was limited but then two others are like "theres literally 40 million rounds in country and more on the way"

so who knows. Just want my fekin gun powder that I can never damn well buy

[rc42]

I'm trying to keep a rolling 12 month supply of ammo, I have enough for the next year so will try to replace it as I use it going forward but I'm expecting price increases and shortages to get much worse over the next couple of years so may increase that supply (the other option is unthinkable, shooting less often).

With competitions and practice sessions I'm currently getting through about 500 rounds of 22LR per week so get through a lot of bulk ammo at around $50 per brick. The high end stuff will probably remain available but that would be too expensive to shoot at that rate.

[Ziege]

yeah keep in mind that manufacturers like Federal and Hornady and so on are all running 3 shifts a day now instead of 1 shift per day as they used to so would be safe to say that many of them are now running something like 2.5X extra production.

[bladeracer]

I bought up a heap of ammo pre covid and wondered if I should do it again, one store told me that there was limited but then two others are like "theres literally 40 million rounds in country and more on the way"

so who knows. Just want my fekin gun powder that I can never damn well buy

40-million rounds doesn't go far if a million people are shooting .22LR.

[Ziege]

I bought up a heap of ammo pre covid and wondered if I should do it again, one store told me that there was limited but then two others are like "theres literally 40 million rounds in country and more on the way"

so who knows. Just want my fekin gun powder that I can never damn well buy

40-million rounds doesn't go far if a million people are shooting .22LR.

that was just on the shelf, and that was only my selected round... that was CCI Standard.

most people I know who own a 22 shoot maybe a pack a month, and thats exaggerating, out of all those I know I am the most prolific user of 22 ammo, so thats a couple hundred 22 owners who aren't diving into 22 ammo stocks...

he also said normal amounts shipping out as per... another thing I noticed is none of the european ammo has gone up in price in my local stores, only american and asian ammo... so thats something too.

[rc42]

Pricing on EU supplies is based on the wholesale price when dealers bought them and stock turnover is much slower, they will increase too as dealers have to pay more to their suppliers.

[bladeracer]

that was just on the shelf, and that was only my selected round... that was CCI Standard.

most people I know who own a 22 shoot maybe a pack a month, and thats exaggerating, out of all those I know I am the most prolific user of 22 ammo, so thats a couple hundred 22 owners who aren't diving into 22 ammo stocks...

he also said normal amounts shipping out as per... another thing I noticed is none of the european ammo has gone up in price in my local stores, only american and asian ammo... so thats something too.

I'm seeing higher prices on all .22LR ammo recently, US and European.
In March I ordered a variety of ammo from CCI, Federal, Winchester, Fiocchi, SK, RWS and Highland. Comparing prices now to that order, Winchester is up 17%, SK is up 16%, Federal is up 20% to 25%, CCI is up 11% to 25%. Highland, Fiocchi and RWS are unchanged, although that might be that they simply haven't replaced the stock yet (not currently stocked) so haven't updated the prices.

[Ziege]

well my two brands of centerfire euro ammo have decreased in price in the last two months, so I guess horses for courses.

but yes it is prudent to buy before price hikes, I bought 5 byob 825 round high velocity 22lr from federal for $50 a box before covid, theyre literally twice the price now.