If you’re into plinking or shooting a .22 for any reason – hunting or competition – then buying those little 50 packs might not be the most economical choice.
Especially in this current atmosphere of inflated ammo prices and outright shortages.
In fact, buying 22LR bulk ammo is one of the best ways to get a good deal and save on per-round costs.
So, here are some top brands to buy in bulk.
Federal
Federal Ammunition produces a range of rimfire ammunition and among their top .22LR lines are Federal Premium Champion AutoMatch and Federal Champion .22.
They are loaded into high-quality brass cases, are consistently, reliably primed, and well-known for accuracy and consistency in a wide range of conditions – a big bonus for rimfire shooters.
Norma
If you can find it in bulk, Norma produces very high-quality, reliable .22LR ammo. Norma Tac-22 is a great choice.
Like Federal rimfire ammo, this ammunition is loaded to tight tolerances in high-quality brass cases and utilizes a non-corrosive priming compound.
It is also highly reliable, something that might merit the slightly higher cost.
CCI
CCI might just be the king of rimfire ammunition. Their ammunition is, across the board, reliable, consistent, accurate, and, perhaps most importantly, affordable.
While there is a large range of options to choose from, good options in CCI rimfire ammo include CCI Mini-Mag and CCI Standard Velocity. Both are affordable, reliable, non-corrosive, and accurate, and both deliver consistent performance.
Another great thing about CCI is that they produce such a large range of rimfire ammo, including but not limited to high-velocity rounds, subsonic rounds, and even .22 rimfire shotshell cartridges.
Don’t Pay More for 22LR Bulk Ammo
The main reason to buy 22LR bulk ammo is to save on price. Shop smart and get your .22LR in bulk from a reputable supplier like Bucking Horse Outpost.
They carry .22LR ammo in bulk along with a wide range of other rifle and pistol cartridges. You can learn more via the link above.
Why Is There a .22LR Shortage?
That’s a tough question to answer and there is no easy answer, either. The current shortage goes back to the early 2010s and when people were panic-buying guns and ammo and stockpiling them. Then, during the pandemic years, panic-buying resumed and production facilities were unable to meet demand.
While to some degree the availability of all calibers was affected by the shortage, rimfire ammo was particularly hard-hit. This is because, since rimfire cartridges do not have a primer that is separate from the case, it is procedurally much harder to load rimfire ammo.
Machines that load rimfire ammo can only work to load one specific type of cartridge at a time – whereas machines that load centerfire cartridges can be retooled or recalibrated to load multiple different cartridges within a given window of time.
This has also contributed to the shortage and inflated prices of rimfire ammo, particularly popular cartridges like 22LR ammo.
What Is a Good Price Per Round on .22LR Bulk Ammo?
Again, one of the best reasons to buy 22LR bulk ammo is to save on per-round costs. If you can find a deal that achieves a per-round cost of between 5 and 10 cents, that’s a pretty good deal. Some bulk deals make these prices quite attainable.
