As a (previously) avid 22LR shooter, I have bemoaned the continued lack of (relatively) affordable ammunition, principally CCI Mini Mags. As such, I have searched for a cost-effective replacement and air guns have been a natural fit for the thrifty shooter. It seems that I am not alone in this thinking.

Hunter-Survey.com released the results of their latest bi-monthly questionaire:

f more than 4,500 shooters surveyed on ShooterSurvey.com, 40 percent reported shooting an air rifle in the past 12 months. In that same time span, 33 percent of those same sportsmen would have purchased more ammo had it been available and 17 percent said they were not able to buy all of the .22 ammo they wanted. So did those shooters stymied by the shortage opt to shoot air rifles more as a substitute for their rimfire rifles?

Interestingly, a sizable 75 percent of them said the limitation had zero impact on how much they shot air rifles. They would’ve shot air rifles the same amount. Eighteen percent, however, reported they would’ve shot air rifles less had they been able to buy more .22 ammo, while only 5 percent were moved to join the air rifle ranks noting they probably wouldn’t have shot air rifles at all had they been able to purchase all of the rimfire loads they wanted.

“It would appear the recent shortage of .22-caliber ammunition has some impact on increased air rifle use, but maybe not as much as some people would expect. Airguns, it seems, are popular among a portion of today’s shooters on their own merits,” says Rob Southwick, president of Southwick Associates, which designs and conducts the surveys at HunterSurvey.com, ShooterSurvey.com and AnglerSurvey.com. “

What do you think? Have you moved to airguns?

You can find the original press release here.