Not sure of why the discrepancy but I never see any in stores like Walmart, Dick's has some every once in a while and when they do they are the sub-sonics (which I like for squirrel hunting). But nearly all mom and pop shops around here have .22lr and one even had the .22 shorts. The problem with some of the mom and pop shops around here is they are have the prices up higher then they should be but hey, they are in a business and a fool and his money are easily parted.