Love of Shooting in the Age of the 'Rona and The Big Guy

[Tundra Tiger]

"My starter wife"



Did you get fair trade-in value?

 

[Inline6]

I'm shooting center fire less and RF more. I'm shooting good 22lr a lot (23.00 a box of 50). I'm shooting 2 to 3 comps a month. Shooting 3k-5k a year in 22lr. Maybe 1.5k in CF a year 4-6 comps and 1k shotgun bird hunting. Not burning much hunting.

 

[Puddle]

I'm still at the range once a week fussing over this or that load and I'm carrying a loaded rifle on my daily strolls in the hills. Spring is breaking out in my neck of the woods and the critter's have started moving.

What I've stopped doing is loading several hundred rounds at a time in various cartridges and then drawing from that pile all season. Now I load just what I need for a couple of days in advance. Sort of 'on demand loading'.

 

[mdwest]

"My starter wife"



Did you get fair trade-in value?

Definitely traded up… but not without a cost…

The first one left with both boobs I bought for her… and the paid for SUV as well!

 

[WAB]

May I say that I hate you but in a nice way! Just kidding as I am very envious of you for having a home range that reaches out to 600 yards. It is something that I can only dream of having. Congratulations on however you did it.

LOL, you may! I always wanted to retire to property I could shoot and hunt on. I worked hard to make it happen. I have actually laid out the spot for an 800 yard target now. Unfortunately, I think that will be the limit.

These pictures were taken on our farm on the same day this season:

 

[ZG47]

W

We drive 35 miles once a week to a school range and about 50 miles once a week to a club range… my daughter averages about 250 shot shells a week on trap/skeet/sporting clays… but I haven’t shot a clay pigeon in months lol…

I’m definitely planning on putting a couple of machines in bunkers less than 100 yards from my back porch once we build our forever home in a few years… I miss clay busting (even though I see a lot of it every week lol)…

The daughter should be practised enough by then … to pick up on all your bad habits and start coaching you!

 

[Ridge Runner]

Post COVID, I’m definitely shooting less. Time is an issue, but ammo price and availability is too. I laughed at my brother in law 10 years ago for paying $100 dollars a box for weatherby ammo.

A lot of ammo is $70 to $90 a box here in Canada for quality stuff these days. Absolutely bananas. As a result, I am working on downsizing my (small) collection. Going to focus on fewer cartridges and have ammo available in the cartridges I actually use.

Was thinking about reloading, but the time commitment, expense and unavailability of components the last few years made me change my mind.

That's sad. You should get started if that's all you can do is just start, by picking up the equipment and accessories. Hopefully when or as supplies of reloading components hit the shelves at reasonable prices you'll be able to actually reload to keep a steady supply of ammo on hand and can shoot more often.

 

[Inline6]

LOL, you may! I always wanted to retire to property I could shoot and hunt on. I worked hard to make it happen. I have actually laid out the spot for an 800 yard target now. Unfortunately, I think that will be the limit.

These pictures were taken on our farm on the same day this season:

View attachment 593071View attachment 593072View attachment 593073

Beautiful pup!

 

[rdog]

I have rediscovered the fun in 22lr rifles, & shoot centerfire a little less ,i have a lot of ammo & components stacked away, my wife asks me if i am getting ready for a war! Here in Australia there is a shortage of primers But the main concern is with the left wing woke commo government we have that is hell bent on more gun control & ammo purching limits , i despise the bastards & will continue to stock up & will not let them beat me.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Get the gear for what you have. It is a pain to be waiting months for essential components so that you can shoot a newly purchased rifle. Never again for me!

Wish I could tap: like, laugh, or wow, but I just could refuse a 5 gun steal of a deal.....well at one time maybe. The calibers were already hard to get on 3 of them, 1 the ammo was always high, and the 5th was a no brainer since I already own and reload that caliber.

Original Winchester 32-20
Original Winchester 44-40
Ruger Model 77 22 Hornet with scope
Cricket .410 My First Shotgun brand new, in the box, unfired.
Custom 30-06 no info on who did the gunsmithing.

Now if that's not bad enough I'm looking at getting a 357 mag and a 22 mag revolvers and maybe a 22 mag lever action rifle only because I have a lot of 357 ammo and reloading components and a few boxes of 22 mag ammo.

Yeah I know what you mean, But I just can't control my addiction.

 

[Ridge Runner]

My starter wife (long since replaced) used to get pissed when I'd come home with yet another brick of .22LR.. at one point I think I had close to 40K rounds of it... but at the time it was selling for about $0.021 a round.. you could get a box pretty easily for about $1.09... and a brick of 500 was typically $9.99..

Today a really good price for really crappy .22LR is about $0.03 per round and anything of "average" quality like rem thunderbolts or win white box is going to run you $0.04 - $0.05 per round minimum... and it wasnt all that long ago that finding average .22LR was running about $0.08 per round..

Its been at least 15 years since Ive bought any 22 LR... and I've still got enough of a stockpile that Im pretty sure I'll still have plenty on the shelf long after I pass from this earth..

Theres something to be said for buying cheap and stocking deep...

"My starter wife"



Did you get fair trade-in value?

LMAO....."starter wife", I had one of those, thought I traded up with the 2nd but she was lemon had to scrape her. Now I'm looking for a younger model with less miles that's reasonably trainable (you sick assholes) trainable to enjoying the great outdoors and enthusiastically wanting to travel to places she's never been before.

 

[steve white]

Less shooting for me due to....drum roll....STUPIDITY!! What was I thinking during covid lockdown/slowdown? I should have been out there having the time of my life when NOBODY WOULD MISS ME! It could have been like a free vacation, if I had only let it.
Kind of like getting cold feet for travel after a terrorist incident--that is the absolute cheapest time to go. Had a friend who flew just as soon as the airways were open after 9/11. He got a Greek cruise for $700 flat including airfare. Nothing bad happened, of course. Why am I not more consistently smart about such things?
Now, why not shoot? Lord knows the gun ranges need the business, and we don't want a single one to go under.

 

[John Wasmuth]

…..

 

[Ridge Runner]

I'm still at the range once a week fussing over this or that load and I'm carrying a loaded rifle on my daily strolls in the hills. Spring is breaking out in my neck of the woods and the critter's have started moving.

What I've stopped doing is loading several hundred rounds at a time in various cartridges and then drawing from that pile all season. Now I load just what I need for a couple of days in advance. Sort of 'on demand loading'.

Probably not the best idea.....but....
I reload all of my brass for all my rifles as each well almost all have their own pet loads.

Usually trying to keep 100 pieces of new brass on hand for each caliber for replacements.

Then inventory my components minus enough to reload the new brass in reserve.

Inventory new factory ammo on hand. Which is also held in reserve, mainly as not yet fired brass and just to maintain ammo on hand.

Do the math, get a headache, recalculate for more range time, get disappointed, get another headache doing more math for more range time.

Throw up my hands, say screw it! Monday I'm taking 4-6 firearms to the range, 60 to 200 rounds per firearm and enjoy my day at the range.

Depending on what time I return home, whether I clean firearms that night or the next day. Seeing the amount of firearms cleaning and reloading I have to do for a few hours of fun time at the range is a wee bit demoralizing to do it again.

Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday I'm back at the range with 3-5 different firearms and another 60 to 200 rounds per firearm.

And the cycle starts all over again.

Once my components drop to 500 reloads per firearm. Grimacing, I begin my search for more components and ammo.

 

[Troubleshooter]

Like some of the others have stated, my frequency of shooting has decreased somewhat due to time constraints caused by other commitments. However, the greater change during these past four years has been the type of shooting.

For many years an '06, a .45-70, and the flintlock were sufficient for my hunting activities and I had long since developed good loads for each of them. Thus most of my shooting consisted of either of practice or actual hunting. However, since the virus hit, load development has played a much greater role in my range time.

For example, I purchased my double in the new-to-me caliber of .450/400 NE in late 2019, back when "Corona" was just a brand of cheap Mexican beer. It immediately went to JJ for a complete tear-down and inspection. Meanwhile, I set out to obtain a reasonable supply of brass, 400gr bullets, magnum rifle primers, one pound of Reloder-15, and a couple boxes of Hornady ammunition. By the time I had the rifle back in-hand, the pandemic had arrived, but I was set for load development, at least until the Reloder-15 ran out, at which time load development began anew with alternate powders. Some 300gr bullets intended for reduced practice loads arrived from backorder after yet another year, and load development started all over again.

A 2022 acquisition resulted in the requirement for .300 H&H and .375 H&H, although by this time ammunition and components were more difficult to come by. So back to load development, followed by some practice (while shepherding scarce components). As component availability changed, load development started yet again.

I'm still tweaking the loads for each of these newer rifles, but have incorporated more practice from field positions, much of which involves the more easily obtainable .22LR and a bolt action rifle.

 

[dgr416]

I use to shoot my 416 rem mags at least 125 to 150 times a day when I shot them .It was $20 to load a box of 20 with speer 350 grain bullets. I NOW can't handle the recoil like I use to but I bought a couple of 260 rem rifles. I HAVE buckets full of 308 brass and alot of .264 bullets .It's alot cheaper to shoot the 260 these days than the 416 rem mags i like to shoot I laughed when ammo shortages came and I had all those buckets full of 308 brass .I got way more shots pee pound shooting the 260 rem than the 416 rem mag .I shoot the 260 rem a bunch and always buy good bullets on sale .This past year I busted two big bucks with my 260 rem one shot was 175 yards in the timber with about 3 seconds to shoot and I got him didn't go anywhere .The other buck was up close but slid the wrong way down the hill I see practicing with a lighter cheaper to shoot rifle the way to go these days .I just bought some new 375 Weatherby brass to make 416 rem mag brass out of to shoot it more times .

 

[HankBuck]

What's everybody's pulse like on shooting since the 'rona?

I shoot a great deal less today than I did 4 years ago. Components have certainly gotten more expensive, but that isn't it for me.

I have a lot of powder, I'd surmise in the neighborhood of 35-40#.

I have probably 2K+/- LR primers

I have heaven-only-knows how many bullets and brass for all my rifles.

What I lack is the confidence that I can replace any of that if I start to run low. So I don't shoot nearly as much as I would like.

SGT Zim: I think you have a valid concern - Ammo prices have doubled in the past 5-7 years and doubt they are ever going down — from .22lr to competition shotgun shells. Components (especially powder, lead, primers) also increased a lot and make reloading some items (12ga shells) barely worth the effort due to increased price of lead & powder. The only way to save significantly reloading 12ga is drop less lead (7/8 oz) but at least reloading sub gauges still result in savings…..My Son reloads for me and that allows me to shoot more —— still not as much as I’d like if ammo was “free”.
To your point, you can look at your ammo and think “I’ve got plenty” but once you start shooting (competitions or longer/frequent Range sessions) it goes Quick.

 

[HankBuck]

Time is my main issue. I spend more time looking through a windshield these days than I care to.
I agree with you in that there is a replacement concern. Aside from shooting some nuisance critters I don’t get to shoot. I miss it, however I want to get all this overwhelming chaos over and done with so we can get back to regular chaos.

Gina, don’t wait too long for “all this overwhelming chaos” to be over - it seems to have settled into the New Normal. Prices will never return to those of a decade ago and availability is also unlikely to return to prior levels. The new and more restrictive “laws” many States are passing and shipping restrictions by carriers like UPS - all add to cost increases and less availability. I like to shoot Sporting Clays & Skeet, have been reluctant to purchase a new mid priced O/U ($5000) because of the cost and I already own several O/Us that are fine for the task. Then, I figured out that the price of the New gun is “Less then the cost of Ammo” I will put thru it in the first two years…hit me like a brick - Duh !!

 

[Just Gina]

Gina, don’t wait too long for “all this overwhelming chaos” to be over - it seems to have settled into the New Normal. Prices will never return to those of a decade ago and availability is also unlikely to return to prior levels.

@HankBuck
You are absolutely correct. Thank you for that!!

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I never cared much for punching paper so my shooting habits in that regard really have not changed. However, I am shooting  much less skeet etc these days. Somewhat due to increased ammo prices but mostly I'm just not enjoying it much any more. Most of the guys I enjoyed shooting with have either died or quit. I also do not care for the high handed way the board deals with business. Particularly their disinterest in outreach for new members. This club cannot afford to be snobbish. The community cannot sustain it. It's a sinking ship and the crew has turned off the pumps. Sad.