Is recreational shooting pretty much a thing of the past?

[Kinman]

There was a point a couple of months ago where it got really dead down at the rifle club. Amongst us muzzleloaders we thought it was great...no annoying "AR Newbies" and their noisy sideblasting rifles. I'm retired and shoot blackpowder almost exclusively anymore, I shoot three days a week and once a month on Sunday for our monthly shoot. I spend nearly the entire day 8:00 to about 3:00 and almost always shoot my .54 rifle at least 6-5shot strings or 30 shots a day, with coffee breaks in between and lots of b.s. in the clubhouse around the stove. I'd say for the centerfire guys things are picking up a little, I'm noticing more AR's, hardly any AKs anymore. As far as expense goes I figured it out a couple months ago and came to a figure of .25 per shot on average, so it costs me about 8bucks a day to shoot. I like every aspect of shooting muzzleloaders, even cleaning after a day of shooting, casting balls and the subsiquent weighing and sorting.
Based on what I see three times a week I think recreational shooting will never be what it used to be, largly because the young kids today just aren't as interested in it as other generations. The average age of the muzzleloaders is probably mid 50's, the blackpowder cartridge guys are probably about the same. The cast bullet crowd is getting smaller as they age and interest in cast bullets seems to be dying off, I think I heard that group may give in and let it go as the younger guys don't want to participate to organize weekend shoots. Thats probably what is killing off the sport more than anything is the younger generation's lack of interest and I don't believe it has anything to do with the expense...I know from the muzzleloading group, one of the older guys wants to pass off the Treasurer's job and this past Sunday they asked if anyone was interested and not one of the younger guys raised his hand and its bound to be one of us older guys that will end up taking on the job when our friend vacates the position. If it weren't for the guys over 50 I'm sure none of the groups within the club would survive and they would probably have to open it up to non members 7 days a week to make ends meet.

 

[Warren Sear]

The "ammo crisis" of the past year had no effect on me. I shot every bit as much as I wanted. I cast my own bullets and load my own ammo. I had a nice supply of groceries and equipment on hand when the panic started, so I did not need to buy lead, bullets, loading dies, powder, primers, etc. at inflated prices.

In fact, I cashed-in, thanks to the ammo hoarding fools, and sold off a lot of 223 for multiple times what I paid for it. I figure it was a win-win; I was happy to clean out my basement, and the ammo vultures were happy to hand me their money.

I don't understand why everyone does not load their own.

 

[finesse_r]

Actually Recreational Shooting has changed a little in this area. It is now a multi-stage recreation. First you spend several days at the discount center hoping to be lucky enough to be there when a shipment comes in. The type of activity is better than going to Las Vegas or playing the lottery.

Once you finally get lucky and manage to capture some ammo then second stage of the recreation is going to the range to shoot it all up.

I have noticed a few people really like this new stage in recreational shooting as they just do stage one over and over and sell off their winnings rather than shoot them up.

It is all part of the progressive influence on recreational shooting no doubt.

 

[Beemerguy53]

It would be interesting to know why prices are high or ammo is scarce.
Is there more demmand now are people still stocking up/hoarding.
Have the manufacturers shifted to other products or calibers, have new Gov't. regulations been imposed on them. Have the costs of raw materials brass lead and powder gone up that much?
Thre is usually a reason for increases or decreases in supply and/or price.
Any ideas?
Steve W

I think the main reason for the high prices and scarcity we are seeing lately is the panic buying and hoarding since the election last November.

I bumped into a guy at a gunshow last winter who mentioned that he had bought 200,000 rounds of .22 since the election. He didn't indicate he'd bought it for resale. There is no way that fellow will ever shoot 400 bricks of rimfire ammo...he is simply hoarding.

We humans can be a funny lot when it comes to things like this. Tell us we can't get something, and even if we don't particularly need it, this feeling sets in that we just have to have it, or have more of it. I plead guilty to this myself...

I was in my LGS the other day, and noticed that they had four boxes of Federal American Eagle 168-grain 7.62x51, the ammo that Federal markets as being specifically for the M1-A. Now, I have a fair amount of 7.62 on hand, more than I would normally shoot in any given two-year period...but I bought all four boxes on the spot.

I think another factor that comes into play here is that we are at war, and our military is consuming a lot of ammo. That limits availability for the civilian market, I think, and consumes raw materials that otherwise would be used to make ammo for civilian purposes.

 

[SgtLumpy]

...I bumped into a guy at a gunshow last winter who mentioned that he had bought 200,000 rounds of .22 since the election. He didn't indicate he'd bought it for resale. There is no way that fellow will ever shoot 400 bricks of rimfire ammo...he is simply hoarding...

It's always seemed to me that those who complain about "hoarding" are essentially saying, "The other guy's reason for hoarding is not as good as my reason for hoarding".

If you got caught short, I think it's pretty low to blame someone who didn't get caught short or to blame the capitalistic system we fight so hard to protect because someone sees the opportunity to "buy low, sell high".

Welcome to the stream. You've just been slapped in the face by a trout. How much frozen corn you got in your freezer?


Sgt Lumpy

 

[GF]

"Well, that or the cheapskate uncle needs to dig a bit deeper into those rich pockets to finance a little more ammo! Give till it hurts! "

We have a winna'!

That's what the kids say.

GF

 

[blujax01]

Hoarding is the act of buying without the intent of ever using it.

Prepping is the act of figuring out how much of a commodity is needed or desired over a defined time period, then calculating a schedule of acquisition.

Flipping is simply a redistribution of goods from a place where they are abundant to a more needy locale - for a handling fee.

I am attempting to acquire and maintain a seven year supply of ammunition. I shoot weekly and when the opportunity arises, I replenish that which I have used.

Five years from now, many of the same folks will be ammo-less, sitting at their computers and calling my kind "Hoarders", "Flippers" and "Preppers".

And we'll be at the range, retelling the fable of the Ant and the Grasshopper.

 

[Wee Hooker]

Personally, it's been my observation that "recreational shooting" is the only future. It seems 9 out of 10 new shooters I see join our club have no interest in learning accuracy, discipline and/or becoming involved with organized shooting sports such as bullseye, trap, IDPA, silhouette etc. They are perfectly content to blast away hundreds of rounds an hour at zombie targets to produce manhole cover sized groups at knife fighting distances. I worry for the future of our heritage and sport when these folks get bored and move on.

 

[rwsmith]

It ain't the cost.....

Dang kids have more money than I ever thought about having. I think the surge in recreational shooting will die down and as years go by there will be less and less participation. My son has gone shooting with me a couple of times but has told me it's no big deal to him, which disappoints me greatly but I'm not going to try to MAKE him like it. You never know, though. He may catch on fire later in life. At least I've taught him how to get started.

 

[Vegetaman]

I don't have a lot of time to go out to the range, but at $25/box of 50 rounds of .45 ACP, my 1911 doesn't see a lot of range time as it is.

 

[dougb1946]

Evidence seems to point to more guns in circulation. More new gun owners, longer lines at ranges. It seems that shooting is gaining in popularity. A change to bolt actions or wheel guns, slowing down the rate of fire, effectively lowers the cost of ammunition. A mag dump, while being lots of fun, is always going to be pricy.

For some real fun, try black powder. Cleans the sinuses, makes the teeth a little furry, but the fireball is something to see.

 

[CScott]

Shooting more than ever

I reload for and shoot mostly revolvers for recreation, 22LR, 38/357, 44's. Since the ammo crunch I have not seen ANY Unique or 2400 in stores so I have used up what I had and then dug through my old supplies of different components and "re-discovered" several loads I had not used for years, decades even. I bought primers 100 at a time for a while but never ran out. Boolits here and there have been available. I've had to try new (to me) powders like Power Pistol and AA#5. I scored about 4 lbs of old 2400 from a customer of mine who had been sitting on it for many years. Developing loads for all this stuff has resulted in more reloading and shooting than I have ever done before and my ammo on hand is plentiful other than 22LR. I've added 4 new (to me and my son) revolvers over the past year. I never have, but may even start casting boolits just for fun. Life is good.

 

[Harrison]

That depends on whether your idea of recreation is shooting up a brick of .22 in one session, or shooting 50 well placed and accurate rounds against competition. Many a match can be shot with no more than 50 rounds. Quantity is not everything.

 

[SgtLumpy]

I don't have a lot of time to go out to the range, but at $25/box of 50 rounds of .45 ACP, my 1911 doesn't see a lot of range time as it is.

Grayhawk Golf Club, a local popular course open to the public.
Mon through Fri - 18 holes - $160
Sat and Sun - $175

Local municipal golf course, in the ghetto (Encanto Park) -
$43 for 18 holes, add $14 for cart rental

Rent a jet ski at Lake Pleasant
Prices $94 - $164 per hour, plus park admittance, etc

Local bowling alley -
$12 per hour plus $3.50 shoe rental

Local Scottsdale Minitaure golf -
Fri, Sat, Sun - $25 per person
Mon, Wed, Thur - $20
Tues - $15 (Tues a slow day I guess)

Cox Cable TV (TV only, no phone or internet)
$25 per month

Lunch for two, local Rubio's Mexican, no alcohol, no tip -
$24


Sgt Lumpy

 

[Cyrano]

"Is recreational shooting a thing of the past?" I don't think so; I just loaded up a batch of 7.63 Mauser pistol and Im going to take one to the range tomorow, complete with shoulderstock, and just see how well I can shoot it off a bench or offhand at a 100 yard target. I think i's going to be a bunch of fun.

 

[arjay]

Was up a jeep road yesterday,in the mud and snow.Got stuck four times and gathered some firewood,did some hiking.Brought along a funky old model 15 that's been in the safe for years,sighted it in on a rusty old can sitting on a stump at 25 paces.Nah,plinking isn't dead.

 

[rburg]

Was up a jeep road yesterday,in the mud and snow.

You got snow? And it was free? You're a lucky dog and don't even appreciate it. And you got to shoot on top of it all. Seems so unfair.