Does anyone shoot anything other than 9mm?

[sjmjax]

Of course you do! It’s a rhetorical question leading to my range observations.

I belong to a rather large out door range & club that also open to the public.

It’s interesting to observe how much things have changed over the years. 9mm was once an oddball cartridge seen only on rare occasion by those exercising their Lugers, P-38 ‘s HiPowers and other war trophies.

Now it’s about the only spent cartridge cases seen on the range. Even outnumbering the popular 22.

40 caliber another interesting case. Once popular and abundant, is now very seldom seen on the ground. Oddly, I am seeing and recovering a fair bit of 10mm.

About the only other classic cases I see in quantity is 45 ACP.

Other classics like 38 special, 357 and 44, turn up but seldom and in very small quantities.

Diminutive calibers such as 25, 32 ACP & 32 swl are now rarities. Even 380 has become uncommon.

I see a lot of newbie shooters on the various pistol ranges. Almost invariably with a brand new, compact 9mm. And, are often a greater danger to themselves and others on the firing line than the targets down range at 7 yards.

Seems nobody starts with a 22 to develop basic skills anymore.

I keep an extra one and ammo in my range kit. Loaned it many times to a new shooter or couple that couldn’t control their featherweight 9mm. They’ve always been appreciative and immediately show improved results.

 

[Bozz10mm]

I started with .22 LR many moons ago in 1958. I rarely shoot it now days. It's mostly 9mm, 45 ACP, 223, 300 BO with a smattering of 10mm.

 

[timjake]

Dad taught us marksmanship on a single shot .22 (early '70s). My M&P 22 has the same lower as my M&P 40 Pro, so I us it for practice with lower cost .22 ammo.

My M&P 40 Pro now has a companion M&P FPC 40 that uses the same mags. Lots of fun.

I had a 9mm carbine previously, but wore it out. I decided to go with the M&P FPC 40 so I can keep ammo types to a minimum.

 

[Oldengineer]

Sadly, as old age and arthritis have dramatically reduced my hand strength and function, the ability to effectively manage my 45 ACP, 10mm, 44 Magnum, and even 357 Magnum pistols has made the 38 special and 9mm a necessity. I fear that I will inadvertently drop the higher power pistols and that would be very unfortunate. I enjoy the 22 LR model 18 the most!

Tom H.

 

[Sevens]

It’s interesting to observe how much things have changed over the years. 9mm was once an oddball cartridge seen only on rare occasion by those exercising their Lugers, P-38 ‘s HiPowers and other war trophies.

This is an absolutely true statement however, I'm trying to figure out if you are hearkening back a time -MANY- decades ago and/or how old you might be to make this statement.

My formative years in guns was the mid-to-late 1980's and I was so enthralled with the hobby that at one particular outdoor gun show/swap meet, I spent ten of my hard earned dollars on a WAGON load of old gun magazines. That purchase was how I fell in love with Skeeter Skelton and that was also how I learned that 9mm was not at all a popular cartridge here in the United States back in the 1960's and even most of the 1970's.

So when you say it's interesting that 9mm was never popular and now it is nearly the only thing you see regularly, understand that you are talking about half a century ago.

I don't think it's entirely fair to blame new shooters for showing up with a 9mm handgun. First of all, the gun store is stuffed to the gills with them, most folks don't buy their first gun to learn the wonderful hobby of handgun marksmanship and maybe more than ever, average folks are on an extremely tight budget.

I also think that a lot of .22 semiauto handguns offered today are low end, cheap and problematic, and a brand new gun owner has no idea what to shop for to get a quality pistol that runs and the counter jockey is of almost no help whatsoever.

 

[sjmjax]

Half a century is only yesterday to me!

I agree that this phenomenon didn’t happen overnight. But, my perception is that it is relatively recent and developed very quickly in recent years.

I believe in large part due to the ill considered magazine restriction legislation that helped create the compact 9mm and “relatively” high capacity magazines associated with them.

Improvements in the 9mm performance and now abundance of inexpensive, fantastic, plastic, wonder Nines that now currently dominate the market.

 

[SlimJim97]

I've never owned or shot a 9 mm having generally carried and shot .45 ACP or .45 Colt. Aging hands have forced me down to .38, but, more and more, .380 is my preferred pistol. 9 mm is certainly very popular, but I developed a "mental block" against the caliber many years ago, kinda like the one I have against "plastic pistols"....

 

[grover99]

I shoot a lot of 32 wadcutters out of my 327 Taurus. I can't deal with full 327 mag any more but I have a choice of 4 calibers out of one gun. Works for me

 

[pawngal]

9mm is what I shoot the least.
38 spl the most, all 32 cal, 45acp., 22lr, .380. 41 mag, pretty much in that order.

 

[MSD2343]

I shoot ,38 Special much more than 9mm but I leave all my 9mm at the range and take my .38 brass with me for reloading. I’m guessing that’s often the case as well for those shooting .44 and .357 — a lot of what is shot is not going to be left behind.

 

[fordson]

9mm, 38Super, 357Sig and 380ACP, all members of the 9mm family. Then there’s the first cousins: 38SPL & 357MAG. Reload them and a lot more. At my outdoor range, I see a lot of 9s and 45ACP. The occasional 40SW, once plentiful as you observes. Growing number of 10MM. A few 380s and even fewer 32ACPs. Hardly any revolver caliber brass, except one or two that rolled from the bench unnoticed. In all my years going to that range, I’ve probably picked up a double handful of 38Super and 357Sig….and these were likely mine, missed on a previous range trip. Yep, 9mm is King these days.
BTW, your outdoor range wouldn’t be Gateway, would it?

 

[old tanker]

Not much .38 Special on the range floor? Not many Model 52s about to be flinging brass willy-nilly about the grid square. Might be that revolver guy who's too fat to pick up one they dropped. I am surprised there is ANY revolver brass on the floor.

 

[JET4]

I shoot 22lr and 38 spl mostly.

 

[eb07]

I shoot everything but 9mm

 

[Heinz]

I try not to leave any brass laying around, on the range floor or outside. Many shooters of the larger or more exotic calilibers reload. So looking at what is left behind on the outdoor range or the indoor range floor may be a pretty biased sample to make conclusions. The only pistol that I have where the brass escapes me is a Luger P08. That thing ejects in random directions. I seldom recover more than 75%. But, when I went to school good manners and cleaning up after yourself were still taught

 

[nll401]

I pick up my .38 and .45 to reload. I don't bother with 9mm as it really doesn't pay to reload.

 

[Sixman1963]

Of course you do! It’s a rhetorical question leading to my range observations.

I belong to a rather large out door range & club that also open to the public.

It’s interesting to observe how much things have changed over the years. 9mm was once an oddball cartridge seen only on rare occasion by those exercising their Lugers, P-38 ‘s HiPowers and other war trophies.

Now it’s about the only spent cartridge cases seen on the range. Even outnumbering the popular 22.

40 caliber another interesting case. Once popular and abundant, is now very seldom seen on the ground. Oddly, I am seeing and recovering a fair bit of 10mm.

About the only other classic cases I see in quantity is 45 ACP.

Other classics like 38 special, 357 and 44, turn up but seldom and in very small quantities.

Diminutive calibers such as 25, 32 ACP & 32 swl are now rarities. Even 380 has become uncommon.

I see a lot of newbie shooters on the various pistol ranges. Almost invariably with a brand new, compact 9mm. And, are often a greater danger to themselves and others on the firing line than the targets down range at 7 yards.

Seems nobody starts with a 22 to develop basic skills anymore.

I keep an extra one and ammo in my range kit. Loaned it many times to a new shooter or couple that couldn’t control their featherweight 9mm. They’ve always been appreciative and immediately show improved results.

Hard to believe but I guess these days I'm officially considered an "old timer"! My favs are and always have been the old fashion "dash" cartridges & black powder originals-.45 Colt, .25-20, .32-20, .38-40, .44-40, etc. That and to this day I still love shooting classic .22s the most!

 

[Bald1]

I shoot on my home range and at my cabin range. I try not to leave any brass laying around. I shoot more 44 mag and 38 spl than I do 9mm. Which gets pretty expensive because I don’t reload.

 

[pharmer]

Last few trips to the range, 1 Ruger MKII, 1 9mm of any flavor. 150 rds .22's, 50-100 rds 9mm. Takes 10 min to clean the 9, clean the Ruger once or twice a year. I have gotten lazy, zero trips to the rifle range this year, which take more prep/cleanup. Joe

 

[woodsltc]

In semi-auto rounds I shoot more 40s&w & 45acp than 9mm. I like the bigger holes they make . I have 9mm's I just prefer other rounds.

Don