Shift in reloading and shooting

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I have to laugh...

There is an indoor range down in Plano, they are terrible Range Nazis. I was shooting my M1a on the rifle range right after I bought it... I had it rested and was just having a little fun with it, going through a magazine of surplus, not machine gunning or anything, but squeezing them off. I'm bringing the target back and one of the guys burst through the door...

"You are firing too fast!!!"

I just look at him as the target returned... turned and looked at the target, which had 40 rounds in about 3"... and turned back and said "Doesn't look like it to me."

He got a little huffy with me... and that was the last time I ever went there.

The indoor range I go to has a "no double-tap" rule. I was a little chuffed at first but, after seeing the dings in the target hangers and holes in the ceiling I totally understand.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

don’t take it personally! they are just keeping everyone safe. Ever been to a Public land range with no rules or care for anything? I seen people with a cooler of beer just having a good old time.

---
Dude, are you serious? In Florida? The land that invented the phrase, "Hold m'beer..."? I've been to public ranges where guys have their kids run down and mark the target while they're shooting. (Ocala National Forest)

 

[DMW1116]

If nothing else this thread has reminded me to quit complaining because someone shot my target stand after I loaned it to them.

I've never been a mag dump shooter. I've stretched a full 30 round magazine to 4 or 5 trips, and a box of 30-30 to 3 trips. Most of my shooting now is testing my reloads, either for accuracy or just pull 10 out of a batch for function testing. I just started in May and I think I'm one of those people that shoot to reload instead of reload to shoot.

I am practicing for my first competition, a rimfire match, so I'm going through a whole tube magazine each trip instead of half.

 

[webrx]

YEP... 4 now!

What you never heard of sky net or nannites?

quoted the wrong post aka machines can’t fix themselves.

 

[Mark_Mark]

What you never heard of sky net or nannites?

quoted the wrong post aka machines can’t fix themselves.

they can, they just don’t want you to know they can

 

[bullseye308]

My rifle range is run by TWRA. It is closed because of Covid. I have a number of places to shoot sporting clays and trap. Two indoor pistol ranges still open. If I don't shoot then there is no reason to reload. The components are certainly worth more than the loaded shells.

Just checked and their site says all manned and unmanned ranges are open. If it warms up a little I’m going out this weekend to sight my 223’s in. I got a 223 bolt 14 months ago for Christmas that I haven’t gotten to play with yet and put a new scope on the AR I need to sight in. I was recovering from a triple bypass that kept me from shooting most of the year, then got cancer before I was fully recovered, then this covid crap hit. If I don’t get some Range time in soon I’ll go crazy, the only shooting I’m getting in is varmints in the yard.

 

[AJC1]

Just checked and their site says all manned and unmanned ranges are open. If it warms up a little I’m going out this weekend to sight my 223’s in. I got a 223 bolt 14 months ago for Christmas that I haven’t gotten to play with yet and put a new scope on the AR I need to sight in. I was recovering from a triple bypass that kept me from shooting most of the year, then got cancer before I was fully recovered, then this covid crap hit. If I don’t get some Range time in soon I’ll go crazy, the only shooting I’m getting in is varmints in the yard.

If I shot varmints in the yard the cops would be all over me...

 

[bullseye308]

I’m at the end of a dead end road and my property line is the county line. My side is county, the other side is more expensive and restricted. Most of my shooting is with colibri in a marlin mod 60 and nobody hears it.

 

[AJC1]

I’m at the end of a dead end road and my property line is the county line. My side is county, the other side is more expensive and restricted. Most of my shooting is with colibri in a marlin mod 60 and nobody hears it.

I have some of those rounds and they compare favorably to a pellet gun for noise...

 

[bullseye308]

They are ridiculously quiet, I hear the action cycle, the bullet hit the offending critter, and the brass hit the ground. Wish I had a few thousand more tho. I rolled a skunk at 7’ recently, and he was DRT. Saw my first armadillo 2 nights ago and he took a headshot at 5’ then went back to grazing. Looks like the 38 with a wadcutter, 9 with #4 shot, or the 357 with a swc will get his butt soon. They are not quiet, but lots of folks around her shoot frequently and another isn’t going to get any attention.

 

[BigAlShooter]

My public range is managed now. It is West Point Lake WMA range. It used to be non-managed and you could do anything you wanted, well, until the marshal or state trooper showed up. I did one time get a written warning for shooting some metal spinners. Yeah, no metal targets, even tough I remember a very large printer that someone had shot up and left out there (maybe copying the movie Office Space).
Now, they have 2 or 3 guys managing who are pretty cool, but they have a bunch or rules, which I agree with. Yeah, I don't like the one second between each shot rule, but I get it. I really want to double tap my AR and pistol or dump a few from my 10/22, but since ammo is so scarce, I don't sweat it.
Now, I will shoot about 10-15 in a bolt centerfire, 20 or so from the AR 223 or 308. Maybe 20 for a pistol or two and maybe 50 or so from the 10/22. I will probably put more time into reloading for accuracy out of the bolt actions and the LR-308, which is sub-moa pretty easy.

 

[Skgreen]

Went to bolt actions a few years ago. My 'blammo' is strictly 9mm and 45.
Bought a couple wheel guns, but seemed to have lost interest in pistol lately and concentrate more on the bolts.
Like a few other places, it's 'shooting season' right now as the summers here are mug-nasty.

 

[armoredman]

I haven't done mag dumps in decades. I rarely load mags at the range with more than 5 for rifle and 10 for handgun, simply because I am usually trying to make nice groups. If I decide to practice mag changes, the first mag will have 5 and the second mag will have 3-5. I am a slow speed small volume loader/caster, and I know exactly how much time it took to make these rounds. I think I will be Ok for a while.

 

[buck460XVR]

Lot more to this ammo shortage and higher prices than just the pandemic and fear of social unrest. While those have created millions of new shooters, we also have created many other things that take ammo. Years ago, a high capacity handgun was a 1911 with a seven round mag. Now it doesn't even make the list. Rifles had 5 round mags. Now everything if 15 to 30 rounds and most folks will empty the mag before they leave the range. Now add all the new shooting sports, like cowboy action, 3-gun and all of their variants. Look at the amount of new "tactical" ranges and training out there where one will need at least 500 rounds before the day is done. Hunting has become more popular than ever. It used to be cheap entertainment and seasons and bag limits were very limited. Now it has become a year round affair between extended state seasons and pay to shoot game farms. Used to be around here gun season was 9 days with a bag limit of one buck. Now it's about 40 days for all gun seasons and I can shoot a buck and eight does. That there adds up to a lot more ammo. Folks are just shooting more often and more when they do shoot. Shooting has become a sport where we all have multiple guns in multiple calibers and shoot them all often. We also don;t hesitate when the price rises on ammo or components because we like to shoot and shoot often. One only has to read a few threads here to see folks aren't afraid to pay more when they can find something. Sorry, prices may go down from present rates, but they will never be what they were before Obama.

 

[MacAR]

I guess I've been lucky. Began reloading in November of last year, for my .222 Rem. Managed to find powder, bullets, primers, etc. locally and on THR. Added '06 and .38spl to the mix and have had decent luck finding those components as well. Earlier this week, I swapped six boxes of factory ammo for a SxS shotgun. The only reason I even considered the trade is because I have enough supplies to reload what I swapped off. And at some point, I will. Right now, the weather isn't conducive to shooting, and most of the game seasons are out anyway.

As far as shooting goes, I cut back some time ago. In 2019, I probably used up 20/25 bricks of 22 ammo and several hundred rounds of 38. 2020 rolls around, and I doubt I shot 500 rounds of 22 last year; probably didn't shoot over 1000 total out of all my guns. Don't get me wrong, though. I'll be doing some load testing on my '06 and .222 when the weather fairs, then loading up a few rounds of my chosen load. Same with my .38, just waiting on a seating die to arrive right now. Going to try and load up about 100 more rounds of "heavy" 38 and call it good. Also need to find a couple cases of birdshot for the 12, for shooting skeet/dove season later on. After that, I'm gonna sit up on top of my pile of stuff, grin, and wait. Besides, won't be long 'til I have to go back to farming and won't have time to shoot.

Mac

 

[SQLGeek]

I save my mag dumps for my 10/22 with the GSG drum mags these days.

I've mainly been focused on reloading .357 for my revolver. I'd love to find a Model 57 also but not really wanting to spend the premium right now.

So I'm loading less and shooting less but still enjoying myself. This should help my supply of SPP stretch some.

 

[Seymour380]

Been prepping brass for 380 acp, 38 special, 357 magnum for better times ahead. At the range shooting revolvers and .22 lr/long/short every other weekend. I am ok with temperatures down to single digits but the wind chills to minus 30 F lately have been a challenge. Still picking up range brass as I can to save a few bucks. I have noticed less traffic at the range, even though we have many new gun owners in the last year. Grateful to be a reloader this time around. Looking forward to more daylight for shooting time this spring.