Do you waste ammo shooting paper or steel?

[Bear44]

I spend more money on guns and ammo than I do anything else . I have the same set of clothes I’ve had for years . I live in Clayton county . I cheap out on anything and everything .... except my firearms and car . I know some folks who don’t make a year what I spend on range ammo.

Why? Why work so hard just to throw money into the dirt (literally ) ?

I’ll tell you why.... I enjoy it .

When I’m at the range shooting steel that is all I’m focusing and thinking about . Just hit that plate . That’s why i work so hard . I work 24/7 so that I can earn the right to go shoot them plates. Everyone should have a passion. Life is empty without one.

Agreed! It's also very therapeutic for me. There are very few things that I completely focus on to the exclusion of all other thoughts and concerns. Shooting is one of them. A little time on the range is a good way to get a mental reset.

 

[Bear44]

I don't shoot my rifles very much, but when I do I usually shoot .22lr because it is cheap, good practice, and lots of fun.

I do shoot my handguns much more often because I can always improve in that dept. And because I enjoy it. And because the chances of me having to use a handgun for SD are much greater than with my other guns. I have a young child and need to be as prepared as can be to defend him, if necessary.

I have a rule for every round I fire, I have to buy two rounds to replace it. I don't always follow my rule but I do it most of the time and have a good stash because of it.

Handguns are also much harder to stay real world proficient with, so yeah, they get a lot of attention.

 

[Bear44]

I shoot for fun, not to look at the boxes of ammo and firearm in the safe. Kinda like having that hot trophy wife just to look at...yeeeaaahhhh...not in my house.

This is why I'll never be a collector. Can't deal with a safe queen. If I own it, it goes "bang" on a regular basis.

 

[BanjoJohn]

I don't believe that Bypass hasn't lost any of his shooting skills, from those years when he'd fire a particular gun several times per year for hundreds of rounds per range session, to now when he has guns he's NEVER fired, and others he hasn't touched in years.

That being said, the level of accuracy required to effectively use a gun in self defense isn't all that great.
Speed and smoothness of the draw and presentation is so much more important. Confident handling of the weapon, not fumbling with it or second-guessing how to operate its controls, is what really matters most.
Not the difference between getting Xs or 8s on the bullseye target.

I know my "first try" law enforcement qualification scores, back when I'd shoot once a year with the Sheriff's office for my DA's office weapons certification (required by the Prosecuting Attorney's Council, not O.C.G.A. law) were generally about 10 points lower than if I did it twice, and if I did a practice shoot of the same course ahead of time, then shot the qual twice, my last shoot would be 15+ points higher. I'd go from 280 to 299 or something like that.

Experience counts, but RECENT experience counts too!

This is what I keep telling folks that want a CC weapon. They want to aim and try to hit a target bulls eye at 25 or 30 yards. I tell then that most CCWs weren't built for accuracy, besides your intended target won't be that far away.
In a self defense situation, there will be no time for aiming, it needs to be a point and shoot and adjust from the point of impact from the first round if necessary.

Practice pulling your weapon and firing, it's no different than throwing a rock and hitting a can.

Trying to aim at your assailant when 100th's of a second count, will more than likely make you a target.

 

[BanjoJohn]

This is why I'll never be a collector. Can't deal with a safe queen. If I own it, it goes "bang" on a regular basis.

Or I get rid of them.

 

[Bear44]

I burned through 100s of thousands rounds of ammo when I was a kid growing up, and doesn't include the pounds BBs and pellets that I went through.

I don't really feel the need to practice much anymore.

Same here, but I've found that my skills do deteriorate if I don't do some serious practice rather regularly. The difference is that my bottom on skill if I don't practice is still much higher than the average shooter, but that's not saying much.

I'm in process of regaining skills now. I will work fundamentals a lot at indoor ranges simply because they are convenient. When I moved a year ago last September one of the considerations for the house I bought was that it is very close to a good indoor range. Literally within walking distance. Where I moved from was a five minute drive from a different indoor range. A couple of months after joining the new range they closed due to a fire and never reopened, though they keep saying they will. That was over a year ago. About the same time the outdoor range I was a member of had to permanently close their rifle range and I quit that club because of it.

For over a year I have not had a good home base range to practice at. I finally gave up on the indoor range opening again and joined another one that is about 20 minutes away. When I got in there and started practicing again I discovered that I had lost my grip badly. Though I was still keeping about 85% in the A zone, most of my rounds were going left or low left at 7 yards.

My norm at that range is one raged hole the size of your palm center mass with a couple of flyers just outside of it. I've had to put a couple thousand rounds down range to start getting anything like that back and have had to take about 20% of my speed off.

The moral of the story is that, at least for me, higher end skills do go away rather quickly without putting meaningful rounds down range regularly. I think that's the truth for the vast majority of shooters.

Spending money on guns is fun, but spending it on ammo is key.

 

[cdb400]

Yes.

 

[Kahrnut]

Maybe.

 

[Bear44]

Or I get rid of them.

Yep.

 

[sovietak474u]

Agreed! It's also very therapeutic for me. There are very few things that I completely focus on to the exclusion of all other thoughts and concerns. Shooting is one of them. A little time on the range is a good way to get a mental reset.

Exactly ! My brain shuts off when I’m sending the rifle rounds into the steel plates . Those rounds are the only thing on my mind . It’s like being on another planet that allows me to do get about this planet .