new shooters, affordable ammo

T

Tom C.

Guest
on rfc a good comment came up that everyone's always
talking about trying to get fresh new shooters and keeping
the old ones when at the same time there's no affordable
ammo available to the new guys. i mean most young guys
are making around 10-12 bucks starting out, and unless your
dad or grandad buys it for you how can you afford to shoot
a days wages of ammo at practice and a match? i don't know
what the answer is but the comment is true, until the ammo's
there why talk someone into something that is not affordable
to them? of course i guess it's always been like this huh?
 
IMO there aren't very many young people that want to be Benchrest shooters. Secondly, plenty of people in their late teens to 20's have boats, dirt bikes, sport bikes, racecars, etc so I don't think money is the real issue. Mostly its probably just that society is evolving. Shooting and hunting sports are shrinking especially if you consider it in at per capita basis. It is probably safe to say that the majority of young people that DO want to compete in some shooting events would pick one of the action shooting games.

The only solution to the ammo situation is a 'Spec Ammo' class where the promoter supplies the ammo and an ammo manufacturer and a sanctioning body work together to nationally promote and standardize the class.

Due to the nature of our targets it would be very difficult to have restrictive front rest rules to contain costs. Bag squeezing isn't going to work very well for a 25 bull target.
 
At .24 cents a shot for Eley black box no it's not cheap Exacta is .50, but you can practice with Wolf Match Extra for .12 cents a shot (weight and rim sorting helps alot with the Wolf). At the other side (Centerfire) will cost $1.20-$1.25 per shot (46gr pow .11, bullet .40, primer .025, new brass .70 total $1.23 per shot) $61.50 per 50. Granted you can depreciate the brass depending on how many firings you can get. As you can see the Rimfire is the CHEAPER sport by far. But ammo cost is small in comparison to the travel costs involved in attending out of town matches gas ,lodging,food etc. Shooting is a hobby like fishing (ever figured the cost of a fishing trip VS LBs of fish kept),dirt bikes, kayaking, flying etc. Enjoy the hobby/hobbies you have but DON'T go to the poor house because of it, they can be done on a budget if you plan for it. Enjoy and good shooting.
 
Last edited:
Tom :You are right on target with your post and I commend you for it. garrisone
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm a new guy here, but I never lack for an opinion.
I think it's a progressive attraction;
Most young guys/beginners of any stripe, have budgets and attention spans that are perfect for plinking rifles and inexpensive ammo. Most of us worked a long time with whatever we were first handed (..think slingshots and Red Ryders) to get better, eventually out grew them and found the next great thing that would hold our attention (real .22's .410's), As we became frustrated with, "missed another one damn it!" we found what worked (.375 H&H , 12ga auto...or more accurate rimfire gear)...and aren't we all still doing that? As our skills and budgets allow we improve, and try to get gear to match.

I think we have a social dilema that makes us believe we can buy our way to greatness (if only I had...the next great thing). I think our dads would still be trying to teach us to work harder with what we have.

Let's not forget the uncle, or neighbor, or mother who first recognized our potential (maybe we can be that person for someone else), and let us borrow their beautiful gun to "try and see if you like it", and that set us on a life-long journey in pursuit of the perfect shot!

Ray Brooks-I love the idea of a spec ammo rimfire class, they do that for some centerfire matches like Camp Perry don't they?

Jeff
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Those matches that the ammo is supplied are the civilian marksmanship matches or in the older days the DCM. You acquire points for placing in the first 3 positions per match, the catch now days is that at least one of those must be at Camp Perry during the nationals.
 
Blades,
Your info on the CMP matches is outdated by about 10 years.
John
 
crb's ideal is great for beginners. let them get started on the cheaper side of the sport and work thier way up to the side we are all at now. does anybody advertise thier matches in news papers or on fliers? i don't know if this would help, but you never know.

i think george had a great ideal. he had a plinker class that you had to agree to sell your rifle for $500 if you won if somebody made the offer or they would not count your score. no limits on ammo. maybe somebody can build off his ideal.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
cci and fed are under the same company now. if they had 200 cases of ammo as good
as eley match for sale right now i'm sure it would sell as quick as the eley. i don't care who
makes it if it works. it's a shame cci makes the greentag and touts it as match target ammo
when it's obviously not. and at 15 or more for 100 rounds they're closing in on the cost of
eley and lapua. it was just discouraging to hear almost all the black box is already gone. i
don't need it, but it was fun trying new lots just to see if maybe something better than what
i have might be hidden in the new batchs. oh well gotta run, there's target boards waiting
to be set up. have a nice day fellas.
 
Tom,
Some of this may have to do with the type of shooting. If you are doing 50 yd bullseye where the extremest of accuracy is the order of the day, the pricy ammo may be the only thing the gun will perform with. If you are doing 100 and 200 yd score shooting some of the middle of the road ammo like SK, Wolf Match, Remington Eley and Fed 922A will work depending on which your gun will shoot best...bigger 10 ring and X point. Those games are a wind doping contentest with a rimfire as much as the best ammo match for the rifle. --Greg
 
I might be a bit older than most of you folks but I remember back in about 1956 when I worked in a Machine shop for $0.75 per hour. Finding money to buy a new rifle at $75.00 was hard to do. I had to work for an hour to afford a pound of surplus 4831 and another hour to afford a hundred factory second Sierra bullets. Primers also required another hours work. Rimfire ammo was about $0.50 back then. All things are relative and if the young guys want to find the money to shoot they might have to give up that new Iphone or Ipod or whatever the latest fad is. What I learned was that if I wanted to play, I had to make more money and working in a Machine shop cleaning up and doing odd jobs wouldn't cut it.
 
I have found that if someone really wanted to do something, they will find a way. After all, how many just go into debt to buy a new TV that in style, that new Boat or even a newer car.
 
makes you wonder if you went to a stateside maker and offered to buy a million rounds
if they met certain accuracy specs if they would even talk to you. i've always just hated
when someone has you in a situation where you have to do it their way or give up. at least
with the oil companies the prices actually do flucuate some. has the price of eley ever taken
a drop? as long as i can remember never, what other commodity has never taken a hit?
amazing i guess i should have invested my retirement money there, can you buy eley stock?
that's one way of getting it cheaper everything i invest in takes a dive.
 
It is a known fact to shoot the best you have to have the best ammo. I have found myself becoming miserly with my good ammo. When I find a good ammo I only use it for score. I know how my gun shoots. Why would I want to shoot the good stuff for practice. On the other hand, why would I shoot the cheep stuff for practice?

Here is a new idea that I have not heard before. We cannot cut the cost of the good ammo but consider this for just a minute, if we shot ten shot matches, we could cut the amount we spend on ammo by 60%. I will not be one who would suggest such a thing seriously but it would work.

Concho Bill
 
bill we used to shoot 3 gun and unlimited matchs, 6 target total.
we cut back to just unlimited, one of the reasons to save ammo.
to be truthful i didn't mind paying the money and shooting a lot.
i always felt bad for the guys driving 2 and half hours to get to our
range just to shoot 3 targets, if i drove that far i would rather make
a day of it and get my gas moneys worth and shoot 6.
 
Why would I want to shoot the good stuff for practice. On the other hand, why would I shoot the cheep stuff for practice?

I think Concho Bill makes a good point here.

I am not a benchrest competitor, but I have shot bullseye pistol for many years. When I was competing, in a season I would go through roughly 10,000 rounds for practice. Out of that 10,000 rounds maybe 500 rounds would be the ammo I would compet with and the other 9,500 rounds would be the cheapest ammo that would still cycle my smith 41.
My point is how many rounds do you shoot in a single match? Lets say 50,...... 5,000 rounds devided by 50=100 matches. So out of a case of good ammo you can shoot in 100 matches. How many matches do you shoot in a single season of rimfire benchrest?
I dont know if im looking at this in the right way, but I know for me, when I find the right ammo for my gun ( best shooting ammo at the best price ) that is what i will shoot. I will try Tenex and Midas and they might shoot better then wolf or SK but thats ok for me. Like I said I dont shoot BR but if I did I would find what ever shoots the best and save it for matches and I would practice with a cheaper ammo.
I'v said it before and I'll say it again.....Have a class where the limit is on the ammo and rest used....you could change the targets that you are shooting at to help compensate for the lesser ammo.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top