Posted: 12/27/2020 5:25:50 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Ranger431][Edited]
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First, I will admit that I am probably in the minority of match shooters in that I don't reload. Always wanted to get started, but never had the time - and really regret that now. Also, I treat matches as a fun form of practical training and prefer full power loads. That being said, is anyone else feeling the impact of this ammo shortage on match shooting? I definitely have more ammo than most put back, but being ammo is pretty non-existent around here, I'm reluctant to shoot more from the stash than I can replace. It's been bothering me to have not shot a match in a few months now, and was wondering if the overall attendance is down significantly, or am I the only one missing out? Should have added, I shoot USPSA and 2 or 3 gun matches. |
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We’re still running and gunning in W Colorado. A little slower with the cold, still had 45 show up for USPSA last month. Reloading has been in my blood for so long I had only been buying factory 9mm when it was cheap, everything else came off my bench. Now 9 is coming off my loading bench. It is much easier to lay in powder and primers vs 10 cases of ammo. Attached File |
"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him."
G. K. Chesterton
G. K. Chesterton
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We had a guy show up at a match late this summer I hadn’t seen in years, he used to be pretty active at our shoots. The years had caught up with him and he couldn’t really shoot much anymore. Anyway, he shows up toward the end of the match and tells the ROs to let everyone know he was clearing out his reloading room and had components for sale in the back of his truck. Indeed, he sold about 60k primers at a pretty fair 50.00/k I think. Sold a bunch of other components too. Pretty cool of him to not go full gouger and let the younger guys keep shooting. |
"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him."
G. K. Chesterton
G. K. Chesterton
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I'm shooting indoor rimfire bullseye matches this winter. The ammo supply will be close, and some lots of the CCI SV ammunition is misfiring, which completely hoses up a rapid fire string. |
Keep your powder dry, and watch your back trail.
The United States of America - Exceptional People, Exceptional Land
The United States of America - Exceptional People, Exceptional Land
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Finding either loaded ammo, or components to reload has made shooting for practice unreasonable at this time. I have used all the ammo I felt comfortable practicing with, and want to keep what ammo I have left until either loaded ammo or reloading components become more readily available. Sure price matters, but price isn't nearly the problem that availability is. I think I would be stupid to shoot up all my ammo in either matches or practice and hope that things will get better. Things may not get better for quite a while. I would rather wait until have more supplies on hand. |
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We have not really had much of a downturn yet but I see it coming. Lots of guys are limiting their practice rounds and planning on shooting fewer matches in 2021. I am only planning on shooting local matches (although three of those are majors) in 2021. However my plans may change. I have a friend getting 500K primers delivered this month so I may buy enough of that to not be worried about ammo. Primers are really my only bottleneck. |
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Matches around me haven't seemed to slow down any. I have to reload (.38 Super Comp). Luckily I stocked up on primers just in time, have enough brass to make last, and got enough bullets for the year. Powder may be my limiting factor. If I found myself in an ammo crunch I'd go to something that uses 9mm (Production or Carry Optics). $800 for 1k rounds is hard to swallow so I'd stretch it. One match a month at around 150 rounds and one live fire practice session of 100 rounds a month, along with a ton of dry fire. That puts you at about $200 a month in ammo costs. It's not as fun as shooting a ton of matches but it's something and still realistic. |
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I only got into shooting last year. I do about 2 matches a month now. I don't think ammo prices would make much of a difference for me personally.. there are matches out here every weekend. I just don't particularly care for any of the ones other than the 2-3 I go to every month. If money weren't an issue, I'd probably go to every single cola war but between flights and rental cars and other large expenses, looks like I'm only going to hit 3/year. 😭 |
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Switched to shooting AK matches because ammo was cheaper...then the ban was announced and now its the same price as 556 ( I shoot a 74) Local matches run at reduced round counts, but there still is at least 3 nights a week I can shoot pistol and some sort of rifle or multigun match every weekend. |
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I became an empty nester this year and decided to start going to matches again after about a ten year break. I was a very casual match shooter. Maybe 15 or so matches in the 90s, a handful in the early 2000s, then none for about a decade, then about 5 a year for a few years, then none for 9 years or so. I was never serious about it, I trained / shot some at work, and used matches as practice/training. A decade ago, there were a lot of casual shooters at matches like that. Over half were there shooting Production, maybe 15% SS, 20% limited, and less than 10% open. Guys shooting 30% ish classifiers would overall finish around the top of the bottom third, guys shooting 40-50% classifiers would finish overall around top of middle third to bottom of top third. There would be half a dozen stages and a total actual round count of 100-120 rounds. One stage might have a surprise or two that might trip you up. One would have a target or two that was long and serious accuracy requiring. There would be a couple fun run and gun bullet hosers and a scenario based one or two. They were enjoyable. Easy to take a new shooter to and get them started, etc. They could buy Federal Champion or Winchester White Box at Walmart starting at 20 cents a round or so for 9mm. Or reload for 10-15 cents a round. Now - I am reentering with higher round counts, 20 pounds of COViD gut, old man reading glasses, cheapest ammo 40-50 cents a round, no primer availability, and just buying the bullets to reload cost as much as Full reloads did. Matches are a little more complicated stages and harder requirements, and higher round counts. At the few - and yes, just basic level one- 10% of the shooters are open 85% and up types, 15% are optics divisions 75% and up, 20% are optics 65% and up, etc. Hit factors / shooting levels for the match that used to put someone around the 70th percentile overall in a local match seem to be putting them down around 30th percentile. About 3/4 of the shooters are in an optics division - when the pre CO and PCC days it would be well below 10%. So there definitely seems to be way, way less casual shooters with an off the shelf production gun and a couple of 20 dollar 100 round 9mm boxes of ammo type shooters. |
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