He said the M14's they used in competition were accurate for 10k rounds per barrel (he got every ounce out) and that they went through an average of 30k rounds per year per shooter. He had two M14's assigned to him.

I don't know if my shoulder can handle 600 rounds of 308 every week of the year.

ETA - I believe he was part of the Marine Corps Rifleman competition group in the '60's and early 70's.  I don't know the proper name. If someone wants to educate me, please do so.

Marine Corps...


God how I'd love to shoot 30k a year.  I don't imagine I'd get tired of it.  

30k a year? shit, that would be my entire stash X 5. and i broke the bank hoarding as much ammo as i could afford

Your shoulder cant handle it until you have not gotten used to that much recoil.

After about 3 weeks of that much shooting you kinda go numb to the recoil. The bruises go away and you toughen up.

Would that be approximately one OTC match every day of the year? That's a lot of shooting.

From the 11/26/07 draft of the Third Edition of M14 Rifle History and Development:

"The Springfield Armory, Inc. story begins with U. S. Air Force veteran Mr. Elmer Ballance of Devine, Texas.  His last name is correctly spelled with two lower case letters “L.”  He started his business, L. H. Gun Co., in 1960 while stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.  The base had a housing subdivision named Lackland Heights.  To save time writing, he named his company, L. H. Gun Co.  “L. H.” is an abbreviation for Lackland Heights.  While serving in the Air Force, Mr. Ballance shot the M14 rifle in competition on the All Air Force High Power Team.  Staff Sergeant Ballance earned U. S. Air Force Distinguished Rifleman Badge (# 42) before completing his military service in 1964.  After that, he built match grade M1 Garand rifles for competition shooters.  At some point, L. H. Gun Company also produced and sold .30 Caliber M1 Carbine ammunition in boxes of fifty cartridges."

References: 1) U.S. Air Force Rifle Distinguished Badge Numbers www.afsv.af.mil/AFSports/Documents/BadgeRiflePublic.doc 2) Ballance, Elmer.  Telephone interview.  October 08, 2004 3) Photograph of L. H. Gun Co. .30 Carbine ammunition box (photo on file).