What is a realistic number of rounds shot per yr for competition shooters?

[MNFinn]

The way I look at it I can go to the range and shoot up 60-100 rounds just playing around. OR I can go to the range and do some quality practice and just shoot 30-40 rounds. I go for quality. I learn more, I get better results, and I save money to boot.

Danny

that's how it works for me...and I do a huge amount of dry fire practice

 

[sarge ret]

when I was active in bullseye and ppc it was nothing to shoot 1,000 per day four or five days per week.

I spent my lunch time at the range and every chance to shoot.

now i'm older and shoot high power...it's nothing for the "old guy" to shoot 2k plus if i'm going to perry.

a decent trapshooter can easily push 50k annually.

service teams will shoot 1k per day in handgun and half that in rifle.

I fail to understand why the poster thinks this is high. simply because they lack the desire or resources to shoot as much as is needed to win. I know of several divorces where the wife said it's me or shooting...bad thing to say to a serious competitor.

a friend's daughter who shoots 3P would shoot 35,000 yr. while she was in high school and college. went through several barrels annually.

her mom and dad never said a word..dad stopped shooting competitively and concentrated on getting Jamie what she needed.

did it do her any good? I had the honor of holding her Olympic gold medal last august. .

heck, I've been giving bunker a try and have shot up 1,000 rds in the last month playing at it.

there's a world of difference between shooting and training for competition. there's no secret just discipline and applying the fundamentals.


fred

 

[sarge ret]

addendum:

might add..i don't "test primers" when I shoot, I shoot seriously.

otherwise it's nothing but a waste of time and expensive components.

time is catching up and I can't continually shoot at the levels I once did. however, when I shoot it's "training" or competition and done as seriously as ever. right up to my physical limits.

fred

 

[Joe C]

When I was shooting BE competitively it was not uncommon for me to shoot 50,000 rounds a year. That went on for about 5 years. Now that I build pistols I still shoot about 30-40,000 pistol rounds a year and about 10,000 rifle rounds a year through various long guns.

Crazy thing is most all of it, aside from some 7.62X39 for custom AK's, is handloaded. I mentioned it on another thread but I've loaded over 500,000 rounds on my Dillon 550 alone. That doesn't count the 650 and 1050 I used to have.

Ya, I love shooting and doing it as part of my job. Can you say right off! ;D

 

[dreever]

Looking at this question cost wise if a person claims to shoot 30,000 rounds annually at a reloading cost of a conservative .50 per round that's $15,000.00 a year folks. If you look at the true cost posted sometime ago on the Bulletin considering wear and tear on the barrel and brass that cost jumps to .75-$1.00 per round. That's $22500.00-$30,000.00 per year!So unless you are a big name competitor with sponsors or independently wealthy just how do you afford that expenditure.

Danny

 

[people]

You buy in bulk and use cheaper componets. I reload ammo for far less than $0.50 a shot. I am reloading 338lm for a buck a shot. When you buy do not be a sally about it and buy.

I once bought 200,000 22cal FMJbt. A friend asked wtf are you going to do with that many bullets. If you buy alot you get good deals. I sold off many of them and got my bullets I kept for free.

 

[Joe C]

Looking at this question cost wise if a person claims to shoot 30,000 rounds annually at a reloading cost of a conservative .50 per round that's $15,000.00 a year folks. If you look at the true cost posted sometime ago on the Bulletin considering wear and tear on the barrel and brass that cost jumps to .75-$1.00 per round. That's $22500.00-$30,000.00 per year!So unless you are a big name competitor with sponsors or independently wealthy just how do you afford that expenditure.

Danny

Danny, not sure how you get your figures but I reload for a lot less than $.50 a round. Like people posted just above me here, when you buy in bulk (like I buy 50,000-100,000 bullets at a time and the same for primers, or 100 lbs of powder at a time) you get really good prices. And as aforementioned, for me it is a wright off so I try to shoot as much as possible. ;D

 

[nwflycaster]

A typical year would be close to 5,000 rounds, this year will be much less at the pace I'm setting now currently at about only 800 including smallbore, bullseye, and hipower atc.

 

[snakepit]

I was wondering if all these statics of the large amounts of ammo fired that people have been posting here are still relevant at this time with the severe shortage of reloading components available. Even if people had bought large amounts of these components in the past eventually your supply has to begin to run low and make you think twice about how many rounds you should be shooting. I struggle just to find what supplies I have been able to find. Some of the competition shooters I have talked to have become concerned and have had to reduce the number of rounds they go through in practice. I think a lot of these posts are more historical data than present reality. I would like to hear how much some of you are shooting now in the present time frame. Even at our shooting club I have notice a reduction in the number of people participating or how often they participate and some of us think it is due to the availability of ammo and reloading supplies.

 

[mgx1138]

When I was working on getting Distinguished I shot 6,000-7,000 rounds of .223 per year, and a couple of thousand rounds of .22lr too. Now I switch between the Service Rifle and the Match Rifle and shoot 2,000+ rounds through each every year. That number is far fewer rounds (like half) than many of the Master and High Master guys that I compete against. I have a RIKA trainer, so I can get away with a bit less live fire practice.

 

[KevinThomas]

Snakepit,

Speaking for myself, the numbers I gave were current, this year, numbers, getting prepped for Camp Perry. Nothing at all unusual about that. As has been mentioned, the number of computer trainers like the SCATT can go a long way towards reducing the number of actual rounds fired, but there's still going to be a lot of trigger pulling involved. Varies a great deal depending on discipline. too. What would be a tremendous amount for a high power shooter, is a pretty low round count for most pistol disciplines. The nomber of rounds expended by a top level IPSC or Bianchi Cup Action Pistol competitor is staggering to most shooters. By the same token, what an average across the course shooter will expend in matches and training would dwarf what most F class shooters need to put downrange. All depends on the nature of the competition, the stability of the positions, the longevity of the equipment (barrel life), and a host of other factors.

 

[snakepit]

Kevin, my point was not the number of rounds that the different disciplines have to use in training, I understand that and in your case the number of rounds you need to get ready for Camp Perry. My point was more intended to see how much the current shortage of reloading supplies and ammo was affecting the shooting community in general. I can understand how some of the top shooters may have more access to these reloading supplies or have had the money and foresight to have large stockpiles of supplies, but a lot of us average guys are struggling to find these items. It is really frustrating these days.

I believe your position is Sales & Marketing Manager for Lapua, USA and if that is so that may help you gain better access for these supplies than the average shooter out there.

Kevin, I will say this, you have a good reputation at Lapua and your help in the past has been appreciated by not only me but other long range shooters I know. Good luck at Camp Perry. Thanks, Snakepit

 

[5spd]

While I do not shoot in any competitions I do keep a book for every gun I own and log every shot.
Just on p-dogs I run 7-11k every year. Pistols 5k-7k just dinking at targets.
Coyote calling about 2k at targets and at them.

 

[dreever]

I agree with snakepit. I'm being a lot more conserative right now in an effort to stretch my on hand supplies. Everything i hear points to this being a catch up year for components. Whose to say next year will be any better? So with this in mind I'm going to lean toward conservation so I don't run out. I'll pick and choose the matches I'll attend and be conserative during range practice.

Danny

 

[KevinThomas]

Snakepit,

I understand what you're getting at here, but you're a bit off base. Really, competitive shooters have virtually nothing to do with this. While the numbers of rounds expended sound impressive, you have to remember just how small a community the competitive realm truly is. Hunters outnumber us by a factor of hundreds (thousands?) to one. Guys who just like to shoot, and couldn't find Camp Perry on a map probably outnumber us 10,000 to one. Most of us have a fairly steady practice regimen, and a rough number of matches that we shoot every year, and that doesn't usually change too much. So we know pretty much what we need to keep on hand, or order well ahead of time. Still, many of us are getting caught up in the current crunch. Frankly, this is the worst I've ever seen, and I've been playing this game for a long time now.

I'd lay this off to the guy who normally shoots a couple hundred rounds a year (at most) who is now suddenly worried and buying anything and everything he can get his hands on. I've seen this. I've had guys call me and ask about some powder they just bought, and what it can be used for. No idea what it was, just that they went into a gunshop, saw that they had powder and immediately gought it, hoping it would work in something thay owned. Now THAT'S crazy. And that, unfortunately, is where we're at right now.

Hang in there. As I mentioned in another thread, it'll not only get better, but we're going to wind up with a glut of product avaialable, which will create a whole new set of problems. Just remember, whether we're dealing with good times or bad, "this too shall pass."

 

[Lapua40X]

So unless you are a big name competitor with sponsors or independently wealthy just how do you afford that expenditure.

Danny

Good question, Danny. Of course, the 12 - 15,000 rounds I used to shoot each year doesn't come close to some of the numbers listed by others, but I admit that the ammo I used during that period in my life was provided free of charge by my employer. There were ten of us (two teams of five) so the impact on the budget was certainly significant. Took me quite a while to appreciate that, all match grade stuff (even for practice). Without that support I would never have been able to afford it.

 

[william12345]

Someone on another board posted 30k rounds. I find that hard to believe as that is 82 a day every day. At one a minute that is 1 hr and 20 minutes every day for a year!

What do you experts say? I have no idea.

That's not hard to believe. I shoot 800 rounds of 9mm ammo every weekend, which is over 40K rounds a year.

Every day, the first 200 rounds or so would be slow shooting at 15 yards with a 9mm Taurus G3C, a compact handgun. I use that because it's hard to shoot. If I can shoot that well, I could shoot a full-sized handgun better.

The second 200 rounds or so would be rapid shooting at 5 or 7 yards, usually with a full-sized 9mm Taurus G3 handgun. Ammo goes fast this way. I didn't know how to do rapid shooting until I watched Jerry Miculek's videos. Of course I'm not as rapid, but really rapid, which is why ammo goes really fast.

That's for the two days of every weekend. Solid 800 rounds. The ammo I use is Blazer 124 gr. brass case.

 

[precision1]

That's not hard to believe. I shoot 800 rounds of 9mm ammo every weekend, which is over 40K rounds a year.

Every day, the first 200 rounds or so would be slow shooting at 15 yards with a 9mm Taurus G3C, a compact handgun. I use that because it's hard to shoot. If I can shoot that well, I could shoot a full-sized handgun better.

The second 200 rounds or so would be rapid shooting at 5 or 7 yards, usually with a full-sized 9mm Taurus G3 handgun. Ammo goes fast this way. I didn't know how to do rapid shooting until I watched Jerry Miculek's videos. Of course I'm not as rapid, but really rapid, which is why ammo goes really fast.

That's for the two days of every weekend. Solid 800 rounds. The ammo I use is Blazer 124 gr. brass case.

LMAO

 

[PhilKeil]

I can truthfully say when I was deep in pistol shooting it was my routine leading up to national championship time about 4 months before, would shoot 500 rounds every weekday and 1000 plus Saturday and Sunday. Would back off to 1000-1500 per week to keep in practice and local matches.
The best thing in my life was a Dillon 650 at the time.

 

[william12345]

I can truthfully say when I was deep in pistol shooting it was my routine leading up to national championship time about 4 months before, would shoot 500 rounds every weekday and 1000 plus Saturday and Sunday. Would back off to 1000-1500 per week to keep in practice and local matches.
The best thing in my life was a Dillon 650 at the time.

Impressive.