Blasting ammo...

B

briandg

New member
I see a whole new category when I look online to shop.

With? There is a whole new category for junk ammo that has no other purpose than making holes and wearing out steel? I'm surprised

In the meantime, I see that attitude so often now. Dudes with semiautomatic rifles or pistol just burning up ammo as fast as they can empty the magazine's. Awhile back I was at the range and a couple of guys were running thirty round magazines dumping box after box of rounds at silhouette targets and when the rifles went dry, they started the pistols. Hours of shooting, maybe over a thousand rounds, all fired at less than fifty feet, and putting patterns on the targets like a shotgun at 200 feet.

I used to get a few boxes of .22 at Christmas, and had to make it last, and got a whoop on the head if the can didn't get hit often enough. I take a box or two for each gun and give it everything I have with every round, and can still rapid fire quite well too.

Point is, how many rounds per session does an average shooter go through? I know that you competitive shooters burn through hundreds of boxes a year, but what about the guys who just go out for a little fun and to stay sharp? Lately I've taken my revolvers and I've been working on single action. My finger is freezing, I can't make the shot. Dnk why.
 
I've seen those sorts of guys, too. I tend to keep a bit of an eye on them at the range, because I wonder how much they know about firearms and safety. If they are staying safe, though, it is their money they are burning through, and I don't give it any more thought. They aren't doing themselves any good, but it isn't my business, either.

How much ammo do I use? Generally between 75 and 100 rounds per pistol, 50 to 75 per revolver, each time I go. I usually take two to four handguns per trip. I reload, so the expense of shooting is decreased a bit, but I have usually done what I need to do by the time I get through that many rounds. The two ranges I most frequently are static ranges or I would use more.
 
I wish I could afford that,,,

I wish I could afford that,,,
But ammo is just too danged pricey.

It's one of the reasons I don't own a high capacity semi-auto rifle,,,
I know I would succumb to the pure fun of dumping a 30 round magazine.

It's enough of a temptation when I'm shooting my CZ-75B,,,
And if I'm being honest, pretty much any of my semi-auto guns.

I can understand the one shot - one hit attitude,,,
I shoot mostly .22 single-shot rifles myself,,,
Enjoyment comes from hitting my target.

But it always puts a smile on my face,,,
To just burn a mag out every now and then.

It's just fun. :D

So if you are one who doesn't see the attraction,,,
The solution to your dilemma is simple,,,
Don't do it. ;)

Aarond

.
 
I go to the range once a week (sometimes more, never less) and I generally shoot between 250 and 300 rounds each time. 200 of 22lr to stay sharp but save on ammo costs, and 50 to 100 of wherever other gun I am shooting that day.
 
^^^
Before the .22 ammo crunch, that's about what I did, too.
Now it's more like what Tailgator does.
With a more focused plan, not all that much ammo is really needed for a productive practice session.
And a lot of practice is still done at home with my trusty airguns.
Our local ranges heavily frown on video game style shooting, so there's little of it.
Just until the range officers show up waving their arms wildly about.
 
My range has several areas with berms between, and I always set up at an empty spot. It bothers me to hear the noise of the barrage, but otherwise, I don't care.

I am concerned about the brainless goons that are often doing it, it worries me. One of the pistol ranges is crossways to another, and there are times that the fragments rain down on the roof like hail. The other day I heard rounds go flying off in all directions, he was probably shooting at the ground, and there is no ground. It's bedrock with a thin layer of dirt, and of course, it says no shooting at the ground anyway. I was about to talk to him, but by the time I went to that area, he was packing up.

These "blasters" sometimes treat the things like toys and behave irresponsibly.

I haven't done enough loading recently, and like in said, I'm having trouble. The last time I went out wE a single box, and I didn't finish it. Fired enough rounds to realize that I was wasting ammo, so I sat down, had a cigar and a coke, and watched the mockingbird.
 
I've seen all of you fellas post before, and felt like you were pretty sharp. No surprises in this subject.
 
Two months ago I watched a young guy put over 200 rounds rapid fire from an AR on a target 5 yards away. He was trying to impress his girlfriend who looked utterly bored out of her mind.

Anyway, he was getting consistent 2 foot groups at that range. Not someone you'd want to trifle with at extreme close range.
 
"...wish I could afford that..." That's why I bought a semi-auto .22 long ago. However, like TailGator says, there are a lot of guy who just empty mags without any regard for accuracy. Too much TV. Ruins ranges and gives all shooters a bad name.
 
I enjoy shooting fast and controlled. I don't need 30 rounds at a time to have a good time while still working on putting the rounds on target though. In fact, once I get past 3 or 4 my groups tend to suffer. I also don't have the income to burn up several hundred dollars worth of ammo in a session. If it is done safely dumping a 30 round mag is ok with me, although I would prefer you do it when I'm not around.
 
Maybe 40 rounds for a rifle...

Maybe 50 rounds for a revolver...

If I am putting in effort to get there to shoot, it is usually for a 'reason', such as load testing or 'sighting in'...

Informal clays may get 100rds in a day of cheap promo loads...

New to me Marlin 1894PG got 9 rounds of light hand-loads the other day...

Function check and making sure it would cycle SWC...

Wanted to see if the sights were on...They are...
 
I usually run about 200 9mm, 100 .38 special, and 100 .380. With the 9mm I'll do two magazines worth of "rapid fire". Just trying to see how fast I can accurately remain/get back on target. It's not very rapid. With he revolver and bodyguard, much more attention is paid to good DA trigger pulling and making it as quick and smooth as possible. It's about once a month.
 
To each there own and I would be lying if I said that I haven't done an ammo dump on a 30 rounder.....but that was in the military on full auto because our range guys didn't want to account for and restock the surplus of ammo:D.
 
I shoot a tactical handgun, set course of fire, once a week ....( 150 rds ) ...with my buddies, using a timer, trying to add a little stress... drawing from holsters, doing reload drills, clearing malfunctions...all the standard stuff.../ COF changes every week - we try and push each other a little with friendly competition for speed and accuracy.

I practice those same drills - once a week ..( 4 boxes usually so 200 rds ). I will often run another 100 rds thru a revolver or another gun ...just for the heck of it ( 100 rds ). ( in my case, all 9mm, in a full sized 1911 on my drills / my extra boxes for fun are usually a revolver ) - but we will set COF for revolvers as well once in a while..

If I had a bad time with a drill, my reloads were sloppy, etc....I'll practice one more day that week ( another 200 rds ) but not often / adding that 3rd range day is sometimes more about being bored than needing the practice.
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But on average, to stay sharp, I shoot 7 boxes a week ( 350 rds )...and I reload as well, because I like it, but it keeps my cost down as well. Add another 100 rds in addition to my drills....for other guns ../ but 9 or 10 boxes a week is plenty to have fun and stay sharp in my opinion ( even in my late 60's, with bad eyes and some arthritis )...:D
 
I'm a lot more interested in doing this than seeing how much lead I can spray downrange during a range session.

088.jpg

Five shots @ 50 yards from a bench rest.

That's one reason that most of my rifles don't even have a magazine.

I also practice offhand position shooting a lot and I typically will go through maybe one or two boxes of ammo. I quit mostly because I'm getting too tired to hold steady enough to shoot good scores.
I add up scores when shooting at bullseye targets, seeing if I can outdo myself.

Even non bullseye targets I keep score. One way to keep track of misses when I'm practicing a round of trap is to throw the shells that missed on the ground instead of putting them in my shell holder pouch. Then after a round of trap, I go back and pick up those shells and I can easily count the misses and see what stations I missed at.
 
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Sometimes I see threads like this and it makes me feel like... I spend less time than the average TFL'er worrying about what other people do.

Last time at the rifle range, a group of high energy, high testosterone dudes showed up. As I'm not a rifle guy, I can't even begin to tell you exactly what hardware they were running. The highlights however is that nearly every single thing they ran was full auto. Just one of them was belt-fed, but 5.56, 5.45, .30 Carbine, .300 BO, .308, 7.62x39 and 9mm were present. They burned through many thousands of rounds, they video recorded much of what they did and they even used a drone to film a lot of it.

What was their goal? To promote their business of hosting full-auto parties-for-hire.

They had a terrific dog with them that I was able to hang out with for a bit. They left no trash other than spent cartridge cases of which I gathered up and took and belt links which I piled in the trash. They didn't destroy anything on the range and left no junk behind. I guess they probably made a LOT of noise, took up a LOT of space and dropped a lot of f-bombs in their fun.

When the dust had settled, I walked away with some brass, some cool dog pictures to send to my kids and the thought that this gang of guys were voting pro-gun and spreading the message that guns are good and guns are fun.

I can only imagine that the bulk of their ammo was the cheapest junk ammo they could find. If I wanted to label it with a name... "Blasting Ammo" would be a fine one. And I didn't lose any sleep that night.
 
I just find that precision shooting stays interesting long after the novelty of rapid fire gets old.
And that's why I have little use for cheap bulk ammo that's only good for blasting away.
 
Sorry, I should add my own stats.

My range is a bit more than an hour away so I only average about 1 or sometimes 2 trips each month. Because of that, I usually arrive around 10am and leave between 5-7pm. 95% of my shooting is handguns and I also shoot handguns from 100-300 yards on the occasional rifle range day.

Add all that up and I typically shoot 800-900 rds on my trips, maybe 100-150 of that is rimfire and all the center fire is handloads. Most of those are Xtreme bullets and I do all I can to make the best ammo I can make.

And I blast away with it! ;)
 
If I'm not in a time crunch I will usually shoot around 200 rounds out of my semi auto pistol of choice. 50 or so out of a revolver. If I take more than one semi pistol I usually won't burn more than 300 rounds out of all of them. At most 400 but that would be rare.

Rifle? I don't burn ammo like that through a rifle. Once in a blue moon I'll practice double taps, Mozambique drills, and other CQB stuff. Then I may burn 150 rounds. Mostly its from the prone, slow steady squeeze, <1 moa groups (on a good day with the AR, every day with any of my bolt guns except the Mauser). Then? 50 rounds at best, usually more like 20 or 30
 
270: 20 rounds or less
AR or Mini 14 : 60 rounds or less
22 lr : 100 rounds or less
Center-fire handguns: 100 rounds or less
I usually take two or three guns with me. I never shoot 200 rounds total. It just doesn't take a lot of shooting to satisfy my need. I have never dumped more than 10 rounds and rarely then. I prefer to hit the target rather than scare it. I go to the range about once a week. I would rather have the range to myself but I can live with a few other shooters. As long as they are safe I don't really care what they do.
 
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