That's kinda where I'm at. I just don't have time to reload. I bought a .17hmr since I can regularly find ammo, and its still ~.30/rnd.

 

I've been meaning to reload for like 20 years but I never get around to it. Given how all my other hobbies went, I am guessing it would just become another deep rabbit hole for me to dive into and chase diminishing returns. Ain't nobody got time for that.

 

My father has reloading gear he will never use again but i won't devote the time to use it. As little as I shoot the money won't be tough to swing. The time and space to do yet another project is a no go.

 

It all depends on the calibers you're shooting. For years, I was shooting mostly 5.56, 9mm and .45acp. Not worth my time to reload, so all my loading gear was boxed up. Over the last couple of years, I've been shooting a lot more .38, .357, .44 mag and .45 Colt. Those are worth the time to reload, both for cost, and tailoring the load to my shooting needs for those calibers. I set my presses up to use the 'quick change' tool holders I built into my fabrication bench so I can easily set up/tear down my reloading stuff as needed.

Of course, right now you can't get any components anyway... especially primers.

 

Got my Tikka .22lr out to the range today... pretty happy so far. All the online reports suggest they take ~500rnds before they reach their potential, and I only fired ~150rnds today. It's also been a while since I did much bench shooting, so I'm still working on the nut behind the gun. All targets are CCI Standard Velocity ammo.

Best group was this 5 shot string at 50yds, while I was still working the on the zero. Target is a one inch grid.



Some more... The top left was 50 yards, the rest were 40 meters, the distance for our club matches. Top right was unsuppressed, three lower targets are through the suppressor. It's very quiet with SV ammo.



Gun is easily capable of .5 MOA if I do my part, and I get 5 good rounds. That's the one thing about .22s... the ammo is not always 100%. I'm going to try some match target ammo (when I can find some), but all the reviews say these Tikkas love CCI SV. Fortunately, I have a fair supply due to my suppressor guns liking it. All in all, I'm kind of happy I couldn't find a Savage, 'cause I think this will be more capable in the long run.

 

I think you're right. My FVSR never shot a 5-touching group at 50yds, but that could be me too. Bipod and a sandbag is how I usually roll. Would love to clamp that gun in a vice and see what it's capable of with some Eley Match. I'm also a CCI SV guy for .22lr bolt plinking. All my semi-auto .22lr's get Federal Automatch exclusively.

 

I stopped into Anderson Manufacturing this morning since they are right up the road to see if they had a storefront. No on that one, asked the receptionist about being able to pick up an order there but she didn't have a clue. Checking their site when I got home, and the answer to that one is a big NO. Very nice place, large building but for some reason they don't want to deal with purchasers directly.

Did my annual small arms quals a couple of weeks ago. It was fun as always. I find it amusing that on regular merchant ships we aren't allowed to have any weapons, but on government owned vessels they want us to defend the castle. Never mind we aren't allowed to practice in between times, even to sight in the weapons we have on board. That'll end well.

 

I've been working with my Tikka, getting ready to shoot some BR competition. I decided I didn't like the low scope rings, so I switched to high rings and took it out and re-zeroed this morning. The high rings definitely made it more comfortable, and I was more consistent with my cheek weld. I'm starting to get my technique dialed in.

Shot a 223/250 on the USBR target this morning, which is a personal best. I think I'm ready for my first match next week.

For those unfamiliar, the USBR target is used for rimfire benchrest competition at 50 yards. There are 3 sighting targets at the top, and 25 targets for score with 250 as the possible score. You get 20 minutes to shoot one shot on each target. Sounds easier than it is...

My 223/250 target (the 'C' is my designation for tracking which ammo I was shooting) :


To give a better idea what you're shooting at, here's a dime and .22 round for size. The tiny ring in the center is the ten ring, which is .100". Literally like driving tacks.



This is a fun change from the USPSA/IDPA type stuff I've been doing over the last few years. You really have to work on techique and consistency.

 

Nice!

I see that the sighters are REALLY closely grouped, not so much when it counts? What's behind that?

 

That's why I said it's not as easy as it sounds...

It's one thing to remain perfect for 3 shots... another for 25. Plus you're moving your point of aim for each of the scored shots.

 

Really nice shooting.

I've been looking at bits and pieces lately. Some stuff that has been out of stock for months is back in stock, but with what I call severely elevated prices (a blemished upper kit I bought two years ago is up by $200). Hoping the costs start coming down later in the year.

 

thanks!

Ammo is starting to come back into stock, but still at more than double pre-plandemic pricing for most of what's available. I think it will continue dropping, but probably not to what it was before.

 

Yes, I get that. That first group made me green, I used to shoot small bore (.22), and I'd sell my mother for a group like that. But that was 50 years ago, outdoors over open sights, using recycled war surplus SMLE .303s resleeved(?) to .22. I can't remember the size of the targets, but almost certainly larger than yours, and one per sheet. I was there mainly for the chicks, it was good fun and I gave them a run for their money, but one of them always took home the win

 

After almost 30 years of instructing, I'd much rather teach a woman to shoot than a man... the women actually listen most of the time!

I used to love shooting iron sights, but my vision is just not good enough anymore for precision work. One of the rifles I most regret selling over the years was an NRA Sporting Rifle, basically a target version of a Springfield '03. Mine was made in 1933, and had old school Lyman target sights. With my handloads, it would shoot sub- 1/2 MOA. I remember being on the 200 yard range once next to 5-6 police snipers that were training. They were having fits because I was out shooting them with a 50 year old rifle with iron sights! Of course, like you said, that was decades ago... LOL

This .22 Tikka is capable of at least 1/2 MOA when the nut behind the gun has it together... which is the hard part these days.

 

This might be old news to everyone, but I was looking at hand guards and came upon this site: https://opticsoverstock.com/

Prices seem decent, you just have to keep an eye to see if they have anything you want.

 

Roda has excellent "gun control" (the ability to put all of the rounds through ONE hole!)

A funny story regarding a female shooter...
My best friend's wife Vicki purchased a inexpensive 22lr Mossberg rifle through my son Austin for a birthday present for her husband Steve.
A few months later she had me get a cheap scope and rings for it.
During the sight in at my property I set it up for Steve's eyesight and I produced a "reasonable" pattern with it (3 rounds almost touching at 35 yards).
Vicki, who hadn't shot a long gun in at least 2 decades, was doing many of the wrong things and I "coached" her for less than 3 minutes...

No one had ever spoken with her about how to breath during shooting.
No one had ever mentioned how to feel the different "steps" in a trigger pull (the little Mossberg had a TERRIBLE trigger in which you could feel 3 distinct steps before it fired)
No one had ever shown her how to hold a gun properly.
All "baby" steps, simple basic stuff.

I had a fold out table and no rests at all for this process, not a nice stable shooting platform.
She listened and learned...
During the sight in I said to my friend "After you and Vicki get used to this, maybe 300 rounds each from now, both of you should be able to make single tattered holes with this gun at this range".
I gave her a couple more tiny little tips and on her THIRD 10 round magazine she produced a single tiny tattered hole (all 10!) with an inexpensive gun, an inexpensive scope shooting inexpensive ammo.
When I got down to the target and saw what she'd done I said "Vicki is DONE for today, she just out shot both you and me, Steve!"
She was elated!
Women can shoot just fine, even women who have never been trained...

And now a sad story...
My son Austin "inherited" the very best tables at the Dallas Gun Show (Market Hall) from his Grandfather Don Heath.
Donn had these tables from the very first show that started it all decades ago. This was the premier show for Dallas, not as big as Tulsa but still the "major" show for Texas.
After Donn's death in 2013 Austin was allowed to keep the prime tables as Donn had made Austin "pay" for the tables for a decade before his death.
These tables are the first tables you passed by when you entered the show and they allowed both Donn and Austin "first shot" at people bringing guns into the show to sell and last shot to purchase a gun before you left...
These tables were very valuable. Austin was once offered 5k to give them up...
The craziness of the last 18 months brought a whole new customer base to the show.
Liberals and people of color. Austin didn't mind, the folks purchasing the guns were for the most part upstanding people the just wanted to protect themselves.
It also brought in the "thug" crowd.
As a FFL you cannot sell to people you believe are illegal drug users. If you reek or you're wearing weed themed clothing Austin will not deal with you at ALL.
This is also a common disguise for ATF agents looking to bust a dealer.

Someone at the March show this year sold one of these punks a weapon (legally, paperwork and all) which the thug immediately posted on social media.
Other thugs (who didn't like the first one) saw this and showed up at Dallas Market Hall where they waited in ambush in the parking lot.
30-50 rounds were fired, one thug caught one in the ***. no one else was hit. Thugs are lousy shots.
But...
They killed the Market Hall gun show dead.
The building owner cancelled all future shows over the liability issue.

My son's tables vaporized because of the antics of a minor percentage of the 13%.

Liberals, if you cannot kill the gun show off legally don't worry, the thugs will do it for you...

If you know where 1200+ tables can be set up in an airconditioned building in Dallas that will allow a gun show please send a PM.
The organizers of this show desperately need this. It does not exist anymore.
No one wants armed thugs at all...

On a final note, Austin has noticed a serious drop off in the demand in the last month. It looks like the craziness may be over.
He actually has had some time off in the last month. He's been going 7 days a week for over a year...

 

The last couple weeks have been interesting in that I acquired both my newest, and oldest gun.

I had been looking at sub-compact 9mms that were optics compatible, and ended up with a Sig P365XL and mounted a Holosun 507K. I've never been much of a Sig fan, but gotta admit, they knocked it out of the park with the P365. It's one hell of a good carry piece.

I also came across a pre-war S&W 38/44 Outdoorsman in really nice shape. The 38/44 was S&Ws answer to the call for more power prior to the invention of the .357 Magnum. They built a .38 special on the .44 N frame, and came out with ammunition loaded to near modern .357 Mag specs, which the 'normal' .38 special guns of the day couldn't handle. Thus was born the 38/44 Heavy Duty (fixed sight) and the Outdoorsman (adjustable sights). A few years later, the .357 Mag was developed, but the 38/44s continued in production until the mid- 1950s. My Outdoorsman was made in 1932.

So, cutting edge 1932, meet cutting edge 2021...

 

I have a p365 sas. I can't shoot it for ****. Until I swap out that meprolight for a functional sighting system, my G42 with fiber/tritium sights gets the nod.

 

I looked at the SAS... not a fan. The way most folks have trained for decades is to pick up the front sight as the gun is presented... not possible with the SAS. It has all the training problems associated with transitioning from fixed sights to a holographic sight, but none of the advantages. Stuff like SAS has been tried in the past, and it never really works. I opted for the XL over the standard P365, because it's a much better shooting platform, and not much harder to conceal.

My wife has a G43X, and I considered that or a G48 with optics, but really don't like shooting them. The Glock grip angle is really a problem for me with decades of 1911 shooting, especially with optics. The Sig has a 'normal' grip angle, so the presentation index is the same as the other guns I shoot. Plus you have to spend a bunch of $$ on Shield Arms mags to get the capacity with a G43x/48.

 

Pretty sure the sight exists on that gun solely for people who are too afraid to buy a gun with no sights on it. If you're far enough away from the threat that you can't hit the torso with point shooting you either should practice more before you carry that gun or you're probably too far away to be able to claim it was self defense. Baring any sort of extreme circumstances like a DC sniper type incident.