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12 shot guns 19 CR rifles 5 rime fire rifles 18 hand guns I shoot 12-15 thousand rnds of shot shells at skeet,trap and sporting clays I shoot in a 22 legue 2 days a week + practice = 500 rnds of 22lr a week X 20 weeks I shot last year = 10,000 rnds. I hunt ducks , geese ,dove ect So I shoot 25,000 + rnds a year Johnch NRA life Delta Pheasants Forever DU Hunt as if your life depended on your results | |||
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Lawn Dart, YOU are my kind of physician! cheers seafire | |||
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Dutch, If you are out shooting sage rats,I have shot off more than 500 in an afternoon, of 223, switching that between 3 or 4 rifles. I have shot off 1500 plus in two days with a bolt action CZ 452. I am not an automatic type guy, or semi auto, even on rimfires. However on rimfire I'd say I go thru 5000 to 7500 rounds a year or those and maybe 5000 or so on centerfire. A big portion of the centerfire tho would be 223 and 22/250. Followed next by 6mm or some sort. Cheers seafire | |||
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seafire, I hunt sage rats too (aka, prairie dogs), but I start to feel guilty after shooting 10 or 15 - the dumb little critters hardly stand a chance again modern guns. Even those 10 - 15, I shoot at distances beyond 300 yds. I try to make it somewhat of a challenge. | |||
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I have obviously underestimated some of you guys here. I am humbled.  | |||
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How about 37 rifles/pistols. Shoot 6,000-8,000 per year by primer count. | |||
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ALF, I never said the 20,000 round average was correct. All I said is that relying on "statistics" about how many firearm owners exist in the US is an exercise in futility because such numbers are NOT accurate to any meaningful degree. Do tell, where would that number be derived from? Number of firearm licenses issued? There is no universal firearms ownership license or permit in the US. Number of Concealed Weapon licenses or permits issued? Only a minuscule fraction of US gun owners have one of those. Number of NICS checks done on firearm purchases? Ignores private sales, which do not go through NICS in about 47 of the 50 states. As I said, you are drawing conclusions on meaningless data. The fact remains that no one knows how many gun owners exist in the US with any degree of acceptable accuracy. And we like it that way. | |||
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A cost factor that gets lost in the shuffle by those who don't do it, is bullet-casting. I confess, I'm a bullet-casting NUT, but by following this arcane offshoot of the shooting sport, my ammo costs border on the ridiculous. I always have more time than money, so I do NOT factor my time as a cost in this equation. Besides, it's well-spent hobby time, not an expense. Full-power .44 Magnums cost me about $5.00 per 100, and .45 ACPs run a mere $3.50 per 100. Other calibers have similar costs. At that rate, I can and do shoot many thousands of rounds per year. As for rifles, for practice, plinking, researching and just general fun, FULL-POWER .416 Rigbys cost me less than $5.00 per 20 and shoot very well. Reduced .416 loads (365 @ 2100 fps) only set me back about $2.50/20 and are MUCH easier on the shooter. '06s, .338s, .270s etc. etc. etc. are even less...more like $2.00 per box of 20. Be aware that success with cast bullets in rifles is NOT always easily obtained, but this is truly a field for the committed experimenter, and not dabblers just looking to shoot on the cheap. My investment in tooling is now considerable, with around seventy moulds on hand plus a bunch of other "stuff" for bulletcasting, but the goodies were amassed over many years and on a per-caliber basis don't amount to all that much. I'd feel really deprived if casting was suddenly removed from my life.... Regards from BruceB (aka Bren Mk1) | |||
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I feel nothing but remorse for earlier "urban living" comments on this thread and the difficulty in getting to a place easy enough and often enough to shoot a lot. Man, that's like being in jail........ I have a range on my own property as well as test facilities right out my back door. I shoot every single day except Sunday.... (Unless a challenging question remains un-answered....) I started to count guns; even giving thought to calculation of annual rounds; but its a nice sunny day and you can't make your 20,000 sitting at this keyboard!!! BigRx | |||
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I'm reluctant to give many specifics about what I might own, but I *WILL* say that the 20,000 rounds a year mark is easily doable. When I shot competitively, and had my ammo supplied for me, shooting 20,000 rounds a year was no problem... That's less than 400 rounds a week, not hard at all to do. I was primarily shooting rifle, with some pistol thrown in as well. Shotgun shooters can go through even more! | |||
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You forgot to add that all US shooters beat our wives and eat our children too...when we have the time between our Klan meetings! Rick | |||
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Maybe, but recalculate your stuff using 22 LR instead. Or remanufactured 9mm ball. Or surplus 223. Anybody with any sort of income can swing that. And yes, I do a LOT of rimfire practice. I can practice my positions and fundamentals at a fraction of the cost of running match ammo through my rifle every time. | |||
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I have a one year old son and a 2 year old daughter. I probably change more diapers than I pull triggers. But, I try to shoot as much as I can. | |||
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I barely shoot at all anymore. So I certainly don't shoot 20,000 rounds a year. Maybe 3 or 4000 if I'm lucky. But the kid is about to take up skeet and that'll mean that I have to show him how.....so the count can easily go up. However, unlike Alf, when I was actively shooting trap in the ATA, I shot about 20,000 registered targets a year and at least 25,000 more practice targets. And, this was in the Southern US, in parts of the East, especially Pennsylvania which seems to have a trap club at every road intersection, 20,000 registered targets is entry level for the serious shooters. OTOH those shooters don't shoot as much practice, why should they, when for nearly the same money they can shoot registered close by their home. xxxxxxxxxx When considering US based operations of guides/outfitters, check and see if they are NRA members. If not, why support someone who doesn't support us? Consider spending your money elsewhere. NEVER, EVER book a hunt with BLAIR WORLDWIDE HUNTING or JEFF BLAIR. I have come to understand that in hunting, the goal is not the goal but the process. | |||
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Alf, With all respect, I simply don't buy it. Where are the numbers of gun owners coming from? There is no national registration. Even in a semi-restrictive state like Illinois, we do not register the gun. Yes, the gun owner is supposed to be registered, but that is not even close to being an accurate count. Too many people, who do not hunt or take part in a regulated shooting sports have the odd hand gun or shotgun sitting around the closet. As for the numbers of guns manufactured, again, where is that number? Show me an annual report that lists the total number of units sold. We are speaking about closely guarded proprietary business information. I can not think of any company that would share it freely. The same goes for the ammunition makers. Where are the hard numbers? The closest we come is with hunting. The USFWS compiles a report that breaks out the US hunter population. This link is for the deer hunters. There are some interesting stats here. Numbers of hunters, age, income, days in the field, but nothing about gun ownership. http://library.fws.gov/nat_survey2001_deerhunting.pdf Over the years, I have read various gun writers and seen claims about the "most" popular cartridge by sales volume. But I have never seen even one of them back it up by providing the source. I suspect, they are getting the info from some one in a marketing department.  | |||
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Man that's alot of shooting. That adds up to 55 rounds a day EVERY day. Miss one day and you would have to shoot 110 the next day just to keep up with that pace. I don't think I've ever shot more than 40 rounds at one sitting at the range, and that took a couple of hours. "In case of a thunderstorm stand in the middle of the fairway and hold up a 1 iron, not even God can hit a 1 iron"............Lee Trevino. | |||
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I don't own so many guns. But I do know I go through 10,000 large pistol primers a year and another two or three thousand rifle primers of various sorts, and maybe 1,000 small rifle match primers. I live in northern Maine where our "bare ground" shows up for 8 months max, and I'm not half trying, so I could see someone in NM,AZ or TX who was feeling serious easily loading and shooting 25,000 rounds. BD | |||
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So you think that every gun ever produced is currently operational and in somebody's safe huh? What about those that are lost? (As in, dropped overboard in a swamp while duck hunting, never to be recovered). Or the ones that were "modified" by amateurs and rendered basically useless? Or those that suffered an accidental overload? Or those that had some mud or snow plugging the barrel when the trigger was pulled? Or those that were cannibalized for parts? Or those that were badly neglected and rusted beyond repair? Or those that were used in crimes and intentionally destroyed? Or any number of other similar fates? Because they do not have to be individually registered, they also don't have to be reported out of service. By your line of thinking, every car & truck ever produced must also still be on the road "somewhere". Ford/Chevy/Dodge/etc all put serial numbers on them, and kept records of them being sold, so they're still there in somebody's garage. As you say... not so? | |||
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I've been trying to get that point across, but Mr ALF is either unwilling or incapable to understand it. | |||
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Boy, you guys must sit around and bullshit most of the afternoon eh  aka. bushrat | |||
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The guys who really eat shells are the practical shooters (IPSC and IDPA). When I was younger and before the normal aging process started to really affect my vision I practiced a lot ... and could do so at home. Work got busy. I had failures of Springfield Armory two slides on Supers that each had 40,000 to 50,000 rounds on them. (Not bad gun life when your running 125 grain slugs at 1440 fps ... about the same as a .357 Magnum.) My eyes started to get weaker. Neighbors moved in closer than I'd like. Kinda got away from it. It does takes some time to shoot 20,000 to 30,000 rounds a year. But it actually it is easy to shoot 500 rounds a week practicing rapid fire techniques. I actually got the "El Presidente" (turn, draw, fire two rounds on each of three targets at 7 yards, reload, and fire two more rounds on each of the three targets) down to 4 seconds flat with perfect scores. (The A zones on IPSC targets are large.) I was slow in comparison to those that are skilled and have good reflexes and good eyes. ;>  I never finished better than 116th at the USPSA Open Nationals.The good shooters were simply amazing to watch ... just amazing. I did find that some of the focus that one develops in this kind of practice was helpful when hunting in Africa. When suddenly presented with an opportunity, finding the target, getting a good sight picture, and releasing the shot occurred much more rapidly that I thought it would. It was a lot like shooting movers in practice! Mike -------------- DRSS, Womper's Club, NRA Life Member/Charter Member NRA Golden Eagles ... Knifemaker, http://www.mstarling.com | |||
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Mstarling Yep simi autos go through lots of ammo fast then add some paractial rifle on top of that. | |||
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Alf, Very simply, show me! Show me 1 annual report that lists total number of weapons sold. Not an industry report, mind you, but an annual report to shareholders. | |||
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AI User: I also felt guilty at first wasting the first batch of the little criters. However the guilt vanished when one I had turned inside out with a Hollow Point was having his guts eaten by 3 or 4 of his buddies. So as soon as I saw that they are also cannabals, well,; Cannabel rats.... NOT hard to waste those. Now my favorite thing to do is to waste one busy eating an already wasted one. Poetic justice. Cheers and good shooting seafire  | |||
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ALF: We are not a gun culture. We are a culture with a bunch of Liberals that pick firearms as something to bitch about since most of them don't own any, so once again Ragging on something that doesn't affect them. HOw many people do you know who walk down the street, with a side arm showing? like in the old west. that is a gun culture. Liberals tout statistic of how many people who are killed each year with firearms, but leave out the simple fact that most of those people doing the killing are not responsible firearm owners, they are criminals and drug users that are not factored in on the statistics they use for quoting their figures. If they did, it would throw off the point they are trying to make ( create). If statistics were factual, liberals wouldn't have a lot of to point out. Liberals act like NON liberals feel free that they can gun down anyone they like and their only big problem is deciding which one of the 250 firearms they own to do it with. I remember a sign I saw in Minnesota one time, that had to be posted by a 'liberal' IN THE DNR and points out their grasp on reality: PLEASE DON'T MOLEST THE BEARS. Anyone in here ever Molested a Bear? Anyone in here ever wasted someone that just pissed you off or know someone who did? ( all you Mafia guys don't count on the latter, question: but feel free to answer the first one!  cheers and good shooting seafire eh? | |||
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When I lived in Minnesota and shot High Power I shot at least 500/week with a .22. in my backyard. A friend of mine collects Mausers and is building an extensive collection. Five years ago he got to 325 before he quit counting. It is usually futile to try to talk facts and analysis to people who are enjoying a sense of moral superiority in their ignorance | |||
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Let me just tag onto Seafire's comment... As far as I know, nobody keeps statistics on this, so this is just what I surmise from watching the news. As I see reporting of homicides, I ask myself, was the person who committed the crime legally qualified to own the gun used in the crime? Almost always, the answer is, no. The person was in possession of the gun in violation of the law. Either it was a minor in possession of a handgun, or a convicted felon in possession of a handgun, or an illegal alien in possession, or some such thing. My opinion is that a large majority of crimes committed with guns, are committed by people who cannot legally have the gun they used. The overwhelming statistical evidence is that guns in the hands of responsible citizens reduce violent crime. The criminal just never knows when the victim will have the ability to perform free body piercing, and that is a good thing. Home invasion is relatively rare where I live, because homeowners legally need little reason to shoot an invader. If somebody breaks into my house, and steals my TV, I will try to get a license plate number. If they try to hurt my honey, they are going to get whacked with a ball bat, smacked with a golf club, or shot, depending on what I can get to first. Criminals do not fear the police nearly as much as they fear an armed potential victim. Prove all things; hold fast to that which is good. | |||
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Hello dromia, You live in the UK and own 25 firearms? My, my, my that doesn't sound like a country that's trying to take away your guns. I live in Canada and currently own 21 rifles and shotguns. Maybe I shouldn't worry so much about the FBI and ATF breaking down my doors and confiscating them. It's utterly amazing the mistaken views some of our American friends have of us and Australia. Best wishes. Cal - Montreal Cal Sibley | |||
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My earlier comment regarding shooting clays/shotguns was made mildly tongue in cheek. I have never tracked CF/RF consumption as I do not shoot them in volume. Perhaps a thousand rounds/yr tops. Shotguns are a different story, if only due to the fact it is easy to keep track when you buy sleeves of primers to feed a progressive press. When I started shooting clays it was April of '98. By December I was well into the 4th sleeve(5K), shooting 20 and 12 ga. Amongst the group I shot with it was not an abnormal volume. I typically shot 3-5 times/week, mostly skeet, sporting clays when the course was fired up. Never less than 100 rounds, on occasion 200. I doubt that many shoot CF rifles to that extent. Competition pistol shooters and competetive clays shooters likely shoot as much or more. I doubt that anybody maintains that volume for more than 3-5 years as younger folk usually can't afford it, older folk get distracted after a bit. Call it the 45-55 year old syndrome.  If yuro'e corseseyd and dsyelixc can you siltl raed oaky? | |||
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How many AR15s can you run to the store and buy for no reason than you want one? How many handguns can you just run to the store and buy just because you want one? Can you legally carry a concealed handgun? Can you purchase a firearm, ANY firearm, without getting permission from the government? I'll bet your answer is no to each and every one of them. And Canada is NOWHERE near as bad as the UK and Australia. | |||
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Last time I shot 20,000 rounds a year I was a teenager with an autoloading 22 rimfire pistol. Only shoot about 1000 to 3000 rounds a year. I would say among gun enthusiasts 20 to 30 firearms is not usual. The local rifle club has about 800 members. I suspect I have met individuals that owned more than 200 centerfires. Some guys buy them and never shoot them. | |||
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More than a few guns.. 2-3k pistol rounds a year 1k rifle rounds - sporting 2-3k - rifle with happy mode Few shotgun rounds lately... Reload only for rifle and 28 gauge. When I was shooting skeet I shot thousands of rounds a year probably in the 8k range. | |||
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You beat me to it... | |||
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BUT GUNS DO HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH CRIME!! The MORE GUNS, the LESS crime! An armed society is a polite society. "Bitte, trinks du nicht das Wasser. Dahin haben die Kuhen gesheissen." | |||
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It's not hard to shoot 25000 rounds a year if you shoot competitively. I used to shoot 7-8000 per year in registered trapshooting competition, and about that many fooling around practicing. Currently I own around 25 rifles (centerfires) and load for them all, as well as 3 .45's and a couple other handguns. I'll easily shoot 7000 a year through centerfire rifles annually, about half that many .45 auto rounds and twice that many .22 (I buy 5000 round cases of .22 LR and use at least two per year) I do live in the country so it's a bit easier to work in range time, but I also shoot year round, maybe even more in the winter than summer. A shot not taken is always a miss | |||
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Hey Top Preditor .. here in Northern Pennsylvania (up in the wood) most everyone has some sort of gun collection .. and they hunt .. schools close for the first day of deer season ,, there are active pistol and rifle ranges, with skeet, trap and sporting clays coming on stronger each year. I have a full time job and still manage to shoot several hundred rnds of rifle and shotgun ammo each week .. I would suspect that if the number of firearms had anything to do with crime we would be the crime capital of the world .. 
..mb