how often do you shoot the guns you have?

[marduk185]

Re: how often do you shoot the guns you have?

i never shoot my guns. ive paid alot of money for them and think there are plenty of more preferable targets to shoot than my hard earned highly prized firearms. i make targets from paper produce toys all manner of things to include wild game but i never shoot my guns...send me yours if you are just gonna wreck em like that.

 

[improwler]

Re: how often do you shoot the guns you have?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Jayne</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: rath</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
I ask since I'm trying to decide if I should sell off and narrow the number of guns I have and have just a few that are exactly what I need and want. Have any of you done this/plan on doing this?
</div></div>

I used to have a lot of guns, many of them bought on impulse chasing the latest cool thing or because they were a great deal. When I moved back to CA a good chunk of them were suddenly too evil to own so I sold them off. Over the last 10 years I've continued to cut my collection down to:

1. stuff I use
2. stuff that I don't use or in some cases want but it's banned and I can't replace it
3. stuff that makes no sense but I keep it anyway

Category 1 is my primary handgun, the house handgun, my clays/pheasant/evil shotgun (M500s are versatile!), my .308 bolt gun, my .17hmr bolt gun

Category 2 is my AR and a few hanguns with hi-caps.

Category 3 is a hand-me-down from my great grandmother that's probably unsafe to fire, my .308 bolt gun that's too frikin' big for me to wield correctly but looks really cool in the safe, my 'spare' M500 that's not worth selling, my 30/30 because I think I'll hunt with it one day, etc.


I used to shoot the Category 1 stuff every month or so (much less now with ammo prices). Category 2 stuff hasn't been fired in 10 years, and most of it and stuff in Category 3 aren't even at my house anymore, but rather in secure storage elsewhere and likely won't be fired until I'm dead and someone else owns them.

If I had to bug out, I would take my primary handgun because I have 20x the training time and rounds out of that compared to anything else I know. I would like to think I would break out the AR, but since it's not been used in so long I don't know that I would trust it 100%, so more than likely I would take the shotgun with a variety of ammo (and just the 18" evil barrel). Maybe the .308, but running for the cabin in CA I can't see myself doing long range stuff vs. defending against 2-legged snakes.

Wow, how boring.

</div></div>

given your arms and the scenario you mention, i would bug out with the primary handgun, the shotty, and the .17, quieter, kills stuff you can eat if needed real quick.

 

[improwler]

Re: how often do you shoot the guns you have?

keep what you can afford to shoot.

keep the stuff you cant afford to shoot.

keep at all. the used gun market is FLOODED.

 

[dlc356]

Re: how often do you shoot the guns you have?

Like most have said, I've got a couple I shoot a lot and some I shoot every once in a while and a couple I never shoot.

I shoot my STI weekly (there's an IPSC match all but one weekend out of the month and that week there's a Steel Challenge match). The AR get's range time once or twice a month plus the occasional IPSC side match, 3Gun, and quarterly Tactical Carbine match. I shoot my CZ 452 Varmint in a monthly silly-wet match. I normally make it to the range w/the 700P once every month to month and a half. A few times a year I try to shoot the 'evil black' Marlin and the Outfitter.

 

[BasraBoy]

Re: how often do you shoot the guns you have?

Here in Chairman Brown's Workers Paradise I am legally required to shoot, and be able to prove I have shot every firearm I am licenced to own, a minimum of three times a year...otherwise they get taken off me...no discussion, no appeal, no compensation....just gone and scrapped.

"Gun control"......isn't it just a wonderful thing!

 

[Boomholzer]

Re: how often do you shoot the guns you have?

Basraboy;

How is that accomplished? Test targets, spent brass, completed forms? What are the "ownership" terms per utility?

 

[BasraBoy]

Re: how often do you shoot the guns you have?

Boomholzer

Firstly to obtain a UK FAC (Firearms Certificate) and own a gun in the UK you have to prove a reasonable need for each firearm owned...this, in most cases, means membership of a UK Home Office approved club...although vermin control as a profession or as a regular part of land ownership is also deemed a suitable need.

You need to obtain specific approval from th Police Force issuing the FAC for each weapon bought.

Each weapon is logged on the FAC (maker, action type, calibre, serial number).

My clubs have to keep records of the firearms I own.

When I shoot I have to log each visit to the club and firearm I have used either on a computer or a manual record. When I shoot with the UK NRA I also have to fill in a separate log (which also details whether scoped/iron sights) for my Shooter Safety Certificate - another level of control introduced at the start of this year for shooters using ranges located on UK Ministry of Defence land.

When I apply for my FAC to be renewed (every 5 years) the issuing Police Force contact the clubs of which I am a member (and have to declare as references on the renewal form) to check my attendance and shooting record.

As an added level of proof I keep and date any practice, test and zero targets as well as copies of my scoring cards for the days and rifles I have shot.

And I've always lived my life trying to avoid jobs with too much paperwork......

 

[USMCj]

Re: how often do you shoot the guns you have?

Wow! and I thought us Kalifornians had it bad!

 

[BasraBoy]

Re: how often do you shoot the guns you have?

...the dumbest part is that this only regulates the law-abiding shooter.

My local Firearm Officer states that to get an FAC in the first place you have to be able to prove you are "cleaner than clean" (criminal and health checks.

So, does this mean that the UK is completely free from illegal weapons and low-end trash capping each other with Mac Elites and handguns? No!

But that is a different matter (borderline political?

) and I don't want to hijack the thread

 

[TOP PREDATOR]

Re: how often do you shoot the guns you have?

before the ammo / primer sqeeze:
50 to 100 rnds through the .22 bolt a week
150 rds of 9mm every 2 wks
100 rds 22 pistol every 2 weeks
15 buck/slug rnd "tactical" and sim. entry shotgun once a month, 30 rds of .308 every 2 wks.

now...
75 to 150 rnds of .22 bolt a week
50 rds of 9mm or less a month
100 rnds or less of .22 pistol a month
15 birdshot rnds "tactical" and sim. shotgun entry +/- 2 months, 20 rnds or less of .308 a month

barely touch the ar anymore, set it aside for a rainy day

 

[Boomholzer]

Re: how often do you shoot the guns you have?

Basraboy; Thanks for the response. I followed another UK members posts on ownership but the individual scrutiny never is taken lightly.

It's not political in the sense it is related to firearms.

Not to be pointed but, I noted the use of the term "weapon". Is that the generic term?

With the reasonable need; how does that apply to firearm type? Do certain optics and rifle form get denied in outside applied ultility? Does a clean record and years of affiliation to range allow for more freedom in ownership? With that, how does a young person achieve approved status?

 

[BasraBoy]

Re: how often do you shoot the guns you have?

Actually use of the term "weapon" is frowned upon in UK shooting circles....firearm is the politically correct term. Nor should I call my .22LR semi-auto a "semi-auto"...this should be a "self-loading rifle".

Reasonable need as I understand it specifically relates to the usage of the firearm. Within shooting clubs a wide range of categories are covered and catered for from .22LR, through pistol calibre Gallery Rifles to centrefires and black powder rifles.

HAndgun ownership is restricted to black powder pistols.

SLRs are allowed but only in .22LR.

No automatic weapons of any type are allowed.

There is no restriction on the quantity of firearms you can apply to possess as long as the usage and storage conditions are met.

Minimum age for any gun (air-rifle or otherwise) is 17 although children below this age can use firearms under strict parentla supervision.

Prior to applying for an FAC you must be a member of an approved club, have under-gone a minimum 3 month probationary period (normally using club or other members firearms) and then have attended an approved course of instruction in firearms use and safe handling. Proof of this needs to be submitted at the time of applying for your own first FAC.

Some clubs run junior events. Others place a minimum age of 17 for membership.

With regards to reasonable need and firearms types...as above member ship of a club means a wide range of firarms can be owned. However practically speaking there are now very few places in the UK where you can shoot .50 Cal or .338 which effectively controls these calibres (Range Danger Area footprints and Muzzle Energy restrictions preclude these on most UK ranges).

In game shooting, it is illegal to take deer with anything smaller than a .243.

Also I would imagine that it would be difficult to persuade the Police that anythng over .243 or .308 was necessary for land/game management purposes.

However magnum calibre sporting rifles are legal for club usage (within RDA and ME/MV regulations) and for hunting trips abroad.

 

[BOHEMION]

Re: how often do you shoot the guns you have?

I'm lucky to get out once every 2 months. No where near enough. Awaken, were in the same city mate, what range?

 

[sniperghost]

Re: how often do you shoot the guns you have?

Once a week, usually on Saturdays.