Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Where’s your mind these days?

Status quo......been preparing for this moment for 40 years! Though, a few more preparations would be nice! memtb

I’m good on the gun stuff. Don’t need anything except for my tax stamps to come home.
Getting back in to archery.

Found it and just bought it...

That puts me at Condition 5 - status quo for the foreseeable future.

Just started to get into 270 win recently. Im in good shape. Got lots of US869 and 50BMG powder for big boomers i shot but i dont use them as much now. Maybe i should get rid of those excess powders

2 and 4 I guess.

It's not just the times .. politics and COVID and nothing available, I've been fighting burnout from overdoing it for quite a while and now I've moved to where the drive to the range is 1-1/2 to 2 hours round trip. I've hit a point where I don't want to spend my time and money on guns to exclusion of all other interests.

I have one pretty decent medium game rifle that does everything I currently do quite adequately. I'd like to stock up a few more bullets for it. I have a good light varmint rifle and enough components to shoot out the barrel, so no need to buy anything for it.

I'm down to one centerfire rifle I'm truly experimenting with and two handguns I've been puttering with for a few years, one that can be quite frustrating, so I have puzzles to work on when I'm in the mood for puzzles.

I've got a pile of stuff for 3-4 different cartridges that I'm not sure now, given lack of gun availability, that I'll ever move forward with. I'm waffling on sitting on them in hopes of the situation improving vs selling them to help out people who need them. Dunno.

Tom

Defcon 5...my battery of obsolete antiques from 1790 to 1946, is totally unaffected by current trends and hysteria.

Nothing much different than I normally do. Guns can be had at normal prices if you stay off Gun Broker. So can ammo if you can get to it.

Mainly #4, maybe #6. My interests have been shifting from hunting rifles to single shot target rifles. While I haven't started selling off hunting rifles, yet, I have been acquiring single shots some of which posed new problems related to feeding them. I'm sitting fat, dumb, and happy in terms of large rifle primers, medium-slow burning powders, and jacketed bullets for what I owned/shot a year ago. Then in the midst of a pandemic and an election that went sideways I suddenly find a need for a couple flavors of faster burning powders to feed a couple new/old Schuetzen rifles. Uh oh, now I too am scrambling. (Got any 4227, AA#9, or 300MP, haha?!)

I thought I was set for small pistol primers for I mainly only used them to load .22 Hornets, and a few thousand would carry me quite a while. Then, again during the summer and fall last year, I couldn't resist revisiting some revolver shooting, acquired a fistful of vintage .38 and .32 Smiths and Colts, and bingo the SP primer situation is now bleak at my house.

Thank God a large percentage of my rifle and pistol shooting is with cast bullets, and the drawer full of moulds and a ton of lead will keep me in projectiles for every gun I own for a helluva long time.

.22 rimfire: A-ok. I'm not much of a plinker and the 15,000 rounds or so on the shelf is plenty. Glad that a large percentage of it is premo target ammo for feeding the M52, Martini, and Ballard target rifles.

#4 and 6 I guess. I'm cutting back on the odd ball stuff. I'm looking for the right deal on a short barreled .308 Win to use with my suppressor, but in no hurry to buy. Thankfull that I'm well stocked on ammo and components. Needing to build a new reloading room.

With each passing year need less inventory. More about having time to use stuff.

Didn't need much of anything one year ago. But am open to deals. Managed to pick up 14k primers at $20/k couple months ago. Along with powder, reloading equipment, etc.

Passed some along - sans markup, some gratis - to a couple young ex-mil club members who got a late start on reloading through no fault of theirs. Wish my kids had greater interest but........

I got into the reloading game 2 months before the COVID mess. Luckily I had bought primers and a few powders 2-3 years ago, though not a whole lot. Now I am reloading for several different calibers and buying what I can when I find it. Some of my common calibers are almost impossible to find reloading components for, so they are sitting in the safe. I swore I’d never reload for me 270 WSM, but I am now. Between that, .280, and .260 REM., I’m enjoying reloading, I just need brass for the WSM as it’s limited at the moment. As far as buying guns, I may buy a new 22LR, as I am well stocked on it from a few years ago. While I’ve cut down my shooting, I am going to join a local range next month so I can at least test out my reloads. The only thing I’m not stocked upon to shoot regularly, is my 40 s&w. Last ammo shortage, that stuff was everywhere. I kind of thought this time around would go that way, but I was wrong.

My oldest son is deploying soon, but when he gets home he says he’s buying his own house. I told him to get a gun safe, as I’m going to start thinning out a few, but he has first pick before I do. I got 2 I may sale as I know he doesn’t like them, but others he gets first pick and then I’ll sell.

Though I was in good shape I bought four Mauser M12 308's, one for me and one for each son come Christmas. I had a set of dies from years ago but went on a hunt and acquired plenty and quite reasonably, dies (a kind forum member), brass and bullets (LGS and mail order) for the gang. I am flush with primers so the three boys will enjoy a nice Christmas.

Status Quo

Fellas I'm NOT bragging nor being demeaning.

I have more rifles - handguns - shotguns, than I can shoot and hunt, so I am pat.

Don't remember what year but when powders 'started' going up I began stocking up.
This empty can is one of 3 lbs of 4350 I bought the day I saw this price ! $15.99



The no.1 indicates the First Lot I bought as the price began rising. You know the rest of the story.

I always bought 1 xtra box of bullets and when I found them on sale I bought bullets in bulk.
I don't remember buying just 1 or 2 hundred primers at a time. By the brick was cheaper.

I have more ammo and components than I will live long enuff to shoot.
It took a lot of years to collect but I'm content !


Jerry

Depressed as all hell with the political situation.....and #1

I am kind of status quo at the moment. Have no real need for anything at the moment. Absolutely refuse the pay the prices on ammo and primers right now. Always searching for the good deal. I do not get to shoot much anymore. So I am probably good for quite awhile.

Business as usual for me. Have several builds going. Buy components when available at normal prices. One thing I have changed is no new cartridge's for me. No chasing new brass and dies.

I did buy a new 6.5 CM last month. Luckily all I needed was dues and brass for it and I found those online. Not adding anything else, and as said will probably thin my guns out in the near future.

I'm not panic buying or hoarding. But I'm also not buying rifles that I otherwise would because I can't find ammunition for them. I would buy a 6.5/300 Weatherby but for the fact I can't find any ammo. Instead I bought a 300 Win Mag because there's been a fairly steady supply of Federal locally. Turns out the gun hates Federal. It loves Remington but I can't find any of that at all.

Pretty much stocked up before the SHTF, but will be moving soon so I have started a clean up. Will sell my extra's no longer needed stuff. No I will not gouge folks. It does however, nowadays it seems full retail (before the SHTF) is a deal.

I have enough ammo and reloading components to keep my 12 year old grandson happy shooting p dogs , ground squirrels and rock chucks for a while , so I feel fortunate about that. I don't shoot as much as I used to but enjoy being his spotter.