Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Competition census question

Hey all,

I don't compete anymore so I haven't seen if there is any effect of the ammo crunch on the number of people competing. So this question is for those who compete... Are the competitions getting smaller due to people not being able to get ammo?

With ammo starting at $1 a round, I can't imagine people are cranking through hi-cap mags like they were 2 years ago...

How are weekend competitions changing due to ammo shortages?

I'm still competing. Some of the courses have opted for a lower round count, but it doesn't change anything. If you have to shoot 30 rounds or 50 rounds for a competition, the 20 round difference is meaningless. It's not like all the sudden you can afford to compete because they reduced the count by 20. It's all the practice rounds leading up to the competition that matter. Right now the games are favoring those who reload or stashed some ammo prior to the crunch. I personally have mixed in a lot more .22 into my practice. While dry fire is important, rounds down range matter as well.

I've heard (on other forums) that the participation numbers are way down in some places (Northern CA for one), but around here, everyone who shoots IPSC halfway seriously always handloaded their ammo. Those guys tend to hoard primers and powder anyway, so I doubt that it's had that much of an effect here in Kentucky. I haven't competed in many years, but even I have a couple of thousand rounds of .45 ACP stashed away, along with some 9mm and 10mm, though those are in smaller quantities.

So in order to shoot on a regular basis, you have to become a hoarder of ammunition or reloading components. That's not what I'd call a sustainable business model.

My prediction, competitive shooting is going to take a HUGE hit. Ammunition availability and price are now an entrance barrier that few financially capable of overcoming.

Competition will never take a hit. Boys will be boys and knowing who the fastest gun is, isn't going away because 15 cent 9mm's aren't on the shelves anymore. Might see more .22 caliber games, but that's about the only change I foresee.

The entrance barrier to becoming a good shooter has increased, but only partially because of the cost of ammo. A place to shoot is (IMO) more of a barrier and it's exponentially increasing. A good club membership costs a lot more than ammo. Most clubs don't allow holster or speed work - both of which are necessary for competition. Outdoor ranges are limited by weather and similar rules as square range indoor clubs. Actually finding a place to be able to practice 180 degrees on various targets, while running with a loaded pistol/rifle is pretty much at the same odds as winning the lottery. Only real option for that is to own your own range, which means an even higher entrance fee. Like a lot of hobbies, the gun/horse/boat/plane/skis/clubs/etc. is the cheapest part.

The diehards will always be there. My point is, the new cost is a huge barrier to bringing new shooters into the sport.

Cost has always been a barrier

Of course, it's just that particular barrier just got about 6x higher.

My local club has definitely seen a hit in the number of participants. We have one USPSA match and one steel challenge match per month. Numbers for both have dropped. You don't have to be a club member to participate. The matches are $10 for club members and $20 for non-club participants. We used to have a consistent 60 or so people per USPSA match. But, we are now at an average of 25 or so participants. Additionally, a couple of other clubs (within a 2 hour drive) that I would also go shoot with each month have had to suspend matches due to a lack of participants.

Most of the folks that I've talked with who've quit coming say it's because of ammo (factory) costs and lack of availability. A few of the ones who reload only had a short supply of components and are hanging on to what little they have until components become readily available again.

Then, there's die hards like myself that bought while things were cheap and generally keep a good stock on hand anyway to "weather" any storm, we're the 25 or so that are still shooting.

For the newer (and young) guys who were just getting into it, some of us have contributed so that they can keep participating.

It has affected MY service rifle competition participation, as I haven't been able to get 77 or 80 grain SMK's. I was out of the game for a year due to a shoulder injury and when I finally was able to get back into it, the shortage had begun and I'm down to less than 100 rounds now. Thus, with no bullets available, I can't shoot even if I wanted to.

My old IDPA club in Wisconsin has seen a definite drop in match registrations, I've been told. I know from my experience running that club that if you get 50 shooters for a club match, about 5 will be newbies trying out the sport and on their first, second or third match ever; another 10 will be shooters who are well into the sport, but only come to matches occasionally; another 5 will be guests from out of town or out of state dropping in for a visit; and of the 30 remaining, perhaps 2/3 are die-hards who come to every match and will do whatever they need to do to keep shooting matches.

As ammo shortages and high prices continue, the 20 or so dedicated shooters will be all that's left.

IDPA and USPSA are doing pretty well at our club. Steel challenge, cowboy, bullseye, IBS, long range rifle and small bore are still held, but I’m not sure how much they’re up or down. I think we had nearly 300 at the GSSF Glock challenge in February, which was down from previous years, but the weather was absolutely terrible...pouring rain and cold.

Still competing, USPSA mostly. Turn out is the same, maybe slightly increased actually.

I can shoot steel challenge 16 times per month, USPSA 4 times a month, IDPA twice, and an outlaw steel match once a month.

We just started our steel challenge match and it was nearly full within a couple of days.

That's cool, it would be nice to have that much activity near by.


DocRocket - reading what you wrote about your club, it was spot on for mine as well.

Preparing for periodic shortages by keeping enough goods on hand to weather them isn’t hoarding, be it TP, whiskey, ammo, whatever. Buying up more than you can ever use and sitting on it just to have it is.

Our Steel Challenge match last week had 61 shooters, only 31 of which were using centerfire handguns, the rest, rimfire pistol/rifle and pistol cartridge carbine. Its good I suppose, that they have incorporated rimfire into Steel Challenge, opens the door to more shooters, but Im old school and perfer the old days where everyone used a centerfire handgun and had to draw from the holster.
One local club always has bulk 9mm ammo they sell at a reduced price to keep shooters supplied for the match, USPSA still active here, but Im to old to run and gun anymore so Im out of the loop for that particular type match. There are three Steel Challenge matchs a month in my area, and always a decent number of participants.
I was the only revolver at last match, which is the usual, but I keep the young mega blasters honest.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/zqnfl0d.mp4[/img]

How many people were at your local matches before, versus now? You should be able to look up and see how many people are attending a weekend match.

Where were you competing at Gun Geek?

In my first post I stated I don't compete anymore...just a sport/fun shooter these days.