I spent over $600 this month on ammo

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Scottzilla

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So I bought a 22.:eek:
It was getting rediculous.:D

I received my pistol license mid-May and already blasted off....it's gotta be 7000-10,000 rounds so far in my two pistols (PPQ and Sig 2022).
When I got into rifle shooting I figure I saved a thousand bucks starting with an M&P 15-22. Good rifle to learn on without spending a ton of cash.
Turns out 9mm centerfire ammo is the same price as 7.62x39 rifle rounds.:eek:

I ordered the M&P 22LR from Grabagun along with an extra 10 round mag (I live in a liberal sinkhole, hence the 10 round mag:rolleyes:).
The pistol was packed with grease. Holy moley, grease everywhere. I even left some of the grease because I wasn't sure where the gun was SUPPOSED to have it. The recoil rod assy, for example, is PACKED with this yellow, smelly grease. I welcome opinions on how to proceed with that, btw.

I looked at the usual suspects; Sig Mosquito, Ruger SR22, M&P 22, Walther 22, etc. Much to my surprise, it came down to the Ruger and M&P based solely on feel. The Ruger is tiny but quite heavy and comes with two mags, the M&P is made by Walther in Germany (VERY impressed with my PPQ so that scored it major points in my book). Despite the blacked out rear sight, I went with the M&P.

IMAG1267.jpg

I fired off the first 10 rounds-no problem. Drop the mag and insert 10 more. Fire one round, slide locks back.:rolleyes:
Fire another round, slide locks back.
Another, slide drops back.
Take gun apart, reassemble, fire one round, slide locks back.
The slide is dragging along the frame. It's not even close; it's like a tire rubbing the wheel well on a car.
Just as i'm ready to call it quits, the gun starts functioning perfectly.
I borrowed a few drops of gun oil and whamo-the pistol blasts through an entire brick of Federal HP without a single problem. Nice.
The rear sight is OK actually. I thought I would need a 3 dot but so far, so good. The sight was easy to adjust; it moved freely by hand, so I got it dialed in at 7 yards and tightened the little set screw.
Here is 30 rounds per target at 7 yards.
IMAG1269.jpg

I'm hitting the range again after work and loking forward to spending $20 on ammo instead of $100.:D
 
Some of my guns came pretty much loaded with grease. I simply field stripped them (removed the grips on those with grips not built in) and soaked in Rubbing Alcohol for a bit then blow it out with compressed air (will air dry quickly also). At that point I lubed and oiled it as I would any other gun. To me every gun should be completely cleaned before shooting it if new.
 
I cleaned the obvious spots where there normally shouldn't be grease before firing (Like the barrel, the inside of the slide, etc.)
Other spots (like the aforementioned guide rod and bushing) seemed less obvious. I'm really not sure if there is sipposed to be grease in there or not. The user manual explains how the gun is greased at the factory and only shows 2 lubrication points.
 
$600 is more than enough to get started reloading. If some of that $600 was spent on brass cased ammo, and you saved the brass, you are already ahead in component cost.
 
Yes, start reloading and continue shooting your other guns as well. You will save money on ammo but will shoot more.
 
My first range visit with my M&P22 was filled with numerous FTF and FTE using American Eagle 40 grain bulk ammo :mad:
I received advice on the S&W forums to run 500 rounds of CCI mini mags through it first so hopefully they will be flawless followed by other cheaper ammo.
 
ponchsox said:
My first range visit with my M&P22 was filled with numerous FTF and FTE using American Eagle 40 grain bulk ammo :mad:
I received advice on the S&W forums to run 500 rounds of CCI mini mags through it first so hopefully they will be flawless followed by other cheaper ammo.
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Just my .02 but I doubt it needs MIni Mags specifically. I just ran a box of Federal 36 grain HP through mine tonight without a single failure.
 
A lot of the newer "combat-styled" .22 handguns are a little ammo sensitive and tend not to like .22LR bulk-pack ammo. I would shoot about a thousand CCI mini-mags through the thing and then revert back to the bulk pack. This worked for me with my Walther P22, which now works very well with cheap bulk-pack after the break-in period.
 
silicosys4 said:
$600 is more than enough to get started reloading. If some of that $600 was spent on brass cased ammo, and you saved the brass, you are already ahead in component cost.
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Amen brother! July turned out to be my "refill the cabinet" month for some handgun components (bullets mostly; already got the powder, primers and cases) and my $550 got me 2,000 Remington Golden Saber 180 grain 40 cal. and 1,000 FMJ same weight plinkers.

Load when it's hot; shoot when it's cooler is the plan. Of course that never works, more like load 'em, shoot 'em and pack a picnic lunch.

Casting will wait until cooler weather, but scrounging for alloy is year-round.
 
M&P is made by Walther in Germany (VERY impressed with my PPQ so that scored it major points in my book
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The .22LR M&P is not made by Walther.

It is made by Umarex at their factory in Arnsberg, Germany (near Cologne). Umarex owns a stake in Walther and slaps the Walther/Ulm name on many of their potmetal rimfire firearms. The proofmarks bear out that they are made in Cologne by Umarex, though.

The Walther factory is located in Ulm, Germany, and this is where all "real" Walthers are produced. All of these pistols will carry the "staghorn" proofmark. These include very-high-quality firearms like the P99, PPQ, PPS, and GSP target pistol.

Umarex is better known as a producer of airsoft toys and cheap motmetal rimfires. This helps explain the VAST difference in quality between Umerex products like the P22, PK380 and M&P22, and the real Walther pistols.
 
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Isn't $600 per month the threshold that the ATF uses to put folks on their "watch closely" list?
 
I spent $600 per month in even consideration that I get 9mm @ $1,000 rounds/$110 in reloads.

Bullets should cost 1 cent each!
 
Fishbed77 said:
The .22LR M&P is not made by Walther.

It is made by Umarex at their factory in Arnsberg, Germany (near Cologne). Umarex owns a stake in Walther and slaps the Walther/Ulm name on many of their potmetal rimfire firearms. The proofmarks bear out that they are made in Cologne by Umarex, though.

The Walther factory is located in Ulm, Germany, and this is where all "real" Walthers are produced. All of these pistols will carry the "staghorn" proofmark. These include very-high-quality firearms like the P99, PPQ, PPS, and GSP target pistol.

Umarex is better known as a producer of airsoft toys and cheap motmetal rimfires. This helps explain the VAST difference in quality between Umerex products like the P22, PK380 and M&P22, and the real Walther pistols.
Click to expand...
I did not know this. Thanks.
 
rajb123 said:
Isn't $600 per month the threshold that the ATF uses to put folks on their "watch closely" list?
Click to expand...
Could be!
I'm sure we've heard some comments after the Colorado tragedy along the lines of "what kind of maniac buys so much ammo?".
Answer: me. Lol
 
The grease on new guns is a preservative not a lubricant. All of the grease should be removed from a new gun.
 
I always bring at least 1 .22lr with me to the range. Let's me keep shooting until I've scratched my itch. :)
 
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