Am I getting old, or just lazy?

[Grandpa Shooter]

Or both?

I used to shoot 500 to 1,000 rounds a week. Went through 6 years without my presses even set up so I didn't shoot much. I had a bunch loaded in ammo cans just waiting to be shot, but didn't get to it. It's not like I am ammo poor.

I own a rockchucker, a Lee 3 hole turret press, and a Dillon 550B. I have dies for every caliber I shoot from 380 to 44 mag, from 223 to 30-06. I have an entire room devoted to shooting and reloading.

What am I doing? Sitting here reading about shooting and reloading. Huh? What's up with that? Any of you find yourselves in the same boat? Kick me please!

 

[fineredmist]

Bend over because here it comes. I shoot with a retired Marine (WW2 Vet) that has instructed his undertaker when called, to get him at the ranger because he is always there. When you look at the green side in the morning, have a good cup of coffee and fire off some rounds with buddies it is a great day. Enjoy every one as there are only so many.

 

[Urbana John]

"About" the same here!!

Got plenty of ammo,,,plenty of reloading supplies,,,,plenty of free time,,,,plenty of New Toys!!!!

Can shoot right out my back door,,,,most of the time,,,,and I'd rather be reloading than on here, but it's become either tooo cold or tooo hot or to wet or to tired or just tooo Old!!!

60 in July!!

UJ

 

[jimbob86]

You need a reason to shoot. I bet there is a local Boy Scout Troop or 4-H Club that would appreciate your help and guidance. You are a Granpa? Take the Grandkids shooting/hunting? They will run you out of ammo right quick-like......

 

[Walkalong]

Sometimes one just needs a break. You will get back to it one day and then have so much fun you'll wonder why you ever took a break.

 

[taliv]

on the VERY rare occasion i'm not excited about shooting, i find opening a can of varget and inhaling deeply a few times puts me right in the mood

 

[ilbob]

I have gone several years here and there without shooting much, maybe even none at all for months on end. Life has a way of changing your priorities. I have not done any reloading this season either, mostly due to the cold weather, and a mostly unheated garage where my reloading bench is set up.

 

[Floppy_D]

You need a new gun, new game, or new shooting buddy.

 

[coloradokevin]

Sometimes one just needs a break. You will get back to it one day and then have so much fun you'll wonder why you ever took a break.

Ahh, this is very true. I run through this kind of stuff with my three main hobbies:

1) Outdoor recreation: Climbing, hiking, backpacking, mountain biking.

2) Shooting sports: target shooting, hunting, etc.

3) Exercise

I have an entire room dedicated to outdoor gear in my house, and I met my wife in a mountaineering club in college. I also have an equally monstrous pile of shooting stuff, and my firearms. Yet, sometimes I find myself spending more time talking about it than doing it.

I think even the biggest enthusiast occasionally takes a break from their hobbies! For the past five years I have averaged 25 miles of hiking per week. For the past two months I have probably averaged 2 miles weekly. Sometimes life's responsibilities get in the way, or maybe the weather/seasons, and other times you just find yourself tied up with other pursuits.

For me, it has always been mostly a problem of finding a balance between the activities I love (be that climbing, hiking, shooting, backpacking, flying, etc).

 

[AKCOP]

Winter in the northwoods keeps me from really enjoying shooting. Fingers get too damn numb when its 20 below. Winter is the time for reloading every piece of brass I spend the summer months emptying out. All starts about this time when I cast around 6,000 bullets in .38, .44 and .45 then start cleaning brass and putting them together along with a few thousand rounds of centerfire rifle. Damn it is getting close, things are staring to melt, it was 32 above today and the sun was out, I'm getting giddy just thinking about getting to the range soon.

 

[scrat]

i think its a cycle we all go through. Good thing there is a place like THR. What better to do than make a pot of coffee in the morning and read write to people on here. Nothing wrong with it. Its still good to get out to the range once in a while. Sometimes you just need a good reason to go out to the range. Start talking to freinds and family. People will get interested and will want to go. Then that old spark will light up again and you will find yourself smelling the sweet smell of burnt gunpowder.

 

[stubbicatt]

The costs of shooting have increased. Truth is, I'm slowly loosing interest in it altogether.

Nearly...

Went to the club this afternoon and put about 25 rounds through my free pistol. Took awhile to settle in. But once there, it was really gratifying.

 

[bluetopper]

A lot of you guys can't shoot because of the winter cold. I dread the stifeling hot days of summer when its so darn hot you can't enjoy yourself.

 

[scrat]

Thats why i guess i like California

 

[Walkalong]

It is rarely to cold to shoot here, but then I like it cold anyway, well, reasonably cold.

There are, however, some scorching hot days when I don't want to get out in it anymore that week. Just want to hide out in the air until Monday morning.

Besides, it's hard to shoot when your hands are running wet with sweat and wetting/salting up your guns.

 

[Grandpa Shooter]

Yup, that's the reason!

You folks have all hit it on the head. Except the weather here is perfect. 50's and 60's. Clear and sunny. I own a couple of guns I have not developed loads for, I am teaching my GF to shoot, the gravel pit is only 10 miles down the road, and I have it to myself.

So why am I not enthused about reloading and shooting? I think it is purely economics. It kills me to think that the primers I paid $12/k for are now $27-$30/k for. Even .22 is crazy. I just bought 10,000 rounds of .22 for $100 for 5,000 last Christmas time and the other day I saw the same stuff for $18 a brick. Come'on that's just nuts! Sara Brady was right, they are going after our ammo.

 

[Sommerled]

Dear Grandpashooter,

I'd practically give an arm and a leg to shoot some cans or gophers with my grandpa again!! Grandparents are special to a little boy.

It won't be long til I'm a grandpa too.

Maybe we all need a "little blue bullet" once in a while.

 

[moooose102]

the costs are going nuts, no doubt about it, but thats not the reason, we both know it. at least with reloading, you can hedge off some of the costs of loaded ammo, except for the rimfire stuff. sometimes, you do need a break from something you have done most all of your life.it is like that right now with motorcycles with me. i have always bounced between bikes and guns. and right now i am into guns. doing the same thing all the time sooner or later gets boring. no matter what it is. since it has been several years now, and at least your still in to some extent with posting on this board, maybe it is time to give it a try again. only change it up a bit. try competitive shooting, or cowboy action shooting, something that will get you out of the gravel pit, where you will be talking to people face to face. then, maybe you will make a new freind , or two. if you do, invite them down to the gravel pit to practice. then you will be able to get some passion back. it would be worth a try! if you used to do that, maybe get a part time job at a local gunsmiths, or sporting goods store where they sell guns and reloading supplies just to help folks. advice, is something everybody looks for time and again. even though you wont get rich, you will get a good feeling inside helping others. we all need to be appreciated. i am no spring chicken my self @ 51. old enough to be a grandpa. but instead, i am the father of a 6 year old boy, and a 4 year old girl. they take up a lot of my time, and i love them, and being a dad. but i get out to the woods as much as i can. i wish you well. d.s.

 

[kk5ib]

I am interested in shooting and reloading, computers, ham radio, exercise and weightlifting, church work, reading and study, and my family including grandchildren and parents. Can't be gung-ho about all of that at the same time, LOL. Forgot about old time radio too, currently listening to 1953 Dragnet.

 

[ADKWOODSMAN]

Same here, just waiting for a break in the weather. There is 3 foot of snow at the club range and lots of ice. When that brakes I be doing a little practice for Cowboy Action Shooting.

Grandpa shooter, get that youngin out to try CAS, I started at age 58 and have been it ever since.

 

[scrat]

im telling you all. hre in California i never stopped shooting. i guess same time thats a slight problem on economics as well. As since im always shooting i can never build up a decent supply. there isnt a winter to stop the shooting. There isnt really a hot summer. So you just cast, reload, shoot all year round. You have to have a variaty out here. Lately i have been shooting a lot of black powder revolvers and rifles. Its a nice change, cheeper to shoot too, caps are 3.00 per 100 still. they last a long time as the loading process is long. so you can buy 100 caps and be at the range for about 1/2 a day.

 

[evan price]

Grandpa, here in Ohio, there has been in the past three-four months:

Temperatures in teh sub-zero plus wind chill. Hate to shoot when I can't feel the gun through my gloves.

2+ feet of snow. It's nice when it melts and you find all your brass...but.. slogging through that sucks.

Rain, and more rain. The club range and the public range were both flooded and still underwater- the ODNR range is on the bank of a creek and it was literally under 8'+ of water, the berms were submerged.

Now I can go pop away at dead appliances in my back yard, but, you know...

Just waiting until the kids are big enough to take them shooting. A few years more!

 

[jeepmor]

It all ebbs and flows. I have a new son, not much shooting time for the past couple months. Do I regret it, no, do I miss my shooting time, yes. Would I trade it for the time spent with my son, no.

Will I enjoy pulling him into the hobby also, you bet. Will that happen as fast as I'd like, again, no.

Do I have any regrets, again, a big fat no. It's just the ebb and flow.

jeepmore