So where do I go from here?

[atalkingsausage]

I am a CCW permitee who can no longer find/afford ammo for training thanks in part to all the huge ammo purchases being made by the government and people hoarding ammo. So the question is: do I continue to carry? I used to spend hours and thousands of rounds practicing but that has recently changed. what do I do to regain competency with my handgun? Anyone have any ideas? I still dry fire and practice draws and that stuff, thanks.

 

[tarosean]

Check online retailers often, very often... Find out when your local Wally World gets their ammo shipments, etc. etc. etc. it's out there. Just not as easy as walking into a store and walking out with a ton.

 

[Zardaia]

If you've attained a high skill lvl, u should be able to cut back without geting TOO rusty. Shoot what you can to maintain skills as best as possible. Keep carrying, find ammo where you can, and once things calm down you can get back into it more and brush up. If you don't already, take up reloading. Pain to find supplies atm but if you can it'll be another source of ammo.

 

[Teachu2]

If you've truly fired thousands of rounds practicing, you should remain competent for a long time. I used to shoot a lot, then took 7-8 YEARS off, and didn't fire a round through a 1911 until the five warmup rounds at a local pistol shoot. I scored in the top third....

What caliber are you looking for?

 

[TennJed]

If you used to spend hours and 1000s of rounds on training I hope you are skilled enough to still carry. Are youreally considering not carrying anymore or are you just upset?

 

[atalkingsausage]

I'm mostly just frustrated. But I base my decision to carry on wether I feel that I could be an asset to society or a liability due to my skills in an emergency. couple that with the fact that the media would love the oppertunity to use even the slightest concealed carry incident as ammunition to get it taken away from all of us forever. It all equals a huge responsibility for those of us who choose to carry to be on the top of our game 24/7.

 

[PabloJ]

I am a CCW permitee who can no longer find/afford ammo for training thanks in part to all the huge ammo purchases being made by the government and people hoarding ammo. So the question is: do I continue to carry? I used to spend hours and thousands of rounds practicing but that has recently changed. what do I do to regain competency with my handgun? Anyone have any ideas? I still dry fire and practice draws and that stuff, thanks.

Not to "acid rain" on you but government buying large quantities of ammo has little to do with current ammo shortages. You're probably packing same caliber as most others. Didn't they teach you at early age that being different is ok?

 

[Sam1911]

I'm mostly just frustrated. But I base my decision to carry on wether I feel that I could be an asset to society or a liability due to my skills in an emergency.

Well, that's part of the problem right there.

You should be basing your decision to carry on the fact that this gun might be the tool you need to save your life. (You aren't society's protector.)

Don't know what you were practicing before, but the old mantras about lethal force encounters indicate that most shootings are very close range, fast, events -- and even that many don't end with shots fired at all. Maybe you can't snipe the bad guy from 50 yds right now, but I bet you could put a mag full in center-mass at 3 yds if you had to.

Your skills may have been awesome before, but leaving your gun home because you can't shoot at Master class levels right now would be mighty dumb. You never know what might be required to end a threat to your life or that of a loved one, but the chances certainly are better that you'll be up to the challenge if you have a gun than if you just point your finger and yell, "BANG."

 

[huntsman]

I'd still carry even if I was down to my last cartridge.

 

[atalkingsausage]

Nobody said anything about being society's protector. collateral damage is what im trying to avoid.

 

[Sam1911]

Right. Ok. But the first goal is to survive. Collateral damage is a very distant second in the list of likely concerns. Again, if you're putting rounds into a knife-wielding mugger at arms-length, your accuracy concerns are moot. And that's far more likely than having to shoot someone 15 yds. away in a crowded room.

 

[LiveLife]

atalkingsausage, if you shoot a lot, you should seriously consider reloading.

Not only will it give you another hobby to pursue on your "down time", it could pay for the initial reloading set up in about 1000 rounds. Once you establish your stock of bulk components, you won't be affected by periodic runs on ammunition.

I have reloaded over 300,000+ rounds and my cost savings over factory is over $100,000 (makes wife feel better about all the guns I buy).

 

[PabloJ]

atalkingsausage, if you shoot a lot, you should seriously consider reloading.

Not only will it give you another hobby to pursue on your "down time", it could pay for the initial reloading set up in about 1000 rounds. Once you establish your stock of bulk components, you won't be affected by periodic runs on ammunition.

I have reloaded over 300,000+ rounds and my cost savings over factory is over $100,000 (makes wife feel better about all the guns I buy).

Never paid attention to reloading supplies. Can these be found today?
Ammo run.

 

[mooner]

Buy a .22. Yes 22lr is in short supply but it is trickling in in places. One box is around 500 rounds and will last quite awhile. Unfortunately getting into reloading right now is a bad idea for the short term. Long term - reloading may be a good idea for you to avoid problems like this in the future. Primers are nonexistent and other components are in very short supply. 22lr will be available sporadically before primers and reloading components are.

 

[atalkingsausage]

True. perhaps the initial question of to carry or not to carry may have been a little extreme. However its still better to prepare for a wide variety of circumstances.

 

[scaatylobo]

.22 rimfire and DRY FIRE

I am also one who was a sheepdog and I carry ALWAYS.

I was shooting carry loads and as often as possible [ at least once a week ] and now I am shooting .22 rimfire and doing dry fire drills daily.

Most shooters have no concept that the best shooters in the world do as much dry firing as they do live fire.

I am sure we are all safe shooters.

BUT PLEASE check your firearm at least THREE [ 3 ] times prior to dry firing.

Yes it might sound droll,but I do it EVERY TIME,prior to a session of dry firing,and I also do my D.F. in the basement and at a concrete wall with a target on it.

I am pretty sure you will lose very little if you practice at least once a week for a good 15 to 20 minutes.

SAFETY is the only concern and should never be taken for granted.

 

[atalkingsausage]

I have the tools to reload but as others are saying materials are non-existant currently.

 

[LiveLife]

Never paid attention to reloading supplies. Can these be found today?

Yes.

You may experience fluctuations in inventory of equipment/components, but for the most part, you can purchase most of reloading supplies online, even today.

Good thing is that reloading supplies have long shelf life ... powders/primers can last for 10+ years under proper storage conditions ... enough to ride out 4/8 year political cycles.

Brass cases and jacketed/copper plated/lead/Moly coated lead bullets can be stored indefinitely. I clean and polish spent brass cases with walnut media treated with NuFinish car polish. The residual polymer coating on the brass surface will prevent tarnishing and cleaned/polished brass cases inside plastic bags/Folgers coffee containers/5 gallon buckets will stay in ready-to-reload condition for decades.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

True. perhaps the initial question of to carry or not to carry may have been a little extreme. However its still better to prepare for a wide variety of circumstances.

Wow, you are way over thinking this! Your handgun is a self defense tool, nothing else. Like said above, most SD situations are within 20 feet and a TOTAL of 3 shots are fired when shots are actually fired. Situational awareness and a quick draw are much more important in a SD situation than tiny little groups @25+ yards. While firing thousands of rounds in practice are good as long as you are correctly practicing it's not always necessary to do so to save your life. Survival is #1 in a SD event, #1...

 

[JTQ]

We go through a lot of rounds of ammo these days.

How many rounds a year did your father or grandfather (depending on how old you are) go through in their day. A whole lot less I'm sure. My father and grandfather had a whole lot less discretionary income than I have. Were they good enough shooters to compete with Rob Leatham? No, but they were good enough to use a gun for self protection if they needed to.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Yea, maybe the cop you carry on your shoulders all the time can shoot better than you. Very unlikely though.

 

[MedWheeler]

Even if you shoot 50-100 rounds a year, you're probably getting in as much, if not more, practice with live-fire as most police officers do these days. Add some dry-fire, AirSoft, airgun, or rimfire practice, and you're keeping your game up even higher.

 

[atalkingsausage]

Did I specify a range that I was training at? Must've missed typing that.

 

[atalkingsausage]

Even if you shoot 50-100 rounds a year, you're probably getting in as much, if not more, practice with live-fire as most police officers do these days. Add some dry-fire, AirSoft, airgun, or rimfire practice, and you're keeping your game up even higher.

Thank you! This reply is exactly what I was looking for! Solid ideas for alternate practice methods.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Thank you! This reply is exactly what I was looking for! Solid ideas for alternate practice methods.

But you already said in your first post:

I still dry fire and practice draws and that stuff, thanks.

I didn't think you needed to hear what you already said.

You sound a little a little hostile, everyone from what I see here is trying to help you and trying to reassure you that your skills will not disappear just because you can't fire thousands of rounds right now. Remember, you are the one who went to the extreme of saying, "So the question is: do I continue to carry?"

You ask for help and then get annoyed when the suggestions don't fit what you think we should tell you. I hope you work this out in your mind but I do know I won't be watching this drama from here on.