What's the LONGEST you've gone...

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holdencm9

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Without shooting? ;)

And how awesome was it when you got back to the range?!? How rusty were you? Was there a particular gun that you were really jonesing to shoot?

For me it was about 3 months late last year...I just never got to the range. Busy with holidays and work...it was a pretty glorious range trip when I finally got back there. The gun in question I just had to shoot was my 1911. I got it last summer and shot it several times before life got hectic, I loved it right away, so when after sitting in the safe for a few months it was calling my name. Of course I shot like crap the first time back (handguns really are a perishable skill) but I felt great! Better than any massage for sure. This was after Christmas, and I have been shooting about 4 times since (more typical of my range trip frequency).

I figure the forum could use some fun anecdotes for levity in contrast with all the threads about legislation lately...

For the sake of simplicity, say in the past few years. Obviously I don't care about the 6 years you didn't shoot between the age of zero and 6 :)
 
Wow sad to think of this but it has been probably 4+ months now that I haven't shot. No specific jonesings, I have different things I want to do with each of them. If I had to pick one: going beyond 200 yards with my .308.
 
The woman didn't shoot for about 2 months and limp wristed her Glock 19 like crazy the first couple mags... :scrutiny:
 
I went 7-8 years without firing a handgun, and a couple of years without shooting at all. OTOH, I've had a few 10k-round years.

The long handgun drought ended when a local shop opened a new indoor range. I went in one afternoon to check it out, and they were having their first pistol match that evening. I joined, signed up for the match, and drove home to get my 1911. The wife thought I'd lost my mind. Went back to the range, and shot in the event without any practice - and still scored in the top third.

Life gets busy, and priorities change. I was heavily involved in shooting 30 years ago, but raising a family changed my priorities. I was heavily involved in R/C model airplanes, then the kids moved out and we built a new house, and then my wife wanted "a couple of Harleys"....

The fun little pistol shoot and an accident with a model airplane that damaged and shortened a finger prompted me to re-evaluate my priorities. Over the next 15 months, I converted a 20-year collection of model airplane stuff to cash - much of which I then converted to firearms and related purchases. Along the way, my wife attended enough shooting events to decide that her lifelong fear of handguns - she's proficient with her M&P 9c. The rest of the money went to a motorcycle vacation to Alaska...
 
Probably a month.

I really look forward to busting clays as I don't get to the outdoor range too often. I have always loved all-things shotgun :).
 
Maybe a decade. Give or take a couple years. Work got busy, girl friends came and went, got married, Dad got sick, other hobbies took up time. No effect on my shooting skills that I noticed.
 
Since I started shooting a few years ago, the longest I have without shooting is probably a 1.5-2months. Pretty good feeling to get out there and shoot as always.
 
Two years, the time it took me to get a good job after moving out of home.
Miss the family property it's 35 minutes to the rang now :(
 
When I left LE related work I had a period of nearly 5 years where I still carried (after all, not doing LE didn't mean the enemies I'd made went away) but I didn't go to the range or do ANYTHING. I really can't say why, it's like I was in a fugue for that time.

My first trip back to the range was...appalling.

I made myself a promise [that I've kept for many years now] that I'd never let my skillset fall that far again if I could help it.
 
I have gone for a couple years without shooting. My gaps are more commonly seasonal and last a few months.
 
holdencm9 said:
I figure the forum could use some fun anecdotes for levity in contrast with all the threads about legislation lately...

For the sake of simplicity, say in the past few years. Obviously I don't care about the 6 years you didn't shoot between the age of zero and 6 :)
Click to expand...

About four years.

A little over 20 years in the Marine Corps, shot a rifle, pistol or both at least once a year. Always qualified Expert. Also got to fire a shotgun a few times, but not since 1992. My last annual pistol qualification (M9) was about 11 months before retiring. Almost three years after retirement I realized it was kinda dumb we didn't have a firearm. My wife and five kids knew only about the firearms they could use for Halo. I bought a Kimber 1911 and qualified for my state's CWP two days later (perfect score, though it was far easier than the USMC pistol course). Despite the serious nature of the exercise, it was FUN! I had forgotten how much I enjoyed shooting, perhaps because it was also just another part of the job for so long.

Now we have a few more pistols and a rifle, and I'm picking up a shotgun from layaway soon. I've taught the whole family safe handling and basic pistol marksmanship. We don't get to shoot the rifle much, but two of my sons have shot the rifle with me, and I never go to the range alone, whether pistols or rifle.

The pistol range is on the schedule every Saturday, though it gets crowded out by other stuff about half the time. Occasionally we may go a month between range trips, especially during the holidays.

I too am disgusted with all the anti-RKBA stuff going on right now, so I don't post much to those threads because it can be a challenge to keep it all on the high road. Thanks for a thread on a lighter topic where contributing is more fun.
 
A decade, I got back into it in FL, Even though I had a carry, there was no place to shoot in NYC. It's also boring if you are the only guy you know with a permit. I got right back in a few months. Mainly I dropped my speed, the gun was like riding a bike. I have been carrying for 43 years, sometimes you are more involved than others as with everything in life.
 
Been about 3.5 years for me and the last time was just qualifying on the m16 when I was still in the army reserve. Last time I shot any of my guns was 4 years ago. Combination of work , wife, house, going back to school for my masters and kids.
 
aeriedad said:
About four years.

...Also got to fire a shotgun a few times, but not since 1992...
Click to expand...

I am a shotgun nut and I have always had a keen interest in their military use as well. Thus I have to ask what model shotgun you used in the Corp (I'm assuming a 500?) and thanks for your service.
 
OK I win. No contest. 34 years. None after Vietnam until the Katrina evacuee invasion hit Houston and crime went through the roof. Since then the longest is about two months.


Please excuse typos. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.
 
I have probably went 2-3 years a few times without doing any shooting, maybe even as much as 4 years once. Time flies, other things take priorities, often this would have been when I was living somewhere with no easy access to place to shoot, etc.
 
At one point I went 15 years while I was busy establishing my adulthood and professional career. When I shot I did just fine from a self defense perspective which I define as keeping shots in a 4 inch group. The rust wasn't SI much as shooting and hitting a stationary target as it spasms loading and changing out magazines. The other thing I noticed was recoil felt much more intense. That took a while to get used to again say six months to a year.
 
I was out of shooting and reloading for 20+ years. Between jobs, no jobs, and family it wasn't high on my priority list.
After I broke my wrist I can't wrap it around a rifle stock but I do enjoy handgun shooting (until NY screwed it up. But I digress......)
 
After I got hurt, I purchased my Smith mod 66 and put about a thousand rounds downrange. Swearing the whole time I'd never be a victim again. Another story, for another time. I stayed away from the range due to college, then my career, girlfriends, and other life involving hobbies and activities for about 10-15 years before getting the urge again.

Then comes a Taurus mod 66 (7) rnd. .357 mag. The doggone thing just followed me home one evening, after about 200 rounds down the pipe, of course. Then about three years later, that damned bug showed up again, and a CZ83 followed me home. Since that point, I really don't go more than about two, maybe, maybe, three months between sanity trips. As with all good teams, a few more members have been added, traded, sold, added again.

The best part, for me at least, I seem to get better with each new pistol/revolver I get. So I'd have to say the time between trips to the range have not hurt my accuracy at all. I'm going to make sure of that this weekend. Just to make sure I don't have to eat crow.
 
There was a period of several years when I didn't do any shooting, for one reason or another. I was very busy at that time: the last couple years in the Navy, where I was busy transitioning to my new command, only to start my transition preparations for retirement and a civilian job shortly afterwards.

Then a few years afterwards where I was more focused on the new job, and family details during the transition and such.

The good thing about it was that during this time the Winchester 115 gr 9mm was $9.95 per 100 round box and the Winchester 230 gr .45 was $19.95 per round box.

Every time I went to Walmart for whatever reason, I'd pick up a box or two of ammo and add it to my stash in my ammo cans.

Needless to say, it's possible to save up a huge pile of ammunition this way, when spread out over a few years.

:evil::evil:

How did it affect my shooting?

Well, I was a little rusty...but had absolutely no problems with center of mass hits at 10 yards, even if they weren't as tight as they used to be.

Didn't take long to tighten up the groupings, though.
 
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