The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Blackstuff wrote: ↑Wed Feb 23, 2022 11:33 am

Sim G wrote: ↑Tue Feb 22, 2022 9:32 pm Context…

Today the average U.K. weekly wage is, £610. Average Enfield price today? A little more than 300/350.

Where are you finding those prices?? I was looking out of interest the other day after reading a book on sniping during WWI and the average seemed to be £650-800 at the places I saw!

I think you need to re-read Sim G's post

Price for ammo and firearms, like most things continue to inflate well above wages from what I've been seeing.
5 years back i could take the train to the range to shoot for a few hours. train, ammo and range fees would be less than £10. now i drive students to the range and just the ammo and range fee is at least £10 (for their probabtion at least-after than no range fees).
Ammo at my locals RFDs has been harder to get and prices have been going up noticeably when they restock.
All that being said i am hoping to get to the range about once a week this year but we will see how that pans out.

We are finding rimfires becoming the popular choice now due to cost
older members dont want to go to Bisley from Oct to March

I'm definitely shooting much less but I think it's by circumstance rather than design.

Back in spring 2019 we bought a house that needed a lot of work, then our first child arrived January 2020...then lockdown(s). I've continued to shoot game on our little syndicate during the season, that's 15 mins from home so easy enough to head over on a Saturday morning. However, my full bore club is over an hour away and only shoots once per month on MOD ranges. If the weather is bad, it's not worth the trip up and I often find I have family commitments on the allocated days. However, I did raise with my wife that I intend on going to some range days this year as I miss doing it.

I got my rifles out the other day to check them over and it crossed my mind that maybe I should sell some as I've not used them really for two years. I'm going to see how I get on this year as I feel I'd regret getting rid of them. I also really want my son to experience rifle shooting, even if it's not his thing in the long run, it's always a great thing to have tried and also it will teach him some good principles for life.

Based on my infrequency of shooting, I haven't bought any ammunition recently. However, over lockdown I expended most of my reloading supplies turning them into ready ammunition so need to head to Kranks to stock up so I'm ready for when I do get to the range. The good news is my collection is mainly .303 so it makes loading much easier.

GeeRam wrote: ↑Wed Feb 23, 2022 3:31 pm

Blackstuff wrote: ↑Wed Feb 23, 2022 11:33 am

Sim G wrote: ↑Tue Feb 22, 2022 9:32 pm Context…

Today the average U.K. weekly wage is, £610. Average Enfield price today? A LITTLE more than 300/350.

Where are you finding those prices?? I was looking out of interest the other day after reading a book on sniping during WWI and the average seemed to be £650-800 at the places I saw!

I think you need to re-read Sim G's post

Fixed it for him!

Blackstuff wrote: ↑Thu Feb 24, 2022 1:34 pm
Fixed it for him!

Thanks Mark!

I keep talking of moving a few of my guns on, a shotgun I owned from new for nearly 30 years went a couple of weeks ago and some rifles will be leaving shortly. This coming year is probably going to be LSR (Rimfire) some game shooting and customer testing and that is about it. I work with guns 7 days a week, so my leisure activities invariably involve the dogs or sailing, in fact anything other than guns sometimes!

On a plus side there are a lot of new shooters coming up through the ranks, I gave a talk on 'The path to owning a firearm' Yesterday evening. It ended up taking over three hours and based on the feedback and questions, the attendees will certainly be starting shooting later this year.

I had eight guns two years ago and am now down to three, my .22 rifle and black powder pistol will be sold in the coming months and I will just have my Beretta o/u shotgun for clay shooting which I do at least once a week. I like the informal turn up and shoot nature of the sport and the social club atmosphere.
Rifle and pistol clubs have become more and more restrictive, some rules are forced upon them by the Home Office and police but other restrictions by the club committees, I got fed up being told that activities we had done for years were now banned. Even down to banning making a cup of tea!
A secondary reason became the cost of club and range fees, travel cost and the time it took to get to suitable ranges.
With clay shooting less than 5 miles from my house and three more venues within a 30 minute drive, this is all the shooting I need.

I'm shooting less than I was 9 months ago, but mainly because we're renovating my fathers bungalow, so we're away almost every other weekend..

I used to shoot 2-3 times a month, at the club or at longer ranges, but now thats maybe once a month... I'm still as enthusiastic about shooting, just don't have the spare time that i used to..

At the Club AGM a couple of weeks ago the Competition Secretary stood down... I was tempted to volunteer, but as I don't get down the range very often I couldn't justify it..

Well, I am dealing with the problems of old age. My right eye has deteriorated to the point where I have a choice: I can either see the sights or the target. Those of us who participated in classic pistol shooting will remember that left handed shooting was important and so pistol has proved not to be a problem. With my left eye, i get a really good sight picture with a nice sharp image of the target. Changing to left handed rifle shooting has been more of a problem, but, if this mornings results are anything to go by, I am succeeding. Sell my guns? Well, all my rifles are older than I am and most can be sold as antiques. I do have a few that are not on ticket, but the dozen or so that are still get used and as long as I am still capable they will continue to be.
Fred