Just How Many Rounds Have You Fired

[45 2.1]

I'm curious, after reading some posts of members telling their experiences. Just how many shots have you fired in your lifetime. Yep, you can count them all, as long as it was a cartridge of some kind. Don't worry if you think its not believeable, just put it down.

[imashooter2]

I started shooting when I was 5 years old... how the heck would I know? Whatever my number is, I'm sure it's light compared to many others.

[JSH]

I was at a little over 1K of cast bullets the end of march. That is not counting any full length gas checks and .22..........................
Jeff

[9.3X62AL]

No idea, really.......probably a couple hundred thousand or so, counting all kinds of cartridges and shells.

[BruceB]

Now, this is an interesting question, and it gave me some enjoyable flashbacks. Rather than a sum total which would be wildly inaccurate, I do remember a few specifics.

-The weekend my wife and I took our belt-fed MG42 "fishing" on a fly-out trip. We took two cases of 7.92mm surplus ammo, 1000 rounds each, and deep-sixed ALL of that mangled 2000 rounds of brass in a far-northern lake. Full-auto fun at its best!

-The two S&W Model 52s we used in Bullseye competition, which between them have logged (accurate figure) over 140,000 rounds of .38 Special, virtually all handloaded, all home-cast boolits. For every round of .38 fired, we fired at least three rounds of .22 (in the rimfire stage of the National Match Course, plus International Standard Pistol, Free Pistol, Rapid-fire Pistol, etc etc). I'd wager we fired close to a million rounds between us in competition pistol shooting over about twenty years' campaigning.

-The summer of 1961, Canadian Army rifle-coaching course, wherein I fired a scorebook-logged total of roughly 11,000 rounds of .303 British over three months of shooting. Still have the books somewhere, I believe.

-My relatively new Ruger 77 in 7.62x39, in which I fired over a thousand rounds of cast loads in the first three months I owned it, using over seventy different recipes at ten rounds per recipe.

- One of our two Old Model Super Blackhawks, which fired over 15,000 rounds before the US Gummint refused permission to bring it into the States with us...that's a LOT of full-power cast-boolit .44s!

How many rounds in total? Well into seven figures. We bought primers by the case-lot for many years, and in most years used numerous cases of 5,000 over a span of quite a few years. The large majority were for peestol ammo, but there were a LOT of rifle rounds, too, though mostly jacketed stuff. Only in about the last ten years have I gotten heavily into cast-bullet rifle work, and it's endlessly fascinating. Annual consumption now is running in the 5,000- to 10,000-round area. I reckon the 'novelty' will never wear off, at this late date.

[NVcurmudgeon]

I have been keeping track of total rounds fired in my guns since Aug.1, 1972.
The total, including today's trip to the range is 102,101. I don't deduct for shots fired by others from my guns, or add for what I've shot their guns. My best guess for the time before I started counting is about 30,000 rounds, for a lifetime total of upwards of 132,000. Son of a buck! At this trifling rate I probably won't run through my first million rounds before I am called to the great rifle range in the sky.

[Buckshot]

.............I know that for several years I've been going through about 5K large rifle primers a year. Maybe only 20K pistol primers (total, lrg and small) and maybe 30K (total) small rifle primers. My consumption of SP primers has gone WAY up since getting the K38 Smith.

When I first got my Whitworth muzzle loader I know in the first 9 months I fired a bit over 1600 rounds from it. I was keeping the empty cap tins and they each held 100 CCI and 250 RWS, so I had a solid idea!.

I guess I must be up about with Curmudgeon. Didn't seem like it was enough but my heavy duty reloading and casting didn't take off until the early 80's. Yet for 25 years, it seems as though 5000+ per year would be a reasonably realistic figure.

..............Buckshot

[Junior1942]

Probably 500,000+ counting 22LR. Shooting has been my hobby for 50+ years. I have a SBH with at least 50,000 rounds through it. I have a T-C 7mm TCU with at least 100,000 rounds through it. It's still as accurate as the day I bought it some 25 years ago. Lately, I use it (4X scope) to bust clay pigeons at 150 yards. By the way, my shooting bench is on my front porch, my 25, 50, 75, 100, and 150 targets in my front yard. IOW, it's easy for me to shoot.

[fecmech]

I've been gun crazy since I was a kid,and have been shooting about 50 years. Maybe 80K+ shotgun ammo and 150-200K pistol ammo.
Ps. Buckshot--K-38's will do that to you, mine is my all time favorite and I'll never get rid of it.

[BCB]

I'm gonna estimate 70-90K rounds. If you count the military--Whoopie-Ding...BCB

[swheeler]

Not enough, but I'm still tryin' to scratch the itch!

[felix]

Max: 5K rounds big bore rifle pre college; 20K college 22 rifle team; 20K pistol 22 team in CT; 10K BR center-fire rifle; 10K big bore rifle after BR stint; 20K big bore pistol after BR stint. So, let's say: 100K absolutely, positively maximum in life time. Lately it has been no more than 1K per year. Most of my shooting has been in the venue of R&D topics rather than plinking to have fun, especially since my BR activity. I have not shot any kind of competition in the last 20 years. ... felix

[arkypete]

Bunches, lotza bunches.
Between qualifying, practicing, recon by fire, load testing, adjusting sights, hunting, competing, tinkering with cast bullets....lotza rounds.
Bought 50,000 Lyman 45 caliber gas checks 25 or so yours ago, used them up so that I'd feel good about buying 10,000 Hornady 45 caliber gas checks, which need to be reordered again.
I suspect that counting the 8 lb. cans of Bullseye, Unique, H-110, IMR 4831, IMR 4064, H-4831sc would be an equally accurate talley. Again I have no idea as to the numbers, a number of years ago a bunch of guys ordered in cases of 231 in the 4 (?) pound cans. I wore out a barrel on my Gold Cup and Python before I finished using up all that powder.
Jim

[Willbird]

well lets start with junior smallbore, 100 rounds a week for 4 months a year for 4 years, thats 6400 rounds. Then we get to junior high power, 40 a week for 3 months for 4 years, thats 2000 rounds of 30-06 and 308 before I was 18....tons and tons of 22, quite a bit of 45, 2-3 cases of 8mm, 3-4 cans of 7.62x54r spammo. I'm gonna just round it off to about 50,000 rounds between the time I fired my first shot until my 40th birthday in december 2004.

I'd like to double that number by the time I'm 45 and now that I live out of town.

Bill

[sundog]

Got a BB gun almost 50 years ago. Lots of BBs. Lots of'em, no way to count. And .22 pellets. Then .22 RF. Lots of'em. Used to shoot in an old sand pit when I was in grade school - went by myself - how many kids today do something like that? Then indoor small bore team and an indoor NRA youth club. Rifle team every day during the season, club on Friday nights. Lots of .22 RF, and no way to count. Lots of'em. The military, first Air Force, then Army. M14, M16, M203, .38, .45, 9mm, M60, Ma Deuce, 81mm mortar. An Air Force buddy, Larry Cunningham from New Mexico, got me into casting in the early 70s. Don't know if he should be blessed or cursed.... He and I would shoot quite often on the indoor range at lunch time, 50-100 rounds at a whack. Spent some time doing skeet, too. Lots of'em. I've shot more, and more regularly since I retired from the Army in 94 then when I was in. Right now it is regular for 88 rounds high power and 50 rounds (plus sighters) military bolt every month, but that's just for starters and add some practice sessions on top of that. There's small bore matches. There's plinking and load testing behind the barn, and my club range is just 8 miles from the house. It's normal to shoot another hunert or more rounds after a match, and sometimes a couple hunert pistol once or twice a month just for grins. I have some 06 brass that has like 10 or twelve loadings in a batch of about 300 pieces, other batches with varying amounts. My 35 Whelen alone has a batch of 150 that are already very well used. .45 acp brass in a batch of what started out at about 500 that the headstamp on many is gone. When I was in the Army (later years) I would go sometimes once or twice a week at lunch time and shoot pistol when the wx was nice. It was nothing to go rip off a hunert rounds.

No way to tell total.... But it sure has been fun! If I were guessing, 100K wouldn't even come close, but 250K might be in the ball park. sundog

[StarMetal]

Well I guess I fit in with you other fellows, shooting up into the hundred's of K's.When I first got my Ruger Blackhawk in 45LC I was shooting like 250 rounds of lead out of it a week and I did that for years. The thing that amazes me is with all the hundred's of K's of shooting we've all talked about here is that Carpetman still doubts that I loaded an astronomical amount of ammo on an old RCBS Jr press and wore it out.

Joe

[Scrounger]

Well I guess I fit in with you other fellows, shooting up into the hundred's of K's.When I first got my Ruger Blackhawk in 45LC I was shooting like 250 rounds of lead out of it a week and I did that for years. The thing that amazes me is with all the hundred's of K's of shooting we've all talked about here is that Carpetman still doubts that I loaded an astronomical amount of ammo on an old RCBS Jr press and wore it out.
Joe

CarpetMan doubts lots of things.

[Bass Ackward]

I'm curious, after reading some posts of members telling their experiences. Just how many shots have you fired in your lifetime. Yep, you can count them all, as long as it was a cartridge of some kind. Don't worry if you think its not believeable, just put it down.

Bob,

Was really thinking to put down a reasonbly accurate number otherwise why bother. Thought I had it too. Then I read someone counting 22LR. Oh my goodness, never considered that. Now shotgun too. Oh my God, this is nye on impossible.

What this really brings to mind, is that I could be sitting on a beach somewhere living the good life if I had just saved my money. Instead, I ..... well, .... I gotta go load some shells. I'll think on it somemore.

[Jumptrap]

I haven't got a clue. Not nearly so many as most of you. I do vividly recall that the first spring I was married to the first wife....I was laid off from work and it was the two of us....I was 20 and now past 47. I shot over 40,000 rounds of .22 rf through 3 guns....a Colt Challenger pissola, a Marlin 60, and a 10-22. I still have the 10-22 and the Colt...wore the marlin mechanism out. At least half and probably 2/3's went through the Colt. I was young had steady nerves and good eyes and I could kill starlings at 50 yards offhand with that pistol. I wore the original magazine out sliding it in and out so much and of course, the gun was well used when I bought it. I think it was made between '50 and '55, i got it in '77. I am sure I have put over 100K through it myself and am convinced you cannot wear out a 22 rimfire barrel! I'd estimate another 100K of centerfire have been shot at any rate, I'd say 250,000 rounds would be tops. I did have a life other than shooting.....raised 2 kids to adulthood, been through 2 marriages, raising 2 more children, carried a full time job, started and ran 2 businesses simultanioulsy, mowed 2+ acres of grass every week besides all the other stuff and man has to do. I have killed lots of game and yet, i'd bet I never fired over 4500 rounds at all the critters I ever shot....which includes birds and frogs and varmints. I know I have killed over 200 deer and that required maybe 210 shots. I killed and missed lots of squirrels and rabbits and grouse. But I sure had fun along the way.

[45 2.1]

Jump-
I can assure you, you can wear out to almost nothing, a barrel, 22 or otherwise, with lead bullets.