Henry Rifle Forums

As I see prices escalate and even though I have a variety of calibers, not as many as some of you Im starting to narrow down the calibers of guns Im going to shoot and stock ammo and components for. I do have a stock pile of all the primers but Im only keeping up with small pistol. Mainly for 40 and 357. I dont load 9mm because its about as cheap to buy loaded rounds. For myself I cant afford to stock pile supplies for all of the guns that I have. I dont shoot alot of them very much. Ive pretty much narrowed mine down to 22LR, 9mm, 357, 40, and of course some Black Powder. I know some of you like Gene only shoots 22LR and RR shoots 45 Colt and 50 Cal BP. Anyone else think along the same lines. Prices of everyday life items have gone way up.

Because of where I live, most of my shooting is limited to air rifles so I keep several tins of .22 and .177 pellets on hand. When at the cabin however, most of my shooting is 22LR and 357 rounds. I don't reload so I keep a few boxes of factory rounds of each of those on hand. Mostly the 22LR.

I think I’ve only shot rimfire and .410 in the last two years. Not counting the BB’s and pellets. Twenty years ago I shot mainly 303 British, and some 30.06, 7.62 and 5.56 NATO along with 9MM for pistol. My shooting goals have changed a lot over the last few decades and now I shoot mainly because it gives me an excuse to fondle some firearms.

I don't shoot as much as used to due to old age and a bad shoulder, however, when I do shoot It's
usually a 9mm or .22. Once in a while I drag out the old Colt .357 Mag but only shoot a few rounds.
I used to shoot trap and skeet but my shoulder put a stop to that.

Last evening I was talking on the phone with a very old shooting buddy of mine and he said he
remembered the last day I shot skeet and that I shot two 25s in a row.

I don't remember that, but what a note to end on I guess.

A couple of years ago a friend asked me to take him to our gun club and shoot a round of Trap. I
explained to him that I had never shot a lot of trap and wasn't very good, then shot a 23 while he
shot a 12. He accused me of putting him on. No, I guess it's like riding a bike. You never quite lose it.

I’m finding that I shoot (when I do) mostly 22 caliber center and rimfire rifles. Mostly due to the lack of recoil and the less cost to buy components for .223. Plus my handgun caliber carbines from Henry of course. I only have two 30 caliber rifles left on hand which I did shoot recently. For handgun I like my 9mm’s and rimfires.

I’m thinking of selling several guns I rarely shoot but I’ll wait on that for now. Maybe next spring.

While on the subject, I still have the hunting rifles and shotguns that I used when I was younger.
I don't hunt anymore, (except in the freezer), so I don't use them. Our two daughters are to be
executers of our last will and testament and they have suggested I sell some of them so they don't
have to deal with it when I pass.
I know that's sensible, but it's like selling my children. Which ones go first? Which ones do I keep?
I think I'll surely keep the .22s and 9mms.
The laws are all changing making it more difficult so who do I sell them to? I have a close friend that
had a gun store come to his home and give him a price that he thought was fair and he sold most of his.
I just might do that.

I like the 22LR and 9mm thought. I do however have a 40 in a Ruger PC Carbine. Its a hoot to shoot and I did collect quite a few supplies before all this increase in other things. 40 isnt to much more than 9 and easy to come by because not many people care for that round.

Most of our shooting is now air rifle and a big part of that is being able to it right at home, any time we want, but also because we've invested in some high end air guns that are accurate enough to keep me interested.

Next up are rimfires which we love and hopefully will always shoot, assuming ammo is still affordable and easy to find. Even if we get hit with another ammo panic and shortage, we have enough rimfire ammo stocked to last a long time.

Between the air guns and the rimfires, we have most, but not all, of our shooting covered.

The centerfire stuff is mostly me, not my husband, and it's me from a lifetime of shooting everything from 22 Hornet all the way up to the big bruisers. Since I no longer reload, I'm getting hit with scarcity of some cartridges, so not sure what I'll do when my stockpile of cartridges like the 22 Hornet or 32 H&R and so on runs out. Same for the big magnum cartridges, though with those it's getting to be more and more a matter of pricing for factory ammo.

I would love to say that I am over shooting my 44 mags, 45-70 and the like and I've tried to quit, but I just can't do it. Too many memories, too many hours invested in learning how to shoot them and, well, I still enjoy shooting them, so I hope I always can.

Al, I still shoot most all of mine, not as regularly as before, but I do get around to most of them yearly.
Now the 2 AR's are standing by, but haven't been fired in the past 2 years.
Mostly the pistol caliber rifles on the back yard gongs and the 22's.
The 38-55 and the short 444 for some bigger type fun on those gongs.
I did sell one of the -06's to a nephew a couple years back, and the other is probably going down the road shortly also.
I picked up a 6.5 CM if I need to shoot anything long distance, and it has Way less recoil.
I hoping that between the 4 grandsons and a great grandson, that at least a couple will take an interest.
The # 2 one has for sure.
And, I do have dies, and components for everything here, and then some.

RP

Mostly 22 and 9mm, because I am a cheapskate, but have been shooting my 45-70 a bit of late, and it is my favorite.

Centaur wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 09, 2023 12:25 pm

Mostly 22 and 9mm, because I am a cheapskate, but have been shooting my 45-70 a bit of late, and it is my favorite.

I'm bettin that the 45-70 isn't cheap to shoot.
Unless you load your own.

RP

Yeah, I sold or traded most of my deer/elk bolt rifle when I stopped hunting in 2012. I shoot my .45 acp and .45 Colt more than anything else.
.22lr rifles also while out in the desert also. Like most here, I stocked up before the pandemic thing came around. I shoot those .45's and don't think about. Deserts are cooling somewhat; waiting.

I did keep my 94 in 30-30 and my Ruger No.1B in 30-06. Those aren't going anywhere.

.410 and 45 Colt mostly. Almost never .22LR.

Vaquero wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 09, 2023 12:32 pm

Centaur wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 09, 2023 12:25 pm

Mostly 22 and 9mm, because I am a cheapskate, but have been shooting my 45-70 a bit of late, and it is my favorite.

I'm bettin that the 45-70 isn't cheap to shoot.
Unless you load your own.

RP

Yeah, load my own, but still not cheap.

The 45-70 is crazy, crazy expensive to shoot if you don't reload. Factory ammo starts at $ 2.50 a shot for the basic loads and goes up fast for the premium loads. That's why I rarely shoot up a full box of 20 on a given range trip. One of the reasons I always bring along something cheaper to shoot when I'm at the range with a 45-70. We're lucky enough to have a nice bunch of rimfire falling block single shots and even one in 223 when we want to keep ammo costs down.

Still shooting everything except 9mm and .40 since I don't have those. Haven't fired my 12 gauge pump in a long time but have fun with the couple of 20's and that single shot .410 . I load for the pistol cals. and have plenty of reloading supplies for that and .45-70 which I have a bunch of that loaded up.
LGS has a huge amount of .22 rimfire ammo on hand so I might pick up some of that mostly the CB's and Quiets which I love to plink with.
Cool Fall weather will be moving in soon and prime time for range fun! 2024 and 25 might be a strange time coming so I want to have some ammo on hand incase things dry up again

Lately, .357.

My rolling block 45-70 with my own cast bullets and duplex loads using black powder with a few grains of smokeless over the primer.