L Ross
Well-Known Member
My young neighbor, (20), that I often shoot with, stopped over last evening to do a little off hand shooting. Our time was limited so he just brought a Winchester 9422 XTR with barrel mounted open sights. I took an old Marlin Model 80 DL with the factory receiver sight. We shot 4" diamonds and prairie dogs at 80 yards. We both shot surprisingly well and had fun. We went through 20 targets twice.
Walking down to the range my friend told me, "I wish I had bought more .22 ammo when I could get it." I had badgered him until he and his father each bought a case of Aguila Super Extra, and he had bought a few bricks of Blazers at Wal-Mart. Like a lot of us rural dwellers who can identify their small number of neighbors by the pickup truck they drive at 1/4 mile, we woefully under estimate the number of people in this vast country. My young friend was surprised that with the ammo companies running 24/7 all of their production is immediately snapped up. I on the other hand am old enough to have seen this scenario before. I resisted the urge to simply give him some ammo and some primers. (I taught him not only to reload but also to cast.) There is plenty of time to help him out if this pinch goes on too long. Besides, in the 8 years he's been hanging out here at Thorn Hollow he has shot up hundreds if not thousands of rounds of my ammo. I always considered it a small price to pay to encourage a fellow shooter/reloader. I sure hope his future in the shooting sports world is not as bleak as I fear it is.
Walking down to the range my friend told me, "I wish I had bought more .22 ammo when I could get it." I had badgered him until he and his father each bought a case of Aguila Super Extra, and he had bought a few bricks of Blazers at Wal-Mart. Like a lot of us rural dwellers who can identify their small number of neighbors by the pickup truck they drive at 1/4 mile, we woefully under estimate the number of people in this vast country. My young friend was surprised that with the ammo companies running 24/7 all of their production is immediately snapped up. I on the other hand am old enough to have seen this scenario before. I resisted the urge to simply give him some ammo and some primers. (I taught him not only to reload but also to cast.) There is plenty of time to help him out if this pinch goes on too long. Besides, in the 8 years he's been hanging out here at Thorn Hollow he has shot up hundreds if not thousands of rounds of my ammo. I always considered it a small price to pay to encourage a fellow shooter/reloader. I sure hope his future in the shooting sports world is not as bleak as I fear it is.
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