Thinking of Getting Back into Sporting Clays

M

mrgoat

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
10   0   0
Location
North Western Ontario
The local club in my area is putting in a sporting clays field and will be set to go for the good weather of 2023. Since retiring from clay target shooting after 30 yrs. of it, I haven't set foot on a clay field in over 20 yrs.
So since there will be a field close at hand I was giving serious thought to coming out of retirement. I still have all my gear except for reloading components, which upon a little research have discovered components are extremely hard to come by and expensive. I hear most fellas these days buy flats of ammo. So my question to you active shooters is, where do you get your ammo from and just what costs are involved these days. Thank you for your time.
 
I gave up reloading 12 g and 20 g a long time ago because there were no savings to be had and I didn't have the time to do it. I still reload 16 g and 28 g but components are very difficult to find, especially primers and some powders. Reloading is a pretty good hobby but by the time you purchase a press and scour the earth for components your further ahead just purchasing flats of 12 and 20 target ammo.
I purchase most of my ammo from one of the clubs I belong to who sell ammo to members for a good price.
 
I load 410 and 28 gauge for skeet, but I buy my 12 and 20 gauge, from whomever has the best deal, and actually has stock, usually Prophet River. And I have even bought Challengers on sale at Cabelas , even though I don't like Challengers, and prefer not to shop at Cabelas.
 
I’m finding it expensive these days, to the point where I’ve cut back on my shooting. Regular target ammo is running a Disney+ per box. I watch for sales and try to stock up then. If you have to pay for shipping it’s even more costly. Hummason’s in Ancaster has good prices, Cabelas and Bass Pro have occasional sales, but generally expect to pay $100-$140 per flat of 10 boxes. Don’t forget your local gun store, sometimes they will have good deals as well. If someone knows of a less costly supply I’d like to hear about it too.

Sporting clays for me is the most fun you can have shooting clays.

Cheers
 
Would love to shoot clays more often but am actually shooting much less now, higher costs are killing the game. If I average what each box of shells cost it’s $14, plus my club raised its fee to $7.50 per round…so $21.50 for every round of 5 stand I shoot. Adds up real fast and unfortunately my hobbies are first thing that get cut back on when things are tight.
 
browninggold said:
Would love to shoot clays more often but am actually shooting much less now, higher costs are killing the game. If I average what each box of shells cost it’s $14, plus my club raised its fee to $7.50 per round…so $21.50 for every round of 5 stand I shoot. Adds up real fast and unfortunately my hobbies are first thing that get cut back on when things are tight.
Click to expand...

Yes same here. My wife and I sat down and figured out our shoot schedule for the upcoming year. We will be cutting our shooting back substantially. I've put my dedicated doubles gun up for sale as I'll be cutting the doubles out of my trap regimen at registered shoots. Fortunately we have enough ammunition stockpiled to get us through the next 3-4 seasons if we stick to our guns and just shoot a couple shoots per season.
 
the spank said:
Yes same here. My wife and I sat down and figured out our shoot schedule for the upcoming year. We will be cutting our shooting back substantially. I've put my dedicated doubles gun up for sale as I'll be cutting the doubles out of my trap regimen at registered shoots. Fortunately we have enough ammunition stockpiled to get us through the next 3-4 seasons if we stick to our guns and just shoot a couple shoots per season.
Click to expand...

I still shoot skeet twice per week, and will shoot the sporting clays league, and the Ducks Unlimited Sporting Clays shoot, but I am no longer shooting sporting clays twice per week, as the cost of ammunition and fuel , and the availability of ammunition have become factors. We are still paying $5 per round for skeet, but we will review that when we have to purchase clays again, which will be sometime in 2023. But the cost for clays is by far the least of my concerns, as an extra $5 per day is insignificant compared to the cost of ammunition. I have enough 12 and 20 gauge for a couple of years, and enough components to load 410 and 28 gauge for a couple of years, but I dread having to buy 410 and 28 gauge to get new hulls, when I have to retire the ones that I am using after another couple of years.
 
stubblejumper said:
I still shoot skeet twice per week, and will shoot the sporting clays league, and the Ducks Unlimited Sporting Clays shoot, but I am no longer shooting sporting clays twice per week, as the cost of ammunition and fuel , and the availability of ammunition have become factors. We are still paying $5 per round for skeet, but we will review that when we have to purchase clays again, which will be sometime in 2023. But the cost for clays is by far the least of my concerns, as an extra $5 per day is insignificant compared to the cost of ammunition. I have enough 12 and 20 gauge for a couple of years, and enough components to load 410 and 28 gauge for a couple of years, but I dread having to buy 410 and 28 gauge to get new hulls, when I have to retire the ones that I am using after another couple of years.
Click to expand...

Targets have increased in price substantially too. For the 2022 season our club had to raise our 10 rd card to members by $10 and to non-members by $25. At that we are actually not breaking even. At the end of the year the club had to cover the difference by $300 but we are trying to keep target costs as low as possible but we will be reviewing our target costs/budget for 2023 and pricing accordingly. Fortunately being on the highway we have good exposure and implemented an advertising program and have been able to rent a handful of advertising boards on an annual basis that has helped financially substantially.
Registered shoots are now costing upwards of $40/100 targets plus daily fees so combine that with ammo costs, gas, motels etc it has forced us to cut back on the number of shoots we can attend. For what a weekend trap shoot costs we can take the boat, rent a cottage and fish for a week.
 
3 or 4 years ago my wife and I did a road trip to check out a couple of sporting clays courses that we hadn't shot before, two nights in a hotel was free because I paid with points but gas, meals, shells and 200 targets each at two course cost me $1200 bucks, I hate to think what it would cost today!
 
Ya I ran the math too. I’m reloading for $10.40 per box including shipping and HST for new product. Those would be handicap loads too. Luckily I have hoarded shotgun supplies for the last 20 years when you could still buy powder and primers for $25-30/ lb or less and $30-40 /1000 respectively. and wads cheap, hulls cheap, etc. I bought out many a reloading lots off older gents for cheap too.

I’m still cutting back though. 4 rounds per week max.

Unless of course I start running them…… so still 4 rounds per week lol.
 
the spank said:
Targets have increased in price substantially too. For the 2022 season our club had to raise our 10 rd card to members by $10 and to non-members by $25. At that we are actually not breaking even. At the end of the year the club had to cover the difference by $300 but we are trying to keep target costs as low as possible but we will be reviewing our target costs/budget for 2023 and pricing accordingly. Fortunately being on the highway we have good exposure and implemented an advertising program and have been able to rent a handful of advertising boards on an annual basis that has helped financially substantially.
Registered shoots are now costing upwards of $40/100 targets plus daily fees so combine that with ammo costs, gas, motels etc it has forced us to cut back on the number of shoots we can attend. For what a weekend trap shoot costs we can take the boat, rent a cottage and fish for a week.
Click to expand...

We will adjust prices to at least break even, after paying new prices for targets. Our skeet field is part of a combined range, so we do have some income from range rentals, and costs are shared for all disciplines, but everything has gone up, and we actually had to increase membership fees for 2023.
 
stubblejumper said:
We will adjust prices to at least break even, after paying new prices for targets. Our skeet field is part of a combined range, so we do have some income from range rentals, and costs are shared for all disciplines, but everything has gone up, and we actually had to increase membership fees for 2023.
Click to expand...

We had to do the same for the 2022 season.
 
Rile #1 - most hobbies cost money and the more enjoyable ones cost the most. Shotgun sports have never been cheap, especially registered events and not too many hourly rate working people have ever been able to afford to compete at a high level. Most of the registered trapshooters I’ve seen over the last 30-35 years have been small businessmen, tradesmen, a few professionals, only a few can afford more than casual participation. Numbers have been dwindling for a few years but now that the squeeze is on many are revisiting their priorities. With many shooters cutting back in the amount they shoot and the number of events they attend we can expect to see lower club level participation, fewer and fewer events, higher costs for clubs and inevitably clubs folding altogether adding to the snowball effect. This happened before during the recession of the early 80’s but at that time most clubs managed to hang on. This time I’m not so optimistic.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom