Complaints about the cost of subgun shooting?

[Monkeyleg]

I'm sorry. The person who emailed me today about the cost of ammo for a fund-raising subgun shoot I've scheduled may be a member of APS.

And I may thus insult him or her.

But, think about this for just five seconds: I've scheduled a fund-raising submachine gun shoot to help raise funds for pro-gun candidates.

For many years, I owned a 1927 Thompson, the "Elliot Ness" style Thompson.

And it cost an arm and a leg to shoot.

Spend fifteen minutes loading the drum, and fifteen seconds to shoot it empty.

Several years ago, I took two clients who liked guns to shoot that Thompson over their lunch breaks.

It cost me $250 for ammo, for just 45 minutes of shooting. And that $250 came from my own pocket, not my clients.

I don't know where this person got the idea that he could shoot several different full-auto's, and not have to pay for ammo. Or that the price of ammo would somehow fit his budget.

Isn't the idea of shooting full-auto's to blast through as many rounds as possible?

[CAnnoneer]

The Thompson has a very high rate of fire, IIRC. Why not invest in an MP of some sort? Especially the Erma (MP38?) models were meant to be so slow as to squeeze individual shots if necessary. Maybe it will help cut your costs at least in half.

[Monkeyleg]

CAnnoneer, I think you missed the point of my rant.

I've scheduled a submachine gun shoot  to raise money for our political action committee. There will be several subguns at the shoot, and participants can shoot any or all of them. The cost for the event is $75 per person. $10 of that goes to pay for the range time, and the other $65 goes to pro-gun candidates.

For safety reasons, ammo must be purchased from the range. This was a stipulation made by the range owner as well as the person who owns all of the subguns.

The guy I mentioned above is complaining about the cost of ammo (which has already been discounted by the range owner for this shoot), and that he won't get to shoot as many rounds as he would like.

Well, duh! Ammo goes downrange pretty fast when you're in full-auto mode. What's this guy thinking?

Maybe he should bring a single-shot Thompson Center Contender in .38 and be happy with that.

There's some weird people in this world. Unfortunately, I have more than my allotted share of them contacting me.

[CAnnoneer]

$75 seems pretty modest to me when taking into account the rundown and cause.

When they bitch, let them know that in my neck of the woods, range time is $18, gun rental is $5-10, and ammo is $11-13 per baggie of 50 reloaded brass pistol rounds, which you have to buy if you use range guns (unless it is a .22LR). I keep my costs down by owning the guns I shoot, buying ammo on the internet (9mm) and W-M- (.22LR), and paying for annual membership at the range. Keep them in perspective.

[Gewehr98]

So why not just have a local, say perhaps in the Sun Prairie/Token Creek area, just fire up the Dillon 550 and provide .45 ACP for a hell of a lot cheaper?

[Monkeyleg]

So why not just have a local, say perhaps in the Sun Prairie/Token Creek area, just fire up the Dillon 550 and provide .45 ACP for a hell of a lot cheaper?

I never reloaded for my Thompson. Ever.

The idea of a squib load is pretty scarey when shooting full-auto.

Besides, who's going to take the time to do all the reloading?

And why should someone take all that time? This is a fund-raiser. People should expect to spend money.

[Bogie]

Ask 'em "what part of "charity" don't you understand?"

[Gewehr98]

They can spend money, to the tune of 3-4 bucks per box of 50 rounds 230gr RN.  No reason the owner of the Thompson has to eat the ammo costs on top of wear and tear on the subgun.  

BTW, no squib loads - ever.  I've shot tens of thousands of rounds of my Dillon-reloaded .45 ACP in over 14 years of USPSA/IPSC competition.  But hey, it was just an offer, which I now in hindsight must retract.

[Strings]

Gewehr98, the problem is the risk of a squib, which IS present. Should you get a squib in the middle of a full-auto string (and not notice it), you could VERY easily destroy somebody's extremely expensive gun. If you get a squib with a box of Winchester, then Winchester will probably end up paying for a new gun. Now, I don't know about you, but *I* don't have $15K or more to pony up for someone else's toy...

[Perd Hapley]

I would only complain if it was something cheesy, like a 9mm.  How can you complain when you're using .45?

[Monkeyleg]

"(and not notice it)"

Bill, you've shot FA's before. If you're emptying the magazine, by the time you'd hear a squib, the gun would already be toast.

Money must really be tight for a lot of people, as fund-raising this year has just been a bitch.

[Rem700SD]

Unless you're charging is excessive for the ammo, I dont' see their basis for complaint.  

   I've had friends shoot my walther MPL and MPK and I can relate, especially when they didn't care if they hit anything with it or not!(as long as it hit the backstop)

[charby]

I'd pay the price you are asking for the fund raiser, just so I can shoot a sub gun. I know that I can never afford to own one unless I get really successful or win the lottery.

But you know some people would bitch about the rope, if they got hung with the softest nicest rope out there.

-C

[DJJ]

I think you've discovered the overdeveloped sense of entitlement too many people seem to have.