quote:

Did it all through college. Sporting clays is fun. Trap and skeet take the repetitiveness to new levels. To get respectfully good, the routine is mind boggling. It makes baseball pitchers look sane and agnostic. I knew one shooter who has to have a lit cigarette in his left hand in order to be accurate at trap

Have someone shoot back at you. LOL That is a lot of fun and gets the adrenaline going Taking challenging gun classes out of town with difficult drills makes a difference. I am talking about simunitions and such. Compete with people who are much better than you. The problem is you, not the gun industry. I do not mean that to be offensive. I can recognize boredom.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

quote:

Did it all through college. Sporting clays is fun. Trap and skeet take the repetitiveness to new levels. To get respectfully good, the routine is mind boggling. It makes baseball pitchers look sane and agnostic. I knew one shooter who has to have a lit cigarette in his left hand in order to be accurate at trap

Have someone shoot back at you. LOL That is a lot of fun and gets the adrenaline going Taking challenging gun classes out of town with difficult drills makes a difference. I am talking about simunitions and such. Compete with people who are much better than you. The problem is you, not the gun industry. I do not mean that to be offensive. I can recognize boredom.

Great...where is this magical Simunition course? I've seen one in my life, it required a specialized gun, body armor, an instructor to supervise, and oh yeah, it was in the middle of the desert 75 miles away from anything resembling civilization. I live outside of Washington DC where the property value of my front lawn is the same as that that entire simunitions course.

I'm not saying your idea is a bad one -- "playing against others." The Call of Duty franchise alone is worth about $10 billion. Yes, that's with a "B". I'm pretty sure one video game franchise is worth roughly the same as the American firearm industry. Clearly there is money in pretend shooting at other people.

But I do think that something better or more fun has to be around the corner. At the rate the sport is advancing, it's only a little surprising we haven't seen some major evolution the way we've seen with pretty much every other sports out there.

Look into paint ball and /or air soft

quote:

Originally posted by sjp:
Look into paint ball and /or air soft

I'm not 12 and I have a professional job -- walking around with a giant welt on my face because I got "tagged" isn't exactly my cup of tea. And it's also the reason nobody else whose job has a 401k participates much much in these activities.

I'm not trying to be negative here. I've tried everything that's been mentioned -- wasn't kidding about the 25 years of doing this stuff. And maybe that's why even though there are millions of gun owners, things like Simunitions are a niche market.

Good responses to try and help you out. I don't think there is a magic pill here. If the gun industry and shooting has lost its luster, maybe you need to step away AGAIN.
I have been involved in the gun game since I was 12 years old (I'm 48 now). I have shot and collected a lot of different firearms. My main enjoyment comes from trading and acquisition of new firearms. I'm always chasing something new and improved.
But I can see how you can get burned out easily. Step back and figure out what makes you happy. Try exercising and burning some cals. Its a great way to improve your health and your mood. (Just a suggestion, I'm not Richard Simmons either).

quote:

Originally posted by sigforever:
Good responses to try and help you out. I don't think there is a magic pill here. If the gun industry and shooting has lost its luster, maybe you need to step away AGAIN.
I have been involved in the gun game since I was 12 years old (I'm 48 now). I have shot and collected a lot of different firearms. My main enjoyment comes from trading and acquisition of new firearms. I'm always chasing something new and improved.
But I can see how you can get burned out easily. Step back and figure out what makes you happy. Try exercising and burning some cals. Its a great way to improve your health and your mood. (Just a suggestion, I'm not Richard Simmons either).

Heh, I do have other hobbies besides shooting. I said I'm bored with shooting, not life

We have all this tech though and so little of it has trickled into shooting. In the 1980s you had a huge explosion of various shooting games -- IPSC, IDPA, etc. New technologies were making guns faster, there were .38 Super race guns that were tuned to Ferrari-like specs. Heck, you had the introduction of various sporting clays games using new throwers, targets, etc. Double stack guns were becoming more and more popular, optics went from crappy scopes to truly effective, etc.

That somewhat continued into the 1990s with 1911 innovation exploding, Glocks and Wondernines continuing on, and CCW gaining more and more traction. This certainly was the "prime" for Sig, Beretta, Glock, etc. And 1911s went from cottage industry to works of art. They also got a lot more reliable, particularly with CMC, Wilson Combat, EGW, etc. making high quality parts available to the masses.

I'd say in the 2000s, the AR and cowboy markets really took off. You had the rise in popularity of 3-Gun shooting, SASS really got going, and the AWB expiring caused a surge of innovation in high capacity. Red dot sights on rifles became a mature technology, rail accessory systems became standardized, and thing like lights, night sights, and even drop in parts achieved a new level of maturity.

I got into most of these trends and it was a lot of fun trying things out. Some worked, some didn't, but it was all pretty innovative and fun.

We have not had anything like that in the 2010s. The closest thing I can think of is the rise of affordable, modular bolt action rifles -- I just don't have anywhere to shoot those so it's sort of passed me over. We went from rails to Keymod/M-LOK for ARs. Our Sigs got rails and tails, and went backwards in quality. The 1911 of today is the same as the 1911 of 2010 -- there has been next to zero improvement.

There aren't really any new "games" the way you saw the rise of practical shooting 1980s and 1990s. There aren't any new tools or innovations to learn about or perfect. We've just kind of settled on the fact 9mm and .45 will rule the world, and we'll shoot them out of vintage guns because we can't think of anything better. Look at the gun we're all excited about -- the P210 American -- that was designed in the 1950s, firing a caliber that's over 100 years old.

And maybe we're just in the doldrums because tech has not matured enough to make an impact on shooting. Force on force training might be the next big thing once the price drops and reliability improves.

Or we just need to lobby harder for the repeal or reform of NFA to allow SBRs and silencers to become easier to obtain. That'd certainly get a lot of interest going

Very relevant and timely post OP.

I call it jaded. Nothing really trips my trigger anymore. A fellow shooter once told me years ago that all one needs is 1911's, Glocks, and Smith & Wesson Revolvers. Low and behold that's almost exactly where I have landed, including a healthy smattering of AR platforms. I have even bought two of the same gun when I find myself not satisfied with anything new.

About the only thing that interests me these days are the new technology suppressors especially the rimfire and 9mm stuff, the SIG MPX as a SBR platform with said suppressor of choice, and maybe the Smith & Wesson custom shop weighted 6 inch revolvers in 357 and 44.
mag....and 300 BLK OUT platforms and loading the cartridge. Maybe steel pin wet tumbling.
Wish Smith would bring back a K frame 4 inch 9mm.

I reload every caliber I shoot on Dillon progressives so factory ammo for me is limited to 22LR and defense loads.

Started loading 40 S&W first and will never let that caliber go. Shoot the Glock with match grade accuracy despite some that say it cannot, with blazing speed and reliability in IDPA and USPSA.

Second hobby is RC aircraft but nothing like the passion I have for the shooting sports.

TR

Good point Tree Rat -- the suppressor industry has really taken off in recent years. Hadn't thought of that until you brought it up. I guess the paperwork has kept me away from it.

And I sold my only S&W revolver
Now I just have an old Colt I-Frame Trooper (Python without the Python barrel) and a 6" GP100 that I use to teach with. But I do agree with the statement in general -- you eventually just settle on what works.

Check this out

http://simunition.com/en/train...only/course_schedule

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Check this out

http://simunition.com/en/train...only/course_schedule

Interesting. Have you taken one of these classes? From their description, I'm not sure if it's more an instruction on the Simunition system, or actual force-on-force training.

No I have not. I cannot tell either from the website. Perhaps some of the LEO and Military on this Forum have more knowledge of this stuff. I know that some SWAT teams train with this stuff.

If you have friends in Law Enforcement, they can be a good guide on this sort of thing. The local County Prosecuting Attorney I know trains from time to time in live fire with the SWAT team here. He tells me it takes your skills to another level.

Hope this helps.

You could always knock of a D.C. Liquor Store. That'll make your putter flutter.

Get into NOD/thermal or long range rifle shooting.

quote:

You could always knock of a D.C. Liquor Store. That'll make your putter flutter

That makes you an accessory. Ha Ha

quote:

Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
Get into NOD/thermal or long range rifle shooting.

Wish I could. Nearest range longer than 100 yards is 2 hours away, costs $20 to shoot there, and it's not great. I would love to get a nice .308 bolt action and spend some time focusing on breathing and trigger control.

quote:

Originally posted by smithnsig:
You could always knock of a D.C. Liquor Store. That'll make your putter flutter.

I've been to DC liquor stores. There's hardly anything worth stealing.

quote:

Originally posted by caneau:

quote:

Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
Get into....long range rifle shooting.

Wish I could. Nearest range longer than 100 yards is 2 hours away, costs $20 to shoot there, and it's not great. I would love to get a nice .308 bolt action and spend some time focusing on breathing and trigger control.

Precision 22lr rifle shooting. I don't mean plinking with Remington Thunderbolt POS ammo on big targets. I talking about sub-sonic, high-quality match ammo, on small steel targets. A mini-me version of centerfire tactical/steel matches.

For a 22lr sighted in at 50 yards, it takes about 6 MOA of elevation to impact on target at 100 yards. Wind drift for a 10 mph crosswind is 4.5 MOA.

For a 308 sighted in at 100 yards, it takes about 6 MOA of elevation to impact on target at 350 yards. Wind drift for a 10 mph crosswind is 2.2 MOA.

This means from an elevation standpoint, a 22lr at 100 yards feels like 350 yards in a 308. However, wind drift is twice as much with the 22lr, demanding much better wind reading skills with the 22lr. Many of the best tactical match shooters around here spend much of the practice time with 22's. I shot my first steel 22lr match last month -- it was an absolute hoot.

FWIW, 200 yards with a 22lr is similar to 800 yards with a 308, except that the 22lr bullet has about 60% more wind drift.

Tactical matches are is why Remington 40X 22lr rifles are being purchased for their actions. It's why talented 'smiths like jelrod1 on this site are converting 40X rifles to repeaters. It's why other quality 22lr barreled actions are being mated to stocks designed for center fire chamberings. It's why Vudoo Gun Works just announced a new repeater 22lr action.

Bored with the gun industry is a novel idea.
I am not bored with the SHOOTING I do and am not interested in something New and Improved unless it is very easy to transition to from the Old and Proven.

There are some good points here, though.

1) Recoil mitigation -- look at what Kriss did and see if something similar is possible with handguns. There has to be a better way to limit muzzle flip

The 7.5 Brno "vaporware" has a sliding weight akin to the recoil reducers often put in shotgun butts. New ideas that do not add bulk and weight would be appreciated, but do you think nobody has been working on it?

2) Better out of the box triggers. In 100 years, why is the 1911 still king? Why does anything have more than a 5 lbs pull weight or any sort of stacking or grit? Why is having an acceptable trigger pull a "premium"? Why does my 50 year old I-Frame have a better trigger pull than the best new revolvers on the market?

Agree somewhat. We were assured that the Bren Ten would issue in a new era of good factory triggers. Hasn't happened. Good triggers involve more precision manufacture or/and handwork than the market will support in mass production. But there is a risk involved with a light pull on the current crop of striker fired guns made out of plastic and sheet metal. Just ask Sig. But they ought not to be gritty.

3) Better and more integrated sights and lights. Why do these look and feel like an afterthought on nearly every gun?

I have no problem with sights. I am amused by the demand for fixed sights to replace the adjustables that were once the main premium upgrade to own. Lights are a moving target, ever brighter, and style is taking a back seat.

4) Even if a design is interesting, I hesitate buy it immediately because I know it will have a factory recall within the first year or two. At least with a Glock, I think they have most of the kinks worked out.

Agreed. Back to the bottom line. Letting the paying customers and the warranty clerk complete the design is obviously the more profitable approach. I am not so sure about Glock, though. They have been meddling with a "mature design" for a while now, trying to keep up with the copiers, and it has cost them.

I'm right there with you caneau.

I remain interested in the "software" side of personal defense, but find the "hardware" discussions incredibly nit-picky and boring.