Jump to content
Brian Enos's Forums... Maku mozo!

How much do top GM's shoot


jrbet83

Recommended Posts

How many rounds a year do top GMs shoot? I've heard numbers before, but sounded more like gossip then any hard fact. I realize that some shoot a ton and some very little anymore, but guessing at one point even those guys hard periods where they shoot more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 69
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I'm far from the top but I did sleep at holiday GM a couple times. I probably shoot about 20k a year. The biggest thing to me though is not quanity but quality. If I tell you to go shoot 500 rounds doing what ever you have just wasted 500 rounds. Now if I twill you to shoot 500 rounds but focus on strong and weak hand only shooting plate racks at 15 yards and make each shot count you probably will get more out if it.

Edited by steel1212
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I asked Eric Grauffel at nationals, and he said 100k to 150k per year. He's the best, so there you go.

Adam Tyc said he shot a similar amount when he was still competing. When my face dropped at the number, he reassured me by saying, "Don't worry, with only 50k you can get a pretty good result." He did go on to say that 50k is the bare minimum he would consider if you want to be good.

I believe I read or heard once that Leatham and Enos were shooting a great deal when they were early in their shooting careers. I don't think I heard numbers, but it sounded like they were getting free components and shooting nearly every day. Objection! Hearsay! ... Sustained.

Obviously there are American GMs who are way up there who shoot a lot less than 50k rounds per year. Ben Stoeger comes immediately to mind.

I think the lesson is that more is better. However, there are people who have achieved great things with fewer than Adam Tyc's bare minimum, but those people have found other ways than copious live fire to develop their skills.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How many rounds a year do top GMs shoot? I've heard numbers before, but sounded more like gossip then any hard fact. I realize that some shoot a ton and some very little anymore, but guessing at one point even those guys hard periods where they shoot more.

Most of the top guys shoot 50-80k a year, or so I have been told. Vogel shoots a lot less (20-30).

Beltjones' post about Eric and Adam was spot on. I was at the table when it was being discussed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:surprise: I guess I can cut myself some slack. I spent 6 years in the military and 13 years in law enforcement and have been competing in the shooting sports on and off for 20 years and I doubt I have fired 50,000 rounds. WOW!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not from any personal experience, but from what I've seen a lot of the top shooters shoot the really high yearly round counts as they were progressing and moving up the ladder to the top. Then at some point they can taper off and maintain there level with less rounds down range. Before bigger matches they may increase their weekly shooting numbers for a while in preparation. Mark

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I shoot with an excellent A shooter - asked him if he was trying to make Master,

and he replied he couldn't afford the time or money to become a Master ... :cheers:

Just needs to take a class from Ben.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who cares how much other shooters shoot? You need to shoot as many rounds as needed to get better, that could be 1000 or 100,000. Getting to that level means being able know where you need work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I shoot only about 100 rds a week on average. Of course before matches it goes up but I guess that's why I'm a good C or lower B. lol. I can't even fathom 100k.

I try to make the most out of what I can afford and get some really good low round count drills in.

Edited by Jfarewell
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's just not practical for me to shoot that much a year. 50K bullets is almost $5000 a year... just for the bullets. It's funny for me to say this but there is plenty that can be done in dry fire. I get shitty weather 3+ months a year to deal with as well. I don't know if I can get to GM but I won't be doing it with 100K rounds/year that's for sure.

Another point. Some of the top shooters may not shoot tons/year... but many have at one time. Many started shooting when they were little shits too. That helps!

Ben says he doesn't shoot much/year- certainly not near the 50K rounds. But he has his Beretta youtube vids where he talks about shooting several hundred thousand rounds through his guns... that was several years ago too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ask Phil Strader how much he used to shoot. He posted it on here once and I was shocked. One year didn't even hit 5-digits. And he is one of the best.

On the other hand, I've heard the Army team shoots enormous amounts of ammo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Army team alway shoots a boat load of ammo. I just don't understand who pays for all that ammo? Lmao.

Really, I think making GM is where most all the ammo is spent. Once you have made it, I'm sure it take a lot of ammo to maintain the 95 plus %. But i would think nowhere what it takes to get the 95% IMHO

I'll let you know in a couple of years when I get to GM. Yea right. Lmao

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Breaking these numbers down a bit on the proverbial back of the envelope:

Assuming that you're shooting 9mm, and shooting 150k rounds/year, 5 days a week, 50 weeks/year=600 rounds/day.

I'm reloading 9mm at $0.124/round, so $74.40/day. 150k*.124/50wks= $357.69/week, $1550/month , $18,600/year. Of course if you're sponsored, the equation changes.

If you can reload 1000 rounds/hour on your 1050, you spend 3 hours/week, 12 hours/month reloading 12k rounds/month.

Assume you spend another 3 hours/month sorting, tumbling, prepping brass. (Is that accurate?) That's 15 hours/month.

How long does it take to shoot 600 rounds each day? I'm new, and making an uneducated guess of < 60 seconds for 20 shots in a stage, so ~30 minutes each day plus 1/2 hour setup/cleanup, so roughly 1 hour/day. Travel time to and fro the range may add another hour. That's 2 hours/day, 10 hours/week, 40 hours/month.

Add in 2 matches/month with 5 hours at the match and 1 hour drive time each way, you're at 14 hours/month.

How much time do you spend practicing dry fire? Again, I'm new. Help me out here. People here advocate spending at least one hour/day. Assuming 1.5 hours for dedication, you end up with 7.5 hours/week, 30 hours/month.

Totals:

$297.60/mo, $18,600/yr

99 hours/mo, 1188 hrs/yr

That's a serious commitment.

Edited by rutilate
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...