I like to shoot. I primarily have old guns, which satify my need to experience history, and also have some fun shooting them. I reload shells for these guns for 2 reasons. Some are hard to come by, (you just can’t buy bullets for M1895 Steyr rifles) and it’s also cheaper. Well, I thought it was going to be cheaper. It’s not, you just shoot more.

But there are some guns you can have fun shooting all day and not ruin your credit. The bullet for these guns is the ubiquitous American .22 long rifle. The .22 comes in many forms, .22 short, .22 bb cap, .22 high velocity and on and on, but the plain jane .22 long rifle is cheap, abundant, and accurate!

There are a huge variety of guns for the .22 long rifle, everything from tiny pistols to huge tack driving custom made rigs. For a coupla hundred bucks, or less, you can have a pistol or rifle that comes close to shooting with the best of them. You can’t reload them, mainly because of the primers, but at 8 bucks a brick at Walmart (500 shots), who cares? And if you need something more accurate, then you can pay a little more for match grade ammo.

My arthritis gets in the way of my 30-06 shooting, but not with 22’s. You can blast away all day and not feel a thing. This low recoil feature is also the secret to it’s accuracy. You can’t hit something if you can’t hold on to the gun… Even wives like to shoot them!

So you should try it. For a coupla hundred bucks, you can get a hobby that will last you a lifetime. And if you should join a local gun club, you’ll make new friends, and you won’t meet a nicer bunch of guys (or girls!). The .22 hobby won’t break the bank!

greg