It’s not a pissing contest. It’s just not letting go unchallenged. It’s one reason there’s so much of it on this particular forum.

Why, on this thread alone we’ve learned:

If you don’t shoot all animals in the brainstem you suck as a shot;
The .270 Win (and several other cartridges that have been going strong for over a century) will disappear soon;
Any cartridge over 30 years old is like an old car, sucks, and is not worth having;
.30-30s and .243s are for sentimental use only and not practical but 1200 yard rifles are; and
Competition shooters buy more guns and gear than hunters.

And that’s just a sampling.....

For those of you saying that the 6.5CM is not suitable for elk or moose, how do you explain all of moose and red stag taken in Europe with the 6.5X55 each year?

One of the main reasons why the 6.5CM is as popular as it with hunters and will continue to be is that we now have an "American" version of the 6.5X55 that fits in a short action. It will handle all North American big game with the exception of Alaskan Brown Bear, just like the 6.5X55 will handle everything in Europe.

Sectional Density and Ballistic Coefficient may sound like bunk, but physics don't lie and the 6.5CM is as close to the perfect cartridge as we can get right now with the current bullet and powders that we are able to manufacture.

And, before you label me a fanboi, I don't own a 6.5CM and I don't plan to own one anytime soon. I do most of my hunting and shooting with what most people would already call obsolete cartridges (with the exception of my 6.8SPC AR), because I love reloading and shooting oddballs.

Counselor - Don't you argue for a living? Have you tried yoga?

('Kidding mi compadre.)

I like the 308 Win.

It’s “suitable” in that it will do the job on elk and moose, but there are better options.
(Particularly for elk - which are tough, tough animals. Moose are big but are actually the opposite of tough. Hardly any bullet will knock them flat, but any bullet that will kill medium sized game will kill them easily. I’m taking a .35 Rem levergun on my next moose hunt.)

Lol it no worky. Keeping all the THF balls in the air is my pastime.

What you guys up to in here??

6 pages on my compooter.

I am going to have to agree with the others on this one.

Maybe 15% of hunters may buy a new gun in a year, but as we have heard in this thread, and others, most of us are using the same rifles that we were 5-10 years ago. Also, as we have heard multiple times on this forum (and others) a majority of "hunters" think it is a waste of ammo to shoot more than three shots a year to check zero and then may shoot 5 shots a year at deer/hogs/coyotes. Yes, there are some that shoot varmints that shoot a bunch, but other than those who regularly shoot prairie dogs, non of them are shooting the volume that competition shooters are.
Therefore, we have to assume that competition shooters buy far more ammo and/or components than hunters, even when you factor in the difference in numbers between comp shooters and hunters (there are quite a few cross-overs these days as well). As for the number of guns, comp shooters may not buy new actions, but they definitely buy barrels at a much greater rate. There is a reason that Shilen, Bartlein and others have been in business as long as they have, and it ain't hunters. That being said, comp shooters are much more likely to buy new guns at a higher rate than hunters as well. With the guns comes new glass and other accessories, such as rests, spotters and range bags.

So, all-in-all, I would bet that competition shooters actually do buy more guns and gear than hunters.

Just waiting on someone to get all upset and start talking about gerbils or weasels or ferrets or how I suck as a shot or whatever....

I’ll text Jeremy for you.

I’ll bet you would lose that bet.

We're learning that NP like to keep THF balls. He says he likes to keep them in "the air", which I'm guessing is a fancy lawyer codename for "prison wallet."

I’d also wager that competition shooters buy WAY more ammo, guns, and gear than hunters.

You underestimate the power of the masses. No sales job for you!

Also, considering the #1 style of long gun being sold for the last 5 years is the AR-15, I would say that the "recreational shooter" is probably the biggest consumer of firearms right now.

I am not so sure I would lose that bet when you consider how many different types of firearms completions are out there. We are not just talking F-class or Palma shooters.

The vast majority of people I know with guns ARE not hunters that fill their freezers every year with a 223, 22-250, 243. 25-06. 270, 30-30, & 30-06 and they don't give a damn about ballistic coefficients etc.

As for rifle sales, the competition shooters buy way, way more stuff than the hunters. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

I have a 30-30 that's literally never been out of the safe except to check function.

That's a shame, you need to put it to use. If you've never stalked deer or pigs with an open sight 30-30 lever gun you are missing out.

Lies Skinner LIES!!!!

Have no clue what "F-class" or "Palma" means. 'Hope you feel superior. 'Out.

And you are under the false impression that more users = more use.

I realize that this is anecdotal, but here goes...

I only shoot a few competitions a year, none of them long range rifle, btw, but I shoot well over 5,000 rounds of ammunition every year. About half of that is .22LR, but that still means I shoot over 2,500 rounds of centerfire ammo each year in comp and practice for those comps.
I also buy at least one-two new guns each year and at least one barrel each year for one of my existing guns. I sell at least one gun each year and mostly to other comp shooters.
The guns that I hunt with are the same ones I hunted with 5 years ago. My hunting gun turn over is maybe one every 7 years. I do shoot a lot of ammo in whichever gun I decide to hunt with, but that is because I like to shoot and I want to make sure I can make any shot that is presented to me.
Most comp shooters I know are similar to me.

So, my question is, how many "average" hunters does it take to equal my totals?

I don't like going unchecked either, and you're so full of it, it spews out. Carry on, I know you will.

Ban camp champion troll.

So what exactly does the “hunter” ammo cabinet look like?? I probably have more ammo here than a hunter would shoot in 10 years. This isn’t including my reloading bench and components I actually reload for, this is only factory ammo.

Open your eyes and look at the commercial market and advertising - it’s 98% aimed at the hunting community. There’s a reason for that. It’s because hunters drive the market. Most people don’t have a clue about competition shooting and never will.

That’s like saying a dozen high end steakhouses in D/FW generate more income than the thousands of McDonald’s, Taco Bells, and other fast food restaurants in D/FW, all of which trade on the NYSE. It’s ludicrous.

Geez.

That's not hunter... thats PREPPER!

That’s all competition ammo besides the 300BLK and shotgun. I only hunt hogs, dove, and duck. Every now and then I’ll break out the 308 on a hot but the rest is all competition ammo. Just showing that competition shooters shoot WAY more than hunters. But I’m definitely borderline prepper lol.