last ammo I ordered (223 rounds) I ordered 10,000 rounds @ 33 cents per round. I probably have 7K rounds left this was pre covid
Goodness that brings back pre-9/11 memories - I shot skeet competitively (American & International) as a kid/teenager (80's-late 90's) and time have definitely changed. Things I fondly remember that would blow a lot everyday folks minds these days:
- UPS delivering bulk cardboard cartons of smokeless powder and our delivery driver not even batting an eye.... and later using those empty cartons as change jars in my room.
- Dad having an FFL out of our house and using it to buy and sell guns through the mail.... Was usually a phone/handshake deal where the gun was put in the mail and a check would be sent return once the gun arrived.
- Being able to buy thousands upon thousands of primers at a time.
- Dad building an 4'x4'x3'H plywood chest in the basement for powder, primer and ammo storage to spec so that it would help mitigate as opposed to magnify the concussive wave should anything go off....and the quiet contemplative time spent reloading, or discussing with my dad the newest load he cooked up for me. Always loved .410 loads that were hot enough that you might get 2 reloads off of them before the case blew off the brass.
- Flying out to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado for the first time.... and at 14 years old getting dropped off to independently check in 2 shotguns and 5000 rounds of ammunition at the ticketing counter.
- For that matter being able to fly as an unaccompanied minor at all & without airline staff escort.
- At 17 getting pulled over around 1AM in GA by a state trooper while driving back by myself to Tampa from a competition in Savannah..... Sweaty, shirtless white kid in an early 80's Volvo station wagon with no AC doing 90-95mph down the interstate with a bottle of No-Doze in the ash tray and ~10K worth of guns and ammo in the back....which was asked about and investigated on the side of the road... Could've gotten impounded and taken to jail...somehow got off with a warning, a sincere admonition to be safer and a congrats on taking a zone championship, lol.
- Shadowing my sister for college, and her having a new Beretta semi-auto shotgun shipped to campus (Eckerd College) & the UPS driver showing up at her Organic Chemistry class for delivery. Not even kidding - campus mail was at a loss because the shipping box wouldn't fit in her mailbox & her prof made her take the gun out of the box up and do impromptu show and tell on how the recoil driven cycling in semi-autos worked.
- Later while actually in college (Eckerd again) stashing my shotguns and ammo under my dorm bed for a week in advance of flying out for a competition. Roommate was a good friend and an Indiana farm boy that grew up in a town where kids still skipped class for deer season and had gun racks in their car. Truth of the matter is all my friends knew and were incredibly supportive.
And finally and most certainly the most important.... All the lessons and memories imparted to me by my dad being involved as my coach, biggest supporter and cheerleader. Mom was the quintessential helicopter parent and had serious mental health issues that correlated into having difficulty letting go of her only son around the social life of a teenager. My dad tried his damnedest to maker sure that my involvement in shooting enabled me to have even greater freedom through guns than my peers while still being there to support/catch me if I screwed up.
