2011 IDPA World Shoot Ammo By The Numbers

[Spike]

I thought this was interesting:

2011 IDPA World Shoot Ammo By The Numbers

http://www.idpa.com/blog/post/2012/04/30/53-Handload-2011-IDPA-World-Shoot-Ammo-By-The-Numbers.aspx

If "money is the mother's milk of politics" then certainly ammo is the mother's milk of competition. While Jesse Unruh's famous quote isn't an exact fit for the shooting sports, there's no denying that without ammo there wouldn't be much in the way of actual shooting in the sports.

When it comes to ammunition for competition there are two routes shooters can take. One is buy factory loaded ammunition and the other is to reload. It's difficult to say without a broader-based survey how many IDPA members reload, but the survey results from the 2011 IDPA World Shoot (found on pages 26-33 in Vol. 15, Issue 4 of the Tactical Journal) give you a good idea of the possible trend among the sport's most active shooters where 53% handloaded and 47% opted for factory loads.

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[Snowgun]

pretty cool!

[Spike]

Anyone want to guess which hodgdon powder(s) are used? I know Win 231 is Winchester but isn't it owned by Hogdon now?

[crbutler]

Interesting. Much higher factory ammo percentages than I would have thought.

The USPSA nationals do this breakdown each year also, and there the reloading percentages are a lot higher. My suspicion is that to some extent you are seeing the effect of foreign competitors here. 9mm loads can be done reasonably cheaply, but factoring in the time, and it can make sense to buy it if you have the money. It also may be the fact that flying with ammo is not easily done in the quantities needed for a major match.

As to what Hodgdon powder, its probably mostly titegroup given IDPA's power factor requirements. HS6 and Clays may have some followers, but most of the guys I know seem to use Titegroup, at least in 9 mm or 40.