Bad timing for a new hobby

• Jul 22, 2020

• #1

Lane Meyer

Active Member

Jul 20, 2020

212

Cecil County

Hi all,

New guy here. I shot 22s at summer camp as a kid, went skeet shooting a couple of times as a teen, and have gone target shooting a handful of times in the many years since. I inherited a few guns years ago and have always sort of been saving the hobby for “later.”

A few weeks ago I went shooting with a friend and the bug seems to have taken hold. That’s great except for the fact that everyone else in the world picked now to be a gun buyer. My choices in firearms and ammo are very limited. I’ll be posting in the recreational shooting forum for input in the near future.

My HQL class is scheduled in a couple of weeks. I assume that process is backed up now and that it will take months.

 

• Jul 22, 2020

• #2

outrider58

Eats Bacon Raw

MDS Supporter

Jul 29, 2014

50,025

Welcome

 

• Jul 22, 2020

• #3

Threeband

The M1 Does My Talking

Dec 30, 2006

25,315

Carroll County

Welcome. Never a bad time to get back into shooting. In fact, this really is a good time for it.

 

• Jul 22, 2020

• #4

Batt816

Ultimate Member

MDS Supporter

Dec 1, 2018

4,096

Eastern Shore

Welcome!

 

• Jul 22, 2020

• #5

hosspower

Active Member

Dec 1, 2019

357

Walkersville, MD

Hi from Carroll County!

 

• Jul 22, 2020

• #6

Mitral

Active Member

Sep 6, 2015

175

Calvert

Welcome. Get what ya can when ya can where ya can. Be forewarned. They multiply quickly
Once ya opened Pandora’s Enjoy

 

• Jul 22, 2020

• #7

K31

"Part of that Ultra MAGA Crowd"

MDS Supporter

Jan 15, 2006

35,678

AA county

Lane Meyer said:

My HQL class is scheduled in a couple of weeks. I assume that process is backed up now and that it will take months.

Click to expand...

Get a long gun.

 

• Jul 22, 2020

• #8

Lane Meyer

Active Member

Jul 20, 2020

212

Cecil County

K31 said:

Get a long gun.

Click to expand...

“A” long gun?

 

• Jul 22, 2020

• #9

Lane Meyer

Active Member

Jul 20, 2020

212

Cecil County

Mitral said:

Welcome. Get what ya can when ya can where ya can. Be forewarned. They multiply quickly
Once ya opened Pandora’s Enjoy

Click to expand...

I’m learning that quickly.

 

• Jul 22, 2020

• #10

SkiPatrolDude

Ultimate Member

MDS Supporter

Oct 24, 2017

3,385

Timonium-Lutherville

Welcome from Baltimore County.

Skeet shooting with friends years back is what got me into firearms. The itch that never quits...

 

• Jul 22, 2020

• #11

shootin the breeze

Missed it by that much

Dec 22, 2012

3,878

Highland

Lane Meyer said:

“A” long gun?

Click to expand...

Get a lot of long guns. That's what he meant to say.

Welcome and love your screen name. One of my favorite movies.

 

• Jul 22, 2020

• #12

Lane Meyer

Active Member

Jul 20, 2020

212

Cecil County

Threeband said:

Welcome. Never a bad time to get back into shooting. In fact, this really is a good time for it.

Click to expand...

Very good point. I guess that it’s bad in terms of availability and cost.

 

• Jul 22, 2020

• #13

Lane Meyer

Active Member

Jul 20, 2020

212

Cecil County

shootin the breeze said:

Get a lot of long guns. That's what he meant to say.

Click to expand...

I figured.

Welcome and love your screen name. One of my favorite movies.

Click to expand...

Mine as well. In fact, I think I’m due for a viewing.

 

• Jul 22, 2020

• #14

jokie

Active Member

May 27, 2020

371

A in AA

Welcome.
There's a thread re HQL processing / wait times. It's always updated. You will have a very good idea of how long the process is.

 

• Jul 22, 2020

• #15

BlueHeeler

Ultimate Member

Apr 28, 2010

7,086

Washington, DC

There is never a perfect time to get into firearms. Firearms (and ammo) are an ebb and flow market. The old timers will tell tales of buying 5 WWII Mausers for 5 dollars at the hardware store. Those were good days.

OTOH today you can assemble a high quality AR built to your own personal specs for a very reasonable price. Suppressors are finally becoming an attainable reality. Affordable quality red dots are a game changer. The internet/youtube has become an invaluable resource for all things guns. Today is a great day to get into the game.

Welcome to the party, pal.

 

• Jul 22, 2020

• #16

N

namrelio

Ultimate Member

Aug 14, 2013

4,372

Frederick Co. Virginia

Welcome. Good luck with your new hobby.

 

• Jul 22, 2020

• #17

Shamr0ck

Ultimate Member

Aug 6, 2011

2,505

Frederick

welcome to the hobby!

indoor ranges are great places to try several model handguns and the HQL process, while recently an issue with the MSP Data Center going offline, seems to be back at it's normal ± 30 day turn around. firearm availability is tight/worsening and the same holds true for ammo. Mainstream calibers (9/223/556) are getting harder to come by and the less popular ones (38/357/380) haven't been on the shelves for some time. I still have 9/223/556 in stock. Link in my signature block will take you to the thread. Let me know if I can help.

 

• Jul 22, 2020

• #18

gremlin42

Active Member

Apr 16, 2020

696

variable

Welcome- you sound just like me. I’ve successfully gotten through the process pretty recently and now my main challenge is getting ammo (once you know what caliber you want I’d recommend jumping on that now, might even want to avoid 9mm for that reason). I don’t think hql turn time is that bad but sounds like where it was 15-20 days to approval it’s now pushing a month. Also taking awhile to get guns shipped to stores. You can certainly use the wait time to rent different guns at a range and decide what you want.

 

• Jul 22, 2020

• #19

gremlin42

Active Member

Apr 16, 2020

696

variable

And I should have read through the replies - Yes, what Shamrock said. I will say I was able to get Speer JHP shipped to my house recently from luckygunner, that’s the “hope I never have to use it” small stockpile, but getting range ammo is rough now so if you’re serious about this try to jump on any opportunity to get 1000 rounds of something decent.

 

• Jul 22, 2020

• #20

LGood48

Ultimate Member

Feb 3, 2011

6,073

Cecil County

Greetings!