Handgun Utilization Rates by Customers?

[BehindBlueI's]

Are there any professionally collected surveys or data logging the number of times a typical handgun owner will shoot their pistol over a given timespan?

Something to the effect of "Over a 1 year timespan, 10% of shooters went to the range 12 times a year, 40% 7 times, etc". Some solid data on how often people shoot would be useful to have.

Will shoot a pistol period, or shoot a particular pistol? I'd suggest even among the frequent trainers/shooters, there's likely some guns they don't shoot much so that might change the answer.

I mean, I practice or train with my rifle roughly monthly...but it's nearly always with the same AR. I've got a .30-06 that I've shot exactly one box of 20 cartridges through in 3 years. (I know, that's not handguns, but the point is the same).

Oh, and I completely believe the post by Tom Givens and the results of the Colt study. There's so many "carried but never fired" and flip-floppers at gun shops chasing the latest hardware the 7 rounds total jives quite well. If I had a nickel for every time I've heard someone ask for a handgun, holster, and box of carry ammo..and then turn down practice ammo this year I'd have...probably about enough to mail a letter. But it happens.

I was leaving the indoor range/gun shop today and heard a guy asking for "two matching 9mm pistols and a double shoulder holster because I've always thought that was cool." I suspect there's a lot more "because it's cool" guys than shooters.

[Totem Polar]

7 rounds fired, total.

That just boggles my mind.

[Shotgun]

Colt did a big survey on this some years ago. They determined the average handgun was fired 7 times in its lifetime.

For every hard training shooter like the ones on this forum, there are 100,000 people who buy a handgun, put it in the sock drawer and never touch it again.

Wow. Extremely surprising. I shoot shotguns all the time, and never considered myself a handgun guy. However, next to these folks, I'm a salty expert. Used handguns are sounding like a good buy.

[Nephrology]

I mean, I practice or train with my rifle roughly monthly...but it's nearly always with the same AR. I've got a .30-06 that I've shot exactly one box of 20 cartridges through in 3 years. (I know, that's not handguns, but the point is the same).

I'm guilty of this as well. Especially with my J frame... though, in my defense, that is a very rarely carried gun these days.

[rcbusmc24]

I own 47 handguns, I regularly shoot about 6 of them, I'm not helping the statistical average at all I guess, but those 6, yeah, they get shot.......a lot.

[ReverendMeat]

Wow. Extremely surprising. I shoot shotguns all the time, and never considered myself a handgun guy. However, next to these folks, I'm a salty expert. Used handguns are sounding like a good buy.

Not really that surprising. Duder buys a gun + a box of hollow points. Shoots one magazine/one cylinder for "practice" and calls it a day.

[11B10]

The grip doesn't even get warmed up in 7 rounds!

[CCT125US]

Interesting idea, but not sure how a survey could be accurately carried out. You would need folks to tell a very private piece of data. Guns owned. It would also rely an accurate tracking of rounds fired. How many shooters do that? Heck, I have a NIB P30, a 45C that I put a whopping 25 rounds through the first year, and a v3 that has 75 rounds through it. However, others have >10K, and what about guns no longer owned, like a P30 with >80k? I think such a survey would be highly inaccurate.

[Shotgun]

Not really that surprising. Duder buys a gun + a box of hollow points. Shoots one magazine/one cylinder for "practice" and calls it a day.

Hard to understand for me. I've had a few firearms in my day, and I was excited about shooting each one. I'm a strong supporter of the 2nd, but I can't imagine buying a new or used handgun and not having the desire to shoot it more than one magazine/cylinder. That would be akin to trying to eat just one potato chip. But, this goes a long way to explaining the evidence of errant shots into side-walls, target frames, and even ceilings at a few of the ranges to which I have been. The person shooting his one magazine/cylinder just can't shoot.

[GardoneVT]

Interesting idea, but not sure how a survey could be accurately carried out. You would need folks to tell a very private piece of data. Guns owned. It would also rely an accurate tracking of rounds fired. How many shooters do that? Heck, I have a NIB P30, a 45C that I put a whopping 25 rounds through the first year, and a v3 that has 75 rounds through it. However, others have >10K, and what about guns no longer owned, like a P30 with >80k? I think such a survey would be highly inaccurate.

For context,I took a class where one of the students posed a question about their P30. She asked how often a gun needed to be fired in order to "still be useful". When the instructor asked for clarification on what she meant, her explaination was thus; after the class she was gonna put it in a drawer and was concerned some component of the pistol would degrade .

Colts survey may not have 100% accurate sampling, but it matches my own real world observations.