Motoschutzen isn’t a rendezvous in the pioneer terms. It is a gathering of people for mutual benefit and socializing. It started as a group of gun industry friends getting together to ride motorcycles and try each others’ products. But as the case with most good ideas, it grew to become more than just hanging out to another of the times where work and fun are blended in near equal proportions.

Sitting together at dinner, conversation turned toward crystal-balling the industry future.

One question where saw widely divergent opinions is “the ammunition situation.”

But the consensus is there’s no way the ammunition shortages won’t continue, at least into the near and likely mid-term.

At that point, if there’s some relief of the stress on the supply chain stress, things should relax a bit and price and supply begin to stabilize.

We’re not in agreement as to what “stabilization” means.

Most of us are either industry veterans or longtime shooters. We remember 9mm ammunition priced around $10 for a 50 round box. We’d love to see those days again. But, as one industry vet asked, what about that couple of million or so new shooters?

For them, the current prices aren’t out-of-sight, they’re the cost of entry into gun ownership.

When I was a teenage driver I could fill up my gas-guzzling1966 Chevelle muscle car (with a 22-gallon tank) for $5.50.

In case you’re not doing the math, that was gasoline at a quarter (25-cents) per gallon. 22 caliber ammunition at that time was less than a penny a round (shorts) or a penny each for standards.

Today, those are just historical footnotes.Those “good old days” aren’t coming back. Neither, it seems, are the days of $10 boxes of center-fire ammunition.

But the consensus of those in attendance is this: as supplies stabilize, prices may possibly -but not very far.

At that point, the new “normal” will have been established.

We were treated to another awe-inspiring western phenomenon last night: a sudden lightning storm, followed by some (small) hail, then an equally impressive, but brief, downpour.

Our day began in soggy conditions following an awe-inspiring lightning storm, but it didn’t keep us from enjoying a perfect shooting morning with the Rapid City Trap and Skeet Club.

There, we shot rounds of 5-stand and wobble trap to try out Weatherby shotguns. Weatherby’s known for very solid performance hunting rifles, but plenty of shotgunners are equally into their shotguns.

I’ve never been a serious shotgun shooter, but I do appreciate solid shotguns that perform as expected.

Weatherby’s Luke Thorkildsen explained the new finish on their Element shotgun (above). As you can see, we enjoyed our time with their guns at the range (below).

After a round of shot five-stand using Weatherby’s semi-automatic Element, I felt like it was a synthetic gun that punches well above it’s weight class. It’s a lightweight, inertia driven gun that is (when swung correctly) capable of powdering clays -repeatedly-without punishing the shooter.

Shooting pairs, it wasn’t difficult to imagine carrying it across South Dakota’s pheasant fields behind bird dogs in the fall.

It’s very reasonable price tag ($599), helped me imagine it as a solid choice for a primary or backup field shotgun.

It would also be a solid option to get younger shooters started in the sport. In fact, it might become your go-to shotgun. It’s also plenty fast cycling enough to get into action shooting sports as well.

Can’t give you details on two other shotguns -yet- but Weatherby and Benelli both have really slick new shotguns they’ll be announcing soon. Having given them a try, we’ll be able to provide more insight.

From there, it was on to sightseeing. We headed out from Rapid City to Deadwood, the town that has the distinction of being the place where Wild Bill Hickok meet his maker.

According to local legend this chair (above) is the one Wild Bill Hickok was sitting in during a poker came when he was shot in the back by “the assassin Jack McCall”. Today, there are numerous reminders (below) that this is a small town with a larger than life reputation.

In case you haven’t seen weather reports from South Dakota, it has been sweltering here. Yesterday, our thermometers routinely registered temperatures of 102 degrees -or more. That meant the adventure bikers in the Motoschutzen crew got their share of adventurous riding, heat and scenery.

During the ride from Rapid City to Deadwood, the adventurous riders in our group hit the unimproved roads (above) They got all the adventure they wanted, along with 102-degree heat. Sometimes the helmets provided additional protection from the sun rather than road debris.(Below)

Next on the agenda are two of the places that motivated me to make this trip: Mount Rushmore and Custer State Park.

As always, we’ll keep you posted.

— Jim Shepherd