Where can I get...

Along with questions about skill upkeep and carry related questions we get a lot of questions about where we get some of our supplies.

Most of our targets come from one of two places, either Pistoleer.com or National Target, locally there just aren't any good options and what you'll pay for targets at gun shops has always been ludicrous. I like the 50' reduced B24 silhouette targets for the in-door range at the Iowa River Gun Club along with the 50yard slow fire B-6(P) as they completely fill the target backer there. For out-door classes I really like the PistolTraining.com targets available from National Target. Of course there's always your standard IDPA and USPSA targets available form may sources, these are just some of what I have found that fit our needs rather well.

Ammunition has been the biggest issue over the last couple of years. In Iowa .45ACP and .380 are still pretty scarce and if you can't find any in your area there are three places I order ammunition from and I'm looking into a third. We've ordered a lot of "target" ammunition from Ammoman.com, Natchez Shooters Supply and occasionally Georgia Arms, for ammunition to be used for defense, I generally order from two places, Tactical Defense Soloutions and Ammunitiontogo. Between them you should be able to get a decent price on ammunition.

For your run of the mill firearms accessories, I like Brownells as they are local to Iowa and have one heck of a return policy. Generally if I order before lunch I can have my stuff next day, two days max. Midway USA is another good source for many products and they probably offer one of the best possible range bags available, the Midway Competition Range Bag. Brownells gets most of my business, I'm a fan of supporting local businesses and Brownells has always done me right. I particularly like if I'm in the area I can drop in and pay cash and get a discount.

That pretty much covers the non-local stuff. If you want to get your hands on gear in Iowa, it pretty much means a trip to Scheels, generally they're overpriced but there's a severe lacking of good gun shops in the state. Roberts Gun Shop gets good reviews, and there's a nice shop up in Fort Dodge, Kieth's Outdoors that has fair prices and a decent selection. Other than that your best bet to window shop is at a gun show, but I hate paying an entry fee to browse.