shooting costs too much? what does $100.00 buy you today?

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stuckinthe60s

New member
serious.
people say they cant afford to pay entry fees and travel to shoots that aren't local.

so,
what does it take to fill up a pickup, rv, boat?

groceries?

a typical cell phone bill?

smokes and dip?

pizza?

motel on the road?

dinner out?

ammo?

if I handed you a 100.00 bill and you went out............what can you come back with today?

im doing a cost comparison to shooting.
im pretty convinced that the cost of an entry fee is less than all the other expenses.
 
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Recycled bullet

New member
Three bags of groceries or 3/4 tank for my pickup truck or one brick of small pistol primers or or 8 quarts of synthetic oil and filter.

Taking separately that's over $450 once you add sales tax.
 
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tangolima

New member
Same question has been asked in the past for $10, $1 or a quarter. Life still carries on.

About 20 years ago, gas went above $3. Friend complained and proclaimed he would stop driving when the price went above $4. Now it is above $5. He is still driving like nothing has happened, not even slowing down a bit to save fuel. He never stops complaining though.

Prices have gone up, but so have salaries. It all smoothes out more or less the same. Adapt and improvise when we have limited resources.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
4

44 AMP

Staff
I think what you need to look at is not any dollar amount, but the actual cost/value of the items you wish to compare.

How much of your life (time spend working/earning income) does the amount represent?

And also consider prices in the past are in the past and the value of things (not just the $ amount, can change.

35-40 years ago, $200 would get you a brand new Remington 870 Special Field, or a brand new Canon dot matrix printer. Which of those still has value, today?? (hint, not the printer!)

I can remember a time when $8 would fill your gas tank, or feed a family of four at the A&W....

And I remember at that time I didn't make $300 a month....

Its's all relative, to how much you have to work to earn the money you spend.
 
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stuckinthe60s

New member
let me make it easier.

you get in your car/truck.
you load your guns and ammo.
you head out to a match 2-3 hours away an plan to spend a night.
then you return.
one person.

how much would it cost you.

then subtract that from your living expenses.
how much you have left.
can you survive.

in other words.....how much play money does it cost to go to a match for a weekend?

either 2 things are going to happen....

1. wealthy will say its water off a ducks back.
2. those struggling will say they cant afford it.

i want to know on average, how bad it is based on basic needs costs that apparently are forcing shooters to divert cash to pay bills.
(what bills) is what im looking for.
debt? car payments? house payments? kids?
 
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Shadow9mm

New member
stuckinthe60s said:
let me make it easier.

you get in your car/truck.
you load your guns and ammo.
you head out to a match 2-3 hours away an plan to spend a night.
then you return.
one person.

how much would it cost you.

then subtract that from your living expenses.
how much you have left.
can you survive.

in other words.....how much play money does it cost to go to a match for a weekend?

either 2 things are going to happen....

1. wealthy will say its water off a ducks back.
2. those struggling will say they cant afford it.

i want to know on average, how bad it is based on basic needs costs that apparently are forcing shooters to divert cash to pay bills.
(what bills) is what im looking for.
debt? car payments? house payments? kids?
Click to expand...
Cant say as iv never done that myself, but i will take a stab at it.

Figure 1 night in a hotel $120
Gas $30
Ammo? No idea how many rnds, say 500, all hand loads? Call it $150

Bare bones total $300.

For me, i can clear $360 for a 12hr overtime shift. So its about a day and a half pay.

If you look at it against my monthly pay its roughly 10% of my monthly take home.
 
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zukiphile

New member
Stuck said:
if I handed you a 100.00 bill and you went out............what can you come back with today?

im doing a cost comparison to shooting.
Click to expand...

Is that the right question? If a person doesn't have the income for a hobby he enjoys, that can be tough, but the world is full of things to do and something is going to be out of reach from someone.

I think the more pertinent question for most people is what a shooting hobby costs compared to your other potential hobbies.

I like cars. The money and time a person can dump into those is considerable. I had an uncle with a wine cellar, and that was some silly money. Golf is no cheaper.

If one keeps in mind what he enjoys (and doesn't fall into collecting or getting the newest thing), even pretty competitive shooting is a relative bargain.

At least that's my excuse.
 
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reddog81

New member
I shoot on a weekly basis but have never gone to a weekend long event. The total cost is dependent on too many factors to give a good idea. $25 campsite or $500 hotel? Eating at McDonalds or eat at local steak house?

Last time I visited the local indoor range two guys were renting a 9mm and each bought 1 box of ammo. Their bill was over $100 just so they could each shoot a box of 9mm. I figure I spend $15 to $20 weekly to shoot 250 rounds. I shoot .22’s or my reloads.
 
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tangolima

New member
Our club holds matches.

Fee for member: $10

Ammo: $40

$100 will buy 2 events. That's local.

I stopped going after a few times. I'd rather spend a good afternoon by myself. I don't need to win over anybody else but my own self. It saves me about $20 each time, so $100 is good for 3 trips to the range.

Club membership has gone up, from $150 to $180 a year. $10 more for the mandatory NRA membership. Not too bad.

If I want to shoot over 300yd, the fee is $50 each time at other location. $50 ammo (shoot more to make the fee worthwhile). $100 is good for one trip. It is also local.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
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stuckinthe60s

New member
from the trump years till now, I see 100% increases in a lot of places.
gas,
a box of shotshells went from 5.00 to 10.00. a walmart 12ga 4 pack use to be 18.00, now its 36.00,
motel rooms went from 70 to 140,
a nice dinner out went from 30 to 60.00,
a subway sandwich use to be 5 bucks. now its 10,
and car parts. holy cow, MORE than 100%.

any other 100%+ increases you see?
list some.
 
F

FITASC

New member
For me to travel to a registered tournament (sporting clays) it is a 2.5 hour drive each way; if I tow my golf cart, it takes about 45 gallons of gas @$3.29/gallon. Motel in small town is at least $100 with taxes, Eating at local restaurant, (no alcohol) will be about $30 for dinner (breakfast and lunch provided by club)
Ammo - a flat which will run about $100
Entry fees for both tournaments - $170

If I drive down and back in one day, deduct the motel fees
 
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rickyrick

New member
I just figure that it’s a dollar every time you take a shot with popular calibers.

All things considered, firearm prices are relatively flat, with some ripples.
 
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Mike38

New member
A couple weeks ago I got an email for an upcoming match. $50 to shoot a Bullseye 2700. $20 each for .22 EIC match, Service pistol EIC match, and revolver EIC match. So $110 to shoot the full days matches. Add a meal, gas and ammo and we're well over $200. I have now officially retired from match shooting. I just can't afford to do it any longer. I'll shoot an occasional postal match just to retain my classification, but that's all.
 
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GE-Minigun

New member
Pretty sure registered skeet would be in the $40 range and up per gauge, so right there you’re looking at $120, so the initial $100 is in the hole. I’ve shot skeet for 30+ years and have never had the desire to shoot registered birds and the money has ZERO to do with it.
 
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taylorce1

New member
The biggest issue I see with most things is people have got used to living with debt. I know I had and then I had a life changing event and didn't earn a dime between October 2015 to October 2016. When you're carrying car payments and CC or other unsecured debt, recreational shooting and other things suffer when your disposable income shrinks.
 
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rickyrick

New member
I went a few years without shooting, mainly due to Covid restrictions, but there was multiple issues.
Then a little over two years ago I sank all free funds and effort into remodeling our small house across the river from Portland Oregon, in SW Washington.
I was able to sell the house for enough money to buy a forested modest chunk of East Texas forest with a 4x bigger fixer-upper house, pay off a few car notes and remaining debts.
My interest in shooting and tinkering with firearms has begun to return.
The caveat is I still have to work and at much lower wages, so I still have to be careful about spending. Fortunately, I have a huge stockpile of ammunition as a result of almost two decades of hoarding lol.
At least firearm accessories are still reasonably priced.
 
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