Shooting is Expensive

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22-rimfire

New member
I responded to a thread about the Mini-14 and made the comment that I considered it expensive to rip off 200 rounds or more in an afternoon. My sense is that this is a light day for many here in terms of shooting. You add in shooting your favorite centerfire handguns and you just blew a couple $100 minimum. I doubt a majority of Americans can blow a few $100 in an afternoon just punching holes in things and not feel it financially.

Thought it a reasonable thread topic for folks to sound off on the shooting sport in general relative to the costs involved. I know that it's easy to shoot in one afternoon the total annual cost of my club membership. Shooting is not a cheap hobby. It is not golf, but it still costs.

What do you think? What is your typical day at the range? Do you ever really consider the cost?
 
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RichC

New member
Yup... cost is important... especially when I bring my 17 yo son who thinks he is dirty harry. Truth is the kid is a better shot than I am by far, but he tears through ammo. When we go I put him on a budget. He can shoot XXX dollars in ammo. That can be lots of .22 or not a lot of .308. His choice. Part of educating him on the proper utilization of available resources.

That is why I now reload. It takes a bit of the sting out of range visits. And as I live about 1/4 of a mile from the range it is so easy to just run down there and pop off a few hundred rounds.

I've also discovered the joys of shooting .22lr.

It is an expensive hobby. No doubt.
 
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ClayInTx

New member
There are inexpensive hobbies?

I shoot only enough to maintain proficiency because my other hobby is eating.
 
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VHinch

New member
I shoot a fairly high number of rounds per year and try to take a couple of training courses a year, so I do put quite a few dollars downrange. It's a priority in our house though, and is a line item in the budget like every other household expense. I do reload, and buy components in bulk, and I also buy all my factory ammo in bulk, which does help a lot.
 
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TXGunNut

New member
Maybe that's why I like muzzleloaders and cap & ball revolvers. A can of powder, a tin of caps, a handful of round balls and you can shoot for hours.
Been doing lots of experimenting with my smokeless rifle loads lately, buying 100 bullets to load and fire 10-20 is getting expensive. Powder, when I can find it, isn't cheap these days either. Good thing I bought a several year's worth of primers awhile back!
Range is 30 miles away and fuel expense is a consideration these days as well.
But getting to shoot on my days off helps me get through the workdays and the garbage that often entails. I have to work to keep a roof over my head and food on my table. Thank goodness I make enough to buy toys and the things that go with them. Shooting isn't cheap but it keeps me relatively sane and employed. Worth every penny!
 
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Cool_Hand

New member
Reason why I am saving up for a single six and a .22 lever action. Smallest caliber gun I own right now is a .38 and even the cheap stuff isn't so cheap. I would like to get to the range every week but sometimes I just don't have the cash, but with $20 for 500 .22lr you cant go wrong.
 
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4EVERM-14

New member
I think this is where the term 'Quality Shooting' fits. Making every shot. Trying not to waste valuable resources. That's not to say blasting a bunch of shots into the berm isn't a lot of fun. It's just that proficiency with firearms can be a question of Quality not necessarily Quantity.
 
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chris in va

New member
Reloading will substantially mitigate your ammo costs. No need for a really expensive setup either. Lots of used equipment out there.

An example. I reload and cast 45ACP. Brass is free range pickup, lead from wheelweights melted down. Primers are 'spensive at $40/1000 but at least powder is still reasonable.

My cost not factoring in equipment or labor costs is around $35/500 rounds of 45. Plus I have two more hobbies that are actually more fun than shooting.
 
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oneounceload

Moderator
As mentioned, QUALITY before QUANTITY. "Spray and Pray" or something similar may be fun now and again, but it gets expensive and doesn't lead to good quality practice.

Black powder, single shots, etc., all help stretch the shooting dollar by making you shoot less in the same time frame while also making you focus on the target
 
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Redtruck18

New member
Shooting definatly is pricey, hence my recent adventure into the world of reloading, now I can shoot 100-200 rounds a week at the range for about $15 all ammo costs included. And I go to the range on "military day" which knocks the range fee down to $5, the range fee is not done by the hour, its simply shoot till you get done, so that saves some money. I buy 2 targets at $1 each, and take a sharpie, and draw extra "targets on both the back, and odd spots on the bodies(shoulders, neck, waist, hands, corners of the paper, etc.). On top of that, I only load 5 rounds per mag, which encourages me to slow down and focus on accuracy (or quality). I think that most will find by simply slowing down and getting creative with things, that costs can be at least softened.

Joe
 
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Nate1778

New member
Casting bullets really helps along with reloading. Right now I am doing pistol, for the price of primers and powder $4-5 per hundred rounds.
 
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blume357

New member
then again... with reloading don't, or shouldn't you, figure in the time you spend?

putting all those cartridges together?

Yes, it's expensive and as of late I've decided to stick with 22lr... can go once or twice a week and I only blow 15-30 bucks.
 
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Al Norris

Moderator Emeritus
blume357 said:
then again... with reloading don't, or shouldn't you, figure in the time you spend?
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Just like you should add in the cost of your time actually shooting?

Yes, there are those that include the cost of their equipment, and their time. Even figure in the cost of their firearms and mileage. Good for them, I don't count my hobbies that way.

Reloading is a hobby in and of itself. It has the unique advantage of being able to go to the range and shoot less costly ammo.
 
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Uncle Buck

New member
Try skydiving. $5K for the gear, and $20+ per jump.
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Add in the cost of shooting while skydiving :D

Any hobby can be as expensive as you let it get. There is always the next wiz bang thingamajiggy you gotta have to go the next step.

Because I shoot an average of 200 rounds of .45 Colt on a week-end, my choices were to stop or figure out how to reload. I enjoy the reloading now almost as much as shooting.

Have you thought about getting "Dirty Harry" into reloading?
 
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kraigwy

New member
OK I shoot cast bullets in all my pistols, that means it cost me less then $9 to shoot 200 38s.

BUT: Whats wrong with shooting cast bullets in rilfes. I shoot 11 grns of trail boss in my 308s using cast bullets. Thats $11 per 200 bullets.

So thats about twenty bucks for 400 rounds.

You spend that much going to town for breakfast.

No sir, if you want to shoot, you don't have to spend a lot of money.
 
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jg0001

New member
Well, judging by the OP's forum name (22 Rimfire), the answer to the cost problem is obvious -- and it is the same answer for me...

Instead of spending $100+ on every range trip, I spent $550 on a Walther G22 Rifle (with scope & laser included) and about the same on a Browning Buckmark (on which I later added a mini-red dot for about $200). Both shoot 22LR. With the add-ons (scope on the rifle & red dot on the pistol) I get to monkey around with "tweaking" the setup here and there and I get to fire off 100s of rounds at every range session with little worry for the cost.

What I typically do is bring one of the 22's along with whatever my 'primary' non-22LR (typically 9mm or 45acp) will be that day. I then shoot the 22 first, followed by the non-22, and then return to the 22 once I've gotten my fill of the non-22.

I don't limit myself to how much non-22 I can shoot in advance, and I often get the itch "scratched" well before I run out of ammo for that non-22. This lets me dynamically alter my "cost" for a given period of time, without truly limiting myself to what I can shoot.

In an hour of semi-rapid shooting with the occasional target change and scope/dot tweak, the most 22LR I've blasted off is about 400 rounds -- and that's only because I have 10 magazines for each of the 22's. Even then the cost of that ammo is <$20. More typically, I probably shoot 200-250 rounds of 22, and 75-150 rounds of whatever else. I try to keep my total cost per trip (on ammo) to around $50 to $75.
 
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Magnum Mike

New member
then again... with reloading don't, or shouldn't you, figure in the time you spend?
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NO! I also dont include my time in other things like fishing, having a few beers, shooting, pool, darts, hunting, et..
 
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