No argument there. I might say rimfire practice is the best way to go for cost & development of good fundamentals.
I grew up poor, probably like many guys on here, and a .22 for small game and a 12ga for everything else was the mantra then. Our house had a nice Stevens bolt action .22 repeater that my Dad had owned since he was 8. He also had a "borrowed" Mossberg bolt action 20ga with a "Poly choke" that belonged to one of his younger brothers. My grandfather had a POC Remington 22 auto jammomatic and an Iver Johnson single shot .410. My first gun ( was 10, Xmas) was a Stevens single shot 20 ga. So...if I wanted to shoot them more than a few times a year, I had to earn the money and buy the ammo myself. I started young, ha. Later in life, as a young married man with kids, I owned a good .22, a 12ga Mod 870 Wingmaster and "one" centerfire rifle. If I wanted a different rifle/caliber, etc, I had to sell or trade the current one to get it. I just couldn't justify the expense. I was that way until the mid 90's, ( 40yrs old) so the "one man, one rifle" thing is very Legit, I fully get it.
When I started handloading for a Ruger 77 280, ( I was 24 yrs old) I also began to load for other guys rifles and thats how I gained experience with 30-30s, 243s, 308s, 30-06s, 7x57, 7mm Rem Mag ( I sold the .280 when my wife gave me the 7mm Mag for Xmas, 1980)) So, I had alot of fun!
If I came across as a "know it all", please forgive me, it was not my intention. Have fun with the guy, hunting partners, as you know, as hard to find!
