Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters At what point is shooting just too expensive?

It is only more expensive if your income is not keeping up with the price of the ammo. As for me,,, yep, it's more expensive. However, I bought 1,000 Rem. .277 130 gr bullets about 35 yrs ago. I still have about 300 left. I also bought 1,000 .277 bullets for $70 from a guy. Still have most. I dont shoot much anymore. I like my bow. A $7 arrow can be shot several hundred times and I can do it in my 19 yd basement any time.

The economic challenge with archery shooting is my Port Orford tapered cedar shafts are now $100+ a dozen….

Most of my rifle shooting and all pistol shooting is home cast lead bullets these days. I'm sitting on a decent quantity of primers and powder bought years ago and at my age might be enough to last me out. The last several years I've even used cast lead for more whitetail deer than jacketed. 25-20WCF with 89 gr at 12-1500fps for light duty, 308 with 165 or 180 at up to 2500 fps, and 38-55 with 250 gr at 12-1500 fps will do most of what I need done.

I'm going to the range today with three rifles and three handguns and one fine cigar. Damn the cost it's finally going to be a nice day here and it will be great to get outside.

Sure someone has mentioned it, but I`ve just gone to my smaller cartridges for shooting practice..223 and 6 ARC. Have tons of 22 cal bullets, many different powders work well, and I can get close to 2 for one, small to big.

Me too. I have about 40lb of WW to cast up and molds for 308 and 357 and it doesn't take much powder to launch those cast bullets.
Thousands of primers that are 6-7 years old and lots of powder and the brass last forever.

My advice is to be sure you have a good supply before you retire. Because inflation (like now) will destroy your savings.

Rocket science, eh...

Just like everything else, if you have to ask……

We don’t eat (or drink) out, don’t travel, don’t go to movies, sporting events, or concerts, drive fancy cars, or wear fancy duds or jewelry- all those by choice, not financial constraint. We do eat good fresh food, keep the house warm (or cool), and pursue our shared and individual hobbies at will. I shoot, handload, and futz around with firearms, pretty much at will. If we liked all that other stuff, I wouldn’t have nearly the time for shooting, and much less money as well.

I've got enough to shoot for years but have reciently been rehooked on the 22 rimfire. Set up a Bergara b14r as a trainer Remington 700 footprint aftermarket trigger. Quality ammunition under 15 cents per shot. Can buy Norma under a dime and don't have to reload.

I got into clays last year for the first time. Shells were tough to find at first, but now they’re common, if spendy, online. The club gets good ones for $8 a box, 2/3 the usual online price, so I’ll be burning those as long as possible. Three rounds thus costs $24 for ammo and $15 for the clays, pretty cheap fun- no loading required.

I only shoot .22s until I start to get sloppy, no pray and spray, so often a box will suffice.

Supply problems come and go in Canada, usually aligning with a Democrat in power in the States. In spite of being able to see it coming a mile away, guys ignore the panic buying southside and think that it won't affect us here. It always does.

I saw a brick of 215Ms go for over $300 at auction the other day. Other guys just shoot from their lifetime's worth stash bought for a 1/10 of that.

The supply chain doesn't involve vast stockpiles just gathering dust waiting for a customer to buy 100 primers. It's more like gasoline; most of the gasoline in existence is already in peoples own vehicle tanks. It just doesn't take much of an upset to bring it crashing down.

LOL, reminds me of the time I was working in the yard and my wife asked me what I was doing. "Spraying for weeds." Then she says "but we don't have any weeds."

"This is a terrible thought I know but I just saw a pound of IMR 4064 at Sportsman's for $48.95. Good grief that is about the oldest and most used powder ever produced and now costs at least double what it was just a couple years ago. Not to mention primers and bullets. Is there a point where you just say to heck with it? Or will you keep paying the price. $1 per shot, $2 per shot, $5 per shot - when is enough enough"

Enough is enough when we all grow a pair and DO something besides talking about it, cussing, swearing, etc . When the tax on tea got too high they didn't say, what are we going to do about it. They threw it overboard !
The socialists wanted guns removed from New Zealand; everyone sat back & did nothing. NO more guns in New Zealand'
The socialists wanted the guns removed from Australia; everyone sat back & did nothing. NO more guns in Australia.
The socialists wanted the guns removed in Canada; everyone sat back & did nothing; supposed to go into effect the end of April.
The socialist want to remove the 2nd amendment here; what are we doing about it.......

I doubt that shooting will ever be so expensive that I will quit doing it. I have always kept a good supply of components on hand since the Clinton primer scare, but I have rediscovered just how much fun shooting 22 LR can be.

I have been shooting my 22 rifles more than ever and am enjoying shooting them as much as anything I have done for ages. What's not to like - ammo is still inexpensive compared to centerfire components, there are lots more opportunities to shoot 22 LR for most folks since they don't require as much range area and are less offensive to neighbors if you live in an area where that is a concern.

Remember when you were younger and used to have a great time with a 22 rifle and a couple of boxes of ammo - look at this as an opportunity to claim back a part of your youth again.

drover

Same here with the same rifle.

Some of the ways I'm enjoying shooting without the cost of handloaded precision centerfire ammo,

Traditional archery
Air rifles
22 rifles/handguns
Steel case and or surplus ammo in 223/5.56 NATO, 7.62x39, and 308/7.62 NATO

Also, I've gotten into the 300 AAC Blackout recently, it sips powder (pistol powder) and can still be a fun rifle out to 500+ yards.

I have a reasonable supply of powder/bullets/primers for my precision ammo, but it seems like now is not the time to burn through it willy-nilly like we could a few short years ago.

It depends on your level of income. A guy grossing $50K ha a lot less latitude than a guy grossing $100K or more.

More along the lines of "debt-to-income" ratio is the variable.

The $100K player might have no disposable income at all.

Good point.