How to cut down the costs (of recreational shooting)?

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Buy .22, .22, .22, more .22. As much as you can get your hands on. I am serious. I shoot some .22 every time I visit the range, and I last bought ammo in: 2001

;)
 
Honestly, unless you are shooting 22 LR, you are getting off cheap. Add 22 rimfire to the mix, both rifle and handgun. Unless you compete, concentrate the 9mm at defensive distances and it doesn't take 100 rounds. Other than blaser ammo at Walmart, I don't know how you can keep the cost to $50. Reload too.
 
I use only lead free non toxic ammo.
Click to expand...

Why? Lead is a natural element and comes from the earth and you will more than likely but it back into the earth if shooting outdoors.

I wish the public would get as worked up over drunk drivers killing innocent people on a daily basis as we seem to be over this lead scare.

My God. I either cast, reload, or handle lead on a weekly basis and have numbers so low its not even worth considering. I'm 65 yrs young and have been doing this for 40 yrs. I get my blood tested every 6 months for reasons not related but have no problems. This nation needs to get a pair again.
 
BTW if one can find the components now with this crazy market it is very cheap to reload and shoot ones own cast bullets.

100 rds of most any handgun caliber==$5 to $6 or less.
 
Ruger 10/22 at Dicks sporting goods was $199 last week. Bought it and I love it.

Shot my AR for about 10 minutes before switching to the Ruger.
 
I rarely shoot, because of ammo costs, range fees ect. I spend a lot of time fondling and caressing my guns more than shooting.
When I do go to the range, it's a real treat, I value every single shot. Good thing I'm already a natural shooter.

But I agree with everyone else. Get a .22. I really need to think about a Ruger Bearcat.
 
Targets

I use either white or green printer paper, take a ruler and a red or orange permanent marker and and make a cross (+) or a bunch. You can see the bullet hole easily. Markers are a lot cheaper than printer inc. Just my .02 worth.
 
I cast my own and reload them.
Primers .03 per round
powder .016 per round
brass - range pick up - free
lead- scrounged wheel weights - free

cost per 1000 rounds of .45acp - $46

That's right $46 per thousand rounds of .45 acp that is more accurate from my Kimber UCII than commercial.
 
get a few paper targets then go to kinkos, office depot, staples or what ever. then have them photo copy a gazzilion of them for you. the cost can be as low as .02 cents a copy. for a few bucks you will have enough to last you years. then take a cheap stapler with you. you can staple them up when the old ones get all holes in them.


Reloading used to be cheap an inexpensive to do. I reload 9mm myself. However today with the cost of components its getting up there. One way i have cut down on the price is to cast my own. If you buy lead in bulk or check with your local tire shops you can get lead wheel weights pretty cheap. If your not reloading now. the best thing i would suggest start saving your brass as soon as the components go down in price you will find your self with a lot of brass that you can reload very cheap. for sure the photo copying of the targets is the best idea.
 
Went out today---similar senario--although I did shoot some .223 too.

100rnds 9mm---Walmart $20
$6-$7 gas to get out in the country and back
Shooting on state land-Free
Coke and Pepsi cans out of the recycle bin--Free

Just pick up your mess and now I have 100 9mm brass cases for future reloading. (.223 too)

Out there by myself--no one to bother me or possibly shoot me with an AD--priceless
 
these are the sites to use for targets. its best to use a laser jet printer so you dont waist ink if you have an ink jet your going to spend some money. i use my work laser jet printer. then im good to go. then kinko for .02 a copy

http://www.tnoutdoorsmen.com/targets.htm

http://www.mytargets.com/

http://www.tjtarget.com/

http://www.targetz.com/

http://shooting-targets.net/

also if you go to office depot i bought some of those 1/2 round colored dots the office depot brand it ran me 5.00 for about 1000 of the dots. but they last forever. you put the dots over where you shot. work good. you initial cost maybe 10.00 for all this but you will have more targets than you can ever use and never have to spend any money on them again.
 
I agree with BunnyPuncher - get a Mosin Nagant and get a years membership. I pay $70 a year for the range and I picked up 800 rounds of Mosin ammo delivered for $183.
I shoot a lot of .22 also in pistol and rifle with the rifle scoped and shooting for accuracy. I make my own targets for the rifle and I can get 4 of 'em from a single sheet of paper and a little marker work. The pistols get used on the swinging triple spinners we got for $10 on sale or we drag along a couple of plastic milk jugs. Half the time I take my nine year old daughter with me and the .22 is the perfect caliber for what we do. Come to think of it 70% of my firearms are 22lr. X
 
I finally broke down and bought a .22 LR conversion kit for my AR and I love it.
For plinking or punching paper (out to about a 100 yards), it is great. I have fired almost a brick through mine, but I have not had a single failure. For the first time, the kids get tired of shooting before I start complaining about the cost of ammo.
 
Here are my solutions:

My range sells annual family memberships for $40 that includes all your targets. I volunteer as a range officer on the public range 40 hours a year. For those 40 hours, I get a free membership (a buck an hour...), AND a key to the range to use just about any time I want, whether its open to the public or not (priceless!).

I reload common handgun calibers, and several rifle calibers. I buy components in bulk. I make ammo in the winter and shoot it in the spring, summer, and fall.

Oh, and I shoot lots of .22lr. Its fun, and kids love it!

I really count my blessings when I read what folks in other places have to pay to shoot.
 
Having bought a Mini 14, 30, SKS, two MN 44s last year (long before the election) and weeks ago a LE "Jungle Carbine", all of the previous advice is good. Am a very late-starter with guns (age 53).

Although I have about 9,000 rds (mostly Wolf, Bulg. and '43 British), not including .22, first shooting the old Savage .22 to get some plinking out of the system really helps. But for most people it is not as much fun right after larger round guns.

After first using the .22 (for about 20 minutes), which has a very accurate small bead sight for up to 50 yards or so, there is less need to shoot as much 7.62x39 or larger rounds at the same river session. River, not range.
 
I've managed this year to more than triple my weekly centerfire shooting without increasing my budget. It requires a fair bit of investment for startup, but here's what I did:

Get a reloading setup, and load cast bullets. I'm loading .380, .45, .44 mag, and .308 for a half to a quarter of going price for factory stuff. The only reason the cost for some is as high as half is because I'm using higher quality bullets for better accuracy, or in the case of .308, I use cheap jacketed. (pulled surplus) Regardless, I got a more-than-basic setup, and it paid for itself inside two months.

If you're just shooting for groups or fun, print targets like others have suggested. If you're shooting for something specific (bullseye, etc) buy your targets in bulk. A big box of NRA bullseye target with run about $100, but it works out to about a penny a target.

Similar idea with ammo or components. Buy in bulk to get a better deal. Its more money up front, but its cheaper over time. Finding ammo/components can be tough right now, but its not impossible. Just look hard on the internet, sign up for back in stock notifications, get on backorder if you have to, and if possible, have friends outside your locale keep an eye out to increase your chances of finding something. I've been able to aquire all the primers, powder, etc, I've needed since the election, it just requires more time investment.

Join a club. It may seem like a lot of money at first, but if you look at it at cost per range trip, you'll start to see the savings. My range trips are costing me less than a dollar each now.

Get a shooting buddy or buddies. Split gas for trips to the range.

And of course, .22 is good as well. I enjoy it, but I don't see it as a replacement for centerfire, so I try to keep up with as much of that as I can.
 
Irishman: Your advice is well-worded.

With the lowest-cost, simple equipment, can you estimate after reloading for a few months what the cost per round might be for .303 British, using the old shells made in '43?
This could be an option in a year or two.
 
As far as the 303 British and the old shells, most of them are berdan primed and not practical to reload. It is worthwhile to look at auction sites for reloadable brass or even to buy new. they can be reloaded numerous times IF you don't load hot and trim the cases as needed. I reload aprox. 30 different cal and hit the break even point after about 400 rounds with my 300 WSM. Now I will look for more used equip. on say gunbroker and bid what I think it's worth no more! Afteryou get started with one setup adding a different cal. is really inexpensive. lee RGB dies and a good loadbook. To say it is expensive is like saying that you can't recycle! the only problem will be that the more you save the more you will spend on components so that you can save even more on the next batch of ammo that you reload.
 
With the lowest-cost, simple equipment, can you estimate after reloading for a few months what the cost per round might be for .303 British, using the old shells made in '43?
This could be an option in a year or two.
Click to expand...

Right now I'm loading .308 for a quarter a round. A quick glance at my manual shows that .308 and .303 use roughly similar powder charges, so around 8-9 cents a round.

I saved all the brass I shot before I started reloading, and I have a lot of friends that don't reload, so brass costs me nothing. I'm betting reloadable .303 brass would be expensive and difficult to find. (anyone that knows better, please feel free to correct me) I'm also using surplus pulled bullets I got for a little over 200 for 2000, or 11-12 cents a round. Pulled surplus .308 cal bullets are getting hard to find, and I'd imagine they're much more common than the .312 (may not be quite correct) bullets the .303 uses. My Lyman manual lists .303 loads for cast bullets which could really cut that cost down if you don't mind the reduced velocities. This would also cut your powder costs nearly in half.
 
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