Is the shooting experience being priced into Elitism?

[leadcounsel]

Is shooting only for the elite?

Nope.

In the "wild west" a person would probably be rare to own more than a couple of guns and a couple boxes of ammo. Shooting for pleasure was probably quite rare.

In the mid-20th Century, gun collecters were probably not common also. The average gun owner would likely have a few guns.

Today, there are probably more gun companies than ever, and among them are the some of best manufactured guns in history - and while they may lack hand-fitted parts they are incredibly reliable, rugged, and affordable. An average person can buy a quality handgun, shotgun or rifle on a few days' wages. I commonly see quality used shotguns for $200, and mainstream (Glock, XD, M&P, CZ) handguns for $450, etc. Also, with C&R licenses, you can still get high quality C&R guns for still pretty cheap.

I would venture that here are more guns, more gun owners, and more guns per person now in the US than ever! Most gun owners I know have more than just a few guns.

And while we are feeling the sting of pricey ammo, I still think that it's affordable if you use it wisely and train appropriately. And you just have to stretch your dollar. Save your brass. Buy in bulk. Buy surplus ammo.

So, no, shooting is still an inexpensive pasttime.

Compare that to other "hobbies" folks spend their money on.

I am amazed at how in this "terrible economy" that every time I go somewhere, or watch something on TV, all of the malls are full of shoppers, the strip malls are full of cars, the airport parking lots are full, sport event seats are at capacity, the superbowl was full, etc. I'm not seeing that Americans are "suffering" from a bad economy. Who exactly is sacrificing and staying home???

Every buy a smelly candle!? $20 each! For wax!!!
Gas is nearing $4/gallon in my location
Womens shoes!!! OMG
Womens purses!!! Sticker shock!!!
Hot Yoga is $1000 a year.
A single Pro Sport ticket is in the $50+ range for a decent seat, and quickly go into the $100+ range. Throw in nachos, a few beers, and parking and you're into a SINGLE game with average seats (which is free on TV) for $100+. Season tickets cost several thousand dollars.
Gym memberships are easily $30-100 a month
Movie theater - a single movie is around $10-15 (I haven't gone in years). My friend took his family of 5 to the theater. It was over $100 for tickets!!! They smuggled their snacks in. But if you can wait until it comes out on video is much more affordable; I buy "old" DVDs for between $1-5 each.
Vegas - more popular than ever.

 

[JShirley]

Someone needs to find an inflation calculator and put in the price of a few guns from past years and calculate them to today's prices and see what comes out. That will be be the closest thing to facts we will have in this thread and I'll bet it will be interesting.

Well, SKSs have gone up, and Glocks have gone down.

(1988 SKS- $75
1996 Glock- $550)

John

 

[tnelson31]

Maybe, Maybe not. Check out the responses from this current thread on this site

http://benchrest.com/showthread.php?81759-Where-Have-All-The-Shooters-Gone

Might get a little enlightment as one gets into the posts.

I read a couple of pages of that thread, mirrors this one but went off a bit.

It is hard for me to categorize types of shooting as good or bad. I know what I like, and I do it. (I shoot paper mostly.) I do not have the patience to bulls-eye shoot with my pistols, but I want to be accurate.

What if the goal is to have a controlled explosion in my hand and have the end result appear down range?

My only other thought is: How much thought crime there is in school pertaining to guns?

 

[macadore]

Anything that gets people interested in firearms is good. Plinking, collecting, or any other legal activity. The more the merrier. Anything that prevents that is bad. Snobbery is bad.

 

[hotwheels]

Read through this thread, and the thing that stuck with me is the comment on the first page about anyone being under 45 being that man's kid and being spoiled.

Sorry, Pops, but you're not my old man, and I paid for every gun, every bullet, and every mag I own, so I'm not spoiled, thank you very much.

Some people complain about not being able to have hobbies. These are the same people with just high school educations with jobs that are prone to layoffs, and 4 children they had while in their 20s.

Versus, say, a person with graduate degrees, a high end job, single, and investing 50% of their income...that person can buy whatever gun he wants each month.

It's all about choices.

While I may agree with your statement to some degree, I also understand the other gentleman's point of view, there are many more people out there working on an income that does not allow 50 % investment , you need to be aware of that fact and respect it. I myself have done very well for myself, however if it was'nt for the sacrifice of my father a WW2 vet who returned after the war and struggled to find and maintain an income that he could raise his family on, I would not be where I am today.

 

[BigG]

Almost anything worth doing costs plenty. It's always been that way. You're just noticing, huh?

 

[22-rimfire]

Almost anything worth doing costs plenty. It's always been that way. You're just noticing, huh?

But this is not Elitism. Active participation in most hobbies costs a fair amount. But we are not forced to participate. People should do what they believe they can afford to do.

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

Machines guns yes but normal shooting no. I'm just a College student and yet I can afford ammo to go shooting. Not as often as I would like but enough to get by with centerfire and rimfire is a good filler round for when I can't shoot centerfire.

 

[22-rimfire]

I had more money to spend when I was in college than years later after I entered the real world. The difference is responsibility and essentially a buildup of expenses.

I choose to shoot 22 rimfires a lot. But it's fun to shoot the larger stuff too.

 

[exavid]

I don't think guns or ammo is any higher priced compared to average wages now or back in the '50s. A new car in the mid 50s cost $2000-2500 or about one tenth of what it does now. I remember a Ruger MK1 was priced at $36.50at that time or about one tenth of what it costs now. A three bedroom house in those days cost my folks $8500 and they had to really scrimp and save to be able to buy it. That house right now is listed on Zillow for $96,000 now even with the real estate. It's not so much things are getting more expensive but the dollar is becoming worth a lot less over time due to inflation.

 

[exavid]

Here, ya go: http://146.142.4.24/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl
Glocks have an interesting pricing structure. The initial marketing of the Glock pistol in the US was done at a lot higher price than Anton Glock intended. He was convinced by the US marketers that introducing the gun at a low price that gave Glock a reasonable profit would make people think it was a cheap gun like a Saturday Night Special. So the intitial price was higher than it needed to be. The gun was very popular partially because Glock sold the guns pretty reasonably to US police agencies and partially because they were a new thing being the first poly pistol sold here in any number. That left them a pretty good cushion to lower the price as needed once they became common and the demand slackened. That kind of thing happens with a lot of stuff, look at Ruger's introduction of the LCP and other newer poly pistols. The original price was actually the MSRP but within a very short time they were selling much lower and now are well below $300.

 

[HoosierQ]

At worst, maybe stuff like sporting clays and maybe even 3-gun type stuff.

Let's face it, for the vast majority of the people in this country, "shooting sports" is squirrel hunting in the fall, some deer hunting, maybe, like me, going to the range during the summer with the fellas and shooting some. Last time I went to the range I went with 6 or 8 guys, I maybe shot 40 rounds (through probably 7 or 8 guns) and had a blast. Helped a guy zero in his Eotech, sharpened the guys' knives (that's my niche in the group), shot a .300 Wetherby Magnum that a guy has, and in general puttered about with the gang as we all shot rifles and pistols.

So, no, shooting is not becoming elitist.

 

[moxie]

Give me a break! Shooting is more expensive than it used to be. So stipulated. Maybe. But, as hobbies go, it's pretty inexpensive compared to scuba diving, skiing (snow or water), motorcycling (priced a new Harley lately?), motorcycle or car racing, etc. So where's the elitism? I guess reading costs less, if you don't do much of it and you use the library. Be happy with what you can afford. Strive to do more and better. Don't covet.

 

[oneounceload]

look at Ruger's introduction of the LCP and other newer poly pistols. The original price was actually the MSRP but within a very short time they were selling much lower and now are well below $300.

Not around here, and no longer at Bud's - even they are at $300, while gander is now $349, a jump of $10 or so for both companies.

Shooting can be as cheap as you want it to be - an old .22 rifle and a bulk pack of ammo for $50 to a custom shotgun at over $100,000. Neither is above the other if whatever is owned is within the budget of the person doing it

 

[JohnBT]

I want to be an elitest shooter, I deserve it, but not this elitest...

Membership prices for the new indoor range opening in March. Guess which one I've signed up for. (No hourly fees for members.)

1. $100 initiation fee and $34.95 per month.

But if you want access to the upstairs lounge and private range...

2. $2500 down and $200 per month.


www.colonialshooting.com/content/membership-information

You know, if I gave up my car, or internet/cable package, I could afford it, but I'd have to walk the 2 miles to the range. Or I could ride the bus almost all the way there. How elite would riding the city bus be?

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

At worst, maybe stuff like sporting clays and maybe even 3-gun type stuff.

Not really. A round of Sporting Clays runs about $50 with ammo. Pretty cheap couple of hours entertainment.

As said many times above, considering inflation, shooting is still a bargain compared to a lot of pastimes.

 

[mgmorden]

I want to be an elitest shooter, I deserve it, but not this elitest...

Membership prices for the new indoor range opening in March. Guess which one I've signed up for. (No hourly fees for members.)

1. $100 initiation fee and $34.95 per month.

But if you want access to the upstairs lounge and private range...

2. $2500 down and $200 per month.

Holy moly. One thing good about the local big gunshop - their prices on guns are insane, but their range membership?

$125 per year . . . . that's it. If you're a member you go in and shoot as much as you want as often as you want without paying any fees (you can buy targets from them for $1 each if you want, or you can hang your own). That also includes a t-shirt, hat, and unlimited use of their range rental guns so long as you buy the ammo from them (and they've got just about anything you can imagine to rent. they even rent full-autos, though the full-auto guns cost extra even for members).

If you don't want to join as a member it's $5 per trip which covers the whole day - no hourly charges or anything.

They run 15 15-yard stalls and 10 25-yard stalls.

 

[jmr40]

In 1974 I bought my 1st rifle centerfire rifle. Paid $250 for a Remington 700 ADL, a cheap Bushnell scope, mounts, sling, and a box of ammo. I was in high school working at a minimum wage job, $1.90/hour. I figure it took me 131.5 hours of work to buy that gun, scope, etc.

At todays minimum wage 131.5 hours would earn me just under $1,000. Guns and shooting are cheaper than ever relatively speaking.

 

[bpk1]

That $1,000 would buy you a mid-level AR now, with no optics, sling, or ammo (I'm choosing the AR because it's a very popular platform currently). So if that's what your opinion is based on, I must disagree.

 

[jcwit]

I NEVER worked for minimum wage.

 

[Pilot]

As said many times above, considering inflation, shooting is still a bargain compared to a lot of pastimes.

I would have to agree, especially if you reload and shoot .22's. Just saw this report where actual infaltion is really at 8% not 3.1%. I would have to agree after filling up my car with gas, then going to the grocery store.

Forget the modest 3.1 percent rise in the Consumer Price Index, the government's widely used measure of inflation. Everyday prices are up some 8 percent over the past year, according to the American Institute for Economic Research.

The not-for-profit research group measures inflation without looking at the big, one-time purchases that can skew the numbers. That means they don't look at the price of houses, furniture, appliances, cars, or computers. Instead, AIER focuses on Americans' typical daily purchases, such as food, gasoline, child care, prescription drugs, phone and television service, and other household products.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505144_162-57387655/inflation-not-as-low-as-you-think/


So when you get sticker shock at new gun prices or those reloading components start to add up, remember, things are going up and we always pay in the end.

 

[jmr40]

That $1,000 would buy you a mid-level AR now, with no optics, sling, or ammo (I'm choosing the AR because it's a very popular platform currently). So if that's what your opinion is based on, I must disagree.

In 1974 $250 bought me a budget rifle, cheap scope, mounts, a sling, and 1 box of ammo. Working the same # of hours at minimum wage in 2012 would earn me almost $1,000. I can buy a BETTER rifle, much better scope and several boxes of ammo and have nearly 1/2 my money left over.

Weatherby Vanguard-$350
Redfield Revolution Scope-$150
Sling-$15
3 boxes Remington Corelokt ammo-$60
Talley Lightweight mounts -$40
Total-$615

If you want to compare AR's we can play that game too. In 1974 a Colt AR-15 sold for around $700-$800. In 2012 you can buy the same rifle for right at $1,000. Since minimum wage has almost quadrupled since 1974 a Colt AR should be selling for $2800-$3200 if it were keeping pace.

 

[Certaindeaf]

No.

Heck, just last year I shot a Grey Poupon jar (it still had a smidge in it!) with my Hi-Point!

Pow, yo!

 

[oneounceload]

Since minimum wage has almost quadrupled since 1974 a Colt AR should be selling for $2800-$3200 if it were keeping pace.

Sorry, but you are confusing increases in minimum wage with inflation - the two are not the same and cannot be compared to each other. use one of the inflation calculators found on the web for a better comparison

 

[22-rimfire]

A case of good target 22 ammo costs more now than a new car did in the 1950's. Inflation...

I NEVER worked for minimum wage.

I wish I could say that, but I paid for college working minimum wage in a factory. When I graduated, I owed my Dad $1000 because he wanted me to have a little more money available my senior year than previous years. Paid him back a couple months after I graduated.