Cost of gun ownership, ammo, and practice versus other activities

When I think of expensive hobbies or hobbies with no value my mind goes to golf. Its not a sport so it not like playing helps you maintain or improve your physical fitness. A cheap set of clubs, or a single club, can run you upwards of 500 bucks and that doesn't count thing that holds your golf clubs. You then have to buy balls, t's (what the wooden things are called i think), clothes, gloves, membership to a golf range or pay per day, gas to and from, gotta tip the guy carrying your crap for you. To my mind there is no benefit to golf beyond the pleasure one derives from it, well that and maybe getting away from the wife for a couple of hours on the weekend ;-)

I ride a Harley......I don't sweat the costs of shooting.

I haven't bought a gun or major accessory in some years.
My recent expenses are match entry fees, ammo and travel for same.

If you think guns are expensive, stay well away from Racecars, air planes, boats, RV’s, girls…

twofewscrews said:

To my mind there is no benefit to golf beyond the pleasure one derives from it, well that and maybe getting away from the wife for a couple of hours on the weekend ;-)

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Oh there are lots of benefits, those that golf are not on the lake competing with the fish I am trying to fool into eating an artificial lure. LOL If golf carts were outlawed, I bet there wouldn't be 25% of the golfers, if they had to actually walk from hole to hole and pull a cart or tote a bag.But hey to each his own!!

jmorris said:

If you think guns are expensive, stay well away from Racecars, air planes, boats, RV’s, girls…

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Horses

Encoreman said:

LOL If golf carts were outlawed, I bet there wouldn't be 25% of the golfers, if they had to actually walk from hole to hole and pull a cart or tote a bag.

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I imagine that would decimate the goofy hat business….

If you are not spending Time, Money or Both together, it's not a hobby...

I suspect that most people don't pay that much attention to what their hobby costs them because doing so would take away from their enjoyment of doing it. So long as they don't deprive themselves or their dependents what else they need to enjoy their lives, present and future, then hey, I cannot criticize.

Jmorris Yea talk about some quirkly looking head pieces!! In your post you said stay away from girls, that isn't nice, but supporting that habit can put a rich man into debt and a poor man to work forever!! LOL Yea firearms and shooting are far from the most expensive hobby.

My non-firearms hobbies through the years were relatively inexpensive.

- 20th century Japanese motorcycles. The most expensive bike I bought was about $3000.00. Finding a clean used one with gunked up carbs was the usual situation.

- Soccer. Cleats, balls, uniform money, league money. Can't recall the prices, but it wasn't hard to cough up.

- Canoeing. My canoe and rooftop rack cost about $750.00 total.

- Tent camping. Don't need a fancy tent or gear down here in mild weather.

- Disc golf. Spent more on beer money than on discs or bags. Rarely had to pay a course fee.

I have built up a small collection of rimfire firearms that helps control my cost of shooting. I hardly ever wince when buying rimfire ammo. Sure, rimfire ammo ain't as cheap as it used to be, but compared to centerfire . . .

Autodidactic said:

I'm sure many of us have considered often the yearly cost of both owning firearms and training to become proficient with them. It's definitely not cheap.

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It varies widely, depending on what you want to do with your guns. A collector might spend thousands on guns, but zero on ammunition. For a shooter, it might be the other way around. For someone like me, with a mature collection, the maintenance costs are low.

Lots of other pursuits have costs that are way more. Guns are not a classic high-cost hobby. Think of the cost of owning a yacht, for example.

South Prairie Jim said:

Horses

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Showing horses = 100 x $$$$$$

Not many consumer products will last our lifetimes, if taken care of.. I'd say they are quite a bargain.

All year round shooting is funner, more rewarding, and far less expensive than making one vacation trip per year to some far away place. Home sweet home.

Only one hobby of mine has recovered some of the cost after the initial investment, and that's metal detecting.

Since I quit playing golf I figure my weekly fifty bird league or derby is a cost effective equivalent. With that oldest Ritis boy, Art, in my hands and back, can't swing the club. Still have enough flex to shoot the angles and doubles. Figure about $30 per week per league/derby and don't have to put up with quite as much slow play.

Cost and spare time to indulge in numerous hobbies is probably the main reason that I decided to focus on just one, that being shooting and my gun collection. I use to do a lot more hunting when I was younger but friends I hunted with have moved on and I no longer have any interest in going out anymore; that and the fact that places to hunt have dwindled over the intervening years, just makes for one less hobby to spend money on.

Use to golf quite a bit but starting a family and spending my free time with them took priority over everything else. When they were growing up I would take them fishing, which they really liked doing until they started to get older and their focus was more on socializing with their friends, along with school activities. They both enjoyed going shooting (and still do), especially since they have their own guns, but now they have their own families and relationships to think of as well as occupations that have meant moving out of state for some of them, and this really limits the free time they have to come and visit here with us.

Over time I have accumulated a considerable number of guns, ammo, and accessories; so much so that my primary costs nowadays are mainly just range fees and reloading components, that is when I can find them! So the cost of gun ownership, including guns, ammo, and range time, is still very affordable and gives me "the best bang for my bucks" when it comes to hobbies!

do the cost out over 20 years, and turn it into a monthly expense. so, for the utility of having a firearm - compare it to heat, insurance, electric, groceries, clothes, entertainment, whatever ...

Autodidactic said:

I'm sure many of us have considered often the yearly cost of both owning firearms and training to become proficient with them. It's definitely not cheap.
But you know, I think too sometimes these purchases aren't put into the context of other major activities or hobbies.
Also, firearms can serve necessary purposes, from hunting to self defense. Not all hobbies or pursuits serve such a purpose.

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....sounds like how folks have been justifying their firearm purchases for millennia. As long as one is not depriving themselves, their family or loved ones of the basic necessities of life, why is there a justification needed for the spending of discretionary/expendable income? Larry Potterfield always has a good example at the end of most of his T.V. ads. Folks somehow feel a need to justify their hobbies to others. Like the idea that Golf is healthy exercise even tho you use a cart and you stop and have a few drinks and unhealthy snacks at the clubhouse. Folks attempt to justify the cost of hunting because they claim they feed their families by the activity, where in truth the cost per pound of the venison they put on the table, is higher than fresh Maine Lobster overnighted to California. Having been in constructuion and woodworking for 4 decades, I was always amazed at the little/never used woodworking tools as estate auctions. Wives would claim that "old Joe" bought all the thousands of dollars worth of tools to redo the house, but only managed to build a bird house or two with them before he died.

You like guns and they bring you pleasure without your kids having to go to school with no shoes.....go for it. You don't need to justify it to me.

^ Indeed! As long as the obligations are met and the bills are paid, what’s done with the surplus $$ is purely your choice.

I’ve seen folks with much more expensive, and destructive, habits than buying guns & ammo and going shooting.

Stay safe.

Autodidactic said:

Good morning,

I'm sure many of us have considered often the yearly cost of both owning firearms and training to become proficient with them. It's definitely not cheap. I personally sometimes feel a bit guilty when I buy that one impractical gun I always wanted (derringer). I have a .380 Bodyguard on hold for $220, and get that ping of guilt for sticker cost.

But you know, I think too sometimes these purchases aren't put into the context of other major activities or hobbies. For example, I'm going skiing with my kid today and even with a reduced cost pass and reduced rentals, it will probably cost $150 for the both of us today. We went skiing in Lake Tahoe in California three days before Christmas, and passes and rentals for the both of us cost us probably $250. Many other hobbies are expensive, from golf to world travel. Cars, etc. Often people will ask why people collect firearms, i.e. have more than 1-2. However, people collect far less useable items such as art pieces or even superhero figures.

Also, firearms can serve necessary purposes, from hunting to self defense. Not all hobbies or pursuits serve such a purpose.

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To be honest, after the initial purchases and any ammunition resupply, the cost of my shooting hobby doesn't really cause me to spend any mental bandwidth to justify. Compared to motorcycles, bicycling, fishing, hunting, photography or any number of other things I've done, the simple cost of acquiring a firearm isn't that high. Firearms also require very little in the way of money for continued maintenance once they're in your possession, especially collectible or rarely used models.

At one point I had a nice carbon fiber road bicycle ($2000-4000), which I rode enough to require tires regularly ($60-100 a set), plus a chain every 1200-1600 miles ($30-50), and after a couple of chains you'll need a new cassette ($50-100), plus the continued cleaning and maintenance (time and money), while not necessarily significant, still had to happen regularly to keep everything functioning properly without wearing out prematurely. Add in the roof rack on the car for travel to rides (I can't remember the cost, but I got a Yakima rack at a steal from a good friend about 15 years ago), the gas to get to those rides, the funny clothes (a bib short and jersey kit will be an easy $250-300 for a decent set, and I have enough sets to ride 5 days a week), etc, etc. Like shooting, once you're past the initial buy-in, ongoing costs aren't too expensive, but I will say it does hurt a bit to wear out a bunch of your stuff at roughly the same time when you come back from a lay-off.

(After reading that, I realize I could have a pre-war Colt commercial Government Model if I had all of that money back in one pile.)

However, if you're having fun and not falling behind on the bills, do what makes you happy, even if it costs a bit of money to do.

Guns and ammo are cheap compared to other leisure activities.

All the guns and ammo I've ever bought in my lifetime, wouldn't have funded my race car for a year.

At my age I have finally accepted I'm not going to live on this earth forever and have been taking a hard look at the stuff I've accumulated over the last sixty two years (since I was 12). Lots of stuff I will never shoot and has no family significance. Lots of other family guns and gear. I wrote up a history on the family guns and it is in the safe for the boys. I give them each one or two each Christmas. Just sold about fifteen of the surplus and have about that many more to go.
As long as I can I'm going to hit the range at least once a week aside from trap and shoot those that I still like.
Expenses? What's left have little invested in after divesting others. Due to appreciation I'm at least 50% ahead (yeah, I know,dollar buys less).
I guess, to summarize, the outlay now for my sport just doesn't seem to be a big deal. Shotgun shells can still go up a little and I'm set with shells and components for three years.
Other than threats from the left, life is good. Heck, I was supposed to die in 2013 when I was in a coma from anaphylactic shock.

Sooner or later, becoming a fulltime couch potato will be VERY expensive - more expensive than the finest guns.