Anybody else cheap (broke)? Share your tips

3x5 index cards, magic marker a one inch square in center (moa) Avery colored hole protectors (3 ring note book holes) placed in center of square. Now you have a cheap maybe a penny cost MOA target to shoot for load development etc.

Use staple or spray adhesive to attach..

Reloader cheapness....

Get a colander from a yard sale for less than $1 to sift the brass out of the cleaning media..

Use sawdust instead of buying corn cob media for polishing. I sweep all my sawdust into a tin and use it in my tumbler.

I also use a diaper bag for my range bag. It is very well made and was a gift. Just dont use it for travel through the airport.

My range bag is a small duffel bag I "borrowed" from a family member years back.
My only other tip is to not shoot. As broke as I am, I'm lucky to shoot once a month.

.22 LR ammo is cheap.

Snap caps are cheaper.

You can practice nine tenths of what needs practicing with those two things.

Including the Four Rules!

(I threw that last bit in because I've heard of an accident or two while people were dry firing, only it wasn't so dry as they thought.)

Plastic oil drain pan, will fit the mouth of a 5gal bucket. Drill a bunch of holes in bottom of plastic oil pan make good for a brass sifter

I use the color copy machine at work and crank out a hundred or so at a time. A ream of 11x17 copy paper also has a ton of uses and is cheaper than poster or art paper of the same basic size. I'll stick 4 or 5 square Post-It notes on it - I like the bright red color; they stand out best at 100 yards. Cheap paper plates from Walmart too.

Hell yes , especially targets , paper plates are cheap & a 90 ct. box of clays at wal-mart is just 8 bucks , damn right save money where you can !

Fill a milk jug with colored water for an inexpensive reactive target

I made a simple bench rest from a few pieces of oak I had laying around. A hardwood will hold the screws better, but apply some good glue and screws and you'll be good to go. The V notches are lined with pieces of a rubber floor mat. I made two butt blocks of different heights. The butt blocks work well for bench resting your pistol. This stand could also be used in your shop to work on your rifle, mount a scope, etc..

Yeah, despite the hi-tech application, we're super cheap.
We use our 48" wide format digital printer to print targets on the back side of film carrier paper. Its usually rolled up and stored for nuthin' in particular after the printing of graphics is done, so we print targets on the reverse side.

We can print 18 targets on a 4'x8' stretch, which is as wide as our target framework is. It takes about $0.35 worth of ink per 8' run. The ones you see on the printer here are for pasting on targets from 100 out to 1,000 yards for the bigger ones.



This is me stapling a 4x8 18 target run on the framework. This is as cheap as it gets for real type targets and we can change the profiles to suit either open sights or scopes. We shoot some 300 rounds of .30 caliber a week for load data development that never seems to end.



We have a heated SHootShed so we shoot all winter long. We made it with both prone and bench firing ports.



You can see the framework from the 100 yard mark. We're building two more, one at 300 and one at the 500 yard mark

Forgot to mention that if anyone wants sheets like these just cover ink costs and shipping and they're yours. This may all look like its all expensive, but believe me..... we're as cheap as it gets with everything we buy. What we can't afford, we make.

Latigo

Find stores that put out the plastic signs advertising sales or pick up the plastic election signs from the side of the road after an election. They make good targets and with the wire holders can be put almost anywhere.

The plastic is self sealing and lasts a long time.

You mean like, steal them?

You mean like, steal them?

Click to expand...

I look at it more as community service, cleaning up trash from the roadside. Especially if the other guy won the election.

This guy made an AR15 receiver from an old piece of cutting board

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3chSzLxPuzU

His process about four posts down
http://www.weaponeer.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8035&PN=1&TPN=3

I was really impressed that it worked. He said there have been no problems with it. I guess since the lower doesn't really do the brunt of the "work" anyway...

Quote:
You mean like, steal them?

I look at it more as community service, cleaning up trash from the roadside. Especially if the other guy won the election.

Well, for election signs you're actually doing a service. For store sales ads, it's simply stealing. We make a lot of money in the studio replacing stolen signs on wire H frames. I have mixed feelings. Am I sorry for the store, or do I need the extra bucks for ammo! Hmm??

The diaper bags already mentioned make outstanding range bags. I have been using one for a few years now and I started out with more pockets than I needed and now I seemed to filled every pocket with something or other. LOL

Now onto a non shooting money saving tip. For those of you who use a razor to shave after shaving and rinsing it, dip it in isopropyl alcohol. I started doing that back in April and last week I changed the head on my Mach 3 because I was going to be out of town and didnt want to mess with it while on vacation. I used the same head for three months when usually I could only get 14 to 21 days of it before changing.

I sleep during the day and wear earplugs. Every time I buy a package, they come with a little hardcase to put a pair in your pocket. I've got a ton of them now, they're great for keeping small parts, especially screws safe and together. I also save all the various small ziploc type bags that come with all sorts of products for the same purpose.

Just got back from the range. My target:

A white sheet of letter sized paper with a hand drawn circle roughly 1/2 to 3/4 inch diameter. Gives you a great reference point to shoot at. And is practically free.

Last time I had money, I purchased several high end air rifles - you know, the kind that are actually accurate enough to hit things, and consistent enough from shot to shot to print a group on paper. (Not from Walmart).

It cost me a lot at the time, but now I can practice for even less than a .22, and I can do it in my back yard without disturbing the neighbors.

Oh, an I recycle old tennis balls as targets - they bounce and hop around. Its fun.

Home depot had a 2 for 1 sale on some nice gloves for 10 bucks. Tight fitting with padding in the upper palm and lowerpalm, and thin rubber in between the fingers. Great cushioning and thin enough for any pistol I own. $5 bucks a pair

Shoot corrosive ammo? Windex is a swell cleaner for the salts but costs three-four bucks a bottle. I'd rather buy ammo. Here is the formula for windex. Works on glass,too. 2oz ammonia,8oz rubbing alcohol, one teaspoon of dish soap and water to make a half gallon. Costs about 50 cents. I use marvel mystery oil on guns and make slings from 2 dollar leather belts from goodwill.

Poor man's trigger job. A piece of tire patch for an overtravel stop. No, it doesn't make the gun able to bump fire or prevent the gun from firing.

I've thought about getting a .22 cal pellet swage kit for my rockchucker. If saving money on 1-2 cent pellets isn't cheap, I don't know what it. I have a pellet trap already so I can save the lead if it comes to that, hahaha.