Can't afford to shoot the guns you have? If so, how do you justify buying more?

[flip180]

I don't currently have alot of guns in my collection. But, I do have a pretty well rounded collection. I have more guns than I have time or money to go to the range. When I do go, I have to try to decide what to take based on if I have or can afford ammo for it. Hell, I'll drop 500.00 on a new gun instead of buying a case of ammo for my Sar-1 which as of today I am out of rounds for. Who esle has experienced this? There are a few more on my list of "like to have" to include an M-1 Garand and a Hi-Power but I cant seem to set aside the cash to order a case of 7.62X39. I know, guns aren't like lunch meat. I don't have to shoot them before they spoil and they will always be there but, I want to see if I'm not the only one who has these issues.

Thanks, Flip.

 

[Dave R]

I have secret solution to this problem. Its called handloading. It lets me shoot my Swiss K-31 for less than the cost of commercial .308. I always have ammo. In fact, I always have an excuse to go shooting. "I wonder if this new [insert reloading component] makes a difference..."

But I will confess that its taking longer to complete a "rotation" than it used to...

 

[dakotasin]

i handload, so i never run out.
i also make sure that i have a minimum of 1000 rounds 'in reserve' for each auto handgun, 500 rounds for each revolver, 2000 rounds for each ar, and 100 for each centerfire rifle, not including the ar (certain exceptions: 200 for my heavy barrelled 308, and 500 for my lvsf 7-08... other 308's and 7-08's follow the '100 rounds in reserve' rule). whatever i have above my 'reserve' is used for 'everyday shooting'...

if i was shooting factory stuff, no, no way could i afford to feed everything.

 

[studebaker]

Not me. I tried all the stuff I wanted to try,

many years ago. The only things that interest me (mildly) that I haven't got are a 10ga auto and a .50 BMG upper receiver for the AR-15. Since both cost about $1000 in used condition, and both cost a ton to shoot, I'll have to have 50k in the bank before I even think about acquiring them. That aint likely to happen for a couple of years yet.

 

[flip180]

Dave,

I've took that in to consideration too. I reaload .38 SPCL to shoot my 520 and 1894C with. I also have over 1000 peices of .45 ACP brass for my Kimber but, the same thing applies to reloading also. I'm not set up to reload .45 ACP yet. Why? Because, I want another pistol. The thing is; It's like this never ending cycle. Guns take accesories to use. I'm talking about things like Ammo, targets, target stands, ammo, cleaning kits, reloading supplies, ammo, gun cases/cabinets, scopes, chronographs, slings, ammo, holsters and last but not least ammo. I'm not trying to sound pissy. I guess I shoud use smilies but, I whole heartedly think that guns are addicting. I LOVE gun and I LOVE going to the range to go shooting but, it can get financially tight real quick. Every paypay I go to my local gun store after picking up my paycheck. I do this as a test. They get in some nice used gun every now and then and, I see if I can control myself when I see something I like and have cash in my pocket to boot :banghead: .

Flip.


B.T.W. I have a hard time finding the time to reload with the new baby, work and up keep on the house. My house was built in the 40's and it is easy to get behind real quick. :banghead: .

 

[Hkmp5sd]

If so, how do you justify buying more?

Because I want more. All the justification I need.

 

[jefnvk]

I always justify it with 'the ammo is cheaper for this one'

 

[flip180]

I do take ammo cost into consideration when buying a new gun. I don't buy guns that are overly costly to go shoot with.

Flip.

 

[Souris]

I try to purchase firearms that eat the same ammo. The ones that take odd ammo like .32-20 don't get played with very often

9mm blazer is cheap here and good for plinking.
Buy shotgun ammo right before dove season.

I reload my 45 ACP, 38 spl .357 Mag 44 mag 30-06 and 45-70.

I also have run out of room in the safe. No more guns.

 

[Mannlicher]

I certainly don't share your concerns. Whats the secret to my shooting what I want, when I want? Two simple words.

budget

Save

Works for me..............

 

[Cacique500]

I always justify it with 'the ammo is cheaper for this one'

I'm with Jefnvk & Souris on this one. I stick with Mosin Nagants, SKS's and .45's and have *plenty* of milsurp ammo for all of them...and I reload for the .45.

I ordered 1320 rounds (3 spam cans) of polish 7.62x54R silvertip this week (...but honey, it was on SALE!) and then decided to buy a new Finn M39 Nagant to go with it.

You should always have more ammo than guns...if you don't have ammo all you can do is throw an empty pistol at 'em!

 

[Smoke]

I try to purchase firearms that eat the same ammo.

Pretty much my theory.

Handguns are mostly .45acp, a couple of .40S&w and a couple of 9mm.
Rifles are my biggest variance, I have quite a few differetn calibers although I rarely shoot some of them.

Shotguns are my weakness. 12s (multiple) 20s (multiple) .410 (multiple) as of yet no .28....but it's coming.

Smoke

 

[RavenVT100]

I don't have a huge collection, and honestly, can't afford more now. But it will continue to grow over the years.

I've always been thinking about getting into reloading. If you have only one gun in a caliber (i.e. I only have one .45) does that justify reloading for it? How about ARs, isn't reloading them dangerous?

 

[dk-corriveau]

Here is my policy....

Start of with the guns that cost the most to shoot. Then when it is time to purchase a new gun, I simply look at my wife and say, "Baby, the ammo is cheaper for this one."

I am sure that she is on to me by this point, but she loves me and my collection is still expanding.

 

[gbran]

My disease is so bad,

that I'm now buying scopes for guns I don't yet own, just so I'll have an excuse to buy them.

 

[1 old 0311]

Owning a lot of guns doesn't make you a shooter. It makes you a collector. Wasn't it Elmer Keith who said "beware of the man with one gun.....he probably knows how to use it"?

Kevin

 

[atblis]

Who said I have to justify buying more guns?

I like guns, so I buy them.

I do know what you mean. What I do is pick a particular gun for a while to shoot.

 

[grimjaw]

I *try* to limit the guns I get to fewer caliber choices to keep ammunition costs down, and I also buy ammunition in bulk. .38 Special ammo will work with several of my revolvers, so no worries there. .22 LR works in three of my guns (pistol, revolver, rifle), and I have two pistols that shoot 9x18 Makarov.

Usually if I don't shoot it, though, I'll end up selling or trading it.

jmm

 

[Stevie-Ray]

Well, the only weapon I have that I have oodles of ammo for is my SAR-48. Even that is probably less than 1000 rounds of .308. I might have about 5 or 600 rounds of .22. I have only about 200 rounds for my AR, no more than 100 rounds for all my .45s. That's sad, too, because I used to handload religiously for .45 ACP and 10mm. I didn't buy a .45 ACP round for a great many years until I started carrying. Then, of course, I had to return to spending the almighty dollar on defensive ammo for practice as well as carry. Oh well, there's a price for everything, and I'm all too happy to pay it for the right to carry, and the peace of mind that I know where the bullet will end up in a bad situation. I just wish that moronic judges would realize that most of us can load our own even better than the factories, and therefore be even surer of bullet placement, and keeping innocent bystanders safer.

Yeah, I still like to buy guns, even if I'm not shooting the existing ones much.

 

[boofus]

The way I see it, the guns are cheaper and last longer than the ammo to feed my select-fire FNC. So therefore I end up buying more guns.

 

[Majic]

Why do you need cases of ammo? A couple of boxes per firearm should suffice for a trip to the range. Any more so and funds are tight then you really should consider reloading.

 

[MechAg94]

Well, guns are useless without ammo. I would hate to get caught needing to use my gun and not being able to. At least make sure you keep a moderate amount of ammo available.

 

[esldude]

I agree with Studebaker's take on this.

I unlike many I will trade firearms. Many for some reason get this idea of never selling any gun. I got to the point I had a couple dozen. And taking one out not used in two years, I fumbled with it. Decided even one I knew intimately was better. So I sold most of them, and got a couple of higher quality. I didn't drop down to one, but enough you can count on one hand.

Doesn't it make sense as you learn, get more experience with varied firearms, and discover deeper levels of what turns your crank you can make a better firearm choice?

My first rifle was a Mini 14 and I thought I had the finest rifle in the world. Over years, found highly accurate rifles to be alot more interesting. Now have a couple of highly accurate bolt guns I love. Have had many different kinds along the way. And unlike most hobbies, liked every one of them. But the ones I have now I like the best as I better learned my preferences through experience.

And because I like shooting so much, a couple of my firearms are 22LR. Nothing like shooting ten thousand rounds through a firearm to feel at one with it. I simply cannot afford that kind of shooting with centerfire. Some can, I unfortunately for me cannot.

Shooters and collectors. And some can afford to do both. More power to them all. I like a few great firearms I can shoot a bunch.

 

[taliv]

i don't have anything against collectors, or people who just like to show off their guns. whatever floats your boats. but i'd rather have one gun and shoot it all the time, than a whole house full that i've never fired.

i shoot enough that when i miss two weeks in a row, the gun feels "weird". i can't imagine being a cop and shooting two boxes per year or less.

i admit that i catch myself at gun shows almost buying a gun (especially cheap ones like SKS and mausers etc), but then realizing i'd never shoot it; it'd just sit and rust. so what's the point? i usually wind up buying a couple pounds of powder instead.

 

[flip180]

Things are back in perspective a little bit. I think that I'm going to put more funds into ammo. I'm not talking about braking the bank or anyhting like that but, It doesn't make sense to me to drop another 500.00 on a pistol when I really do have a nice current well rounded collection of shooters. I could use that 500.00 to get set up to reload .45 ACP and buy a case or two of 7.62x39 for the Sar-1. I posted about a trip to the range earlier in this forum about my trip to the range today and totally enjoyed it with the four firearms that I brought with me. Now, I will have a BHP/FNHP sooner or later .

Flip.