Competition Shooting cost a lot?

[robinkevin]

From time to time mainly in the winter I enjoy watching ShootingUSA on the outdoor channel. They show a lot of different competition matches and it looks like so much fun. When I was a teenager I use to go to turkey shoots all the time and blow away clays like crazy. Miss those days and would love to get into some sort of competition shooting. However worry about the cost of everything from fees to join, cost of ammo (say you can go through a ton in a single match) to the over all cost of firearms and gear to be competitive... any advice?

 

[robinkevin]

If cost is a major factor I will accept that and get more into competition shooting as funds allow... till then there is always turkey shoots! Just wanted to add that so no one thinks I am just a lost cause or what not. I am simply looking for some insight.

 

[Japle]

It's possible to spend every penny of your disposable income. When you see all the cool guns and holsters and toys the other shooters have, you'll want to do exactly that.

To save money in the medium and long run, get into reloading. You can get a Lee turret press kit that comes with a powder measure and scale and a set of carbide dies for about $150. Buy some once-fired brass, powder and primers and some plated bullets and a loading manual.

I'm not a great fan of Lee products, but after you've saved enough money you can buy a Dillon and sell the Lee stuff to some other beginner.

 

[MrBorland]

Some forms of competition are more expensive than others. More gear, more expensive gear, more expensive ammo, etc.

Fortunately, there are numerous forms of competition that are much easier on the wallet. Rimfire competitions come to mind. Rimfire steel, silhouette, target, etc.

Another is IDPA, which, at it's core is geared toward "everyday" equipment. You can spend a bunch of you want, but you can also get started (and do very well) pretty economically.

 

[Soupy44]

This is a pretty broad question, but the simple answer is it first depends on how much you want to put in, and second what you want to do.

My advice would be to first decide what you want to do. From there, find a match in your area and contact the match director saying you want to try it out. You will make the match director's day!

The match director will do one of three things. First, they may invite you to come watch with limited or no participation. See what it's all about, and go from there.

Second, they may invite you to come and will tell you the barebones equipment you need. When you get there, the director will pair you with someone they trust who will give you the rundown and help you out and you'll shoot as much of the match as you feel comfortable.

Third, some clubs have the basic equipment needed for the match, and will outfit you for the day with a small extra fee for ammo. At the club I used to be a member, that included a gun in many disciplines. If the club doesn't have the equipment do do this, some shooters have extra equipment around that they may let you use (it helps if you know someone at the match for this one).

The shooting community is a very friendly place. I am a smallbore shooter at heart who is dabbling in Hightower. Just this past May, I attended the CMP Eastern Games here in NC for the Garand match. I borrowed a friend's Garand, but didn't have time to get zeros for it before the match. While chatting with the guy I was sharing a point with (who drove from TX), he let me use his Garand in which he had invested tons of money. He got a bit quiet after I beat him by 10 points in standing, but he got over it and kicked my ass the rest of the match.

 

[mbopp]

A Ruger or Browning .22 pistol can get you started in steel challenge plate shooting, and some clubs even run bowling pin shoots for .22's.
9mm & up gets you into IPSC / IDPA shooting. As far as gear, I'm using the holster included with my Springfield 1911 for now. I had to buy a few mags and mag holders.
But yeah, you can spend all your fun money on guns, gear, and ammo. 3-gun gets expensive quick.
The club I belong to charges $8 for IDPA and $5 for IPSC-style weekly matches. And if I shoot both it's still less than 150 rounds, closer to 120 or so depending on the stages.
And then there's .22 rimfire rifle silhouette or benchrest shooting. But a good .22 rifle and scope can set you back as much as a centerfire though.

 

[esheato]

I don't find competition expensive, I find practice for said competition expensive.

 

[jmorris]

As above steel with a .22 is pretty cheap. You can also be competitive with inexpensive pistols in SSP and production in IDPA/USPSA. You can spend the most money playing 3 gun and cowboy action.

 

[Justin]

It depends on what kind of competition you want to participate in, and how far down the rabbit hole you want to go.

If you want something that's fairly low-cost, you can compete in IDPA or Steel Challenge pretty much with whatever you've got laying around. IDPA doesn't require anything more expensive than a common centerfire gun, holster, and magazines, and cheaper brands of ammunition are perfectly acceptable as long as they run in your pistol.

Steel Challenge has divisions for rimfire guns, which makes it mucho cheap to play.

To shoot a local match, your costs will pretty much include ammo, match fee (generally $15-$20), and the cost of fuel to and from the range.

 

[vzwnnj]

get yourself a Springfield 9mm XDm package for about $600 and you're set for a while... Has everything you need to do idpa pretty well

glock is great too,but the xdm comes with an ok holster and mag carrier plus 3 mags

 

[robinkevin]

This is a pretty broad question, but the simple answer is it first depends on how much you want to put in, and second what you want to do.

My advice would be to first decide what you want to do. From there, find a match in your area and contact the match director saying you want to try it out. You will make the match director's day!

The match director will do one of three things. First, they may invite you to come watch with limited or no participation. See what it's all about, and go from there.

Second, they may invite you to come and will tell you the barebones equipment you need. When you get there, the director will pair you with someone they trust who will give you the rundown and help you out and you'll shoot as much of the match as you feel comfortable.

Third, some clubs have the basic equipment needed for the match, and will outfit you for the day with a small extra fee for ammo. At the club I used to be a member, that included a gun in many disciplines. If the club doesn't have the equipment do do this, some shooters have extra equipment around that they may let you use (it helps if you know someone at the match for this one).

The shooting community is a very friendly place. I am a smallbore shooter at heart who is dabbling in Hightower. Just this past May, I attended the CMP Eastern Games here in NC for the Garand match. I borrowed a friend's Garand, but didn't have time to get zeros for it before the match. While chatting with the guy I was sharing a point with (who drove from TX), he let me use his Garand in which he had invested tons of money. He got a bit quiet after I beat him by 10 points in standing, but he got over it and kicked my ass the rest of the match.

I think this along with the suggestions of rim fire steel seems like a great start for me. I was looking through the list of different matches on here and saw quite a bit for .22 which would be easier on the pocket for the simple fact of ammo, then as I save up money I can put the money towards gear rather then ammo.

Thanks for all the suggestion and info guys!

 

[MrBorland]

Terrific. Looks like there's a range in Sparta that hosts rimfire steel matches. There ought to be others.

Here are a few vids you might find interesting. Note that some in the 2nd vid are drawing from a holster, but rimfire steel starts at the "low ready" position, so no holster needed. Just bring your rimfire gun, some ammo, a few extra mags if you can, and eye/ear protection.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKYkK4T_V48&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4RXNo4gEyk&feature=related

Good luck, be safe & have fun!

 

[robinkevin]

Will have to look into that range, its not too far from me.

Really like the look of the .22 pistol steel shooting. Fast pace and just shooting at steel rather in bullseye targets. (Have always been better shooting objects over trying to get dead center of a targets). I like the idea of .22 rifle competition shooting as well...

 

[Hawthorne2k]

I agree with those who are mentioning shooting steel with a .22LR pistol. It's FUN, cheap, and it teaches good habits like safety, trigger control, and quick target transitions.

After that, probably IDPA would be cheapest, as the guns tend to be more like stock guns and the courses of fire are shorter, resulting in lower ammo costs. Costs for that would be a good (i.e. Major Name) pistol, a good holster (something you can re-holster with one hand), 4 mags and a mag pouch.

USPSA would be next. Guns there are slightly more expensive, as even Production Class has some high-zoot guns in it, and courses of fire are longer, requiring more mags on your body and more ammo sent downrange.

And then there's 3 gun. Figure a grand for your rifle, almost that amount for your shotgun, and the pistol you shoot in IDPA/USPSA. And that's just for Tac Limited.

And then figure you'll spend at least twice the amount of money on practice ammunition as you do on ammo for matches.

With your background, you might want to look into shotgun competitions. I've been known to shoot sporting clays on occasion, and I love it.

 

[Ankeny]

I don't find competition expensive, I find practice for said competition expensive.

Yup. That and travel.

 

[rehorne]

Don't think anyone has mentioned it. You might want to check out the Ruger Rimfire matches. All you really need is a pistol and a rifle in 22 rimfire. Tons of fun and lots of competition.A lot of them have some pretty good awards also.

 

[Smokin Gator]

We've recently started holding Ruger Rimfire matches at our club. We started with IDPA, acouple of years ago added ICORE and a couple of months ago Ruger Rimfire. It's a lot of fun and we're getting more ladies and kids showing up. It's a good way to break into some sort of shooting competition. Mark

 

[P-32]

How you like to shoot matches and improve your marksmanship skills and for hunting at the same time?

I'm talking about NRA High Power. It is true there is some expensive equipment to be had, but you won't always need the equipment right away. HP shooters are a friendly bunch and often like to help the new guy get started.

I've seen shooters offer a rifle and ammo if the new guy will show up at the next match. I've loaned out a match AR for an entire season until the shooter could get his own. If some one is close to my firing point but a different relay, I will loan out my spotting scope. Keep in mind when you add the cost of the scope and the scope stand I could have bought another match AR. But I will never buy another spotting scope in my life time.

The Spotting scope some times allows you to see bullet holes. You have better luck seeing 30 cal holes than 22 caliber holes at 200 yards. At 300 yards its real iffy and only in the right light conditions. This is why we use a scoring/spotting disk. Finally you will depend on the spotting scope to watch wind conditions at 600 yards. You learn real quick the guy who makes the boast he shot his deer at 600 yards and on the run is more than likely full of it.

The reason why this game helps with hunting is because you learn your limits. Plus using iron sights, yes, we use iron sights even at 600 yards. Comming from the irons make the use of a scoped rifle is a piece of cake. Why, You now know what NPA is, you know how you should control your breath (buck fever can not be over come by shooting matches) and you know what trigger contol is. You will know how to shoot standing, sitting and prone. As for myself, I won't take a shot from standing unless I can find support for the rifle.

Again, shooting a scoped rifle is made easy. Buckhorn sights are still a pain but you know what to do.

Match Fees.....We keep the price down so it's not like some other competitions which the winner gets a large sum of cash. Awards can be given to the high shooter at each stage in each class. For example if you are the hig scoring expert at sitting, you could get something. The area I live at that person would win about $3.00. The match winner might get $20.00, sometimes a little more. This is how we keep the entry fees down.

Most high power shooters also reload. If I'm going to shoot a full distance match, I use 77 and 80 gr. SMK's. Finding either of these bullet weights in factory loaded ammo is few and expensive. I always take 100 rounds for a 80 shot match. You will have 2 sighters at each stage which now means 88 rounds. If you have a malfunction not related to the shooter, you will get to fire that string over which is another 10 rounds. Bad thing is you get the lower scoring 10 shots for score.

A shooting coat helps here too. But they are a couple $ hundred. A shooters stool, nice to have but a 5 gal bucket works too for carrying the things you need. A mat can be a piece of ccarpet. The spotting scope can be a pair of binocks. Shooting coat can be a pair of elbow pads and a long sleeve shirt to keep your elbows from going raw. (A shooting coat helps steady for standing but every place else you are just using the pads on the shooting coat and not all buckled up.)

Again HP shooters are a good group of guys. I have several good friends I met though shooting. Let those local to you tell you what to get and what works. The only rifle I can recommend is a RRA Nat. Match AR or a White Oak Arms upper in and around a 7 to 1 twist. (There is not a 223 bullet this twist won't shoot.)

Good luck.

 

[GCBurner]

At one end of the competition spectrum you have Olympic class trap, skeet, rifle, pistol, airgun, and biathlon shooting, where you need to figure in the cost of international travel to competitions along with the custom competion weaponry and match ammunition. At the other end, you've got local .22 Smallbore and Turkey Shoots at the local club or public range. You can find a game to shoot in for as little, or as much, as you can afford.

 

[mgmorden]

Competition can be as expensive as you choose to make it. Say you want to shoot USPSA or IDPA. If you hit one match per month at a local club it's really not that much. Most club matches run $15-25 for the match fee, and you'll use between 75 and 150 rounds of ammo (depending on the sport - USPSA matches tend to use a bit more ammo due to longer stages). So figure in about $50 for match fee and ammo. That's a fairly minimal monthly cost. Add in some more ammo costs too for practice sessions.

The problem comes in when you start running the local circuit. I've been doing a minimum of 3 matches per month (sometimes 4), which when you add in gas and practice ammo it can easily reach a few hundred per month. Still, that's comparable to a car payment, which I can afford. Of course, there are people (with sponsorships or a LOT more disposable income than me) that sink a lot more money into it than that, but we all work within our limitations .

 

[wanderinwalker]

Like P-32, I'm a rifle shooter and can tell you that in Highpower people are plenty willing to help out the new people. I've had equipment loaned to me, loaned out equipment and advice offered back and forth. (Now I'm a Master-class shooter, I'm one of the ones offering pointers to the new folks.)

Look around at your local clubs and see what is available. I know pistol shooting can be done relatively inexpensively if you already have something like a 9mm or .40 semi-atuo with a holster and some magazines. Our local fun pistol matches run $10 for entry, $5 for a re-run of the stage and will normally consume about 50-60 rounds. I've shot them with my .357 revolver for fun before, with a leather holster and speedloaders in my pockets.

.22 shoots are popular too. Again locally we have a fun .22 plate match that runs in the winter. Match entry fees are low and the point is to have fun.

As was said, it can be as expensive or not as you would like.

 

[Red Cent]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3-XoJCBYxo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1BwUJ4--Qw&feature=related

 

[1SOW]

re USPSA: Bring the 9mm or larger gun you've got. I started and didn't embarass myself (maybe a little)with a Sig 239 9mm. You do need a holster, mag holders/pouches and at least 3-4 mags.

As said above, shooters are good people. Go to a match and tell them your new to action shooting. They will help and teach you what you need to know to be safe and enjoy the sport.

It's fast paced, and targets vary from cardboard 'center mass' , to steel plates-poppers-stars-, swinging targets, disappearing targets, pop-up targets and more.

You do not need to be a great pistol shooter with a high-dollar pistol to enjoy this sport A LOT. Just go and give it a try.

Our local match fees for Steel Challenge , USPSA and IDPA at 4 ranges are $20.

 

[JohnnyK]

yes, but its worth it!

 

[robinkevin]

High power rifle shoots sounds fun too even though I have never shot beyond 300 yards doesn't mean I would be willing to try it. Dad taught all of us boys to shoot using open sights and in different positions. That's the way he taught people in the Army so I guess he figure if it worked there it would work at home with his boys as well. I can attest that it does make using a scope very easy.

Currently I am really wanting to get back into revolvers after not shooting any for awhile. I miss the feel of thumbing the hammer back and then touch off the trigger, not to mention the accuracy! With that being said is there much place for revolvers in competition shooting? I know I have seen them some what in IDPA but usually see more autos...