How long does it take to shoot the cost of your gun in ammo?

[firestar]

I just had a weird thought, guns and ammo vary in price so much that some people can't shoot a case of ammo without it costing more than the gun itself (Hi-Point guns) while others can shoot for a LONG time before this occurs (S&W 41 .22lr).

What is a good rule of thumb to use? Should your gun cost more than 1,2,3,4,5, or 6 cases of ammo?

It just amazes me how many guns cost about as much as a case of ammo. Either ammo prices have gone up or gun prices have gone down because this doesn't seem normal. It seems like it takes WAY more work and expense to make a Bersa .380 than it does to make a case of .380 ammo. I think I know who is making the real money in the gun world and it ain't the gun companies, its the ammo companies.

 

[Greg L]

I've never really thought of it that way before. For my handguns (centerfire) of decent quality I would say between 3-5 cases before it equals the cost. For the rimfire pistols it would be somewhere between 12-18,000 rounds.

Rifles probably 2-3 cases mainly because most of my rifles (centerfire) came off of my C&R and weren't very expensive to begin with. Rimfire is probably in the same range as the pistols.

Guns like kids are expensive to feed.

Greg

 

[firestar]

My CZ-52 cost me about $110 out the door. A case of 7.62x25Tok would cost me at least that much.

My Beretta 92FS costs about $500 (I traded for it) and I can buy almost 5 cases of 9mm for that.

My Ruger MKII SS 5.5 bull bbl costs $300 and I can buy about 37 bricks for that on sale. That is about 18-19 cases of .22lr ammo.

 

[T.Stahl]

Uh, not including accessories (mags, scopes) for the guns:

Glock 17L - 665EU = 4,820rds of IMI 124gr FMJ.
Enfield No.4 - 350 EU = 1,230rds of Dutch AI surplus
HK SL8 - 1300EU = 6,500rds of PMC 55gr FMJ.

 

[bogie]

A benchrest barrel ($400ish) has a useful life of about 2,000 rounds ($330 for bullets, and about $150 for primers and powder - if you're careful with 'em, you can reuse 20 pieces of brass 100 times.).

 

[firestar]

T.Stahl,
WOW! that was precise.

 

[Black_Talon]

My new Springfield Professional Model cost $2000 and I'm shooting strictly WW RA45T ammo through it. The ammo is $225/500rds shipped from Proload so that's 8.88888 cases of ammo (4445rds) for the price of the gun.

Expensive gun + expensive ammo = decent gun-to-ammo cost ratio. mmmkay?

 

[treeprof]

Less expensive production guns in uncommon calibers are prob the worst re gun/ammo cost ratio. If you bought a CZ Safari Magnum in .416 Rigby ($600 or so), you could exceed the cost in <100 rds of Federal Premium. Same gun in .458 Win Mag shooting Speer Grand slam Solids, in 80 rds.

 

[JohnK]

How long does it take to shoot the cost of your gun in ammo?

If I'm shooting Glazers in a used Security Six, not long at all - less than 100 rounds. If I'm shooting cheap surplus 45 ACP in a $2000 custom 1911 it takes a lot more, like 11,000 rounds (surplus from Ammoman.com).

 

[Navy joe]

150 buck Arisaka realized in 125 rounds or less. :banghead:

 

[Bowlcut]

After all said and done my sw99 would take me about 60 boxes of 50ct .40s&w in walmart winchiester white box.....so i guess thats pretty good.

my mosin is around 10 boxes of wolf ammo at retail prices...

and around 17 boxes of 100ct 9mm wwwb in my high point carbine....

 

[T.Stahl]

Firestar, I'm an engineer and structural analyst (FEM and sorts), I get paid for being precise.

Actually, I get paid for being as precise as necessary. It's just like guns: the precision and accuracy of the results you get are a matter of how much you're willing to pay.

 

[Carnitas]

Thats exactly why I always wonder about people who post these "I'd like a really nice gun but I cant afford the extra $200 dollars so I'm considering this POS over here. What do you think?"

I usually figure I'll spend 50% to 75% of the gun getting it accessorized (extra mags, grips, case, special cleaning supplies or tools, sights, holsters, slings, etc), and at least $200 bucks of ammo just to get to know the new addition to the arsenel.

 

[cool45auto]

Well, I paid about $650 for my Vertec a year ago. I can get 100 rounds of Winchester white box at Walmart for $10 a box. So for $650 I can get 6500 rounds. I'm not up to that just yet.

 

[BigG]

10 boxes of factory 500 grain fodder equal 1 CZ 550 Magnum Safari Express Rifle. (200 rounds)

Nextjoe and H&H Hunter can chime in about their 416 Rigby and 470 Nitro Express, respectively.

 

[Archer]

Interesting question !

For my .45 ACP carry gun:

It would take about 10 cases (10,000 rounds) of American Eagle, or about 27,647 of my (much cleaner and more accurate) .45 reloads off my Dillon, using plated projectiles.

16 and a half 1000 round bricks of Federal .22 LR to equal the price of my bull barrel Ruger Mark 2 plinker.

16.84 500 round cases of Federal XM193 equals my rifle.

 

[Cosmoline]

My personal record

Was a $50 Arisaka sporter that took just twenty five rounds of Norma to equal the cost of the rifle

 

[John Ross]

This is fun. Let's do the new .500 S&W. We'll use retail prices and factory ammo, then dealer prices and handloads with cast bullets and cases that go ten shots (they do).

$987/$3 a shot = 329 rounds.

$651/$0.105 a shot = 6200 rounds

(That second one is 3.5 cents for the case, a penny for the primer, four cents for the powder, and two cents for the scrap wheelweight alloy, electricity, and lube. Labor is free.)

JR

 

[BigG]

If you shoot 5,000 rounds of jackets thru the bbl it will probably be smoothbore anyway. Time for new pistol/bbl.

 

[firestar]

I like to shoot so I buy guns that have inexpensive ammo. That is why I don't own a .40S&W anymore, I can shoot at least twice as much 9mm and I like 9mm better anyway.

I don't like having guns that I can't afford to shoot a lot of ammo through.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Realistically speaking, I don't shoot enough.

 

[Dorrin79]

depends on the gun and the caliber!

i've shot around 2000 rounds through my P89 - or 1/2 its cost, in 16 months.

If you have an expensive .22LR, you might never shoot its cost in ammo

 

[Kenneth Lew]

One gun 50,000 rds. of 9mm match gun cost.

 

[grenadier]

All the more reasons to learn how to load your own cartridges. The way I see it, my Glock 17 cost me about $480.00 when I bought it, and to fire off 1000 rounds would cost me this much:

1000 Berry's round nosed 124 grain bullets: $40.00
1000 Winchester standard small pistol primers: $14.00
1 lb of Alliant Power Pistol propellant powder: $14.00

So, at $68 / 1000 rounds (brass is free for me, thanks to friends who save theirs), it would take about 7000+ rounds, or 7 "cases" of ammo before I shot the equivalent cost.

 

[Hkmp5sd]

Exactly 5 minutes....

with my Cobray M11/9.