The rising cost of shooting

[meles meles]

Maybe Mr Putin will ship us a few crates of 7.62x54R as a fraternal gesture...

[Demonic69]

Maybe Mr Putin will ship us a few crates of 7.62x54R as a fraternal gesture...

A few crates of Mosins would be nice too Maybe a couple of OTs-48s would cement relationships.

[HALODIN]

I wish it was 60p! OK you'll buy some 7.62x51 GGG for 60p/shot, but in my experience it isn't a great round in the rifles I've used it in. So I've bought some Hornady match ammo and it's £1.20/shot, now that is expensive IMO. I'm on the cusp of reloading my own, only because I can't afford to shoot as much as I'd like at those costs.

You lot are moaning - think about the young shooters who can't reload due to personal circumstances. They're stuck with factory ammo at 60p+ per bang.

We desperately need a source of cheap ammo. I can understand retailers hiking prices, but it also prices out the new blood we critically need to keep on shooting.

[snayperskaya]

Maybe Mr Putin will ship us a few crates of 7.62x54R as a fraternal gesture...

You mean he doesn't already!!??.........i'll have a word with Vladdy and see what I can do

[ovenpaa]

If you are going to buy built ammunition try and use boxer primed and save the brass as it can be used come the day you start loading your own.

[TattooedGun]

The only reason I can afford to shoot as often as I do, being under 30 on an average pay, is because at present I live with my folks... my wage is half decent so i made the most of it by getting GOOD rifles that will last me whilst I have less outgoings so I won't have the £2000+ costs of rifles when I have a house, which would be unbareable.

Reloading gear, most of it was already at home since my dads pistol days, but I have accrued a fair bit of my own equipment and slowly upgraded to better parts as I've gone along.

Like Ovenpaa, I use 2 calibres that share powder (Varget in both .223 and .308) so I only need one stock of Varget and get better deals buying it a lot at a time from local suppliers.

OP: You're talking about buying a COUPLE of rifles this year, along with the reloading accoutrements, then complain about it being expensive... Well of course it is if you try and get everything NOW!

[dromia]

Shooting doesn't have to be as expensive as the examples given here, there are other rifles and calibres other than F class and 10/22s at quiet modest prices. Also there is more to shooting than competitions and disciplines, if you want to compete at the top in F class and TR etc then you will need to join the arms race and the fashionista circles for new and shiny. The vast majority of my shooting pleasure is given from shooting rifles the dearest of which is around £400, reloading can save money and the humble Lee Loader will make very good ammunition for little cost. The humble .22LR has stood the test of time and there are many fine sub £200 .22s around and at £6/100 for CCI Standard that has surely got to be affordable.

We are all our own worst enemies when it comes to this, reading on here for example we are mostly talking expensive kit and slavish following of the latest product, look at the new AI frenzy, it doesn't have to be this way we still have choices and it doesn't have to be expensive. Even casting boolits can be done very cheaply and that really lowers the cost of full bore shooting. I suspect that the vast majority of rounds put down range are not done in a competition and I also suspect that the vast majority of shooters do not compete in any serious way at all, it is just that the shooting world is dominated by the "best" in the shooting media, nothing wrong with that, but a lot of pleasure can still be got from the average and humble, that is where a lot of my shooting enjoyment comes from.

[Demonic69]

It's the same for every sport/hobby Adam. All the gear, no idea
All of the rifles I plan to buy are cheap <£200 on average, unless I can shoot particularly well with them I don't see the point of spending more and still not hitting the target

[dromia]

A wise man.

All my rifles shoot better than me, but then that isn't a very high bar nowadays.

[HALODIN]

I've always found happiness using the 80/20 rule. 20% of the cost for 80% of the gain, I tend to live my life by it.