cost

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  • Last Post 04 February 2025
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Ross Smith posted this 01 February 2025

The other day I bought a box of 22 mags for 20.00. I then went and shot them up in one session. I had the epiphany that I just burned thru a 20 dollar bill in less than an hour.

I then got to thinking: 30gr. of [email protected]/lb, .10 for a primer(win), and .15 for some ww, and I have the same cost for for 50 30-06 loads. Plinker loads will be 1/2 or less, and target loads for the 30 br will be more. 

But my(our) recreation of shooting cast bullets goes much further. The hours we spend reloading and casting and dreaming up new loads is much more entertaining than buying a box of ammo.

Not only that, my typical day at the range is usually 50-100 shots, per gun. I feel sorry for the guys who spend 80 bucks for a box of 20 and only shoot a few rounds. No wonder why the .223 and 9mm are so popular.

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Qc Pistolero posted this 01 February 2025

Funny;yesterday,a few fellow shooters and I were having the same conversation at the range and concluded that while reloading and casting components are way more expensive than they were only 5 years ago that we could not give a go at other passtime for less.Shooting costs a fraction of boating,motorcycling,golf and a whole regiment of other pastime/sports.

 

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shootcast posted this 01 February 2025

I bought a bucket of 22 rf . Our club has a 22/ pistol 50 yard range. I plink the steel swingers. Helps fill the gap. These may not be target quality but cost less than a primer. I have also leaned to shotgun powders looking for something in some class that might be competitive. Probably won’t be giving up my part time job.

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RicinYakima posted this 02 February 2025

Especially good whiskey and bad women!

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delmarskid posted this 02 February 2025

Cheaper than child support

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sluggo posted this 02 February 2025

Along with ammo prices, where i live i have to pay range fees. Otherwise it's a 2 hour drive to a decent free range. So I add $27.00 to each outing. I do a lot of shooting at home using a spring air target pistol and rifle. No recoil but it helps to keep the motor skills in order.

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RicinYakima posted this 02 February 2025

I understand, sluggo. I drive 35 minutes each way to the county range that costs me $200 a year. Or I can drive an hour to a DNR range that may have 20 gangbangers, drunks and trash on the ground three feet deep. The air rifle and air pistol get a good work out at home. 

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gnoahhh posted this 02 February 2025

Especially good whiskey and bad women!

 

"When she's bad she's good, and when she's very bad she's very good."

 

A sentiment we all share (re: cast bullet economy, not necessarily re: bad women). But don't let's forget those who indulge in CB experimentation for other reasons than economy!

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fa38 posted this 02 February 2025

 

 

I have had the "Why don't you reload" too many times at the range. 

Compared to about everyone, I can' believe how good the people that belong to the Van Dyne Sportsmens Club have it. Especially me. Its not quite a mile away.

http://vdsc.org/home/ 

 

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MarkinEllensburg posted this 02 February 2025

Speaking of cost, this discussion has come up at my local range in reference to shot shells, We just opened our skeet range two months ago and because of that some folks are considering reloading their own shells. My take is it is marginally worth it over the long run but if one factors their time and the start-up costs the break even point is a long way in the future, if ever. Metallic cartridges would be the same and seriously cast bullets probably even longer, given the added costs of furnace, moulds, lead, gas checks and a way to size and lube or powder coat. Sourcing lead is much harder today than it was in the 80's or before, but that said I have not as yet had to buy just lead from a metals dealer. I think it is fair to say that today's starting cast bullet shooter is not doing it to save money.

With current component prices I came up with a cost of about $7 per box of 7/8 ounce 16 ga. loads. I am doubtful that I could buy factory shells for that if I could even find them. Currently shooting about 4 boxes a week, not hard to do on a skeet range. Folks shooting 12 ga. can probably beat that buying shells in bulk, when on sale. Where reloading really pays off in both cast bullets and shot shells is the ability to tailor a load to a specific gun or purpose.

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John Alexander posted this 02 February 2025

I had to drive about an hour to shoot on the range. So I moved 3,700 miles and now can drive to the local range in ten minutes. Am I saving money? How long will it take to break even?

As pointed out by Qc Pistolero, it's still cheaper than most hobbies and there aren't many sports that you can still be competitive in as long as you can drag yourself to the bench. I'm glad I didn't get hooked on tennis.

John

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Tom Acheson posted this 02 February 2025

It’s a toss-up at our matches, which topic is kicked around the most….costs or politics?

 

Our club dues are $175/year. Members have year round access to short, 25, 50, 100-yard and 200-meter ranges. There are also (3) trap fields (I don’t own a scattergun). If you get out to shoot 30 times a year, that’s less than $6/visit. Members do have to serve as RSO’s 2-days a year. But still, the investment is minimal. I guess we are more fortunate than many in not having to pay a heavy range access fee every time we want to go out to shoot. My drive time to our club is about 12-minutes.

 

Our CB cost discussions focus on primers and powder. Most of us have inexpensive costs for alloy.

 

Tom

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Ross Smith posted this 03 February 2025

Tom: Your range fees and duties would be the same no matter what you shoot. It's the lower cost /shot that gives us the economy. Also our hobby goes beyond just reloading when we make our own bullets. There is no way I could afford what I do if I had to buy all those different kinds of bullets and powders if they were jacketed or worse, Factory Loads.

Thanks all for the comments. We should all pray for the who spend 5 bucks a shot.

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Bud Hyett posted this 03 February 2025

Shooting matches is one of the things I enjoy. The challenge, the comradery, the trip to and from the match, making a rifle shoot well, all are fun. The friends from matches or club memberships is legion.

Now with retirement and cancer, the cost is guarded, but not regretted. Once the cost of a pot, sizer, lead, gas checks, lubricant is amortized over five decades, the cost per bullet is lowered. It's just the cost of added molds and new rifles with new scopes that keeps my bank account from growing too fast. 

Farm boy from Illinois, living in the magical Pacific Northwest

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Tom Acheson posted this 03 February 2025

True, my club's annual dues and duties are "fixed" as long as I'm a member. (I joined in 1978.) I was thinking of those of us who are not club members. Some of them have to pay a fee just to go through the door....every time they want to shoot. If they want to shoot a lot they would exceed the cost of my dues.

Before a good friend died, he and I drove 3-hours north to shoot BPCR NRA silhouette "fun" matches. I eventually joined that club ($30/year, no labor) so I could access it to shoot when I was "in the area". But after my friend's passing, I just didn't get up there, so I quit the club. Those were cheap dues!

I've traveled to quite a few matches around the country back when I was more active. You either pay a match fee or a range access fee to go to a place to shoot.

I'm fortunate to be a member of a club, which helps me have lower "costs" than some here. I'm subject to powder and primer cost fluctuations like everyone else. But my overall "cost" is less than SOME here.

As stated elsewhere, ours is not a terribly expensive activity compared to quite a few other choices. But, human nature, many of us still like to "complain" when we think someone who cares is listening.

Tom

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pat i posted this 03 February 2025

Sad reality is that no hobby is inexpensive nowadays which is why I'm leaning towards plain base bullets and frugal loads of fast powder in rifles. I shoot a lot so if I want to continue I pay the piper. I belong to a muzzle loader only and a state association range. Combined the dues are over 300 bucks a year and both are a 50 mile drive each way. I dont bitch about the cost or distance because it's what I like. I always got a kick out of guys complaining about how expensive it is to shoot while driving a $60,000 dollar truck and paying 250 bucks a month for internet and cable. While at the same time sitting behind a 1000 dollar computer. I drive A 14 year old car, never had cable, and my computer is the phone I'm posting this with. I guess it's all about priorities.

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John Alexander posted this 03 February 2025

I thought all the guys with $60.000 trucks bitching about the price of powder were all at my local club. You could buy 2 pounds for the price of one fill up.

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Bud Hyett posted this 04 February 2025

John - A  $60,000.00 truck, you need to add another 25% to replace your current truck with a new truck. Not that I'm looking for a new truck. Keeping the cost of transportation down allows more money for the greatly increased cost of powder and primers. Hopefully the war in Ukraine will soon end with the supply of powder and primers decreasing.

Walking into a dealership gets you a salesman before you can say why you are there. They want to sell you a new one to get your used one because there is a much bigger market for used trucks. My Scottish Frugality gene prevents me from doing this. 

Farm boy from Illinois, living in the magical Pacific Northwest

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Coydog posted this 04 February 2025

I do not go to any range. I have my own in my back yard i made and like to develop my own loads and testing . With casting and  load and test when I like to .  I save more ways then one . Also when there was hardly no ammo in the stores it did not matter to me .

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