Budgeting Ammo With a Gun Purchase?

[GardoneVT]

In shooting 2200 rounds through my Beretta, I've calculated the cost I've spent on ammo to be about $650.00

Careful readers will note that's how much a 92FS sells for new .In light of the fact that skill determines performance with a given gun, would it not be wise to budget double a handguns selling price so as to fund the necessary ammunition required to learn it?

In other words, instead of buying say an HK USP for $800, I'd budget $1600 for the purchase and use the other $800 on ammo and range expenses for practice.

What say you all?

[JV_]

Switching guns is often far more expensive than just gun price.

Ammo, mags, holster, sights, spare parts for the range bag, range time, it all adds up and gets very costly after a while.

[Tamara]

Ammo, mags, holster, sights, spare parts for the range bag, range time, it all adds up and gets very costly after a while.

Yup.

Other things I try to factor in include at least one identical backup/reserve gun, some kind of gamer/OWB holster, a rimfire understudy or a .22 conversion kit, a left-handed holster, and a blue gun.


(See? It's all this ancillary gear that made me so reluctant to change handguns for so long. If it was just "Swap out the gun in my 'carry rotation'," that'd be one thing, but it's the gun, the spare gun, the other spare gun, the IWB holster, the gamer holster, the LH holster, the .22 trainer, the blue gun, the thirty-eleven magazines. I already had all that stuff for the 1911.)

[Mr_White]

Switching guns is often far more expensive than just gun price.

Ammo, mags, holster, sights, spare parts for the range bag, range time, it all adds up and gets very costly after a while.


Yup.

Other things I try to factor in include at least one identical backup/reserve gun, some kind of gamer/OWB holster, a rimfire understudy or a .22 conversion kit, a left-handed holster, and a blue gun.

I love my Glocks, but investment in redundant and supporting gear is the real reason it will be very hard for me to seriously consider another platform.

[TheTrevor]

I don't think it can be broken down into an easy "add x% formula" but as Tam notes, there's a certain baseline set of stuff one finds necessary with a new gun platform. The percentage thing doesn't work for me because the ancillary costs vary widely and in no fixed proportion. I don't feel the need to immediately spend $150+ replacing HK sights, for example, while an immediate sight upgrade is required on Glocks.

My minimum starting kit includes:
* Blade-Tech OWB holster
* Off-the-shelf AIWB holster of some sort (e.g. Blade-Tech Nano)
* 2-mag carrier (but generally I already have one that works)
* 6 magazines (more if I can find some used)
* 100 rounds carry ammo
* 500 rounds range ammo

Then, after the sting of the initial purchase has faded, I'll order in another 1500-2500 rounds of range ammo and perhaps start trying out better AIWB holsters.

[JodyH]

I'm $2500 into my switchover from H&K to Sig and that doesn't include any ammunition.
Two pistols, 15 magazines, custom leather AIWB, kydex OWB for the range, night sights, assorted auxiliary gear (mag pouches, tools, etc.).

All that and I've yet to strap the Sig on for a day.
Heck I barely have 1500 rounds downrange through them yet.
But in the long run the gun & gear is cheap compared to feeding it.
:cool:

[Chuck Haggard]

Going from S&W 3rd gen 9mms, to Glock .40s, to Glock 9mms in the space of six months was pretty damn spendy at my house.

[BaiHu]

2 used HK P30's $1600
6 Mags came with the above purchases
3 more bought when opportunity knocked at $100
2 sets of Trijicon HDs $320
2 custom leather AIWBs $300ish
200-1000 rounds per month of S&B, Aguila, High Country, Freedom, PMC plinking/practice ammo is at least $40-200/month. I've been shooting at this rate for at least 3 years. Can't even fathom ToddG's, GJM's, OAK's et al ammo cost.
So if my average habit is $100/month in shooting, I'm easily ignoring the cost of the guns, peripherals.
Plus, cllasses with SouthNarc and Todd are about $2500ish including class cost, ammo, travel costs and hotel.

It ain't quite golf, but it's close.

In the end you're dead anyway, so if you like it, love it or just find it to be a good insurance investment for your life, then be patient and accumulate at the right times and you'll be thankful.*



*I won't even talk about the money I kittened away learning what not kittenity kitten buy.

[TheTrevor]

Then there's gas and range fees. A range trip costs me ~$24 before I pull the trigger for the first time, and that's assuming that I salvage a full-size target from the recycling box and tape my own print-at-home targets onto it.

As BaiHu said, though... cheaper than golf.

[BaiHu]

Of course! Didn't even talk about the range fees. Here in NJ it could be 300-1000 just for the up front capitalization fee and then 300+ per year after.

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[TheTrevor]

Of course! Didn't even talk about the range fees. Here in NJ it could be 300-1000 just for the up front capitalization fee and then 300+ per year after.

Um. Ouch. That's horrifying.

And to think I was whining about $16/visit lane rental at my preferred range.

[BaiHu]

Um. Ouch. That's horrifying.

And to think I was whining about $16/visit lane rental at my preferred range.

There are no lane fees at the ones I'm referring to though, if that helps :-P

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[JodyH]

Our membership complained when we went to $50/year.
:cool:

[BaiHu]

Some days, I just wanna get out of this place, but this is where I make my $$. Oh and then family and friends are a huge reason to stay - I'm a softy.

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[CCT125US]

Its threads like this that make me appreciate the struggle I endure when i want to hit the range. it consists of me saying "honey, I'm stepping out back", or "kids, behave yourselves". Sometimes the kids have a contest to see who can pick up the most brass.

[jon volk]

The allure of something new is tempting. I'm pretty much stuck with Glock 17s since I can no longer buy mags over 10 rounds as long as I live in this state.

Platform continuity through excessive legislation

[Lester Polfus]

Yep.

I've watched a good friend of mine blow through a tremendous amount of money switching platforms. As several people have mentioned, the guns are just the beginning.

Also, the guns are WORTH something. Even if you buy new and sell them, if you play your cards right you can get maybe 60% back. If you buy used and sell used, you can sometimes break even, or be within $50 or so.

You take a beating on the holsters and mags though, not to mention the ammo.

[PPGMD]

Lets see:
2 * M&P 9 Pro - $550
2 * Comp-tac: The International - $65
2 * Apex D/C AEK - $93
2 * Apex RAM - $24
4 * Apex Competition Striker Spring - $4
2 * Apex D/C Spring Kit - $21
2 * Warren Tactical Fiber Optic Sight Set - $85
1 * Dawson Precision Grip Tape - $15
2 * Recoil Spring Assembly - $7
25 * Magazines - $25
15 * Case of ammunition - $250
Total: $6,096

And these are just the parts that are directly involved in my M&P 9 Pros, that doesn't include the spare parts, and stuff I bought testing various configurations. Or the other 4 M&Ps that I own. Nor does it count the two M&P Pros that I am having built for Bianchi. At the moment I probably have well over $10k in my M&Ps altogether.

[1slow]

Allow for ammo to test the pistol to see if it is reliable. If you are messing with a pistol that has problems in certain generations and production dates factor this cost in. Until you have shot it and tested it you do not know what you have.
HK P30 9mm Lem at roughly $900 and HK45 LEM at $1000 are expensive but do not seem to have gremlins. By the time you buy a $550 pistol test it, maybe have to repair it, test it again from scratch you have spent a lot of money.
I have proven reliable Glocks but if I were buying new I might come out cheaper with HK P30 9mm LEM etc...

[ToddG]

In light of the fact that skill determines performance with a given gun, would it not be wise to budget double a handguns selling price so as to fund the necessary ammunition required to learn it?

I don't understand why a more expensive gun would need more ammo to learn how to shoot.

[YVK]

In shooting 2200 rounds through my Beretta, I've calculated the cost I've spent on ammo to be about $650.00

Careful readers will note that's how much a 92FS sells for new .In light of the fact that skill determines performance with a given gun, would it not be wise to budget double a handguns selling price so as to fund the necessary ammunition required to learn it?



I don't understand why double.

I started to click, more or less, at around 10K with P30. JV cut his losses with the same gun at 5K.
I am at over 3K through my 92 since September. I missed 6 inch target at 7 yards with a DA shot four times yesterday, shooting timed drills with support hand. I feel that I am just starting.
Etc.