Can't afford to shoot the guns you have? If so, how do you justify buying more?

[Standing Wolf]

You'll probably earn more down the road, so what's to worry about? Better to have too many guns than not enough.

 

[hillbilly]

flip180....

I can tell by your questions that you've never sold your own plasma or sold off a pet to a medical laboratory for ammo money before........

But you will...................everybody hits rock bottom eventually.........


hillbilly

 

[LiquidTension]

Hey, when I need a fix, I need a fix. After buying one I'm good for a year or so. Come to think of it, it's been about a year now....

 

[No_Brakes23]

...how do you justify buying more?

Real easy, most of my current stuff is C&R with hard to find ammo, and a lot of that was inherited.

I CAN afford to shoot the stuff I will be buying, (.40S&W, .223, .30'06, etc)

But to clarify, I CAN afford to shoot the standard caliber stuff I own, (.380ACP, .45ACP, 12ga, 7.62x39, etc)

 

[Dave R]

I'm not set up to reload .45 ACP yet. Why? Because, I want another pistol. The thing is; It's like this never ending cycle. Guns take accesories to use.

Ahhhh. I understand your disease better now. Yes, it is a great problem. Someday, I'll do a post on the 'true' cost of buying a new gun. When I bought my Taurus PT-145, I thought I had made a great deal. $299 retail. But then I had to buy .45acp dies, a new kind of powder, a box of Laser-Cast bullets, 3 boxes of factory ammo just to try, and to get some cases to load, a cheap holster to get by until I get a real holster...Its a conundrum. I'km thinking the rule of thumb is, the 'true' cost of a new gun is double what you paid for it. But I need to do some more research to verify that.

I guess I'm wired different than you. I can't think about a new gun until I have the complete shooting system in place for the most recent gun. That includes accessories, load(s) worked up, carry rigs, scope, etc. When that gun is 'outfitted', and I have shot it enough to feel comfortable with it, then I think about the next one. It serves as a "pacemaker" to keep me from buying too many, too fast. I have to feel comfortable with the one before I want another.

Although I've been doing that long enough that I have some guns that don't get shot very often. Probably time to trade them off.

 

[studebaker]

better to have SKILL with a few guns

than to have lots of guns and only mediocre ability with them.

 

[White Horseradish]

You should always have more ammo than guns...if you don't have ammo all you can do is throw an empty pistol at 'em!

That's why rifles have bayonets. Ammo or not, a Mosin will still get you.

 

[Matt G]

One of our Moderators has a Colt SAA that his been in his family for over 100 years, which his mother and great granddad have both fired upon people. I've fired it, and it's a good shooter. Problem is, it's a .41 Long Colt.

Uh, have you seen the price of .41 LC, if you can even find any of it? Let's check out Old Western Scrounger:

$60 for 50 rounds of LRN, and it's not even the original 200g stuff!?! Basically, you're paying over a dollar a round for a mediocre .38 Special. Nice to have for your family heirloom, but not what you can really afford to shoot.

Given that instance, it's actually worthwhile for my fellow staffmember to have purchased his HKP7, which is in cheap-shootin' 9mm, and is single-stack to keep the cost down. At $1300+ per copy, it's a bargain!

 

[entropy]

Exactly, WH! Although I can't imagine running out of 7.62x54R soon...

I tend to buy more guns in calibers I have, but I collect Mosins, so...

I do plan on getting some guns in odd calibers such as 7.62 Nagant and 7.62 Tokarev. I will reload for the Nagant revolver, though.

 

[captain obvious]

It used to be just the iwannaacoolgunitis flaring up, but of recent it's been a "now or never" type fear, i.e. CMP rifles, imported parts kits, etc.

I'm serious when I say that I wish they'd stop banning stuff, so I could just go back to blissfully focusing on war surplus rifles, and not have to grab some expensive modern firearm just cause it's about to be banned or otherwise affected by unnatural economic [government] factors.

Otherwise, I can always justify my next purchase - it's for the children

 

[MikeJ]

I have a small but well rounded assortment of handguns, not into long guns, that I have justified simply as this is a hobby of mine. I have the added problem of not having the time to shoot nearly as often as I'd like on top of the cost of ammo. Many of my guns have become safe queens not because I don't want to shoot them but because I have others that I prefer to shoot to keep in practice. I have sold off a few that really had no appeal to me anymore and have bought a few recently, knowing full well that they won't get to see much range time. When I do go shooting I pretty much stick to .38 special, .357 mag., 9mm and 40S&W.

 

[Ky Larry]

There are a few guns left on my "Gotta Have It" list. When I come accross them, I'll buy them. I don't own anything that is outrageously expensive to feed. I reload for the ones I shoot most. Besides,as any gun nut will tell you, you don't need justification to buy a new gun.

 

[norman74]

I solved this problem in the past by standardizing on .308, 9mm, and .22LR. Now my tastes have shifted and I'm looking to standardize on .45 ACP, 5.56mm, and .22LR. I am even toying with the idea of standardizing my manual of arms by having only 1911 and AR15 pattern firearms (with .22LR conversions in both styles). I sold off all the stuff I wasn't shooting in either odd styles or calibers long ago. Collecting guns is no different to me than women that collect Elvis plates; I just don't understand it.

The only problem with my little plan is that .22LR 1911s are more expensive than the Ruger MKII I have now and the .22LR ARs are more expensive (and the mags too) than the 10/22s I have now.

 

[Luchtaine]

I see nothing wrong with collecting guns. I do tend to reach for the gun before tha mmo myself.
But on the other hand I am stocking up .308 for my m1a as as to justify my FAL when I get out of the PRK that is in about 8 months Hurray the end is near!.

I'd say I try to standardize but that is only because I want an FAl too...
.308, .30 Carbine, .303 (yeah my wierd rounds), 7mm rem mag but I only buy about enough of that to sight in and hunt..., .38/357, and of course the .22lr which is the bulk of what I fire...

Replenishment comming to the .308 and .30 carbine soon. But I the new gun list is tugging at my heart too...

 

[JohnBT]

Justify?

<scratches head>

I know a couple of folks who collect stamps and they haven't written a letter in years.

Not enough ammo? Make the first shot count.

Not enough money? Call 1-800-Ineedasecondjob.

John

 

[Buck Snort]

I do believe my Dillon 550B will go a long way towards keeping me supplied with ammo. A progressive press will make a lot of ammo in a hurry and if I need supplies I'll work a few hours overtime. There just AIN'T NO EXCUSE for not shoot'n yer guns!

 

[Eightball]

Justify? Isn't that a formatting option on microsoft word? Other than that, I don't know how it would possibly apply to firearms ?

I can barely afford the ones I shoot now, so I try to get more rifles in the hopes they're "cheaper" to shoot, or that it'll satisfy my disease of Rifle-itis. Thank goodness, neither has worked yet . But my SKS comes close . I only have about 500~1000 rounds of each calibre I own on hand at any given time--which is not nearly enough. But, everything I own is of different calibres, (exception being my Saiga and my Mauser), so it still lasts a while. Oh well.

 

[IronLance]

To me it's not an issue. Yes, I do have more guns than I can afford to shoot all the time. Doesn't matter to me and I don't feel any need to justify purchasing more. To me, that's the beauty of living in this country. Well, at least parts of this country. I don't have to justify to anyone why I have guns I don't shoot. And I doubt many of them have collectors value.

 

[norman74]

I guess I should be clear. I don't understand collecting at all, let alone collecting tools that you're not going to use. At least with stamps or coins you could claim "investment". Most of the guns I see people "collect" are going to do nothing but depreciate (NFA items notwithstanding).

To me collecting guns is like going down to Home Depot and collecting hammers. I can just see it now "Hammer & Nails" replacing "Guns & Ammo" on the newstands.

If folks want to collect they are obviously free to do what they want, as one fellow pointed out it's still America, but I'll never understand the satisfaction of just sitting at home looking at something and saying "yay, I own that".

 

[Matthew748]

I collect and shoot guns. Ammo costs are not too bad because I load almost all my ammo except the real cheap stuff. Time constraints generally limit my shooting to a couple hours a week. I don’t get out every week either, sometimes other things get in the way or I just don’t feel like it.

As far as collecting, you might as well ask why some people collect art, buy sports cars, or do anything non-essential. I like WWII guns, so I collect those as best I can.

 

[flip180]

"better to have SKILL with a few guns"

Now, I did take that into consideration. I'm taking a Primary Pistol course at Tac Pro Shooting Center this weekend. I did set aside some money for training since I do CCW. We'll see how that goes. If I like the course, I'll probably spend every available dollar on traning . The cost of the course was right at 499.00, 1000 rds. of 9mm ammo was 110.00, gas will be 35.00, hotel for three nights will be 150.00, and food will be about 70.00 (I have an appetite ). The total cost will be around an estimated 864.00 for the weekend. Would you believe I though about the type of gun that I could buy for that much money . I'm looking forward to it and think it will be money well spent.

Flip
www.tacproshootingcenter.com

 

[iamkris]

I've tried to standardize on a set of calibers also. So far my standard set is

.22LR
9x19mm
45 ACP
45 Colt
30-06
303 Brit
7.62x54R
7.62x51mm
7.5 Swiss
7.62x39mm
5.56x45mm
45-70
8x57mm
300 WSM
8mm Lebel
12 ga