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USPSA considered expensive compared to other sports or hobbies?


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There are so many levels of involvement and investment with most avocations it is hard to pin down.

My advice - If your wife asks this question be ready to feign an interest in some dangerous and expensive activity - stock car racing works for me every time.

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well, it's about to get more expensive for me. Mrs moto came to the last 2 matches (including oregon state) and after several years of not wanting to hear anything about shooting, now she wants to try it. At least for the initial practice and steel challenge portions, we can use guns I already own. It remains to be seen if she'll want to shoot ss minor or avoid reloading and go to limited (which would mean a new gun).

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Any hobby you get truly interested in and want to pursue is going to cost money. It just depends what you want, or can afford, to spend on it. And, how interested you are in pursuing that hobby.

Bingo!

Sounds like you're more concerned with ongoing costs than initial. Well, reload. It won't save you money cause you'll just shoot more.

The only hobby I've ever done that was not real expensive was running.

My chief complaint about USPSA (which I don't currently shoot but am looking to) is startup cost if you want to be competitive.

BTW I've shot other disciplines: IDPA, silhouette, service rifle. Gas & match fees are no more or less expensive than those (in fact, IHMSA is quite a bit more since the nearest match is 3 hours away.) I burn a lot less ammo in the last two but since it's pretty specialized, I doubt if cost is any less.

Edited by FWSixgunner
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My chief complaint about USPSA (which I don't currently shoot but am looking to) is startup cost if you want to be competitive.

maybe in open, but you get rolling in production or limited with really good gear for less than $2k, which is alot less than competitive dirtbike, or even a mtn bike.

realistically, you can get rolling in production for a grand, and start to build some skills.

I have yet to see the new shooter who would be competitive if only he had more expensive gear. Everyone sucks their first several matches until they start figuring out what is possible and how to practice.

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Uspsa can be on the cheap side or wildly expensive. It really depends on what division you want to shoot and how truly competitive you want to be. When I started I was shooting production with a holster and pouches that I already had. Mind you that was great and it worked well. Then it developed into limited and I wanted to be competitive. At the end of the day its all about how crazy you want to get with your gear. You get hooked and its a sickness, be prepared. Just like anything else. You can play for cheap and have a blast or make it more and more expensive depending on how competitive you want to be and how deep your pockets are.

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I have not read very many of the posts, cause it don't matter. I love to shoot and also reload.

Its all relative; is it expensive; it can be, but if you enjoy it, then so be it......................

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  • 1 month later...

I would have to agree. Plus, you should always consider the funfactor as compared to price. Where else can you get this much enjoyment for such a small price???

I would say that USPSA is about middle of the pack when it comes to expense in shooting sports. GSSF and IDPA could be considered less expensive, Skeet/Trap/Clays, 3Gun, PRS, SASS, could be considered more expensive. Not really a big difference from the expense of Golf. Racing is much more expensive.

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It may not be a hobby, but it's WAY more expensive than shooting...

How 'bout trading in a wife???

Can I get an AMEN!

Amen.

Having done that every 8 or 9 years for a number of times I can attest to the expense. Now, I just live with them before cycling in an upgrade. Just as expensive, but at least I don't need to worry about pre-nups or lawyers.

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It really depends on how seriously you take it. If I decided that I really wanted to win a nationals and I had the time and money to devote to it, in a years time I'd shoot somewhere between 100k and 200k rounds and shoot 20ish majors which would be the biggest, best, and most competitive matches regardless of distance. There would certainly be equipment costs that come along with that much shooting. I could rather easily spend 50g's in a year on this sport.

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It really depends on how seriously you take it. If I decided that I really wanted to win a nationals and I had the time and money to devote to it, in a years time I'd shoot somewhere between 100k and 200k rounds and shoot 20ish majors which would be the biggest, best, and most competitive matches regardless of distance. There would certainly be equipment costs that come along with that much shooting. I could rather easily spend 50g's in a year on this sport.

Is that what other national champions have done?

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A lot of them have done similar things yes. I remember when Tilley shot a thousand rounds a day for 3 months to prep for Limited nationals. They also have the experience of shooting a large number of rounds over a career of shooting. In my case, I've fired less than a quarter million rounds in my life. I'm pretty sure Eric has done that yearly for over a decade.

Regardless, it doesn't matter what other national champions have done. I'm not them. Knowing my abliities both good and bad, that is pretty close to what I would need to give myself the best opportunity.

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The MATCHES so far I would say are cheaper than many hobbies. Even with more practice sessions and 1 match a month I'm estimating $175/month.

However, firearms in general, when you have the itch, all bets are off.

"No, honey, it was either this or a bigger boat, right? ;)"

I can see another $1500 in gear in the next 6 months should tide me over for a few years, and I'd have spent ~600-1000 of that "collecting" in some fashion otherwise.

Edited by Faster7
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well, it's about to get more expensive for me. Mrs moto came to the last 2 matches (including oregon state) and after several years of not wanting to hear anything about shooting, now she wants to try it.

My wife "expressed and interest" in 2004 or so, after watching/doing stats for a couple of years.

Now she has:

1911 Series 70 colt 9mm

Springfield SS 9mm

M&P Pro 9mm

Custom built 9 Major open gun

Currently building her a 22/45 Steel gun---

Holsters/belts/pouches/piles of magazines/several range bags and more shootin' shoes than I can count.

The upside----vacations are easy. Usually a week or so centered around a major match.

Downside----She shoots. Doesn't build/clean/maintain guns, doesn't reload. She DOES case gauge everything,

a job I consider the zenith of boring!

Edited by open17
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Wife and 2 oldest boys kids have 0 interest. Youngest is curious now though. Thankfully I have enough gear to cover him except for a Inner/Outer belt. He has a huge head so adult muffs/glasses are fine.

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  • 9 months later...

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