Handling The High Cost Of Uspsa Shooting

[boo radley]

So I've started my second year shooting USPSA, and I'm more fired up than ever before.

But. This week, a couple things hit home. First, I started looking realistically at what I'm spending on this sport, adding up the last couple of months and I stopped. Don't want to see the figure.

The second issue, more consequential, is that for the first time ever, there was a bit of friction and some hurt feelings vis-a-vis leisure time and my choices in spending it. My wife has zero interest in this sport, but has been extremely supportive and tolerant of my infatuation. But I'm realizing there are limits I need to respect.

Those of you that have done this for many years -- how do you handle this? There's clearly a zone between....a kind of selfishness -- don't know a better way to put it -- and a completely treating the sport as pure, occasional recreation: like the guy who's got a set of hand-me-down golf clubs, hacks up a course 3x a year with his friends, and thinks no more of it.

And the $$$$ involved, too -- do y'all handle this on an ongoing basis? Or set up a seperate budget? We don't have children, and both of us are fortunate to have good jobs we work hard at, but ammo, equipment, match & range fees, and especially the travel can't be entirely trivial for anyone. It's very easy for me -- in fact I do -- to spend every recreational $ I have on this sport, and truthfully that's terribly unhealthy, because I start resenting mutual expenditures, like an expensive vacation, that don't involve shooting.

I'm not trying to whine, and we're all adults here -- obviously family, and financial security come first. But I'd be interesting in hearing how some of you maintained solid growth and increased shooting skills while keeping everything in perspective. <grin>

[davidball]

I solved one problem by exacerbating the other. My wife started shooting with me several years ago and is now as enthusiastic, if not more enthusiastic, than I am. My oldest son now also competes and the younger one is also showing an interest. So, I have solved the family thing.

However, I have tripled (and am about to quadruple) the expense, more or less. Basically we have resolved ourselves to the fact that this IS what we do for leisure. Period.

BTW, I started keeping track of all of our shooting related expenses starting at the first of the year. I, too, am surprised (shocked?) at how fast it is adding up.

[XRe]

My wife is an equestrian - she rides dressage for fun. Horses make USPSA look downright cheap...

Like anything else in life, you do need balance. If you do no recreation other than shoot this game, you'll eventually find yourself burned out and having no fun. And then where will you be??

The trick, of course, is to find the balance. My wife and I worked out a budget that allows me to shoot a couple of matches a month, shoot 3 major matches this year (including the Open Nats), improve my equipment, take some instruction, and have ammo for all of the above. We're DINKs, too, and have some outstanding debt that we're trying to tackle, so the budget accounts mainly for debt demise, and there's also a healthy chunk for her riding stuff. We also have some travel and vacation planned, and I've enjoyed each of those things.

It's frustrating to not have the funds to just up and do whatever I want, and there are definitely times when I resent her chosen sport as it impacts mine. Usually, that happens when I'm having some fear around not being able to do something I want to do. Best resolved by just talking openly with her about what I'd like to do, and see if we can't work something out.

What this has allowed me to do, though, is feel more in control of my situation, and enjoy each milestone on the path to our financial goals more completely. We're making progress, and I'm conscisouly choosing to limit my budget (and she her's) right now as we complete those goals. When we're debt free, I'll have more budget to play with, and some other options will open at that time.

I don't know if that helps or not, but... see if involving her in your desires doesn't help turn around your feelings about this. Find a budget that works for your income, and allows you to spend some special time with your wife (you married her cause you like being with her, right??? ), and one that doesn't cause a bunch of resentment on her part for your shooting.

Anyhow... Good luck working this out - and keep in mind that you can make a lot of progress spending essentially zero. Working on your fitness level, dry firing skills that need work (uh... that means all of them ), etc, will all have a positive impact on your game with little or no cash outlay!!!

[tightloop]

Man, if you think USPSA is expensive, try to shoot Clays on the same scale as you do pistols...thinking practice a couple times each week...say 300 rounds....ammo is 39.00, targets are 60.00, that is 200 bucks a week for practice...then shoot a match each week...entry is usually 45 to 75 bucks, not counting ammo, gas, travel expenses, and of course your shotgun...Probably, Beretta, Keman, K-80, Perrazi...anywhere from 3k to 10K...and then there is the backup gun...maybe cheaper..like a Beretta Techniq at 1500..plus X2 chokes from Briley...45 bucks a pop...times 5, long forcing cones slick up the action from someone at 450...so there you have it...about 980 bucks a month, not including travel, loading costs, time and effort..

See pistol shooting ain't so bad after all...and then we could talk about really expensive stuff like flying, or auto racing....but that is another topic...

[standles]

I also have had that problem.

I got my daughter shooting which helped some on the "management of time" issue.

The final solution I found was I got rid of the Wife. One less variable in the equation made it alot easier to balance. The finainces eased up as well because I no longer had to pay guilt taxes

Steven

[davidball]

The final solution I found was I got rid of the Wife.

Yikes.

[Thomas Moore]

I went through a similar experience with my wife about three years ago. We both sat down and I explained to her this was something I really enjoyed. I also explained to her I wasn't going out to the bars and drinking all night or even picking up other women (like my dad). Once she understood why i do what i do she came to reason and now accepts that I'm gone just about every Sunday. I try to be at home or with my wife on Saturdays.

As for the expense, wow! I tracked all my shooting related spending with Microsoft Money and I too was shocked. With the purchase of a Bedell Custom Open gun the total came to a little over $12k for 2005 and that didn't include fuel or food mostly match fees, hotels and component expenses.

If it wasn't for my wife working I doubt I would be able to travel to the bigger matches, I would be forced to shoot the local stuff. I surely wouldn't be shooting majors if I had kids.

[Loves2Shoot]

The first mistake you made was keeping track of the $$$

but, for me it is cheaper than therapy...

My GF doesn't understand, but she see's how much I love it so she is supportive. Time management is the trickey part.

[BritinUSA]

When I had to give up shooting in England the first thing I noticed was how much money I had left at the end of the month. When I was shooting I was always concerned about the amount of month left at the end of the money

Shooting in England was much cheaper than here, even factoring in petrol money, most of the matches were one day affairs, you shot on either Saturday or Sunday. They were about 20-30 pounds for the entry fee and because it was one day there were no hotel costs. Each match was 8-12 stages.

Over here, the distances involved to the big matches, the rising cost of gas, and the fact that most big matches are 'lost brass' all adds to the cost.

When I came here in '98 I had to buy everything from scratch, plus travel to Nationals and Greece for the Europeans. I don't want to know how much I spent.

Now I can afford to do two big matches each year, this year is CO state and Nationals. I earn a good wage and I can't see how anyone can afford to shoot so many Area matches/Nationals etc. It just blows my mind at how much this stuff can cost.

Edited May 13, 2006 by BritinUSA

[Sean Gaines]

boo This is a good post! I was thinking of doing one similiar to it. I have been shooting for a little over a year now also. My wife and I just had our first child about 6 weeks ago.

I feel you. In order to get good at the sport and to excell you need to practice and you need spend money(matches, ammo, gear, repairs,GAS, etc) and you need to be away from the family(when shooting matches or live fire practice)unless you get the family involved in shooting (which won't be in my case).Sometimes the above is not kosher with the significant other. Couple that with work, and life in general it can pose a real challenge. I think alot of good shooters have been lost due to this delema. Unfortunately this sport requires alot of dedication on your part to achieve the goals that you have set forth, plus no money to recoupe in return. Unless you are a professional shooter, who gets paid to shoot and teach, sponsorships etc. I was telling a shooting buddy of mine, every match we go to he will win than I will win, than back and fourth. Its kinda like when you played poker with your buddies. One night he takes you for $100, than the following week you take him for $100 and back and forth, back and forth. It gets to the point where it gets boring, for me at least. Thats why I have starting shooting different divisions, just to do something different, so that I am not expected to win, so I just have fun, and shoot. So what do you do? drop the practice and spend more time with family?Probably. But not all together, I think there has to be a happy medium that you will have to find (You can keep up with dry fire, skip some matches spend time with the famiy etc), . I think sometimes our drive to succed superseeds (sp?) the reason we got into the sport from the begining. Remember your first match, you probably were not expecting to win, seeing all these guys shooting really fast and accurate, but you shot, got the adrenaline going and it felt good, maybe didn't come in last but had a good time doing it. I think mabye we are adrenaline junkies. But I believe there has to be balance in life, if not something will give.

Another thing to note, if you ever make it to master or Gm, just think of how much more time you will need to spend practicing to be competitive at that level. Its a never ending cycle, but there must be balance.

just my .02 cents

PK

[Viggen]

Money is a factor and I am having to adjust to the reality of economics. Travel costs, not to mention the rapidly increasing cost of components( there is not inflation..., right?) have caused a shift in my shooting. I am cutting out several matches per month and practice sessions are moving toward being history, except for getting ready for a particular large match every once in a while.

And then there is the 22. With a 22 you can accomplish much of what you need to on the range. Speed, transitions, movement, coming into a shooting position and such. I am making use of the 22 a lot more. Ten bucks goes a long way with the rimfire.

And just wait, when you have youngsters and they want to shoot, think of the joy and expense. But it's cheaper than rehab and bail.

[JFD]

I was spending $900+ dollars a month when I played golf. Between the club dues, carts, drinking, equipment, bets, etc.... it was a relatively expensive sport.

Even with my wife shooting USPSA with me, I think of shooting as dirt cheap.

I put "x" amount in our joint account each week to cover "real life" expenses, savings, etc... I put the rest in my checking account to cover my car payment. Anything that isn't needed for the car payment is available for shooting expenses. Also, when my wife informs me we're doing some non-shooting related activity, this extra money covers that too. Since my wife is now a card-carrying USPSA member, non-shooting related activities are getting rare.

I also usually have over $100 a week coming in from my expenses at work (mileage). I didn't want a company BMW, so they pay me 0.45 for every mile I put on my vehicle, doesn't matter if it's work related or not. That by itself usually covers components and match fees.

When I was into RC planes I had a Corsair that cost more than any Open gun made. A single crash and it could be toast. I know any activity involving motorcycles, 4 wheelers, go-carts, or cars makes USPSA look really cheap. It's all relative.

Edited May 12, 2006 by JFD

[joseywales]

When I started 4 years ago I decided to track the $$$ (largely because I'm a tightwad, but also because I knew this sport would cost some money and I wanted to know how much money WASN'T going to be available for other things). Each year I seemed to have some major expenditure (gun, backup gun, custom work on both guns, a safe, a reloader, etc). Travel/match fees were less than half the total. Now that I've got all the major equipment to play at the game, the biggest expense is reloading components.

Not that anyone cares (or cares to know how much we spend), but here's one guy's $$$ expenditures:

2002 (17 matches, guns, safe, $7k)

2003 (40 matches - $5k)

2004 (30 matches - $8k)

2005 (25 matches - $6k)

2006 (~20 matches $3-4k)

In the beginning of my addiction to this wonderful sport, I made every local match I could find and as many of the state/area matches that my 3 weeks of vacation allowed. I tried to practice at least twice a week as well. As I improved each year, I became a little more selective of the matches I attended (I learned that I didn't have to go to a match to learn something about shooting).

Did the family notice? You bet. Like you, my wife has exactly zero interest in the sport, but respects that I do. She thought I was nuts (doing this 'gun' thing) at first, but as I explained to her, this is now my 'sporting activity.' My sporting activities used to be basketball & softball, but now that I'm too old & with broken parts to compete like my mind tells me I can (but alas, the body says different) those have fallen by the wayside.

After the first year of shooting, she could really see that this was something that I truly enjoyed, and that 'getting away with my shooting buddies' made me a better person to be around.

I plan my shooting/match schedule well in advance and keep a sensible balance between family, work demands, and recreation. There's usually some negotiation each year, but we've managed well.

One thing that I have discovered key to staying sensibly balanced, costs down, wife happy, and kids (2 teenage boys) still recognizing me, has been to take dedicated time-off. I mark Nov-Feb on the calendar each year as 'no shooting'. In Nov & Dec I don't touch a gun, a reloader, and try not to even think about the sport (we take family trips to both grandma's, and really get into kids soccer). Then by Jan, I'm thinking about shooting again, and by Feb I'm in full rut to get back to the shooting.

[JFD]

I'm lucky that shooting takes less time than golfing used to, so I never had a problem with that.

My wife gave up on changing/improving me years ago, so that helps quite a bit.

[n2ipsc]

The first mistake you made was keeping track of the $$$

No good can POSSIBLY come of THAT!

{"Budgets are for wimps..."}

[Hey QuicksDraw!]

What ever you do you should never add up the costs! It's depressing..

[EricW]

Man, if you think USPSA is expensive, try to shoot Clays on the same scale as you do pistols...

IPSC is comparatively cheap to a lot of other activities people don't think twice about.

The podunk amusement park up the road here charges about $35 per person. So, that's $140 per day for a family of 4 before you buy a single hotdog or a gallon of gas. And at the end of the day, you have nothing to show for it.

Want expensive? Buy an airplane. There's a $1K to $2K a month hobby to put it all in perspective for you.

[Nebraskan]

See pistol shooting ain't so bad after all...and then we could talk about really expensive stuff like flying, or auto racing....but that is another topic...

I gave up flying several years back to get into auto racing. I gave up auto racing this year to get into USPSA. My wife allows me any ONE hobby. I get to pick, but I have to pick only one.

Agreed, even starting dead cold and buying everything needed to play in Limited this year, it is MUCH cheaper than either of my previous hobbies! Course I have started to dabble in 3 gun also, THAT may get me back up there.

Oh yeah, put us in the DINK camp, which helps.

[SiG Lady]

A big reason for both my decline in shooting ability and fewer participations in matches is, frankly, financial. In order to quickly and surely improve my skills and move UP in rank and ability as I meant to a couple of years ago, it meant practicing MORE than once a week and taking both the time and money to do so more often. In doin' the math on that prospect, it was looking like a hefty three-figure sum per month to both practice AND attend regular local matches here indoors--just to keep up with the momentum of the crowd. Not to mention the TIME at the range and the TIME cleaning guns and the TIME to reload (if I chose to shoot .45ACP at any time) after two practices and one series match per week. It's at least 14 hours per week of match/commuting/practice/cleaning/reloading time--and that's just a guess.

I haven't really lost interest in the sport, I've just lost incredible momentum.

The cost of gasoline, of course is an additional matter. It's a 20-mile R/T to the local range, and I realize it's much more than that for other shooters who attend matches regionally or interstate. I couldn't imagine driving any farther than my current 20 miles, what with the cost of petrol. I'm paying $3.36/gal for petrol. I just don't know how people do it anymore.

[Vlad]

Frankly I'm afraid to do the "real" math. I do a sort of fake math where I limit how much I spend every month on gun related purchases. However I don't include match fees, or gas. Even more importantly, I don't include the price of all the late nite bull sessions over diner food, or the after match dinners at the "pizza place". The price of food and coffee is proabably more then match fees and gas. I count my component costs in my "per month budget", but I think if I did the real math I would come around $350/month, and that would still exclude major firearm purchases.

It isn't cheap, but I know people who blow that at the bars every weekend. I have to pay attention as to not to spend too much, but I don't feel overly stressed by it. I'm not wealthy but I don't have many habits. Heck, quiting smoking more then made up for any increase in gas prices.

[John Kane]

Great post! I too share your pain. Dave covered most of it but here's what I do and it seems to be working though if you ask the people I shoot with they may not agree.

1. Set expectations ahead of time. I always tell her I'll be home much later than I actually am for example. Much better to exceed her expecations! If I'm home early I get a kiss, if I'm late I get none for a week.

2. Dry fire, dry fire, dry fire. I very rarely get to shoot a single live round outside of a match. Maybe once a month I'll get to go actually practice. I wish I could do more but the time and money thing get in the way. I have been amazed at how effective dry fire is though. And my kid loves to chase me around the house in the stages I set up! She's very adament that she has to pick up the magazines.

3. And this is the hardest one for me. I've not been able to enjoy the social aspects of the sport. All the shooters usually break down the match and then go to lunch to talk and enjoy each other's company. I try to get there early to set up but then I have to head home just as soon as I possibly can. This has been tough as the people are wonderful and I would really like to get to know them and hang out but I've had to give up that part to make the whole thing work. I just hope they don't think less of me b/c I shoot and run.

I'm still working on getting her into the sport but have little hopes of pulling that off. Hopefully my 2 year old daughter will one day join me. I really like the suggestion of taking dedicated time off and will probably implement that policy as well. It's probably time for a break for me now as I've been pushing it a bit.

I do this because it's fun. I love to experience the "present tense" as Brian calls it and don't have any aspirations to be the best or really to even beat the guy next to me. I just want to do the best I can do that day. OK, I lied a little. There are a few people I'd like to beat but that's just to smooth out some egos and it's not something that fuels me but would just be fun to see someday.

Thanks again for starting this thread! It's helped me as well!

John

[AlamoShooter]

Cost of Sporting Clays! = a normal monthly Sporting clay Shoot cost the same as a good level 11 or Level 111 IPSC shoot.

IPSC is cheep = cost the same as playing golf. or Boating

[sturmruger]

I think this is a great topic.

After the first year I shot this sport my wife and I sat down and had a long talk about my recreation time and money. I told my wife last summer that I would only shoot two weekends per month and then every Thur night during the summer months. For her two weekends per month is acceptable and then it gives her time to do things with her girlfriends. I really want to make two Area matches this year, but with my finances being a little tight this year I just don't know if it is going to happen. Our first child is on the way and I plan to involve him in my shooting from an early age so that my frequent range trips will be a good father son time. I imagine one he starts shooting with us then it will turn into more of a family occasion. We have also planned a few vacations around some larger matches so we can both fit stuff in that we like.

[boo radley]

Cost of Sporting Clays! = a normal monthly Sporting clay Shoot cost the same as a good level 11 or Level 111 IPSC shoot.

IPSC is cheep = cost the same as playing golf. or Boating

That's several of you that have said that.

I don't deny there are much more expensive recreational activities, but if you shoot, say, an out-of-state major match once a month, and a local match or two, in-state, and practice once or twice a week...you can *easily* get to $1000/mo, especially if you add the odd piece of equipment.

I know that this game can be successfully shot with a used G17, and CCI Blazer, but it's nothing, also, to spend a couple thousand on a pistol...possibly a couple times, and those costs aren't trivial. And add in a Dillon.

Very interesting reading, and I am really enjoying the different range of perspectives.

[Merlin Orr]

...you can *easily* get to $1000/mo, especially if you add the odd piece of equipment.

Yes it can......